A teacher's identity trajectory within a context of change

This article examines the effects of political, socio-economic and educational change on a South African teacher's identity trajectory. Our research was conducted at a primary school in a historically disadvantaged community in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. We applied a cultural-hist...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marietjie Oswald, Mariechen Perold
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Education Association of South Africa 2015-02-01
Series:South African Journal of Education
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002015000100012&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:This article examines the effects of political, socio-economic and educational change on a South African teacher's identity trajectory. Our research was conducted at a primary school in a historically disadvantaged community in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. We applied a cultural-historical activity theoretical (CHAT) lens to explore the identity trajectory of one of the teachers. Our findings suggest that a teacher's identity is a social product, drawn from social history, actively internalized and re-authored in response to new circumstances. This was especially evident during the transformation at the macro-political, educational and institutional levels in South Africa since 1994.
ISSN:2076-3433