Theorising how student teachers form their identities in initial teacher education

Abstract

This article investigates the forming of student teacher identities in initial teacher education. By analysing student narratives of school experiences the article argues that although reflective, reflexive and critical discourses are helpful interrogatory tools, they presuppose a prior subjectivity which fails to acknowledge the idea that it is through such discursive practices that subjectivity emerges. Such discourses also suggest an emancipatory project grounded in rationality. The article demonstrates that these reflective discourses fail to take into account non‐symbolizable and non‐rational aspects of experiencing that have powerful ontological effects on subjectivity and identity. Such aspects are structured in student narratives through fantasy, which allows students to understand their experiences as consistent and meaningful.

Notes

* Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK. Email: [email protected]

Donald Schön, in The reflective practitioner, develops an important distinction between reflection‐in‐action and reflection‐on‐action, which my use of the term ‘reflective practitioner’ does not convey, but nevertheless I think that both positions assume a notion of transcendence towards practice, that is to say, a position from which one can be reflective, whether during the event or afterwards.

	John Elliot's advocacy of reflexive practice is grounded in the hermeneutic philosophy of Gadamer and Aristotles' notion of phronesis (practical wisdom). Gadamer's philosophy is concerned with the central ideas of tradition and language. Meaning can only emerge through already assimilated meanings that influence interpretation of new experiences, but in making such interpretations both the subject and the tradition of which he is part are inevitably changed. Thus, for Elliott, change in practitioner‐based research involves an ongoing process of interpretation of teaching phenomena, including the self, in which both self and phenomena evolve. Any theoretical perspective selected by the teacher to inform future practice will therefore only make sense if it can be integrated into his or her project of praxis.
	In relation to critical practice, Wilfred Carr and Stephen Kemmis look to the Frankfurt School and, in particular, Jürgen Habermas, for their philosophical grounding. Whereas Gadamer argues that we can never escape the prejudicial affects of tradition and language and are therefore always involved in an ongoing evolutionary dialogue with practice, Habermas aims for a post‐ideological situation of undistorted communication. He is concerned with extra‐linguistic phenomena such as class and power. Applied to educational contexts this means developing a political awareness of institutional frameworks, discourses and power relations in which teachers function in order to expose their ideological and hegemonic structures. Habermas's project is therefore transformative, to enable a more equitable, socially just and democratic system.
	Although the contrasting philosophical groundings of reflexive and critical practice lead to either evolutionary or transformational projects, both place an emphasis upon language and rationality to achieve these different ends. It is my contention that both leave out important ontological dimensions that impact upon perceptions of practice and future approaches to practice. These ontological dimensions are non‐rational and unable to be captured in language but have an important impact upon the forming of subjectivity. I shall discuss these issues in relation to Lacan's theory of the subject, which I will apply to the forming of teacher identities.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dennis Atkinson *

* Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK. Email: [email protected]