Conference Agenda

Teacher identity plays a significant role in the literature of education, taking into account the characteristics that constitute the teaching profession and who a teacher is professionally. Studies on teachers' professional identities first emerged between 1988 and 2000 (Beijaard et al., 2004) and have since been recognized as a crucial factor affecting the teaching-learning process. In this regard, researchers examined teacher identity to enhance understanding of teaching practices and professional development (Arslan & Haser, 2025), and this investigation spanned various academic disciplines, including mathematics education. Lutovac and Kaasila (2018) assert that teachers' self-perception regarding mathematics instruction is referred to as identity within the realm of mathematics education, and given that mathematics is perceived as an elitist discipline, the development of a mathematics teacher identity diverges from that of teachers in other subjects. Consequently, the identity of mathematics teachers has been a focal point of research since 2000 (Darragh, 2016).

Graven and Heyd-Metzuyanim (2019) state that mathematics education identity research can be categorized into two domains: learner identities and teacher identities (pre-service, in-service, experienced, etc.). Numerous studies have been conducted on the identity of pre-service mathematics teachers (PSMTs), as the interplay between their identities as mathematics learners, practitioners, and instructors, along with the contexts they inhabit, is crucial for their development as future teachers (Ma & Singer-Gabella, 2011). Furthermore, a number of studies were carried out through teacher education programs because it is essential to the formation of PSMTs’ identities regarding the teaching of mathematics (Çelikdemir & Haser, 2024). Conversely, as previously noted, mathematics differs from other disciplines and presents unique challenges regarding teacher identity. Lutovac and Kaasila (2018) claim that research on teacher identity in mathematics is infrequently informed by studies on identity within general education. Furthermore, mathematics is a rigorous discipline necessitating robust subject matter expertise and pedagogical skills, and it is regarded as an intimidating discipline within society, potentially influencing both PSMTs’ self-perception and external perceptions of them (Mitiche, 2025). Moreover, according to Beijaard et al. (2000), pre-service teachers face an imbalance in their mathematical identities as a result of their transition from being mathematical experts who know mathematics to math teachers who teach it. Therefore, it is indeed significant to investigate PSMTs’ identity developments considering both these challenges coming from mathematics subject and seeing them as future teachers.

In the literature, there are studies related to identity of pre-service mathematics teachers (e.g Arslan & Haser, 2024; Çelikdemir & Haser, 2024; Kaufmann et al., 2024). There is also a systematic review study related to identities of PSMTs, conducted by Mitiche (2025) reviewing 20 articles from ERC, ERIC, and EBSCO databases between the years of 2010-2023 based on their methods, conceptualizations, and findings. However, in order to piece together all, see the big picture, fill in any gaps, and leave a trustworthy roadmap for future researchers, more systematic reviews are needed. Thus, as different from Mitiche (2025), this study also aims to present a current systematic review considering European and international literature related to identity of solely pre-service mathematics teachers, including 19 articles published between the years of 2012-2025, indexed in Web of Science database, in order to analyze them based on publication years, countries, methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives. In this regard, the study has three main research questions:

1.How do identity studies conducted within the framework of preservice mathematics teachers show trends according to publication years and countries?

2.What kind of methodological approaches (samples, research designs, data collection tools) are used in research on identity of pre-service mathematics teachers?

3.What theoretical perspectives and approaches do the researchers used in their studies of pre-service teachers' identities?

Teacher education is increasingly conceptualized not only as acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills but more as a process of formation of a professional identity, in which values are internalized, enacted, and continuously renegotiated through direct education practice.

The shift toward intentional practice in teacher education aligns with Schön (1983) theory of the Reflective Practitioner, which proposes reflection as the mechanism through which professionals negotiate values. As noted by Chikoko & Msibi (2020), research identifies that pre-service is a period in which professional teacher identity begins (Walkington, 2005; Cattley, 2007), hence it is considered emerging (Chong et al., 2011). Consequently, its development is an important component of the process of learning to become a teacher (Friesen & Besley, 2013; Beijaard, 2019). A key element central to this formation is the personal dimension of the teacher, which as Mommers et al., (2021) suggest is built upon prior learning experiences, personal characteristics, and existing beliefs that educators bring into their professional practice.

Expanding on this research, Chikoko and Msibi (2020) emphasize that since pre-service teachers’ identities are fundamentally shaped by personal histories and prior schooling, teacher education programs cannot rely on implicit socialization. Instead, it becomes imperative for these programs to provide explicit interventions that encourage educators to raise awareness of their fixed attitudes and intentionally develop professional dispositions (Willemse & Lunenberg, 2005).

This study investigates how participation in a value-based education course shapes pre-service early childhood educators’ understanding, prioritization, and enactment of professional values. Rather than assuming that values are fixed traits, the study investigates whether structured coursework can reshape students’ conceptualization and influence how students apply values in practice and in challenging situations. The objective of this study is to explore how a value-based course influences students’ emerging identities as future early childhood educators. Specifically, it seeks to understand how reflective practices foster a value-grounded professional self by addressing the following research questions:

1. How does participation in a value-based course contribute to pre-service teachers’ professional identity, particularly in relation to the development and enactment of values?

1. What professional values do pre-service teachers identify as important for their future role at the beginning of the course?

2. How do pre-service teachers’ understandings and interpretations of these values develop over the duration of the course?

3. How do pre-service teachers describe enacting professional values in educational practice and in challenging situations?

