Abstract
In this Chapter we have three complementary goals. The first of these is to present some of our work focused on understanding the process by which early career science teachers develop a sense of who they are and what they can do as classroom educators – in other words, their professional identity. The second is to detail some of the ways that these understandings and frameworks can help science teacher educators design experiences and supports to facilitate effective educator development and teacher retention. And the third is to articulate the process by which a particular theoretical framework has been developed and refined as a powerful tool in our own scholarly understanding. Our hope is that by addressing all of these goals in the present chapter, we not only contribute to scholarly discourse around professional identity, but that we make a little less mysterious the process by which theoretical and conceptual frameworks are developed and refined in the process of conducting research, and thus serve as a helpful tool for new researchers or scholars new to qualitative research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arvaja, M. (2016). Building teacher identity through the process of positioning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 392–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.07.024
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review Psychology, 52, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
Carlone, H. B., Scott, C. M., & Lowder, C. (2014). Becoming (less) scientific: A longitudinal study of students’ identity work from elementary to middle school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(7), 836–869.
Chu, Y. (2020). Preservice teachers learning to teach and developing teacher identity in a teacher residency. Teaching Education, 32, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2020.1724934
Cobb, D. J., Harlow, A., & Clark, L. (2018). Examining the teacher identity-agency relationship through legitimate peripheral participation: A longitudinal investigation. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46(5), 495–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2018.1480010
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Strategies for qualitative data analysis. Basics of qualitative research. Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153.n4
Dyson, A. H., & Genishi, C. (2005). On the case (Vol. 76). Teachers College Press.
Glesne, C., & Webb, R. (1993). Teaching qualitative research: Who does what? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 6(3), 253–266.
Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Jr., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Harvard University Press.
Kelchtermans, G. (2017). ‘Should I stay or should I go?’: Unpacking teacher attrition/retention as an educational issue. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 961–977. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2017.1379793
Lavina, L., & Lawson, F. (2019). Weaving forgotten pieces of place and the personal: Using collaborative auto-ethnography and aesthetic modes of reflection to explore teacher identity development. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 20(6), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.18113/P8ijea20n6
Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. University of Chicago Press.
Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative research design. Sage.
Maxwell, J. A. (2008). Designing a qualitative study. In The Sage handbook of applied social research methods (pp. 214–253). Sage.
NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. National Academies Press.
Pajares, F. (1993). Preservice teachers’ beliefs: A focus for teacher education. Action in Teacher Education, 15(2), 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.1993.10734409
Richmond, G. (2015). Making sense of the interplay of context, identity, and agency in the development of beginning secondary science teachers in high-poverty schools. In L. Avraamidou (Ed.), Studying science teacher identity: Theoretical and methodological approaches (pp. 219–236). Sense Publications.
Richmond, G., & Muirhead, F. (2014, April). Contextual factors shaping teacher identity and agency among non-traditional science teacher candidates. Conference presentation. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).
Richmond, G., & Wray, K. (2017). Teacher agency as a mediator for professional identity in secondary science teachers [Conference presentation]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
Richmond, G., Parker, J., Gotwals, A., Kang, H., Sato, T., Lark, A., & Anderson, C. W. (2010). Improving science teacher preparation by studying how knowledge, identity and context affect teaching practices [symposium]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
Richmond, G., Juzwik, M. M., & Steele, M. D. (2011). Trajectories of teacher identity development across institutional contexts: Constructing a narrative approach. Teachers College Record, 113(9), 1863–1905. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811111300907
Schussler, D. L., Stooksberry, L. M., & Bercaw, L. A. (2010). Understanding teacher candidate dispositions: Reflecting to build self-awareness. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(4), 350–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487110371377
Sfard, A., & Prusak, A. (2005). In search of an analytic tool for investigating learning as a culturally shaped activity. Educational Researcher, 34, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034004014
Smagorinsky, P., Cook, L. S., Moore, C., Jackson, A. Y., & Fry, P. G. (2004). Tensions in learning to teach: Accommodation and the development of a teaching identity. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487103260067
Varghese, M. (2016). Language teacher educator identity and language teacher identity: Towards a social justice perspective. In Reflections on language teacher identity research (pp. 51–56). Routledge.
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of language, Identity, and Education, 4(1), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2
Wertsch, J. V., Tulviste, P., & Hagstrom, F. (1993). A sociocultural approach to agency. Contexts for learning: Sociocultural dynamics in children’s development, 23, 336–356.
Wray, K. A., & Richmond, G. (2018). Factors shaping the agency of beginning science teachers working in high-poverty schools. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 29(8), 785–803. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2018.1514824
Yazan, B. (2019). Toward identity-oriented teacher education: Critical autoethnographic narrative. TESOL Journal, 10(1), e00388. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.388
Acknowledgements
This work was made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation (DUE 1340048), Woodrow Wilson Foundation (RC100381) and the Kellogg Foundation to the first author. The views expressed are those of the authors and not those of the funding agencies.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Richmond, G., Wray, K.A. (2022). Understanding Science Teacher Identity Development within the Figured Worlds of Schools. In: Holmegaard, H.T., Archer, L. (eds) Science Identities. Contributions from Science Education Research, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17642-5_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17642-5_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-17641-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-17642-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)