Embracing Institutional Authority: The Emerging Identity of a Novice Teacher Educator

Abstract

This self-study explores the emerging identity of a first-time teacher educator using a framework that views identity as natural, institutional, discursive, and affinity. This framework provided an opportunity to unpack empirically how these various strands of identity intersected within the classroom of a novice teacher educator. Situated in the context of an elementary social studies methods classroom, this study reveals various struggles with the institutional authority of being a teacher educator. Issues such as how preservice teachers perceive a novice teacher educator, the acknowledgment of lack of experience, and the process of negotiating institutionalized and systemic power within the classroom are discussed. Because this study also featured a mentor professor as a critical friend, the implications of self-study work and mentoring first-time teacher educators are also featured in the discussion section. Considering the importance of identity in shaping the practice of new teachers, this self-study reveals the importance of further complicating the emerging and evolving identities of new teacher educators.