When the student is the ‘problem’ and the teacher is not the solution: Teacher professional identity in an era of accountability and personalized instruction

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Abstract

Teachers face multiple and often conflicting demands that impact their work and, concomitantly, their professional identities. This article explores teacher professional identity by looking at ways in which teachers construct their arenas of responsibility and their perceived agency within these arenas, against the backdrop of a policy environment demanding both accountability and personalization. Unlike most studies of teacher identity, which rely predominantly upon interview data, the current study features data from teacher in-school workgroup conversations, and in particular examines the ways in which teachers in Israeli primary schools consult with one another about individual students. Recurrent phenomena that appeared in the majority of the 21 cases include: using therapeutic language to describe student; shifting blame/responsibility to parents; delineating areas of responsibility; presenting themselves as empathetic to the student; and other teachers offering details about student's schooling history or home life. Analysis of a focal case illustrates these phenomena and probes their functions. Key findings include reduction of teachers' responsibility to be commensurate with their perceived diminished agency, alongside general concern for their students' well-being. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number100597
JournalLearning, Culture and Social Interaction
Volume32
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Discourse analysis
  • Identity
  • Linguistic ethnography
  • Teacher learning

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education

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