This study asked the question of how I constructed my beginner teacher identity as a female Mathematics teacher and why my journey unfolded in the way it did. With regards to beginner teacher identities I used work from Morrison (2013), Pennington & Richards (2015), Ballentyne & Grootenboer (2012) and Beijaard, Meijer & Verloop (2004). For work on the beginner female STEM teachers, I used authors including Spangenberg & Myburgh (2017), Else-Quest et al. (2013), Stromquist et al. (2013), Ahlqvist et al. (2013) and Rodriguez et al. (2017). These concepts were key to the understanding of this study. An Interpretivist epistemological paradigm underpinned this study (Wagner, Kawilich & Garner 2012). The conceptual lens used in this study was designed employing tenets of the Social Identity Theory of Tajfel & Turner (1979) as well as Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1994). I followed a qualitative research approach and autoethnography as research design whereby the I, the researcher was also the sole participant of the study (Ellis, 2009). Co-constructors of knowledge were involved in this study to corroborate my personal. They comprised of close family members and a friend. Data generation methods included self-reflexive narratives about my experiences as a beginner teacher and my researcher’s journal. Furthermore, I conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with the co-constructors. In analysing my data, I used the method of thematic analysis whereby I would read my data and identify suitable themes based on my two secondary research questions. The main findings of the study showed that I faced situations that went against my pre-conceived expectations, formed in part by my family members and that the construction of my beginner teacher identity involved a process wherein I had to accept elements of my out-group as part of my in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) to achieve a satisfied social identity. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Beginner teachers’ identities are formed by past school experiences, the ideas, and approaches promoted by their teacher education programmes and an ideal of teachers they hope to become (Beauchamp and Thomas, 2011; Anspal, Eisenschmidt and Löfström, 2012). The focus of this study was to understand the possible influence of two different teacher education programmes on beginner teacher identity and the forming thereof during the early years of teaching. This study was underpinned by an Interpretivist epistemological paradigm, in line with the reiterative process of understanding which marks the fluid progressions of beginner teachers’ identities. The conceptual lens employed in this study consisted of the Possible Selves Theory (Markus and Nurius, 1986), combined with the metaphorical use of “threads”. This study employed a qualitative methodological paradigm, with a comparative case study as research design (Zartman and Goodrick, 2005). Participants were selected by purposive sampling and involved six beginner teachers within their first three years of teaching; three from each teacher education programme (full-time and part-time). Selection criteria stipulated participants had to be within their first three years of teaching, have graduated from either a full-time or part-time teacher education programme, and that part-time participants had to be employed full-time at a school while studying to be selected. Data collection methods comprised of semi-structured interviews, researcher’s journal and field notes. The process of data analysis was guided by thematic content analysis. Findings from this study attest that beginner teacher identities are unstable; classroom reality differs vastly from teacher education programme curricula; and teaching practice plays a significant role in the preparation of student teachers. The main finding of this study was that full-time participants only comprehended the reality of teaching once full-time employment commenced, compared to part-time participants who realised the realities of teaching considerably earlier. Recommendations were made regarding practice, policy, and future research. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted