Browsing by Author "Vuojolainen, Jenna"

Teachers' professional identity is based on five different levels: One's history of life and hopes for the future, Professionalism, Objectives, commitments and interests, Morals and ethics and Perceptions about learning and teaching. In this study, Social interaction has also been relevant for professional identity. This study investigated elementary school teachers' perceptions of their professional identity, aiming to understand how these five levels of professional identity exist. The goal was also to find how Social interaction has affected professional identity. This study was conducted as qualitative research; the subjects were 11 elementary school teachers. The material was collected by semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Data were analysed using theoretical and content analysis. In this study, all the levels of professional identity existed. Teachers' own experiences related to their childhood teachers and remembering themselves as pupils, all of which shaped their professional identity. Teacher education also influenced teachers' professional identity. There were several reasons teachers chose their profession. In the future teachers wanted to develop themselves. There were also certain things that teachers needed to know how to cope with in their work, that is, professionalism consisted of certain factors. Indeed, teaching included positive and negative aspects. In the beginning of their career, teachers felt like novices and that they lacked competence. Their professional agency emerged when teachers felt that they had possibilities of influencing their work. Teachers' interviews represented a mostly pedagogical orientation, which was seen as a part of Objectives, commitments and interests. Teachers considered education and themselves as significant for children, and teachers also thought about their perceptions regarding teaching and learning. The social context of the workplace shaped their professional identity; for example, the support of colleagues was significant.