Beginning student teachers’ agency in teacher identity negotiations

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate student teachers’ agency in their identity negotiations as first-year students on a path towards becoming teachers. A narrative inquiry approach was employed in the analysis of the interviews conducted with 16 Finnish student teachers. One master narrative and two counter-narratives were identified in which student teachers’ agency was manifested in teacher identity negotiations. The master narrative suggested sustaining internalised preconceptions of teaching. The counter-narrative of transforming teacher identity illuminated a transformation from preconceptions towards a teacher education’s institutional, culturally bounded story of teaching. The counter-narrative of questioning teacher identity entailed questioning the normative master narratives of teaching and actively producing counter-narratives. The findings highlight the importance of recognising and unravelling the master and counter-narratives in teacher education, which may guide the nature and varieties of teacher identities and agency possible for future teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Student teachers
• identity
• agency
• narratives
• teacher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Finland under Grant #342191 for the project Student selection and competence development in the continuum of preservice and in-service teacher education (SITE).

Notes on contributors

Maaret Juutilainen

Maaret Juutilainen has a PhD in Education from the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her line of research includes student teachers’ agency and identity construction in teacher education studies.

Riitta-Leena Metsäpelto

Riitta-Leena Metsäpelto (PhD, adjunct professor) is a senior researcher at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Currently, she works as a project manager in a development project aimed at advancing teacher education and related research. Her main areas of research are teacher competences, student selection for teacher education, and developmental research especially in learning and motivation.

Marja Mäensivu

Marja Mäensivu (PhD) is a university teacher at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She works in pre-service education concerning primary school teachers. Her current research interests are promoting and restricting elements of student teachers’ learning and studying.

Anna-Maija Poikkeus

Anna-Maija Poikkeus (PhD, professor) is a professor at the Department of Teacher Education and the dean of the Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her main areas of research are pre-primary education, developmental trajectories of children’s academic achievement and motivation, teacher–student interaction, social skills and peer relations, and teacher education and agency.