ERIC Number: EJ1197160
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1354-0602
EISSN: N/A
A Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective on Teacher Learning and Identity Formation: An Instrumental Case
Garner, Joanna K.; Kaplan, Avi
Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, v25 n1 p7-33 2019
Scholars have called for new conceptualisations of teachers' learning that capture the complex, contextualised, and dynamic nature of professional growth. In this article, we describe the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) that portrays teacher learning as inseparable from the complex and dynamic processes by which teachers form their professional identities. The model depicts theoretical and procedural learning about teaching as integrated with other ontological and epistemological beliefs, self-perceptions and self-definitions, purpose and goals in teaching, and perceived action possibilities that constitute the teacher's professional role identity. After describing the DSMRI, we demonstrate its application with an instrumental case of a science teacher who participated in a professional development (PD) institute designed to foster learning and motivation for implementing student-centred, inquiry-based instruction. DSMRI-guided analysis of pre-, mid-, and post-institute interviews highlighted the role of pre-PD role identities of learner and teacher in the teacher's PD experiences, which, in turn, fostered both new alignments and new tensions in the teacher's role identity that promoted an overall change towards a more student-centred teacher role identity. The article demonstrates the utility of the DSMRI for conceptualising teachers' learning as contextualised and dynamic identity formation processes.
Descriptors: Professional Identity, Systems Approach, Epistemology, Teacher Attitudes, Self Concept, Teacher Role, Science Teachers, Faculty Development, Inquiry, Teaching Methods, Student Centered Learning, Longitudinal Studies, Attitude Change
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Tests/Questionnaires; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A