The Influence of Parenthood and Mature-age on Preservice Teachers' Professional Identity Development and Relationships

Andrew Leichsenring

The professional identity development of six 4th year preservice teachers was the focus of a case study which tracked their progress during professional experience over a year-long period in a school-based immersion pathway in Australia. This qualitative case study used an interpretivist methodology to understand the meaning of the preservice teachers' actions, and their experiences and histories. The theme of Relationships was commonly referred to by the preservice teachers in relation to the shaping of their professional identity development during their participation in professional experience. An unexpected finding of this study was that three of the participants, who were mature-aged university students and parents, indicated that the experience of being a parent helped them to engage with students and parents due to the knowledge and understanding they had of themselves as parents.

International Journal of Management and Applied Science

The IJMAS Journal

3

11

51

54

2394-7926

2394-7926

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20341164

0000-0003-3817-7795