Ideaalide kaudu professionaalse identiteedini
The Role of Ideals in Development of Professional Identity

Summary/Abstract: It is important to pay attention to the role of ideals when investigating the development of professional identity as ideals function as a standard for making meaning and influencing behavior. The current research investigates how university teachers describe their professional ideals. Meaning categories within those ideals, influential background factors underlying these ideals, and the comparison between ideals and actual self that influences the professional identity are analyzed using a qualitative research design. The research conducted at the University of Tartu during 2009–2011 analysed outcomes of reflexive exercises and follow-up interviews of four university teacher training groups. The focus was on questions: What meanings have been described as ideals for the university teachers and how those meanings are interpreted by university teachers? As a result of the study there can be seen three meaning categories in ideals and four profiles of university teachers having different meanings in their ideals, that can point to their different learning-teaching conceptions that can indicate also the different position of university teachers identity in their identity hierarchy.

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