Constructing Teacher's Professional Identity in China and Canada

Traditional teacher education has ignored the
realities of teachers'' lives both inside and outside
the classroom, failing to consider their existence
within broader socio-cultural circumstances. This
study examines the professional development and
transformation of four women teachers including my
mother and myself in China and Canada through
exploring our life experiences in socio-cultural
contexts.
I use autobiographical writings, material from in-
depth interviews and artifacts, as well as
documents. Data analysis indicates that our devotion
to teaching career, optimistic attitude to life,
success in overcoming many difficulties to become
teachers, all stem from our knowing of the Tao of
life . My professional transformation in Canada led
me to understanding teacher as a curriculum maker,
teacher development as both personal growth and
professional development, and professional
transformation as learning from relations.
This study attempts to provide a middle ground for
dialogues among teachers and scholars from different
cultural backgrounds, enabling them to understand
each other and explore new versions of teacher
education.

Autorentext
Ling Li received her doctoral degree from the University of Toronto, Canada. She is a professor at Education College, Southwest University, China. She published numerous books and articles in English and Chinese on teacher education, comparative education, bilingual education, curriculum studies and research methodology.

Klappentext
Traditional teacher education has ignored the realities of teachers' lives both inside and outside the classroom, failing to consider their existence within broader socio-cultural circumstances. This study examines the professional development and transformation of four women teachers including my mother and myself in China and Canada through exploring our life experiences in socio-cultural contexts. I use autobiographical writings, material from in- depth interviews and artifacts, as well as documents. Data analysis indicates that our devotion to teaching career, optimistic attitude to life, success in overcoming many difficulties to become teachers, all stem from our knowing of the "Tao of life". My professional transformation in Canada led me to understanding teacher as a curriculum maker, teacher development as both personal growth and professional development, and professional transformation as learning from relations. This study attempts to provide a middle ground for dialogues among teachers and scholars from different cultural backgrounds, enabling them to understand each other and explore new versions of teacher education.