The other in the self: Mentoring relationships and adaptive dynamics in preservice teacher identity construction. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henry, Alastair; Mollstedt, Maria
• Is Part Of: Learning, culture and social interaction. Volume 31(2021)Part A
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Teacher identity -- Mentoring -- School placements -- Dialogical self -- Internally persuasive borderland discourse; Learning -- Periodicals; Learning -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Teaching -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Social interaction -- Periodicals; 370.152305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lcsi.2021.100568
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6561

Abstract

Abstract: Mentors play a crucial role in preservice teachers' (PTs) professional development. Identity construction has not however been examined in the context of specific mentoring relationships, or as a process in motion. Drawing on the theory of the Dialogical Self, and its notion of dialogically constituted identities (I-positions), this case study explores PT identity construction and adaptive dynamics in two mentoring relationships. Identity narratives created during a five-week school placement are examined. Results show how, in a mentoring relationship, an internal I-position referencing a particular teaching identity is constructed in relation to an external I-position representing the PT's mentor. They demonstrate how a shift between teaching identities (internal I-positions) can be understood as a response to a perspective 'voiced' by an external position. Findings suggest that, in mentoring contexts, identity needs to be understood as constructed in interactions between self and other within a dynamically shifting relationship. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image Highlights: Identity construction in mentoring relationships was examined. Using Dialogical Self Theory, I-positions were identified. Internal I-positions were constructed in relation to external I-positions. Shifts were traceable to changes in perspective voiced by an external I-position. In mentoring relationships, the question 'who is she as a teacher?' is important.