Browsing by Subject "omaelämäkerrallinen muisti"

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional identity of teachers through their lifehistorical narratives. The study relied on theories of teacher’s professional identity and autobiographical memory. The study aimed at examining what kind of past life experiences lay the foundation for professional identity from the earliest memories of childhood. Further, the study aimed to examine how teachers describe the appearance of past life experiences in their concurrent professional identity. Thus, the study combines perceptions of time with those of the past, the present, and possibly also the future. The study relied on narrative methods. Narrativity was evident in my research through the research approach, the means of data acquisition, and the analysis. Four teachers working in different fields were selected to participate in the study. Some of the teachers had several years of experience working as a qualified teacher while some had only a short period of work experience from recent years. The data was collected by using semi-structured theme interview where the focus was on themes related to previous life experiences and professional identity. The data was analysed by using the analysis of narratives. Past experiences that lay the foundation for teacher’s professional identity were felt to include experiences related to searching professional direction as well as previous teachers. Further, the appearance of past experiences in the professional identity was experienced through the views of teaching and learning, values, and the basis of teaching and educational work. The study showed the importance of previous life experiences for laying the foundation of teachers’ professional identity but also for how past experiences appears in teachers’ concurrent professional identity.