4. How does reflection on values support the formation of pre-service teachers’ professional identity?

Setting the Scene

The teaching profession faces a profound global challenge with a projected shortage of 44 million schoolteachers by 2030 (UNESCO, 2024). This crisis intersects with systemic reforms shaped by New Public Management (NPM) and neoliberal agendas, which have redefined education through logics of efficiency, accountability, and marketisation (Ball, 2016; Biesta, 2017). These reforms privilege measurable outcomes and compliance, narrowing the meaning of teaching and compressing professional judgment. Audit cultures and performance metrics recast educators as technicians, where success is quantified rather than interpreted (Mockler, 2011).

European data reveal that teachers devote less than half their working time to core educational activity, while administrative intensification and precarious contracts undermine identity and agency (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2021). Appraisal systems amplify stress through performance-driven evaluations, and digitalisation fragments roles, adding layers of bureaucratic complexity (Molina-Pérez & Moreno-Medina, 2025; OECD, 2025; Ideland, 2021). These trends threaten autonomy long valued in European professionalism (Priestley & Biesta, in press). Similar issues are occurring in other parts of the world such Australia where stress, burnout and increased workload are impacting teacher wellbeing (Nwoko, et.al, 2025). In tandem current discourses essentialise and simplify teacher ‘quality,’ privileging visibility and governability over judgment, while efficiency narratives marginalise relational and ethical dimensions of education (Mockler, 2022). The cumulative effect of these trends has resulted in a reductive framing of teachers as functional units, eroding creativity, ethical responsibility, and cultural meaning.

Based on the significant issues facing the teaching profession, this presentation contributes to the call for an urgent need to provide an alternative that recognizes the depth, complexity, and richness of those who teach. The discussion advances the idea of moving beyond narrow metrics toward a view of seeing teachers as artworks. To address these challenges and reimagine teacher professionalism, a novel conceptual framework is proposed, with the following objectives.

Objectives

Building on this provocative metaphor, the objectives that frame this presentation are interpretive rather than prescriptive, namely to: (1) challenge dominant narratives that flatten teacher identity into technical compliance; (2) explore how the metaphor of art illuminates teachers as unique, culturally embedded creations, and (3) contribute to conceptual and policy conversations that honour complexity and singularity.

Questions guiding the Inquiry

Anchored in the concept of, ‘teacher as artwork’, this inquiry posed the following ‘what if’ exploratory prompts to generate meanings rather than definitive answers:

• How might this perspective disrupt reductive discourses of teacher quality and accountability?
• What new interpretive possibilities arise when teachers are understood as singular, aesthetic, and ethical presences rather than standardised agents?
• In what ways can this metaphor provoke fresh conversations about autonomy, recognition, and value in contexts marked by reform fatigue and scarcity?

Conceptual / Theoretical Framework

The conceptual-theoretical framework that reimagines teachers as artworks is grounded in both art and educational theories. The framework draws on an interdisciplinary approach, synthesising views of art such as Goodman, (1968); Danto, (1964) and Sontag, (1978) with educational theories (Biesta, 2017; Greene, 1995; Eisner, 2002). Art theory offers a generative lens through multiple facets: contested meanings, historical situatedness, capacity for interpretation, potential for transformation, and embodiment of cultural values. These aspects align with the complex, evolving nature of teaching. Educational theory complements this by emphasizing teaching's ethical, aesthetic, and transformative dimensions.

Stemming from this synthesis of both art and educational theories, the current framework proposes seven 'artistic' manifestations of teachers: object of interpretation, expressive medium, ethical imperative, unique creation, work in progress, cultural artefact, and aesthetic presence. This conceptualisation resists reductive classifications, emphasising teachers layered, unfinished identities. By situating teachers within reflective and aesthetic registers it reclaims space for judgment and ethical deliberation amid standardization pressures.

It is widely acknowledged that contemporary lifestyles are accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, ecological degradation, and social inequality (Evans & Abrahamse, 2009). Humanity faces an existential choice between continuing along an unsustainable trajectory or radically changing course (UNESCO, 2024). In response to these planetary crises, the pivotal role of education is increasingly emphasized; however, education itself must also be critically examined, as it is part of the system that maintains social order and cultural norms (Sterling, 2025). To promote peaceful, just, and sustainable futures, educational policy and practice require transformation (ICFE, 2021). Teachers occupy a key position within the educational system in fostering societal, cultural, and ecological change. Nevertheless, the purposes teachers attribute to their work may sometimes conflict with the ideal of teachers’ transformative agency (Evans et al., 2017; Timm et al., 2023).

Although many teachers recognize and accept the need for educational transformation, they may feel uncertain or even reluctant to take an active role in promoting social, behavioral, and cultural change. A deeper understanding of the processes shaping teachers’ societal and professional purposes (Kuusisto & Rissanen, 2023) is therefore needed, as well as greater knowledge of the factors that enable—or hinder—teachers in assuming the role of change agents within their work communities.

In this study, we explore Finnish transformative teachers’ role identity through the following research question: What kinds of role identities emerge in the professional development narratives of teachers with strong change agency?

This paper presents an ongoing mixed-methods research project that examines the core features of teachers’ transformative mindsets and how these can be influenced in pre- and in-service teacher education. We report findings from the initial narrative phase of the project, in which 14 Finnish teachers with particularly strong change agency were interviewed. The narrative interviews were grounded in the concept of narrative configuration, a process through which events are integrated into a temporally organized whole and thereby acquire narrative meaning (Polkinghorne, 1995). The in-depth interviews focused on participants’ life histories, with particular attention to the development of their professional purposes and agency in fostering sustainable futures.