Abstract:

After the reform of teachers’ qualification system, a large number of unprofessionally trained teachers (UTTs) have obtained qualifications through taking exams, becoming an important component of China’s teacher workforce. Due to the lack of specialized teacher education and training, transition to teachers means UTTs need to go through a more complex process of identity construction. This study focuses on the identity construction process of UTTs under the background of “career transition”. Through in-depth interviews with 32 UTTs, a conceptual model was constructed by using grounded theory methods. It has shown that the identity crisis of UTTs stems from the disruption of identical continuity—between pre-established identity and perceived identity after transition. The identity construction process of UTTs involves a negative identity cycle of “self negation-self reinforcement”, forming a unique interaction back and forth, which actually is a protective self presentation for identity exploration and negotiation. Work reshaping is crucial for UTTs to complete their career transition, and it is also the main way to construct their teacher identity. UTTs’ understanding and confirmation of teacher identity is typically work-centered, and tend to associate themselves with schools as purely “workers”.

Key words: unprofessionally trained teachers, career transition, transition to teachers, identity construction