Identities of Teacher Educators in Higher Education: A Literature Review

Studies on TES from 2000 to 2019

There are two main dynamic centres publishing articles with TE-related themes: the United States and the United Kingdom, followed by the Netherlands and Israel (table 1).

Table 1: Number of publications per country

Note. ^a Spain (1), Norway (1), Ethiopia (2), Sweden (4), Brazil (2), Austria (1), Taiwan (1), Philippines (1), Malaysia (3), Singapore (1), Portugal (1), Belgium (2), Saudi Arabia (1), Fiji Islands (2), Finland (1), Pakistan (1), Ukraine (1), Serbia (2), China (1)

Source: Authors' own elaboration.

After organizing the articles according to publication dates and to the countries of the first authors it was possible to identify a considerable increase in the number of studies on TES published between 2006 and 2010. This increase is most clear in the United States and in the United Kingdom. On the contrary, in the Netherlands a significant decrease in the number of publications was identified between the years 2011 and 2015.

Table 2: Number of articles per country and period of publication

Note. ^a Spain, Norway, Ethiopia, Sweden, Brazil, Austria, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Portugal, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Fiji Islands, Finland, Pakistan, Ukraine, Serbia, China

Source: Authors' own elaboration.

Table 3 presents the number of articles related to each theme and their respective publication date. Once again, it is possible to conclude that the number of published articles has generally been growing exponentially during the second half of the first decade of the twenty-first century. The total number of publications per theme shows a predominance of Professional Development-related articles, followed by those within the "Practices and Knowledge" theme.

Table 3: Number of articles per theme and period of publication

Source: Authors' own elaboration.

The professional development of TES

Professional development is a complex process, requiring cognitive and emotional investment, as well as individual, collective, and social involvement. It takes place in both formal and informal contexts, inside and outside teaching spaces, being that it happens not at a specific or certain period of time but, rather, throughout an entire teaching career (Avalos, 2011; Barak et al., 2010; Brody & Hadar, 2011; Marcelo, 2009; Richter et al., 2011; Zhu, 2010). It is a holistic process, intertwined with teachers' lives. The main issues are not only epistemological in nature, but also ontological, considering who the educators should be and what sort of identities they are developing. Furthermore, professional development is a horizontal process of growth, of understanding and expanding knowledge, not a vertical process of increasing and accumulating knowledge (Barak et al., 2010). In this sense, it is synonymous with professional learning.

Generally, the number of studies devoted to issues related to professional development has increased (Barak et al., 2010; Brody & Hadar, 2011; Freidus et al., 2009; et al., 2011; Smith, 2003), especially in the field of TES (table 3).

Table 4 focuses on professional development, taking into consideration the publication dates of the articles, the geographical origin of the first author, and the sub-themes that were identified: Professional identities of TES; Career induction of TES; Preparation of TE; General aspects; and Articulating teaching and research.

Table 4: Number of articles per theme and period of publication

Source: Authors' own elaboration.

The sub-theme "General aspects" comprises articles dealing with TES' professional development in a general way. "TES' preparation" consists of articles discussing curricula, syllabi, and projects aiming to prepare and assist TES at the onset of their careers when they are teaching. "TES' career induction" comprises articles dealing with issues specifically connected with the process of becoming a TE. "Articulating teaching and research" includes articles dealing with the articulation between the roles of teacher and researcher, both tasks expected to be performed by TES in the context of higher education. The sub-theme "TES' professional identities" is composed of articles discussing the constitution of TES' identity. The next section analyses the twenty-four articles that comprise this sub-theme.

TES' Professional Identities

The professional development of TES is especially related to their professional identities, to the ways TES define themselves and others, and to the ways they are defined by others. The professional self is formed in a continuum, influenced by work and socio-political contexts, as well as by the individual's own biography-where personal commitment, availability to learn and teach, beliefs, values, knowledge of one's specific subject discipline, and one's relationships with colleagues, students and society are inscribed (Day, 2012; Day et al., 2006; Marcelo, 2009). The constitution of a professional identity results from the systematic interaction between political, cultural, social and institutional scenarios, and personal beliefs, wishes and fears (Day, 2012; Lopes, 2009; Lopes & Pereira, 2012).

