Search results

Research on student teacher learning has identified development of a professional identity as an inevitable focus in teacher education. Accordingly, many teacher education programs have come to include attention for the development of student teachers’ professional identities, but not much research has been done on the (effects of) pedagogies that have such development as their goal. Pedagogies that aim at developing teacher identity share common elements, such as the view that developing a professional identity is an ongoing process and the view that developing a professional identity as a teacher unmistakably includes a combination of personal and professional (including contextual) aspects. This chapter describes pedagogies that focus particularly on the development of student teachers’ and beginning teachers’ professional identity, from different angles, but sharing the views as described above. First, we describe two pedagogies that have “key incidents” in student teachers’ development as focus point. Second, we report on the “subject-autobiography,” in which student teachers describe and develop how their identity is shaped in relation to the subject they (learn to) teach. Third, we describe the “at-tension” program, which teachers follow during their first year of teaching, and which focuses particularly on the professional tensions that they experience in their first year of teaching, and how they personally and professionally deal with socialization in the school context. Together, these pedagogies reflect our view that professional identity development is underlying the entire teacher education program. This view implies that only a combination of various-focus pedagogies enables student teachers to develop a full-fledged professional identity.

Despite the breadth of knowledge on self and identity formation across the study of organizations, the field of organizational development and change has limited research on the construction of professional identity. Much has been written to describe the “self-concepts” of those practicing and researching in the field, but there have been no investigations that have explored how these “self-concepts” form. In addition, although women have contributed to defining the “self” in the field, men have held the dominant perspective on the subject. Thus, in this chapter, we address a disparity in the research by exploring the construction of professional identity in the field of organizational development and change, and we give voice to the renowned women who helped to build the field. Using the profiles of 17 American women included in The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers, we perform a narrative analysis based upon the concepts and models prevalent in the literature on identity formation. By disentangling professional identity formation of the notable women in the field, we can begin to see the nuance and particularities involved in its construction and gain deeper understandings about effective ways to prepare individuals to work in and advance the field.

A great deal of literature exists for leadership educators related to programs design, delivery, and student learning. However, little is known about leadership educators, who have largely been left out of contemporary leadership education research. We looked to teaching and teacher education literature to derive a model for leadership educator professional identity development. The four spaces of identity development are exploration, experimentation, validation, and confirmation. We propose that an individual can move forward and backwards through the model as a result of both ongoing influences and positive or negative critical incidents. We discuss implications for professional development and future research.

There is a great deal of literature on leadership education best-practices (e.g., curricular considerations, teaching strategies, assessment of learning). Yet, to be a leadership educator is more than having knowledge or expertise of content and pedagogy. Perceptions, experiences, and values of leadership educators comprise a professional identity that is reflective of not only what leadership educators do, but also who they are and how they view themselves within the profession. This qualitative study builds on Seemiller and Priest’s (2015) Leadership Educator Professional Identity Development (LEPID) conceptual model by analyzing stories from participants of a professional leadership educator development experience. Leadership educators’ identity development reflected a consistent and linear progression through the identity spaces outlined in the LEPID model, and further can be viewed through three distinct dimensional lenses (experiential, cognitive, and emotional experiences). Additionally, leadership educator identities were shaped by a particular set of ongoing influences and critical incidents; the most prevalent incident was related to feelings of inadequacy in leadership expertise and competence. Findings from this study can inform educational programs and professional associations in efforts to train and develop leadership educators.

This study aims to focus on the role of learning activities on the development of Romanian students making the change from academia to the workplace, specifically focusing on the role of three learning activities: classroom teaching pedagogies (in‐vitro); field experiences (in‐situ); and self‐development experiential activities.

Using a 12‐factor scale developed by the authors to measure the role of learning activities on professional identity (PI), 364 students in an English‐language BBA program at a prominent Romanian university were surveyed via an online survey service. From this sample 97 valid responses were obtained and these were regressed on a measure of PI to test three main hypotheses.

