Title: Exploring the professional identities of pre-service teachers' studying at the University of Ghana

Authors: Ernest Ampadu; Paul Kwame Butakor; Samuel Amponsah; Rita Yeboah

Addresses: Department of Teacher Education, School of Education and Leadership, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 1181, Accra, Ghana ' Department of Teacher Education, School of Education and Leadership, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 1181, Accra, Ghana ' Department of Adult Education and Human Resource Management, University of Ghana, Ghana ' Department of Teacher Education, School of Education and Leadership, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 1181, Accra, Ghana

Abstract: The success of any educational system depends on how it is organised and the extent to which the stakeholders especially teachers accept and own it. The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service teachers' (N = 58) professional identities using a qualitative approach where teachers were asked to produce a pen portrait of the perceived identities using open-ended questionnaires and drawings. The result from this study shows that the individual teacher's personal characteristics are paramount in shaping his/her personal identity. Teachers in our study generally described themselves as teachers who are working hard to help learners understand themselves and provide effective learning opportunities for students to excel and develop inherent capabilities. It is a great asset to have teachers who see themselves as agents of change rather than custodians of knowledge. It is important to have reflective dialogues with teachers to understand these personal characteristics that shape their identities.

Keywords: teacher; identity; professional; quality; reflective practitioners; development; reflective dialogue; education; pre-service; dialogues.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2021.111655

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2021 Vol.12 No.1, pp.27 - 44

Received: 15 May 2019
Accepted: 28 Feb 2020
Published online: 07 Dec 2020 *

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