The global analysis of the articles addressing this sub-theme led to organize them according to four thematic axes:

• » From schoolteacher to TE: the articles discuss the process of becoming a teacher in higher education, after vast experience as a schoolteacher.

• » TES and research: these papers focus on the relation TES establish with the research role as teachers in a career in higher education.

• » TES in a context of change: these texts analyse the development of TES' professional identities in the context of changes at macro level, challenging the teaching profession.

• » TES and interactive processes, connected mainly with situated relational processes influencing professional identity formation.

From schoolteacher to TE

Regarding the concepts of professional identity and the main authors inspiring the argument in this set of articles, there are two clear views. The first one is mainly based on E. Wenger (1998) and on the concept of communities of practice in the perspective of the development of professional identities (Boyd, 2010; Boyd & Harris, 2010; McKeon & Harrison, 2010; Swennen et al., 2008). The second one is based on the idea of professional identity as a process of socialization as described by Day (2004, 2012), Nias (1981, 1989), and Merton (1968) (eg. Field, 2012; Murray & Male, 2005; Murray et al., 2011; Timmerman, 2009). The transition of schoolteachers to higher education can be seen as a "state of becoming". They reconstruct their identities in the context of their activities at the new workplace. The adjustment process demands the existence of "models" provided by a community with "paradigmatic trajectories", represented by the more experienced members of a department, who establish the possibilities for the new educators to develop their own professional identity. The exposure to such paradigmatic trajectories can be the most influential learning factor for newcomers, providing a proposal of identity (Boyd, 2010; Boyd & Harris, 2010).

The workplace is a place where communities of practice are developed, and a significant context to foster professional identities (McKeon & Harrison, 2010; Swennen et al., 2008, 2010). Swennen et al. (2008, 2010), add to Wenger's contribution on communities of practice the view of a "metaphorical world", as described by Holland et al. (1998). According to these authors, each individual lives in several worlds, more or less separated and socially and culturally constructed, which include family, groups of friends, and school or professional organization, and thus implicate biographical data. Professional identity (constantly in motion) is a mixture of personal biography, culture, and social influence, as well as institutional values that may change according to roles and circumstances (Field, 2012; Murray & Male, 2005; Murray et al., 2011).

The aforementioned studies are based on a concept of professional identity strictly connected with practice, experience, and professional learning. The importance of the context of professional performance and the workplace, basically represented by communities of practice (where more experienced colleagues perform an important role) is therefore emphasized (Boyd, 2010; Boyd & Harris, 2010; McKeon & Harrison, 2010), as well as the general processes of socialization in the context of professional performance (Field, 2012; Murray & Male, 2005; Murray et al., 2011; Swennen et al., 2008; Timmerman, 2009). Nonetheless, the contextual dimension is seen as a place for the development of professional identities in transition, requiring the biographical dimension of the self. In line with the identity process described by Dubar (1995), these articles-albeit focusing on the relational transaction, in order to show how one can contribute to the promotion of the development of identity-invest in an idea of identity centred on biographical transition, i.e., on identity as personal trajectory.

The main conclusion of these studies is that the professional identities of teachers who are starting their careers in higher education -and who had previous well-defined identities when they were working at other levels of education- face a number of challenges and tensions of a diverse nature, especially concerning the process of adapting older identities to new ones. The transition is challenging and confusing, as it deals with issues such as what a teacher should be, the value of abstract knowledge in comparison with work based on practice, the development of a specific pedagogy related to teaching in higher education, and active participation in research (Boyd, 2010; Boyd & Harris, 2010; Field, 2012; Murray & Male, 2005). In general, it seems like TES, instead of adopting new identities as professional academics -as is often encouraged by the departments to which they belong-, tend to maintain their identities as schoolteachers, mainly due to the lack of efficient induction programs (Boyd, 2010; Boyd & Harris, 2010; Boyd et al., 2010).

