The hidden professionals? An interview study of higher education-based teacher educators´ professional identity

Abstract

This article investigates teacher educators’ self-understanding by asking how they explain their professional identities as teacher educators, based on socialisation and further professional development. Teacher educators facilitate learning from the initial teacher education phase to in-service teachers’ further professional development. The data consists of thirteen qualitative semi-structured interviews and two focus-group interviews with teacher educators from two universities in Norway. Using Bryman’s four-stage approach of analysis, 15 categories were re-organised into three main categories: (1) Recruitment and socialisation, (2) Professional identity, and (3) Professional development. The findings illustrate that teacher educators have different understandings of being a professional. For some, their identity is rooted in the discipline in which they were educated. However, others have built identities as teacher educators supplementary to their primary careers. This knowledge has implications for how universities can and should support teacher educators in the development of their identities. This can apply to educational strategies, institutional leadership and the role of teacher educators themselves. Their further professional development can be facilitated by a clearer understanding and appreciation of this profession reflected in educational policy.