Fifth-Year Art Teachers: Constructing a Professional Identity

This study of three art teachers seeks to provide understanding of how their personal and professional identities have changed after teaching for four years. Originally interviewed during their first year, this follow-up study during their fifth year of teaching examines how the participants perceived their teaching identities, their teaching philosophies, how they think students and others in their schools perceive them, and their levels of satisfaction. Two commonalities emerged: first, the participants’ teaching philosophies had not changed with experience, but had solidified; second, their principal reason for being teachers was their compass for professional growth and satisfaction. This study endorses the importance of teacher candidates being encouraged to reflect on and explore the reasons they want to teach, their overarching goals, and their teaching philosophies.