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Recognition and Positional Identity in an Elementary Professional Learning Community: A Case Study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Recognition and Positional Identity in an Elementary Professional Learning Community: A Case Study

Christopher Wright, Rasheda Likely, Kristen Wendell, Patricia Paugh and Elizabeth Smith
Journal of pre-college engineering education research, v 10(1)
01 Jan 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1214
url
https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1214View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open

Abstract

Engineering Learning Teachers
Professional learning communities are typically conceived of as spaces for reducing teacher isolation, supporting informed and committed teachers, and fostering student academic gains. Focusing on a professional learning community that supported the teaching and learning of engineering in elementary schools, we also conceived of this learning environment as a space for negotiating a teacher-of- engineering identity. Calling attention to emergent issues of power and status through a lens of positional identity, this article examines a Black female educator’s sense of self as a teacher-of-engineering and how this perception was informed by participation in the professional learning community. Findings reveal that racialized and gendered positionings informed the teacher’s perception of having limited access to being recognized in this space as a teacher-of-engineering. Implications for this work include reimagining the design of professional learning spaces in engineering education that intentionally account for teachers’ identity development, as well as supporting the identity development for teachers from historically marginalized communities.

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12 citations in Scopus

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