Online professional identity development in university teachers: how do specific concepts or practices utilised by university teachers influence their professional identity when teaching online?

Thomson, Callum (2024) Online professional identity development in university teachers: how do specific concepts or practices utilised by university teachers influence their professional identity when teaching online? Doctoral thesis (EdD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Online learning has emerged in recent decades from the practice of enthusiasts and innovators and is now part of the offer of most universities. As a result, often alien and uncomfortable teaching concepts and practices have faced, and at times have been imposed on, teachers. The unique circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 brought this into sharp focus. Many teachers in universities in the UK were required to shift rapidly to online education. These included those already opting to teach online, indicating a level of comfort with that practice. It also brought those who did not want to make the change into focus, many of whom needed help to ‘find themselves’ online. The challenges to the professional identity of both sets of teachers were not well understood at the time and consequently could not be well supported. The research was conducted in a single university in Northwest England during the 2020/2021 academic year. An interpretative approach was adopted, guided by the principles of constructivist grounded theory. Recorded interviews captured the experiences of twelve teachers in two distinct phases over one year. Themes were generated relating both to how interviewees present and perceive their professional identity online, as well as the limitations of doing so in an online space. Analysis of shifts in professional identity during the move from face-to-face to online teaching environments generated a new understanding of this transition. Analysis of the themes revealed challenges to professional identity as teachers moved through a stage of liminality during the transition from a traditional face-to-face environment to operating remotely online. Understanding issues of change to subjectivity, otherness, context, and social interaction generated are central to addressing these challenges. Four simple but troublesome questions face university teachers as they establish online professional identity. • ‘Who am I?’, how do I present myself as a teacher? • ‘Who is there?’, who is watching me when I teach? • ‘Who are we?’, what shared identity do my students and I have as a group? • ‘Who is that?’, how do I relate to my image online? The generation and use of a reflective toolkit is described and further avenues for research in this field are highlighted. The toolkit is intended for utilisation particularly by academic developers or teachers themselves to support moving to online teaching and the development of professional identity in this space.