This case study explored the formation process of professional teacher identity among six fourth-year teacher training students through their participation in a one-year internship program at a school. The concept of identity shares common characteristics: it is dynamic, multidimensional, and changes over time through the adjustment of internal and external factors in an individual's daily life. This adjustment of concepts, ideas, theories, and experiences creates a shared narrative of teacher identity formation among the participating teacher training students.
The use of interpretive epistemology in this study was considered to encompass not only understanding meaning from human behavior but also considering their experiences and history. For example, teacher training students bring their past experiences as members of previous school communities—namely, their student days, their experiences as teacher training students during previous internships, or their previous work history—into their current situation. Understanding the past backgrounds and experiences of teacher training students allows for a deeper analysis of their identity formation than would be possible by considering only their daily experiences. Case studies are particularly effective in grasping the overall picture by providing a multifaceted perspective on specific socio-cultural situations. The case study design offers flexibility, allowing researchers to choose themes and freely define the scope of the research topic. To date, numerous studies have specifically explored the identity formation of teacher training students through a one-year intensive training program.
Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and postings to a private online forum at multiple data collection points: at the beginning, midway, and end of the intensive training program. Semi-structured interviews were considered the most effective way to convey the students' opinions, as it was important to include contextual aspects in their voices. Researchers were able to compare responses regarding the formation of their identity as professional teachers over time by asking questions to the students throughout the year. Data analysis after each interview was used to develop questions for subsequent interviews. Information sharing also took place throughout the year between the teacher training students participating in the training program and the researchers. Throughout the entire data collection process, thematic analysis was used to identify key themes. This is a quasi-continuous comparative analysis method in which one event or data is compared with another event or data during the coding process. This data analysis method employs a systematic and rigorous inductive analysis of discourse, and was particularly suitable for literature on communities of practice (CoPs) because the elements constituting the community, such as identity and practice, are defined (Lave & Wenger, 2000).
Deductive coding revealed a comprehensive focus on the formation of teacher identity, which was linked to the most important theme: "belonging." Inductive coding revealed that this main theme of belonging could be divided into three major themes: "human relations," "educational practice," and "educational philosophy." "Human relations" was further subdivided into six sub-themes, including relationships with principals, vice-principals, mentors, other school staff, fellow teacher trainees, students, parents, and educational work. "Educational philosophy" was further subdivided into the sub-themes of "current education" and "future education."
Research data showed that when teacher trainees feel accepted as part of the school's community of practice (CoP), these changes in the development of teacher identity are facilitated. These research findings suggest that there is value in teacher training students engaging with school communities as volunteers over extended periods. By spending extended time in schools, students were able to observe the educational practices of experienced teachers. Through these opportunities, students were able to hone their own teaching skills and be recognized by others not as teacher training students, but as teachers. Being recognized by those around them as "teachers" rather than "teacher training students" had a positive impact on the formation of their professional teacher identity and their sense of belonging to the school community.
