Turbulence throughout teacher education: a case study of negotiating teacher identity

Becoming a teacher is a tricky road paved with struggles. The purpose of this reconstructive educational case study is to exemplify the complex construction of teacher identity by following the five-year journey of one student teacher in the process of qualifying as a primary schoolteacher in Finland. With the heuristic analysis of longitudinal thematic narrative interviews in the frame of Dialogical Self Theory (DST), the key results of the study make a substantial contribution by illustrating how struggles are entrenched in various I-positions of teacher identity. According to our results, we conclude that four I-positions should be carefully supported in teacher education: I as a person, I as a foreigner, I as an academic student and I as a teacher. The role of teacher education in supporting student teachers in this respect is discussed in light of the results.