Vocational teachers' identity construction at the interface of work and education

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the identity trajectories of vocational education and training (VET) teacher trainees during a workplace-oriented teacher training process. It also sought to determine the factors that may either support or challenge their identity construction. All participants (n = 15) were already working as non-qualified vocational teachers. The qualitative data included (i) individual stories written at the start and the end of the training and (ii) learning diaries during the training. Both narrative thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis were conducted. The participants exhibited different identity trajectories over time, showing varying degrees of continuity and transformation. The participants who were oriented towards teaching and the teaching profession at the start of the training ended up with refined pedagogical identities. Social support and structured learning affordances in the workplace (with teacher training) encouraged individual reflection and conceptualisation of pedagogical phenomena. This led to the implementation of new teaching methods, which emerged as the driving force of teacher identity construction. However, the workplace also challenged VET teacher identity construction. Overall, positioning the teachers’ work and the workplace at the interface of social and individual elements seems to constitute a favourable environment for development and growth as a vocational teacher.