Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to explore two sophomore pre-service teachers’ processes of professional orientation in the same teacher education program in the US with emphasis on their identity construction. The pre-services teachers were asked to reflect on their “identity” and articulate “who they are” as becoming teachers in semi-structured interviews and narrative writing about their metaphors for teaching. Using a narrative inquiry approach, their identity construction process was first examined in light of their life experiences prior to entering the teacher education program, including childhood experiences, early teacher role models, previous teaching experiences, and important people or experiences that affected their choice of a teaching career. Initial findings reveal that the same pre-service teacher education program had a different impact on each student teacher. Their previous life experiences, their early beliefs about teaching, their initial motivations, and their experiences in their teacher education program all influenced their adaptation to the teaching profession.

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