Identity learning: the core process of educational change

“Identity becomes a process of development (Giddens, 1991; Henkel, 2000), which Whitchurch (2008) explains (through reference to Giddens, 1991) as having an ability to mature as the individual interprets, adapts and remodels behaviour.”

“…Søreide, 2006), studies of the formation of teachers’ emotions (Evans, 2002; Zembylas, 2003a, b), and studies of teachers’ praxis (Britzman, 1991; Britzman, 1994; Santoro, 1997; Danielewicz, 2001; Phillips, 2002; Miller Marsh, 2003; Brown & McNamara, 2005; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Alsup, 2006).”

“Students in vocational education need to integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes (Baartman and De Bruijn 2011), while they simultaneously need to develop a professional identity (Achtenhagen and Grubb 2001; Geijsel and Meijers 2005).”

“We have noted that the issue of identity formation and its critical role in the development of professional identity appears as the key factor in such studies of learning as Geijsel and Meijers (2005), who treat the formation of teacher identity as a continuous learning process, where each professional experience is r…”

“To achieve such a learning environment within the dominant educational culture, transformative leadership is essential (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Geijsel, Meijers & Wardekker, 2007).”

“Identity is seen as constructed through a relationship that intertwines the social context, the individual’s interaction with others, and his or her interpretations of these experiences (Day & Gu, 2007; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Sutherland, Howard, & Markauskaite, 2010).”

“When teachers form narratives that do not allow for benefit-finding from adversity, they may in effect doom themselves to randomness and meaninglessness in their professional life (Geijsel and Meijers 2005).”

“Teacher learning, therefore, can and should be conceptualised as teacher identity learning (cf. Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“Professional identity also encompasses moral, emotional and political dimensions, including the teacher's values and interests (Geijsel and Meijers 2005; Hargreaves 1998; Rasku-Puttonen, Eteläpelto, Lehtonen, Nummila and Häkkinen 2004).”

“(Research Journal, 17 June 2010) Constructing an identity, whether on a personal or professional level, inevitably – and perhaps justifiably – involves emotions (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“As part of the process of identity learning, Geijse and Meijers highlight the need for teachers to encounter a “boundary experience”, which provides them an opportunity to reflect on their previously held beliefs [3] (p. 424).”

“…linear process of professional development, but rather one where “becoming” a teacher (Gomez, Black, & Allen, 2007) occurs in the interactions between teachers’ beliefs and values and the educational contexts in which they find themselves (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Walkington, 2005).”

“In order to achieve such a learning environment within the dominant educational culture, transformative leadership is essential (Geijsel and Meijers 2005 ; Geijsel, Meijers, and Wardekker 2007 ).”

“…highlights questions involving teacher formation through training and development, which are connected to the problems of teacher selection and education and to the possibilities of influences on teacher identity (Day, Kington, Stobart, & Sammons, 2006; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Korthagen, 2004).”

“This kind of sense‐making is not only a cognitive process, but also an emotional one (Geijsel and Meijers 2005 ).”

“Identity is also viewed as a powerful factor in teacher commitment, satisfaction and motivation for changing educational, political and social environments at work (Day, Kington, Stobart, & Sammons, 2006; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“…Preservice Teachers’ Program Performance As professional identity is a dynamic process that changes along with the context and teachers’ own growth (Geijsel and Meijers, 2005; Korthagen and Vasalos, 2005), it is essential to clarify its connection to performance at each stage of career…”

“We believe feedback – whether in real-time or delayed – must be both adaptive and repeated in order to capitalize on current theorizations regarding the non-linear nature of acquiring teaching skills (flores & Day, 2006; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“The cyclical relation between psychological processes such as Intuiting and Interpreting-Integrating in the Organizational Learning Framework is comparable with the Identity Construction model of Geijsel and Meijers (2005).”

“Geijsel and Meijers (2005) explain the ways ‘boundary experiences’—experiences of learning or growth, often wrought with conflict, uncertainty, and emotion—play a central role in identity work.”

“Student teachers benefit from having trusting relationships with their mentors and support from family (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“Researchers’ interest in teacher agency is based on studies that teachers’ being active in learning and teaching processes and in school participation can increase student achievement (Geijsel et al. 2003; Geijsel and Meijers 2005; Liu, Hallinger, and Feng 2016; Thoonen et al. 2011).”

“Furthermore, educational change as targeted in teaching development programmes generally involves changes to teachers’ identities (Geijsel and Meijers 2005; Luehmann 2007; McNaughton and Billot 2016).”

“As a dynamic process, professional identity can be changed along with teachers’ growth (Geijsel and Meijers, 2005; Korthagen and Vasalos, 2005).”

“Beijaard (2019) describes teacher learning as identity learning, referring to the Geijsel and Meijers (2005) construct of identity learning, which recognises the relationship between the social and emotional nature of identity learning, as well as the need for strong learning environments for…”

“Identities, roles, and experiences in sustainability integration Our identity is in a constant state of flux; it is an ongoing project emerging from our experiences and context (Billot 2010; Geijsel and Meijers 2005).”

“Here, the school leader can play a crucial role by initiating this discourse or shaping the conditions under which this discourse can take place (Geijsel & Meijers 2005).”

