Constructing a Sense of Purpose and a Professional Teaching Identity: Experiences of Teacher Candidates with Disabilities

Authors

Adam Moore, Roger Williams University
Victoria Kern, University of Rhode Island
Alexis Carlson, University of Rhode Island
Annemarie Vaccaro, University of Rhode Island
Ezekiel W. Kimball, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Jordan A. Abbott, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peter F. Troiano, Central Connecticut State University
Barbara M. Newman, University of Rhode Island

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

7-2-2020

Abstract

Using grounded theory, we examined the ways in which undergraduate teacher candidates with disabilities developed a sense of purpose and constructed professional identities. Our findings suggest K-12 experiences with advocacy as well as exclusionary school experiences influenced their emerging professional identities. Resistance to a deficit view of disability was central to teachers’ professional identities and influenced their desire to become “change agents” in their future professions. We describe collegiate experiences that affirmed or presented roadblocks to their career path.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Educational Forum

Volume

84

Issue

3

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Moore, Adam, Victoria Kern, Alexis Carlson, Annemarie Vaccaro, Ezekiel W. Kimball, Jordan A. Abbott, Peter F. Troiano, and Barbara M. Newman. "Constructing a Sense of Purpose and a Professional Teaching Identity: Experiences of Teacher Candidates with Disabilities." Educational Forum 84, 3 (2020): 272-285. doi: 10.1080/00131725.2020.1738608.