Becoming a Mathematics Teacher: The Role of Professional Identity (original) (raw)

2017, The International Journal of Progressive Education

Teachers' pedagogical practice and choices for their actions could not only be explained by their knowledge, beliefs or attitudes (Rodgers & Scott, 2008). Identity also has a crucial role in learning to teach. The aim of this study is to investigate contextual nature of preservice mathematics teachers’ professional identities. For this aim, a case study was designed. Participants are three preservice mathematics teachers in a state university in Turkey. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Pre-interviews were conducted in the beginning of the data collection process. Participants were asked questions about why they chose teaching as a profession. During the following ten weeks, preservice teachers participated in activities such as teaching in real classroom settings, interviewing pupils, mathematics teachers and school administrators. Following these activities, post-interviews were conducted. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. The ...