“in line with the study by Hopwood (2010); in this it was shown that agency in social relations can include choices to deepen social relationships, but also to limit the degree of interaction with others.”

“The development of teacher identity can also be described as largely a non-linear process (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“…and to his or her role, but these meanings have contextual nuances and are negotiated in each unique situation, giving rise to multiple situated positions (Akkerman and Meijer 2012; Arvaja 2016; Beijaard, Meijer, and Verloop 2004; Geijsels and Meijers 2005; Van Veen, Sleegers, and Van De Ven 2005).”

“There is less emphasis on the emotional aspects of teaching (Geijsel and Meijers, 2005), and consequently not assisting PSTs to understand and deal with the emotions related to becoming a teacher.”

“When emotions are intense, they create what Geijsel and Meijers (2005) describe as ‘a strong commotion of mind’ (p. 424) that disturbs our thinking and therefore disrupts our learning in general.”

“Methods courses provide opportunities for preservice teachers to define and redefine their sense of self and vision ( Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004 ; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005 ).”

“Given that teachers’ behaviours change when they have made sense of a concept, career guidance needs to be embraced and made sense of to a greater degree (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Runhaar et al., 2009; Savickas, 2011; Vloet & Swet van, 2010).”

“However, contemporary innovation in education places stress on coaching and development so students may become competent citizens in a modern society (Geijsel and Meijers 2005; Van de Werfhorst 2014).”

“…of reflection, the pre-teaching identity is refined as the preservice teachers develop higher understanding of their work as teachers, through the educational experiences in their formal studies in universities and their work in schools (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005).”

“We resonate with the work of Geijsel and Meijers (2005) who argue that learning by teachers can be motivated through a boundary experience: when one ‘‘encounters a situation in which one is unable to function adequately because one cannot fully identify with the new situation and its exigencies’’…”

“Teacher professional identity has been acknowledged as the core process of educational change (Geijsel and Meijers 2005), and teacher learning has been regarded as identity learning (Beijaard 2019).”

“Geijsel and Meijers (2005) describe the learning of teachers during change as processes of both meaning-making and sensemaking.”

“Researchers posit that emotions are one of the factors that influence a teacher's changing identity (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“A common understanding about identity is that institutional or social contexts in which individuals are situated, can reframe their identity trajectory [25].”

“Moreover, when unfamiliar teaching trajectories result in challenges to educators’ established beliefs and philosophies (Geijsel and Meijers 2005) and disharmony between their roles and expectations (Sexton 2008), new positionings inevitably occur.”

“As Geijsel and Meijers (2005) noted, when our identity configuration does not fit the situation we encounter – whether cognitively or emotionally – we need to access discursive resources that give us a ‘good enough’ explanation to restore balance.”

“Identity formation could be understood as an ongoing process of understanding who we are, depending on past, present, and future situations (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“These traits signify that the concept is dynamic, negotiated, dialogical, transitional, ongoing, relational, enacted, and evolving over time [22,39,40].”

“…et al., 2005; Geijsel and Meijers, 2005), beliefs (Day et al., 2005; Drake, 2006), experiences (Drake, 2006; Geijsel and Meijers, 2005) and emotions (Geijsel and Meijers, 2005; Schmidt and Datnow, 2005), which explains the unlimited number of meanings constructed about a particular policy demand.”

“Reculturing is a process of co-creating newmeanings regarding situations of ambiguity and uncertainty on a dialogical basis (Fullan, Cuttress, & Kilcher, 2009; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Geijsel, Meijers, & Wardekker, 2007).”

“Geijsel and Meijers (2005) propose a model of identity learning with both cognitive and affective inputs regarding a new professional situation.”

“Geijsel and Meijers (2005) and Gee (2000), defines professional identity as an identity which is shaped according to the (close and remote) external environment’s perception of the professional and the professional’s self-perception.”

“Theorising on the foundations of teachers’ professional identity, Geijsel and Meijers (2005) argued that creative identity learning is possible by relating social construction and individual sensemaking.”

“These stories that are the enactment of identities are always predicated on teachers as emotional beings – an important related issue that has recently emerged in the literature on PD (Geijsel and Meijers 2005 ; Kelchtermans 2009 ; Reio 2005 ; Zembylas 2007 ).”

“According to Geijsel and Meijers (2005), it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ identities because the issue of identity is directly related to the way teachers carry out their teaching practices and work to meet educational challenges in classrooms and broader school settings.”

“This can be problematic, as students (and nonstudents) tend to believe what has been experienced, especially if it fits with pre-existing personal schemas (Geijsel and Meijers 2005).”

“The “school as career center” can only be a result of inside-out innovation, if only for the reason that teachers and manager need to develop their own, new, professional identity (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“Therefore, we explore the term identity learning (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005) as a construct that contributes to making sense of the formative processes of work placement (Beck & Kosnik, 2000; Mule, 2006; Sorensen, 2014).”

“Vocational Teaching Vocational education needs to teach students to integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes (Baartman & de Bruijn, 2011) whilst simultaneously developing a professional identity (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).”

“Feedback that is adaptive and repeated also capitalises on current theorisations that the acquisition of skills is far from a linear process (Geijsel & Meijers, 2005; Flores & Day, 2006).”