Abstract
On the basis of Dialogical Self Theory this chapter explores how 14 teachers at Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and Belgium construct their identity within the context of the European education system. The research question was: ‘How do teachers construct their identity in the midst of contextual demarcations and educational change?’ Data was gathered by means of a web-based questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.This research provides an insight into how teachers construct their unique dynamic composition of positions. Three compositional patterns could be distinguished. In the first place, they exhibit a strong tendency to personalize the job. Secondly, these teachers see themselves as pedagogical mediators. They select information from sources of knowledge, assemble a curriculum and guide the learning process of their students. In this sample they are not involved in knowledge creation. Thirdly, teachers use different dialogical patterns to deal with tension and pressure.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alexander, C. (1977). A pattern language: towns, buildings, construction. Berkeley: The Centre for Environmental Structure.
Alsup, J. (2008). Teacher identity discourses: negotiating personal and professional spaces. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bologna Process. (2009). National Report 2007–2009. Retrieved from http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/Documents/National_Report_TheNetherlands_2009.pdf
Cardelle-Elawar, M., Erwin, L., Luisa Sanz, M., & Lizarraga, A. (2007). A cross cultural analysis of motivational factors that influence teacher identity. Electronic Journal in Educational Psychology, N. 13. 5(3), 565–592.
Coonen, H. (2005). De leraar in de kennissamenleving. Beschouwingen over een nieuwe professionele identiteit van de leraar, de innovatie van de lerarenopleiding en het management van de onderwijsvernieuwing. Leuven-Apeldoorn: Garant.
Dutch Government. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.voion.nl/downloads/ae58a97f-c569-4ebd-9344-29539f80284b
Gergen, K. (2015). An invitation to social construction. London: Sage.
Hermans, H. (2001a). The dialogical self: toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning. Culture & Psychology, 7, 243–281.
Hermans, H. (2001b). The construction of a personal position repertoire: method and practice. Culture & Psychology, Special Issue: Culture and the Dialogical Self: Theory, Method and Practice, 7, 323–365.
Hermans, H., & Hermans-Konopka, A. (2010). Dialogical self theory: positioning and counter-positioning in a globalizing society. Cambridge: University Press.
Krotifil, J. (2013). Religion, migration, and the dialogical self: new application of the personal position repertoire method. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 26, 90–103.
Mahoney, M., & Lyddon, W. (1988). Recent developments in cognitive approaches to counseling and psychotherapy. Counseling Psychologist, 16(2), 190–234.
Smylie, M. (1999). Teacher stress in time of reform. In R. Vandenberghe & M. Huberman (Eds.), Understanding and preventing teacher burnout: a sourcebook of international research and practice (p. 24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vandamme, R. (2014). Teacher Identity. How teachers construct their identity in Higher Professional Education. A grounded theory study based on dialogical self theory and pattern language. E-book. Ghent: Coachingbooks.net. ISBN: 9789490384135
Vettin, J., & Todt, D. (2004). Laughter in conversation: features of occurrence and acoustic structure. Journal of Nonverbal Behaviour. June, 28(2), 93–115.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vandamme, R. (2018). Teacher Identity as a Dialogical Construction. In: Meijers, F., Hermans, H. (eds) The Dialogical Self Theory in Education. Cultural Psychology of Education, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62861-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62861-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62860-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62861-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)