Developing A Sense Of Identity Through Teacher Networks

Teacher identity – teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy and sense of self-worth – is a crucial factor not only in the quality of teaching but also in student outcomes. In turn, collaboration is a key element in fashioning teacher identity. These are the central findings of a major international report from the Organisation for Economic and Cultural Development (OECD) published last year. ¹

The research found that the educational system and school context contributed a number of factors that shaped teacher professional identity. These included:

• the previous experiences of the teachers;
• their professional relationships and collaboration among colleagues;
• their initial teacher education;
• the support they receive from their supervisors or mentors, and
• the personal and collective reflections they have on their practice and beliefs.²

The pivotal influence of professional relationships and collaboration between colleagues is echoed by much previous research and literature.³ In particular, the seminal work of Chris Day, over several decades, exploring the nature of “teachers’ worlds and work” has contributed greatly to our understanding of the link between collaboration and identity. ⁴ The findings from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) also suggest that teacher collaboration is an important element that influences job satisfaction and self-efficacy,⁵ components of the professional identity of teachers.

So, collaborative educational cultures clearly influence the development of positive attitudes towards teaching, modifying the way in which teachers understand their teaching role.⁶  In recent times, with the advent of virtual get-togethers between teachers, strengthened during Covid lockdowns, these collaborative cultures have developed not just within schools but also across school networks. 

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the evidence gathered in last year’s OECD report is that there is a kind of virtuous circle of relationships whereby:

• “teachers’ professional relationships, group affinities, and collaboration”⁷ foster teacher identity;
• this in turn influences teachers’ behaviour and actions related to commitment to the profession and the decision to stay in it;⁸
• accompanying this is increased participation in professional development and, crucially, impact on the quality of teaching and student outcomes;⁹
• intriguingly, these affirming attitudes of teachers and the positive responses from students themselves then give rise to personal and collective reflections of teachers, which in turn:
• thereby further modify and reconfigure their professional identity.¹⁰

Developed from OECD report (2022) Suarez & McGrath

Thus the report concludes: “in this sense, teacher professional identity is a dynamic and constantly evolving construct.”¹¹

This potent mix of teacher identity, collaboration, professional development and creative practice, together with student participation and outcomes, forms the heady brew of Professional Development Today Volume 23 Issue 2. This follows on from the previous PDT (Vol 23 Issue1) as the second part of our exploration of professional learning networks.  The articles in this issue describe a range of flourishing practice and reflect on the implications of networking for teacher identity and development.  The majority of contributions have been developed from chapters in the recently published book: The Power of Professional Leaning Networks: Traversing the present; transforming the future. Edited by Graham Handscomb and Chris Brown. John Catt Publishing.

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References

1. Suarez, V. and McGrath, J.  (2022) Teacher professional identity: How to develop and support it in times of change OECD Education Working Papers No. 267 February 2022 b19f5af7-en.pdf (oecd-ilibrary.org)
2. Ibid Page 12
3. OECD (2019), TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners, TALIS, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-enDay, C. et al. (2006), The personal and professional selves of teachers: Stable and unstable identities, British educational research journal, Vol. 32/4, pp. 601-616Rodrigues, F. and M. Mogarro (2019), Student teachers’ professional identity: A review of research contributions, Educational research review, Vol. 28, p. 100286.
4. Day, C., B. Elliot and A. Kington (2005), Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 21/5, pp. 563-577, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.03.001. Day, C. (2017)Teachers’ Worlds and Work: Understanding Complexity, Building Quality. Routledge
5. OECD (2020), TALIS 2018 Results (Volume II): Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals, TALIS, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/19cf08df-en.
6. Flores, M. and C. Day (2006), Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 22/2, pp. 219-232, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.09.002.
7. Suarez, V. and McGrath, J.  (2022) Teacher professional identity: How to develop and support it in times of change OECD Education Working Papers No. 267 February 2022 b19f5af7-en.pdf (oecd-ilibrary.org)
8. Agee, J. (2004), Negotiating a teaching identity: An African American teacher’s struggle to teach in test driven contexts, Teachers College Record, Vol. 106/4, pp. 747-774. Day, C., B. Elliot and A. Kington (2005), Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 21/5, pp. 563-577, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.03.001 Korthagen, F. (2004), In search of the essence of a good teacher: towards a more holistic approach in teacher education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 20/1, pp. 77-97, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2003.10.002.
9. Day, C., B. Elliot and A. Kington (2005), Reform, standards and teacher identity: Challenges of sustaining commitment, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 21/5, pp. 563-577, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.03.001 Galman, S. (2009), Doth the lady protest too much? Pre-service teachers and the experience of dissonance as a catalyst for development, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 25/3, pp. 468-481
10. Flores, M. and C. Day (2006), Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 22/2, pp. 219-232, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.TATE.2005.09.002.
11. Suarez, V. and McGrath, J.  (2022) Teacher professional identity: How to develop and support it in times of change OECD Education Working Papers No. 267 February 2022 b19f5af7-en.pdf (oecd-ilibrary.org) page 10.