In‐vitro, in‐situ, and self‐development experiential activities exhibited a positive relationship to PI. The two most significant predictors of PI were found to be membership of a professional student group and the use of case studies in class.

The findings of the study have practical implications for the business community and business educators, for activities such as curriculum development, course design and delivery. The findings reinforce the need for more practical pedagogies.

The paper makes an empirical contribution to the field of PI development in Romanian business students and by extension to students in similar post‐Communist countries. To this date there have been no studies that link practical learning activities to the development of PI in a transition society.

In an effort to better understand leadership educator preparation, this qualitative study explores leadership educators’ identity constructions, or (re)presentations of experiences, beliefs, and practices that contribute to one’s professional identity. We used three narrative approaches (storytelling, symbolic interactionism, and anticipatory reflection) to capture short stories of leadership educators’ lived experiences and life perspectives. Analysis of these narratives illustrate the kinds of past experiences that led to shifts in thinking or practice. Leadership education was seen as a process of leadership development, with teachers and students both exercising leadership. And participants’ reflection on their intentions for future practice emphasize learning that is both personal (relational) and procedural (developing knowledge and skills). Findings offer insight into recommendations for intentional professional development experiences and future research.

The purpose of this self-study is to examine how transformative leadership in student organizations contributes to doctoral students’ professional development in higher education. Drawing from Mezirow’s (1997) notion of transformative learning and Bass’s (1990) theory of transformational leadership, the researchers discuss how an academic student organization, Alpha Upsilon Alpha, provided opportunities for transformative leadership in scholarship and service thus crafted academic identities and re-envisioned student organizations as spaces of transformative professional development.

Interest in supporting the development of teachers’ professional identity in preservice and in-service teacher education programs has increased in recent decades considerably, given that teachers’ sense of their professional identity manifests itself in job satisfaction, occupational commitment, self-efficacy, and changes in their levels of motivation (i.e., Day, 2002). In this chapter, we present different pedagogies that have been enacted in the Estonian context to support the development of preservice and novice teachers’ professional identity. The pedagogies have been divided into three groups: pedagogies that facilitate the professional aspect of teacher identity, pedagogies that address the personal aspect of teacher identity, and pedagogies that support the interaction of the professional and personal aspects of teacher identity.

Through a single‐person career/life history of a human resource (HR) manager, the purpose of this paper is to illuminate the relationship between professional identity and “being” a manager in the context of a “whole life”.

The approach of this paper is to use an extended interview with a single HR management professional to consider the complexities and discontinuities of managing a professional and personal life. The interview is considered in light of Alvesson's seven images of self‐identity.

Managers are constantly negotiating a professional identity, “being” a manager and a career in the context of their whole life. In developing managers in an increasingly stressful and competitive environment, the intersection between the various elements of a manager's life should be taken into account.

Closer attention should be paid to the lives of managers in the context of their identity and careers. Research should more closely consider, in detail, the lived experiences of managers and professionals.

Management development should focus on lived experiences of managers rather than competency and skill development. Managerial performance is related to the coping and sensemaking that occurs within specific contexts and management development professionals should focus more on these aspects of a “managerial life”.

The value of the paper is in highlighting the importance of very focussed and very personal management development.

This chapter draws upon a wider project on the development of teacher identity in preservice education. The aim is to look at the effects of a given pedagogy which was designed and enacted in a Master degree in Teaching. The project draws upon existing international research literature on teacher identity which highlights the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the process as well as the pivotal role of preservice teacher education as a context for identity development. The main themes are explored through student teachers’ own voices (N = 20). Issues such as learning about becoming a teacher; exploring the unknown; making the implicit explicit; initial beliefs and theories about being a teacher; teachers’ role and work; from a student perspective towards a teacher perspective; expectations about teaching as a profession: skepticism and hope; and aspirations as preservice teachers are analyzed. The chapter concludes with insights and recommendations for others who might like to try this pedagogy in their respective international teacher education milieus.