Share Paper: Assessing Pre-Service Teachers' Professional Identify Formation: Visually Representing the Teacher Self through Drawings

1. Sara McNeil, University of Houston, United States
2. Susie Gronseth, University of Houston, United States
3. Haoyue Zhang, University of Houston, United States

Abstract: An objective of teacher preparation programs is progressive development and refinement of students’ professional identities within the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to make visible the mental models that pre-service teachers possess about their teacher identity and beliefs about teaching. The study draws from identity theory and the Generative Theory of Drawing Construction. Data consisted of single-page drawings created by pre-service teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at an American university at the beginning of the program and then approximately eighteen months later at program completion. Twenty-five matched pairs (N=50) of the pre- and post-program drawings ...