McKeon and Harrison (2010) also make reference to a conflict in the formation of educators' identities regarding the transition from schools to higher education institutions. This study indicates that these teachers are at the same time beginners and experts, and are exposed to high expectations on the part of their colleagues in regard to their work. The identities of TES as schoolteachers are clearly moulded by their personal biographies and personalities, as well as by the experiences they lived in their former workplaces. This informs the educators' identities and tends to influence them to reach particular conclusions, participate in a number of activities, make certain specific choices, and value certain experiences. It is important to facilitate the process of their engagement in specific projects; and to assist them in their access to communities of practice while negotiating their new role.

The study by Swennen et al. (2008) identifies professional identities initially connected with the development of a set of knowledge and skills indispensable to TES' work through teaching experience. As time goes by, TES get more and more involved in the development of their education institute and start seeking professional development activities outside their institution. They become more experienced by taking part in TE networks and by working with colleagues at other institutes. McKeon and Harrison (2010) -who agree with Wenger (1998) in this matter- have also identified a "logic of adhesion", i.e., a process of conciliation between their identities and various forms of participation in different communities. Timmerman (2009) identifies in TES some resemblances to the models of high school teachers. However, such models are eventually replaced by the TES' personal characteristics, developed during their professional career.

In sum, identity -frequently presented as "once upon a time, there was an elementary school teacher"- suffers changes with the start of a new career in the university, giving rise to a reconstruction in accordance with the new experience as a TE, and also with the commitment to research. This process, as will be discussed in the next section, is not always immune to being confronted by resistance (Field, 2012; Murray et al., 2011).

TES and research

The articles included in this axis focus on how TES deal with research as a constitutive element of a TE'S identity, an issue connected with the new demands of the teaching role in higher education (Robinson & McMillan, 2006), and to the context of teaching reforms (Chetty & Lubben, 2010).

"Who am I in the present circumstances?" and "What defines me as a TE here and now?" are questions present in the discussion about identities in the study by Chetty and Lubben (2010). In order to answer these questions, these authors resort mainly to Gee (2000), Stryker (1997), and Stryker and Serpe (1994), and to their theories on "situated identities" and "relevant identities." Identity is seen as socially constructed, in a process comprising tensions between different identities in contexts of change. The existence of opposing identities triggers the more relevant ones. This happens through the internal desire to attribute familiarity and meaning to the new identity and through external conditions that lower the social and personal cost implied in the process of giving up previous identities.

The identities that TES build for themselves are crucial in order to achieve innovation in a changing environment. In reference to Welmond (2002), Robinson and McMillan (2006) state that TES take their preferences and ambitions with them through the processes of change. They also claim that the juxtaposition of different views on educators concerning the role they are expected to fulfil has serious consequences when implementing changes.

These research studies seem to lead to a greater emphasis on identity constructions originated by working contexts. These contexts are now perceived as "situations", i.e., as sources of identification and decisive attribution in processes of acknowledgment. These studies focus -more than the ones in the previous axis- on the interaction between people and contexts. In order to expand on the development of identity, synchronicity -multiple identities, often competing in the same situation- is the focus, not diachronic sequences of situations/contexts in time as found in the previously analysed dimension. The incorporation of the research role in current identities is a good example of this process.

Findings indicate that institutional policies or deliberated changes are not enough to draw the educators' attention to the importance of research. Thus, any process of change needs to consider TES' attitudes and motivations (Chetty & Lubben, 2010; Robinson & McMillan, 2010). The majority of educators consider teaching and research as dichotomous elements, and research activities are seen as a way to satisfy institutional requirements for the acquisition of financial support and to produce publications (Chetty & Lubben, 2010), not as means for professional development.

