Drawing the past to envision the future
Supporting the development of primary STEM teacher identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21530742 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M Louise Fitzpatrick (0009-0009-8427-540X, Mary Immaculate College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 533-556 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Irish Educational Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0332-3315 • E-ISSN: 1747-4965 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03323315.2024.2359693 |
| OpenAlex | W4399275799 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 72 |
Growing interest in STEM education and imminent curricular reform places new demands on teachers, giving impetus to re-examining how we prepare primary teachers for more integrated approaches. In addition to the acquisition of knowledge and skills, sustainable change demands the development of teacher identity, in which teachers are seen by themselves and others as STEM teachers. This paper reports on the emerging STEM teacher identities of five preservice primary teachers. Using STEM story-lines as an innovative graphing exercise, participants were prompted to reflect on key events that shaped their journey and share future-oriented narratives through drawing and storytelling, as they negotiated becoming STEM teachers. Findings suggest that although their own school experiences were varied and influential, an integrated STEM intervention was the common turning point in their STEM identity development, whereby participants aligned critical components of STEM with personal experiences and values. The reflective tools used supported identity work, by triggering a rediscovery and reinterpretation of their experiences with the benefit of increased knowledge for teaching STEM and, in turn, provided a means to re-envisage the future
Aesthetics · Art · Mathematics education · Sociology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · Psychology · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
A conceptual framework for integrated STEM education
Beyond ‘what works’
Possible Identities
Studying science teacher identity
STEM education K-12
Assessing teacher education and professional development needs for the implementation of integrated approaches to STEM education
Teacher Education And The Development Of Professional Identity
What Is STEM? A Discussion About Conceptions of STEM in Education and Partnerships
The role of teachers in educational reform
Understanding teacher identity
Thematic Analysis
Teachers’ Perspectives on Achieving an Integrated Curricular Model of Primary STEM Education in Ireland
Trends and exemplary practices of STEM teacher professional development programs in K-12 contexts
Integrated STEM – a step too far in primary education contexts
The prevalence and use of emerging technologies in STEAM education
Collaborative identity development during a global pandemic
Feeling like a student but thinking like a teacher
Examining future-oriented discourse within reflective narratives as professional identity development for student teachers
Thematic Analysis
Possible selves
A review of research on student teachers' professional identity
Teachers’ roles and identities in student-centered classrooms
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis
Anticipatory reflection while learning to teach
How memories of school inform preservice teachers' feared and desired selves as teachers
Reframing one's teaching
How failure shapes teacher identities
Who and how? Preservice teachers as active agents developing professional identities
Changing teaching practices towards explorative mathematics instruction – The interweaving of teacher identity and pedagogical discourse
Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity
Two Decades of Developments in Qualitative Inquiry
Telling Identities
Content Knowledge for Teaching
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |