Socialization as Humanization: One Side of Becoming a Teacher

This paper examines factors that contribute to changes in teachers over time and the meanings that teachers attach to such factors. Intensive case studies were conducted over a period offour years in two U.S. high schools, one in the Northeast, the other in the Southeast. Unstructured interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and observations were used to collect data from teachers in each school. Approximately 400 hours were spent in each school. Analyses of the data indicated, among other things, that students have a humanizing effect on teachers. This paper discusses these data in terms of Turner's (1956, 1971, 1978) theoretical discussion of self.