With the increasing professionalisation of teaching within higher and professional education and calls for educational reforms, dental teachers and educators increasingly face challenges of changing roles and identities during a time of decline in clinical academic dentistry. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore dental teachers’ experiences of teaching and development as teachers from dental teachers’ perspectives. More particularly, the research explores the tensions that might arise among commitments to dental practice, research, and education, and the role these commitments play in shaping their professional identities and orientation. This study investigates issues that arose out of concern and interest about how dental teachers develop their educational identities in the context of a decline in clinical academic dentistry and increased dependence on part time dental practitioners. Central to this study is the question of “How do dental educators describe their professional identities in contemporary dental education?” This is a single-site case study that was conducted in a United Kingdom-based dental institute using a qualitative interview approach to explore dental teachers’ perceptions and experiences of their professional educational practices. Semi-structured interviews with dental teachers and educators from various backgrounds were conducted to explore their perceptions of their experiences of teaching and professional development in teaching. This study was a response to the need for an in-depth understanding of the complex professional identities of dental teachers and educators within this specific sociocultural context of current practice in higher education. The main findings were that for dental educators, their identity as teachers is secondary to their identities as clinicians or clinical academics. Their teaching practices are strongly shaped by their identities as professionals in a clinical role. For these and other reasons that are explored in this study, there are tensions evident in the development of educator identities amongst this group of professionals. This study helps to advance understanding of, and provide a framework for, dental teachers' professional development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:718592 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Aljohani, Salha Rajaallah Saad |
| Contributors | Kandiko Howson, Camille Blackwell ; Coate, Kelly Lynn |
| Publisher | King's College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-professional-identity-of-dental-teachers-perspectives-on-teaching-and-the-implications-for-professional-development(7941f30f-f770-46fa-9772-0cfd1601efca).html |
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