Robinson and McMillan (2010) found evidence that, contradicting speeches in favour of the constitution of researcher identities, educators often prefer to maintain their identity as teachers, which does not necessarily contradict an identity of researcher-educator. They put forth the idea that research and reflection can be vital elements in TES' development processes, allowing them to become capable of questioning their own subjects, the political frames in which they are inserted, and the complex social conditions of education. In other words, educators who acquire a more profound knowledge of their students and their workplace through research and reflection can contribute, in a sustained and significant way, to the production of knowledge related to education as a whole, and in particular to producing knowledge regarding teaching and learning processes.

TES in a context of change

The first aspect to be analysed in these articles refers to the types of contexts of change regarded as playing a role in the discussions about professional identities. To Clandinin et al. (2009), change is to be understood in terms of transformations in the educational landscape that occur as a result of globalization, processes of migration, economic inequality, and environmental changes. Day (2004), Jephcote and Salisbury (2009), Yuan (2016), and Vloet and van Swet (2010) studied changes that occurred in social, economic, and political contexts. The changes that occur in the professional field of teaching associated with identity are also discussed by Day (2004), Doecke (2004), and Vloet and van Swet (2010).

The concept of identity in Clandinin et al. (2009) comprises both personal and social aspects and is intimately connected with knowledge; it results from the dialectics between the teachers' personal knowledge and their social contexts. For these authors, the stories told by teachers provide information on who they are and on which direction they are growing towards as teachers, taking into consideration their individual lives, which are made up of multiple plots. Stories lived by teachers in the context of unstable educational landscapes configure their knowledge and identity. Vloet and van Swet (2010) discuss the constitution of identities in a similar perspective. These authors perceive the formation of identities, from both a psychological and social perspective, as a dynamic process where professionals interpret and reinterpret their biographical experiences and their significant practices through interaction with context. The authors also acknowledge the existence of sub-identities that can be more or less in harmony with each other and highlight the need to consider emotions as being as important as -or even more important than- cognitive aspects.

The mobilization of identities in response to larger contextual changes occurs along the space of "structure", i.e., relations of power and status, and the space of "action" (agency). The connection between teachers' private lives and the personal and biographical aspects of their careers, as well as the ways in which those elements intersect, constitute their thoughts, professional actions, and identities (Day, 2004; Jephcote & Salisbury, 2009; Yuan, 2016). Connected with the concept of identity is self-efficiency and, associated with it, commitment (Day, 2004). Reflections on teaching -which involves intellect, action and emotion- cannot be restricted to the classroom, especially in a context of relevant change. This idea leads Day to Sachs (2003) and to the distinction she makes between the entrepreneurial professional identity and the activist professional identity. The entrepreneurial professional identity is associated with efficiency and with compliance to what has been externally imposed. It is an individualistic, competitive, controlling, and regulating identity. The activist identity is guided by the teachers' convictions and by the mobilization of their best interests to improve the students' learning process and the conditions in which it occurs.

In this set of articles, the issue of identities is discussed (more so than in the other groups) regarding a broader social and political context (macro level). Thus, the concepts of identity presented refer not only to identities induced by that context -entrepreneurial identities-, but also to ways of resisting those policies- like Sachs' (2001) activist identity. AS such, the development of the educators' identities is linked to their perception of the teaching profession, of its specificities (such as the feeling of self-efficiency, emotion, and commitment) and of professionalism, this analysis revealing a clear political position. The need to study identities according to narrative processes is present in all the articles, the method itself being regarded as a way of resistance.

To Clandinin et al. (2009), TES have the responsibility to pay attention to the changes that may occur in the educational landscape in order to work with future teachers and create spaces for a change of practices, such as collaborative communities of research, learning communities, and spaces for self-study. These are relational, temporal, imaginative spaces, historically described. They are spaces for research, capable of promoting networks to assist teachers working in contexts of change. In their study, Vloet and van Swet (2010) assert the efficiency of biographical narratives as a way to absorb the complex dynamics entailed in the formation of professional identities. To these authors, the significant experiences of educators can be portrayed in a systematic way, by using identity components such as motivation during work, perceptions and feelings about one's role, self-image and feelings about oneself.

