Shaping the Teacher Identity: 8 Lessons That Will Help Define the Teacher in You

In the world of education, the most effective educators pride themselves on their special ability to positively impact the impressionable minds of their students. They are able to justify their effectiveness through their students' standardized test scores and other forms of data. Indeed, these are legitimate ways to measure a teacher's effectiveness in the classroom but they don't tell the full story. There is something to be said about the specific attributes a teacher possesses in order to be effective in the classroom. What are those intangible qualities that define the success of that teacher? The response to that question will consequently lead to an even deeper question -- how did that teacher acquire and develop these special qualities? That question can be best answered by exploring the source of their teacher identity. Through this exploration, one will discover that the teacher's identity is directly and indirectly shaped by their unique life experiences and the valuable lessons they have learned from those experiences. Shaping the Teacher Identity guides the reader through a self-exploration of their life and helps them extract the inherent qualities that uniquely define who they are as educators.