Заједница наставничког јаства: нова метафора за разумевање професионалног идентитета наставника

Abstract

The research presented in this paper dealt with the teacher professional identity from the perspective of a heuristic model of the community of self. The idea was to consider the teachers’ perception of the self as the community of different roles which enter various mutual relationships. This approach enables us to observe the complexity and conflicts of the teacher identity, as well as its analysis within the context of the teachers’ everyday practice and the teacher’s personal meanings. The research included the case studies of three teachers, at primary school, secondary school and university, who are at different stages of their careers. The data for the case studies were collected by the interviews, where the teachers were asked to create their impression of themselves through the metaphor of the community of self. The case studies showed that the teacheri dentity has been fragmented as a response to the challenges, such as difficulties to harmonize the need to maintain the teacher’s authority with attracting the students’ attention, to adjust planning and professional improvisation or the challenge to maintain control in class and, at the same time, let the initiative to the students. In addition, the findings indicate that the professional development of the community of teacher self is going towards the creation of a role that has a coordinating function in relation to the other roles