Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2658-4270

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies

Committee Chair

Audra Slocum

Committee Co-Chair

Sharon Hayes

Committee Member

Denise Lindstrom

Committee Member

Melissa Sherfinski

Abstract

This study centers on one first-year Social Studies teacher who is beginning her teaching career in a rural middle school in central Appalachia. Grounded in sociocultural theory, this qualitative study focuses understanding how the focal teacher discursively constructs her teaching identity including how she makes use of sociocultural resources, social practices, and the discourses she draws from as she describes her experiences. Data is drawn from a five-month interpretive qualitative case study that included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and the focal teacher’s personal journals. Data analysis indicated that place is crucial in shaping teachers’ beliefs and practices—including their conceptions of race and how this is handled in classrooms and how place deeply impacts professional identity development. This study suggests that teacher education programs need to purposefully provide educators with courses that prepare teachers to handle highly politicized topics in their classrooms—such as race and gender. Further, pre-service teachers need to have guidance in understanding the backgrounds and perspectives they bring to teaching including being pushed to challenge deficit perspectives, engage in discussions regarding race, poverty, rurality, and become trauma responsive/informed in the context of rural education. Finally, social media has emerged as a key place in early-career teachers’ identity development. This being the case, pre-service and early-career teachers need to learn to intentionally use social media in local contexts. This study also points to the importance of induction programs for new teachers in order to assist in bridging their teacher education preparation with real-world teaching.

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