A Novice Teacher’s Professional Identity Development:a Qualitative Case Study

Despite the fact that many studies have been done to explore teachers’ development, there is still a lack of studies on novice teachers’development, especially in the field of their professional identity development. And among the studies on novice teachers’identity development, few have focused specifically on novice teachers from extracurricular schools. This study fills the gap and delves into a novice teacher’s professional identity development by examining how one novice teacher from one extracurricular school in Beijing shaped her professional identity in her teaching practice. The main purpose of the research is to find out what changes take place in the novice teacher’s professional identity and what factors contribute to such changes, in hope of providing good solutions for novice teachers’development. Research questions are mainly about what changes have taken place in the novice teacher’s professional identity, and what factors contributed to such changes. For half a year, I collected the data via means of interviews and surveys, diaries, and field observation. The findings of the research show that the novice teacher’s professional identity has changed in terms of subject matter (English), pedagogical content knowledge, her attitude towards students and cognitive improvement on teaching profession. The novice teacher’s professional identity has thus changed from a "pusher" to a "supporter" in general. The findings show that two most important reasons for this change are the institutional context of the extracurricular school and the novice teacher’s prior experience. Teacher educators should pay more attention to this field in their future research.