From Reflection to Identity: Investigating Montessori Teachers' Professional Selves
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The main aim of the research is to describe form of professional identity of selected Montessori school teachers in the Czech Republic and try to reflect it in an international context. The research gap appears not only in the absence of local (Czech) research reflecting the professional identity of an alternative school teacher, but it is also based on the assumption that a teacher at Montessori school will be different from a teacher at a common school. Malm (2004) demonstrates the difference in professional identity when examining Montessori teachers in Sweden. Theoretical Framework The concept of teacher's professional identity (Nichols, et al., 2016; Keiler, 2018; Beijaard, et al., 2004) became known to the professional public in the 1990s, and at the turn of the millennium, a number of researches on this topic began to be carried out. Despite the twenty-year tendency to deal with the professional identity of teachers, its definition is still very flexible and ambiguous. If the authors agree on something, then it is the longevity and dynamism of the formation of professional identity, as well as the fact that identity is constantly changing and depends on various factors. Professional identity is closely connected with personal identity and is shaped by the life events of the teacher. For research question, we understand identity as an ever-changing dynamic, (Beijaard, 2004) constructed through life events and constructed socially. Methodology The research use a qualitative design and tries to answer following research question: ”How does a teacher's professional identity manifest itself in communication with students?” The research sample consist of eight teachers from various alternative schools in Brno, Czech Republic, who teach according to the principles of Montessori pedagogy. Reflective interviews were held with each participant based on outcomes of the thematic analysis from previous video-study research. The study observe teachers in a classroom in interaction with students. All interviews were recorded and transcribed and subsequently processed using the open coding method (Strauss & Corbin, 2014). Data obtained through semistructured interviews were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). It focuses on a detailed examination of individual’s lived experiences. IPA allows, as far as possible, the experience to be expressed in terms of the informant's own words, which gives it its own meaning (Smith, et al. 2009). It should be an experience that shapes the identity. Preliminary Findings Based on the thematic analysis of previous research stage and first stage of coding and analyzing data, strong categories that defines professional identity emerged. The multiplicity of professional identity shows two main phenomena so far: freedom and respect. Both of them interacts with each other and can be seen in various layers linking to social environment and personal self of each teacher within the research. |
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