Teachers' Identity Paints the Picture of Education in the Digital Age

Choices in the digital space stem from the way individuals perceive reality, allowing them to create definitions of themselves. The perception of the digital age as a designer of identity is significant in many areas, including education. Digital age characteristics that apply to society – blurring of boundaries, hyper-connectivity, changes in communication and information overload - are also reflected in schools, a meaningful social environment in which teachers shape a significant part of their identity. Teachers are at a time junction which may clarify how digital age characteristics are expressed in schools. Teachers’ choices and their impact on teacher identity in the digital age may be critical to their performance. The re-shaping of the role of the teacher impacts the school and the learning environment; it is therefore important to examine how digital age characteristics are reflected in the narratives of science teachers; to examine whether these characteristics shed light on trends in re-shaping teacher identity and adapting it to the digital age. Moreover, teacher identity can help understand the overall status of schools today. To better understand the components of teacher identity, this research relates to the three most basic identity components that form human identity from birth: self, social and professional.