Dialectics of development: teacher identity formation in the interplay of ideal ego and ego ideal

Abstract

Dialectics of development: Teacher identity formation in the interplay of ideal ego and ego ideal AbstractThis paper results from research examining pre-service teacher development in relation to experiences of mentoring during the Professional Experience component of their program. The paper focuses on the interplay between pre-service teachers' personal aspirations for their own practice and identity and their perceptions of more socialized and formalized, institutional requirements. The paper highlights the developmental potential of dialectical interactions between these 'inside out' and 'outside in' perspectives on pre-service teachers' practice and identity, drawing on psychoanalytic theory in order to gain insights into this process by viewing the pre-service teachers wishes and aspirations for their practice and identities as manifestations of the Lacanian ('inside out') ideal ego; while the school culture and the mentor teachers' (actual and anticipated) comments and judgments are read as representations of the ('outside in') ego ideal. The paper concludes with considerations of how universities and schools, preservice teachers and mentors, might be encouraged to recognize the need for a sustained and open-ended dialectic between the ego ideal and the ideal ego in ways that might enrich the professional identities available to pre-service teachers.

Performative technologies and teacher subjectivities: A conceptual framework

“…For example, drawing upon Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, Clarke and colleagues (e.g. Clarke, , , ; Clarke & Sheridan, ; Clarke et al ., ) have argued that this type of interplay results in an ‘extimate’ form of subject, i.e. one which is ‘neither fully inside nor outside but both simultaneously’ (Clarke & Sheridan, , p. 196).…”

“…In a study of pre‐service teachers and how they managed the competing demands they experienced between their own personal aspirations and the external demands made upon them, Clarke et al . () show how Christian—one of the interviewees—tried to stay true to his ‘ideal ego’ and avoid becoming his feared self. Indeed, while such processes may be characterised by difficult and sometimes painful struggles for the individual (see e.g.…”

“…Indeed, while such processes may be characterised by difficult and sometimes painful struggles for the individual (see e.g. Clarke et al ., ), this fourth mechanism stresses how performative technologies—when designed as centrifugal forces (Foucault, )—may ease this pain through providing symbolic images of the ‘ego ideal’ that allegedly overlap with and encourage the individual to strive towards their ideal ego. That is, rather than requiring the individual to subordinate the self to the other by means of (discourses of) standards, quality and accountability, the technologies are often embedded in a rhetoric that inspires the individual to follow his or her dreams and to act as ‘an autonomous rational actor exercising full and free agency as it navigates its chosen educational course in order to maximize its outcomes’ (Clarke, , p. 48).…”

The Indispensability and Impossibility of Teacher Identity

“…A recent article (Clarke, Michell & Ellis, 2016) utilized the Lacanian notions of the ideal ego and the ego ideal -two related concepts introduced in the section on identity above -in considering the tensions between outside-in and inside-out perspectives and pressures in learning to teach and how these tensions are managed by individual novice teachers.…”

“…We might describe these changes in terms of a move away from an earlier 'inside out' form of professionalism, where the contours of professional identity were largely determined from within the profession by individuals and groups, to forms of 'outside in' professionalism, where the profession is largely reacting and responding to pressures and agendas emanating from policy makers and politicians (Clarke, Michell, & Ellis, 2016;Dawson, 1994). These changes can be linked to a wider shift that has impacted on professionals in a range of professions and occupations from 'occupational' identities, originating within the profession and characterised by relatively high levels of autonomy and trust, as well as by more collegial relationships, to 'organisational' identities that derive from the organisation or institution, are distinguished by lower levels of professional autonomy and trust, and involve hierarchical rather than egalitarian relationships (Evetts, 2009).…”