Alternative routes to teacher professional identity: Exploring the conflated sub-identities of Teach For America corps members

Thomas, Matthew A. M.; Mockler, Nicole

doi:10.14507/epaa.26.3015

Cited by 19 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This meant that these synchronous-service teachers completed at least eight courses (approximately 24 credits) while also working full time. It is perhaps unsurprising that the CMs with whom we worked were anxious as they sought to balance their multiple and conflated roles as novice teachers, as students, and as representatives of TFA (Thomas & Mockler, 2018). In the following section, we explore some of the complexities of these roles and draw on broader literature to conceptualize the synchronous-service teacher beyond the TFA case.…”

Section: Teach For Americamentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Synchronous-Service Teachers: Traditional Teacher Education at a Crossroads

Thomas

Lefebvre

2020

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context Teachers enrolled in alternative training and licensure programs may have experiences that lie outside what is considered typical for both preservice teachers and in-service teachers. This article explores the experiences of a growing cadre of “synchronous-service teachers”—including, but not limited to, Teach For America (TFA) corps members— who are teaching full time while also completing coursework in teacher preparation programs. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of the Study This study considers how synchronous-service teachers perceived the education and training they received while enrolled in traditional teacher education coursework, as well as how they interpreted their broader interactions with the teaching profession and teacher education writ large. Research Setting and Participants This research was conducted in the Midwestern United States in a major metropolitan area with a TFA regional presence. Thirty-six corps members who completed coursework at a traditional teacher education institution opted to participate in this study. They were primarily White and female, and most entered TFA immediately following completion of their undergraduate degrees. The majority had little previous exposure to the education discipline. Research Design The thirty-six corps members were interviewed about their experiences while participating in TFA, teaching at their schools, and, especially pertinent to this article, learning at a partner university where TFA corps members in the region completed teacher education coursework. Findings/Results The findings suggest that corps members held primarily negative views about the teacher education coursework they experienced. They complained that the teacher education programming failed to provide immediately applicable insights and lacked rigor and relevance. Yet they also maintained paradoxical expectations about what teacher education, particularly for synchronous-service teachers, should or should not entail. Conclusions/Recommendations The article concludes by suggesting the potential utility of synchronous-service teachers as a conceptual category, noting that these teachers should be considered distinct from others. As such, providing synchronous-service teachers with teacher education programming designed for either preservice or in-service teachers may lead to missed opportunities in terms of professional learning and exacerbate negative sentiments about teacher education. The experiences and opinions of synchronous-service teachers can have considerable significance, particularly when these teachers go on to affect education leadership and policy. In sum, teacher education institutions are at a critical crossroads concerning how and whether to proceed with similar partnerships, especially as alternative recruitment and training programs continue to grow in the United States and beyond.

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Section: Teach For Americamentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Synchronous-Service Teachers: Traditional Teacher Education at a Crossroads

Thomas

Lefebvre

2020

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most recent researches (Olsen, Buchanan, 2017) state that professional identity is not only the ongoing process of a teacher continually relying on his or her self-understandings to make meaning out of present experience but is also the resulting, dynamic product of knowledge, goals, and selfunderstandings that is enacted in everyday practice. Thomas and Mockler (2018) argues that in the same way as it appears that professional identity cannot be framed in terms of professional knowledge, neither can it be framed in terms of experience in the way Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop contend. Thrue the wide discussions within the research Thomas and Mockler (2018) suggest that teachers' subidentities interplay in a complex way in the formation of their professional identities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thomas and Mockler (2018) argues that in the same way as it appears that professional identity cannot be framed in terms of professional knowledge, neither can it be framed in terms of experience in the way Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop contend. Thrue the wide discussions within the research Thomas and Mockler (2018) suggest that teachers' subidentities interplay in a complex way in the formation of their professional identities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Professional Identity Formation Process of a Dance Teacher

Gorobeca¹

2019

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education

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In the modern society the concept of professional identity is topical in many different occupations. The professional identity of the dance teacher has not been researched scientifically and there are no studies about this concept. The article focuses on the formation process of the dance teacher's professional identity as well as the professional identity model. The aim of this article is to view the professional identity formation process in a profession of a dance teacher and to create a professional identity model of the dance teacher by analysing scientific literature and using professional experience. The professional activity of the dance teacher directly affects the students in any age group from toddlers to seniors, both physically and psychologically; therefore, it is especially important to pay attention to the issues of dance teacher's professional identity, or even the lack of information about the professional identity itself. If the questions of professional identity are not discussed in the study process and there are no related instructions or materials that reveal the essence of the professional identity concept in the world of dance, then the knowledge gained in higher education and practice can be interpreted as unnecessary for the profession. As a result of this study there is formed a professional identity model of a dance teacher. Explaining professional identity leads to greater insight into one's profession, as well as quality assessment of one's professional work and achievements.

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“…Reynolds (1996) (Olsen, Buchanan, 2017) state that professional identity is not only the ongoing process of a teacher continually relying on his or her self-understandings to make meaning out of present experience but is also the resulting, dynamic product of knowledge, goals, and selfunderstandings that is enacted in everyday practice. Thomas and Mockler (2018) argues that in the same way as it appears that professional identity cannot be framed in terms of professional knowledge, neither can it be framed in terms of experience in the way Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop contend. Thrue the wide discussions within the research Thomas and Mockler (2018) suggest that teachers' subidentities interplay in a complex way in the formation of their professional identities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education

2019

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Vulnerabilities and risks in the educational sector affect policy makers, education providers and education receivers. Weak risk management increases the likelihood of misaligned priorities, poor service delivery and financial losses. Risk management is crucial part of effective management of education, provision of qualitative educational services and sufficient fair distribution of financing for higher education. However, in Latvia this topic is only starting to gain attention of regulators and managers in the educational sector. The task of this research is to analyse existing worldwide research on risks and risk management practices within the educational sector. Upon the results of the research basic recommendations for risk management within the educational sector in Latvia will be drawn. The purpose is to provide a short introduction to risk management in the context of management of education. This is a desktop study research involving analysis of published articles in academic databases, books, governmental publications, regulatory texts and public online resources.

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Alternative routes to teacher professional identity: Exploring the conflated sub-identities of Teach For America corps members

Cited by 19 publications

References 40 publications

Teaching Synchronous-Service Teachers: Traditional Teacher Education at a Crossroads

Teaching Synchronous-Service Teachers: Traditional Teacher Education at a Crossroads

Professional Identity Formation Process of a Dance Teacher

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education

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