A narrative examination of early childhood teachers’ shared identities in teamwork

ABSTRACT

This study examines the two kindergarten teachers’ shared professional identities in teamwork in an effort to clarify what constitutes their shared identities and how these identities affect the teachers’ professional practices and beliefs. The relational nature of identity maintains that individuals are not the only constructors of their identity, and the literature on teacher education emphasizes the importance of identity in teacher development. The in-depth analysis of the two kindergarten teachers’ narrative interviews revealed how the educators constructed their professional identities by intertwining the features of their context, feedback, and teaching. The findings indicate that the shared professional identities of the two early childhood teachers are developed and negotiated through four shared features: commitment, feedback, educational tasks, and professional agency. Together these four shared features shape the teachers’ professional roles and pedagogical practices—either by giving support to professional growth and empowerment or by having a decreasing effect on the teachers’ professional identity and agency in early childhood contexts.

Acknowledgments

The authors of this study express their gratitude to the participants for their effort and willingness to study and share their professional identities with us. We also like to thank Associate Professor Martha Miller Decker, Ed. D., Morehead State University, for her support and understanding discussions related to cultural differences and understandings in ECE field between the U.S. and Finland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.