An investigation into the dialectic of Academic Teaching Identity:

Some preliminary findings(Education Department)

The team

Paul Gibbs, Carole Davis

Agi Ryder Gillian Lazar

Sara Cannizzaro

Motivation for study

• Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)• Student engagement• Lessons for PG Cert HE?

Recent studies

Discourse of professionalisation (Trede, Macklin and Bridges, 2011)

Cognitive shift involving reflection on teaching practice and deepening knowledge of theoretical pedagogical constructs (Nevgi and Löfström, 2015)

But little agreement on a framework for understanding the development of this professional teaching identity.

Our context: the PG Cert HE

• Highly diverse cohort in terms of disciplinary background, nationality and language, culture, previous educational experience, previous teaching experience, role, etc.

• Dual perspective as academics/practitioners and as students• “Sustained pedagogical development initiatives are vital for

facilitating change and development in academics’ teaching competencies as well as aspects related to the self as a teacher (e.g., Coffey & Gibbs, 2000; Gibbs & Coffey, 2004; Ho, 2000; Knight, 2006; Postareff, Lindblom-Yla ̈nne, & Nevgi, 2007; cited in Nevgi and Löfström 2015)

Research study design

Phenomenological approach

Data collection: various methods in order to triangulate and ensure validity: Autobiographical record of the academics (blog); Reflective narrative; Interviews with staff

Thematic analysis using open coding to identify emerging themes and categories (Charmaz, 2014)

Voluntary sample

Ethics secured October 2015, Middlesex University

Participants

-Typical PG Cert HE cohort: Lecturers teaching different subjects across different schools

-22 students in the cohort

Emerging themes 1

Pedagogic influences on the construction of academic teacher identity:Prior experience of being a studentTeaching colleagues and mentorsTheoryCritical incidents

Emerging themes 2

Influence of ‘prior identities’ on the construction of academic teacher identity:Professional identityDisciplinary/research identityProfessional values leading to strong sense of mission

Preliminary Findings

Identities develop in a fluid process of co‐construction in a variety of social situations, and encompass both individualised and collective elements (Lawler 2008)

Identity is a fluid, ongoing process of construction: very variable, context-dependent, and moving back and forth in liminal spaces. In this study, construction of an academic teaching identity draws on:

past experience as a student/learner oneself, and learning from colleagues, mentors and from critical incidents which happen in the classroom

prior well-established professional, disciplinary and research identities (e.g. as a nurse, as a researcher using particular research methods ... etc.). These are often underpinned by a strong sense of ethical commitment.

Implications

• Do we need to provide more support to help those new to teaching tolerate and explore the ambiguities and uncertainties of being in a liminal space?  

• Do we need to create more opportunities to support and be supported through informal social networks or action learning sets? How do we build a community of practice to nurture this development of identity?

•  Are there further areas which need researching, e.g. the influence of academics’ culture of origin or first language on their emerging construction of an academic teaching identity?

Bibliography

• Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Lawler, S. (2008) Identity: Sociological Perspectives. Cambridge: Polity

• Nevgi, A and Löfström, E. (2015) The development of academics’ teacher identity: Enhancing reflection and task perception through a university teacher development programme, Studies in Educational Evaluation, 46, 53-60.  

• Steinberg, S. (2006). Critical cultural studies research: Bricolage in action. In K. Tobin and J. Kincheloe (eds.), Doing educational research: A handbook (pp. 119-132). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

• Trede, F, Macklin, R and Bridges (2011) Professional identity development: a review of the higher education literature, Studies in Higher Education, 37:3, 365-384