At the core of Day's arguments is a defence of the development of an activist identity. According to the author, more important than the new demands made of teachers (and consequently, of TES) present in several documents, which suggest specific patterns, is the need for educators to create a passionate engagement with their job. In other words, they must keep a continuous commitment, always do their best, and also understand teacher education as a moral enterprise. To the author, the best teachers are the ones with a higher level of intellectual and moral commitment, not only toward their fields of knowledge, but also toward their students and their context. Jephcote and Salisbury (2009) (who also focus on the issue of the new demands presented to TES, especially in terms of performance pressure) advance the idea that the changes implicated in this process destabilize the educators' work, even if they remain committed to satisfying their students' needs and interests. Therefore, if, on the one hand, educators are increasingly victims of established patterns and norms, on the other hand, they are agents in the process of constructing their professional identity in a more significant way, especially regarding their students' needs and interests. As such, classroom interactions can (to the vast majority of educators) be crucial for the construction and reconstruction of professional identities (Jephcote & Salisbury, 2009).

Summarizing, the studies in this axis that include the element of "change" share, in methodological terms, the same narrative perspective and highlight collaborative spaces, an intellectual and moral commitment, a commitment towards students and the narrative-biographical process as important elements in the construction of professional identities and teachers' professionalism.

TES and interactive processes

Ben-Peretz et al. (2010) and Niesz (2010) look to Sachs (2001) and Wenger (1998) in order to discuss the dynamics of the formation of professional identities as a relevant element in TES' professional development processes. The authors highlight two dimensions: identity constructed in relation to the participation in communities of practice, and identity as a learning trajectory, in accordance with the idea of a close connection between identity and practice (Wenger, 1998). In Sachs, the authors look for arguments to prove the importance of self-narratives and participation in communities of practice as privileged strategies to develop the professional identities of TES. Swennen et al. (2010), in a similar and complementary approach, quote the conception of professional identity as described by Holland et al. (1998). It is a conception of identities as socially constructed selves that manifest themselves in "figurative worlds". The authors associate this idea with the notion of communities of practice defined by Wenger (1998).

The analytical model developed by Gee (2000) serves as theoretical support for the analysis conducted by Dinkelman (2011). According to that model, identities can be seen in relation to four intersecting perspectives, namely, the nature perspective (identity emerging from forces of nature), the institutional perspective (identity set by authorities within an institution), the discursive perspective (identity defined by practices and dialogue with others), and the affinity perspective (identity related to loyalty toward group affiliation perspectives). In his self-study, Dinkelman (2011) emphasizes the importance of the discursive and affinity perspectives to discuss the construction of his own professional identity.

These studies, despite focusing on different subjects -programs for professional development and the identification of sub-identities within literature on TES- present a common perspective on professional identities. This common element is the vital role of the communities of practice and of the relationships established with those involved in the teacher education context. This way, emphasis is placed on the relational dimension of identity construction. Other studies also highlight, within this theoretical frame, the discursive and the affinity perspectives: they include issues related to practice, to dialogue with colleagues, and to affiliations with different communities of practice.

From the conceptual point of view, this set of articles gathers aspects that are also considered in those included in the first and second axes of analysis. However, they do not mention the identity transition from being a teacher to being a TE and a researcher. They offer a much more general approach to the communicational conditions that promote the development of identities. For that reason, in this group of articles, the goal of identity formation is mainly focused on the micro and meso levels of the promotion of professional development.

The Ben-Peretz et al. (2010) research study results in arguments favorable to the promotion of professional identities in communities of practice, regarded as spaces for learning and sharing experiences. There are no references to specific TES' identities. Dinkelman (2011) also recognizes the importance of communities of practice by highlighting -in his own experience- the conceptual characteristics of the TE program, which he considers a structural aspect. In his trajectory, the author underlines the construction of a professional identity when teaching is associated with research. This association is shaped by externally established teaching patterns, by relations of acknowledgment, and by collaboration with colleagues and student teachers.