Bridging Worlds: Changes in Personal and Professional Identities of Pre-Service Urban Teachers.

Abstract

This article explores the motives and evolving identities of one group of graduate students enrolled in a teacher education program at Ivy League university, who made the choice in urban classrooms. We examine the perspectives these candidates give the process of learning and how their identities are tempered, challenged, and sometimes strengthened by a 12-week urban practicum. In this work, we give voice these pre-service teachers in order gain deeper insight into how they view what it means in urban public school, a phenomenon Haberman (as quoted in McKinney, Robinson, & Spooner, 2004) has referred as an extraordinary life (p. 18). The subjects of this study offer instructive data for scholars precisely because these individuals seemingly have a plethora of career options from which choose. Prior levels of education and academic achievement as well as other professional experiences qualify them for better paying and socially perceived higher status careers. Their choice--to invest 11 months of full-time study and tens of thousands of dollars in a degree which would allow them pursue a career often viewed as challenging--deserves analysis. What follows is a brief review of the pre-service teacher identity development literature that grounds the study and a summary of the research methods. We then lay out our findings that suggest that the developing professional identities of these subjects are influenced by the personal identities they bring the learning process and their experiences teaching in urban public schools. Finally, we offer concluding observations regarding implications of the study. Literature Review Extensive empirical and theoretical literature exists regarding the identity development of pre-service teachers (Ottesen, 2007; Poulou, 2007). This research cites elements of the teacher education experience that have impact on one's identity development and commitment the teaching profession. These elements include: the student teaching/practicum experience and coursework; the opportunity for preservice teachers reflect upon their own assumptions about learning; and the various epistemologies of professors (Brownlee, Dart, Boulton-lewis, & McCrindle, 1998; Campbell, 2005; de la Torre Cruz & Arias, 2007; Otteson, 2007). These researchers agree that, as teachers develop identity, context matters--both in the teacher preparation program and in the practicum where candidates experience classrooms firsthand. Furthermore, researchers suggest that pre-service programs may impact new teachers' sense of efficacy and contribute the development of a professional teacher identity (Ottesen, 2007; Rots, Aelterman, Vlerick, & Katrien, 2007). Additional studies offer insights about the influence of pre-service programs on teachers' decisions enter and stay in the teaching profession (Merseth, Frankenberg, & Taylor, manuscript submitted for publication). Some studies in this realm of identity development identify what beginning teachers bring the process of learning (e.g., Clandinin & Connelly, 1996). One's own experience, or more specifically, the manner in which developing teachers have come perceive what it means to teach frequently impacts the development of a teacher's identity (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004; Bourdieu, 1977; Lortie, 1975). Teachers bring attitudes and beliefs (Richardson, 1996), individual capacity (Lasky, 2005) and knowledge about subject matter and other domains of teacher knowledge (Grossman, 1990; Shulman, 1986; Wilson, Shulman, & Richert, 1987; Wilson & Wineburg, 1988). These factors in turn influence teachers' practices once they are in their own classrooms (Anderson & Piazza, 1996; Kagan, 1990; Lortie, 1975). Teacher education programs with a specific focus on preparing highly qualified secondary urban school educators are relatively few and appear vary in their effectiveness (French, 2005; Hollins & Guzman, 2005; Merseth, Frankenberg, & Taylor, manuscript submitted for publication; Quartz & TEP Research Group, 2003). …