Patterns of Practice and Teacher Identity

The increasing diversity of public school students presents challenges both to institutions of teacher education as well as professional development providers as mainstream educators must now be versed in skills and techniques that result in rigorous and effective learning for English learners (ELs). This chapter presents insights from a university-run professional development program for pre- and in-service teachers closely examining the ways one participant engaged in a variety of practice-based identities within her classroom as a result of her participation in the professional development program. These practice-based identities include the tool collector, content monomath, and polymath, with each bring particular strengths to the classroom for ELs. This work suggests a need to consider the ways in which professional development participants conceptualize themselves as they make sense of their own educational experience as well as to provide insight into the most meaningful elements of such an experience.