Reconstruction of Teacher’s Professional Identity. A View From the School Counselors and Principals

Abstract

The article presents results from a research R&D project, subsidized by the Ministry of Education and currently being carried out in Spain. It discusses the identity crisis that affects teachers during times of change and how their identity can be rebuilt in the aftermath. The goal is to understand the key objectives that help guide the development of strategies implented by guidance counselors and principals to reconstruct the professional identity of teachers and to enhance cultural change in educational institutions, all in hopes of improving learning outcomes and sustaining a qualitative improvement. It also uses a multicase study methodology that combines data from interviews with principals, teachers and counselors from different schools and institutes of higher education. Finally, the investigation emphasizes the value of the collective and internal processes of self-understanding as a relevant means to generate knowledge and to promote the reconstruction of the professional identity.