Reconceptualizing Beginning Secondary Teachers’ Adaptation: Identity Formation and Customization Strategies

Purpose: This study redefined teacher adaptation as an active process of identity negotiation rather than passive socialization, exploring how beginning teachers interpret and reconcile mismatches between internalized teacher identity and school role expectations. Methods: Using Pratt et al.’s(2006) identity-customization framework and an adapted Strauss and Corbin(1998) paradigm model, the authors developed a theoretical schema to guide the inquiry. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven secondary novice teachers, and the data were analyzed via a M-GTA approach. Results: Teachers experienced work-identity mismatches that were intensified by multiple job demands and contextual factors. They flexibly employed three identity customization strategies—enriching, patching, and splinting—with strategy shifts often occurring within the same individual. Conclusion: Novice teacher adaptation is a process of actively negotiating and reconstructing identity amid conflicting expectations, highlighting the need for policy approaches that address contextual factors influencing identity formation rather than merely remediating deficits.