The development of student teachers’ professional identity

TLDR

Student teachers’ professional identity is a central concern in teacher education, shaping their future classroom practice. The study investigates how student teachers perceive and develop their professional identity throughout a three‑year secondary education program. Researchers surveyed first‑, second‑, and third‑year students from two colleges using a questionnaire that measured commitment to teaching, professional orientation, task orientation, and self‑efficacy. Results showed that task orientation became more pupil‑centred early in the course, practical teaching experience shifted focus away from subject matter and self‑efficacy, placement experience fostered a realistic view of teaching, and gender differences emerged with males prioritising discipline and females prioritising student involvement. Keywords: professional identity, student beliefs, teacher education, teacher beliefs.

Abstract

Abstract This study focuses on student teachers’ perceptions of their professional identity. The respondents are students enrolled in a three‐year course in secondary education teaching at bachelor level. Questionnaires were filled out by first‐year, second‐year and third‐year students from two colleges. The questionnaire included four scales: commitment to teaching, professional orientation, task orientation and self‐efficacy. In the first five months of the first‐year course, a shift in students’ task orientation was observed: students developed a more pupil‐centred view on teaching. Practical experience with classroom teaching again caused a shift: students focused less on the subject matter, on maintaining order in the classroom, on the long‐term educational qualification targets and self‐efficacy decreased. Students with work placement experience developed a more ‘realistic’ view of learning and teaching compared to students without this experience. A final important difference in professional identity is based on students’ gender: while male students tend to attach more importance to discipline in the classroom, their female counterparts focus more on student involvement. Keywords: professional identitystudent beliefsteacher educationteacher beliefs