Creating professional identity: Dilemmas and metaphors of a first-year chemistry teacher

Through a hermeneutic phenomenological research perspective, the teaching journal of a first year chemistry teacher was examined to address the question: What is the nature of creating a professional identity of science teacher? We describe three dilemmas the teacher experienced, the metaphors she created, and the identity she constructed. The three dilemmas included: feeling like a student versus the expectation to act like an adult; wanting to care for students versus the expectation to be tough; and feeling incompetent in knowledge of chemistry versus the expectation to be an expert. As each dilemma was addressed, the teacher created a metaphor that integrated the teacher she wanted to be and the job she thought others expected her to do. Metaphors provided images that integrated her personal identity with her emerging professional identity. Implications for teacher education are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 82:293–310, 1998.