Preservice teachers learning to teach and developing teacher identity in a teacher residency

ABSTRACT

This article reported how five preservice teachers constructed and developed their teacher identity in a year-long teacher residency partnered between a university-based teacher education program and schools in Louisiana, United States. Drawing on a sociocultural approach to identity development and the ‘third space’ theory, qualitative data were collected from individual interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. Findings suggested that participants experienced an ongoing teacher identity construction while learning to teach in the hybrid, in-between ‘third space’ residency. Key elements of the residency, including the mentored co-teaching experiences and learning opportunities situated in authentic school contexts, facilitated the participants’ learning about teaching and teacher identity negotiation. Implications for teacher education practice, policy, and research were discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• teacher residency
• preservice teacher
• teacher identity development

Acknowledgments

I thank the editorial team and the two anonymous reviewers of Teaching Education for their constructive feedback and helpful recommendations. I am grateful to Weijia Wang for insightful reading of and critical comments on earlier versions of this article. I thank Dr. Heather Kennedy for her instrumental support in conducting this study. Most of all, I would like to extend my appreciation to all the participants of this study. This study would not have been possible without their commitment and intellectual input.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

I gratefully acknowledge financial support for this research from University of Louisiana Monroe's Frances Davis Hammond Endowed Professorship in Education (2017-2020).

Notes on contributors

Yiting Chu

Yiting Chu, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the School of Education, University of Louisiana Monroe. Dr. Chu's research is grounded in the intersections of cultural diversity and teacher education policy and practice, with an emphasis on equity and social justice.