Introduction

Educators and policymakers in many countries struggle continually with issues related to teacher retention (Wang and Fwu 2014; Harris and Adams 2007; Lindqvist et al. 2014). While evidence about the urgency for stemming the turnover of new teachers accumulates, researchers are converging on a perspective that highlights the interconnections among preparation for teaching, transition to the classroom, and longer-term teacher retention (DeAngelis et al. 2014; Ingersoll and Strong 2011; Rinke 2008). Along with critical supports during transition, and early experiences, one factor that surfaces repeatedly in teacher development studies is the importance of teacher professional identity (Beijaard et al. 2004; Gaudelli and Ousley 2009; Rots et al. 2013). Possible selves theory (Markus and Nurius 1986) is one perspective through which identity development can be studied effectively because of the explicit attention the theory provides to development during times of transition. It serves as a framework to see how individuals see and direct crucial transition phases of their lives. Many researchers of possible selves theory reported how the focus of possible selves of teachers reflected both teaching qualities and tasks, and their focus over time in response to role demands (Conway and Clark 2003; Fletcher 2000). No research to date has examined the utility of possible selves and its dimensions to examine identity among more stable, experienced teachers. Most of the research to date has been confined to contexts within Western countries and education systems, and this study is particularly important given that the researchers had adopted a more Western concept of teacher identity for working with a Middle Eastern population of teachers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate identity development across three groups of teachers (prospective, new, and experienced educators) and to examine the salience of teacher possible selves within each group. In particular, this study was an attempt to depict the sort of selves teachers hope for such as being a caring teacher and the ones they fear from such as having trouble in classroom management during the transition to teaching, and to see whether these possible selves relate to their quality of teaching such as professionalism or they are task-focused such as learning to teach, among other things. Of three dimensions of possible selves theory, the study focused on two aspects, expected selves and feared-from selves, to depict how these three groups of teachers see themselves because hoped-for selves, like aspirations, includes mainly of abstract wishes, and have little connection to behavior.

Conceptual framework

Teacher professional identity

The concept of professional identity has attracted a great deal of interest by educational scholars (e.g., Nilsson and Carlsson 2014; Van Laer and Janssens 2014). These studies have mainly focused on teacher education (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009; Beijaard et al. 2004; Rodgers and Schott 2008) and the factors that influence teacher professional identity and development (Coldron and Smith 1999; Hamman et al. 2010; Lasky 2005; Schepens et al. 2009).

While a great deal of research has been published on identity, there is no consensus among scholars about its definition (Moshman 1998). As Beijaard et al. (2004) note, this weakness makes it difficult to compare the results of studies on this topic. Generally, professional identity refers to how teachers see themselves as teachers, based on their interpretations of their continuing interaction with their context. Similarly, Kelchtermans (2005) states that teachers develop an interpretative framework during their career. This framework is formed and reformed through interaction between individual teachers, and different working conditions of their working context. Day et al. (2006) report that teachers balance three related aspects in their work: a personal dimension, a professional dimension, and a situational dimension. They also believed that different professional identities are shaped through the interaction of these dimensions. Recently, more attention has been devoted to the process of identity formation and the possible mechanisms involved in the transition statuses (Hamman et al. 2010). LaVoie (1994) suggested a number of mechanisms that could be engaged during transition. Equilibrium, a readiness for change, individuation, and conflict are of these potential mechanisms. Possible selves is another possible mechanism involved in identity transitions and development. That is, how teachers see themselves as teacher or what sort of self they imagine for themselves taking into account their interpretations of their interaction with their context might affect the way teachers form their professional identity and development.

Possible selves theory

Possible selves theory describes the importance of self-relevant, future-oriented, self-concepts in the present, and how those self-views relate to motivation for present and future action. These self-concepts relate to “how individuals think about their potential and about their future” (Markus and Nurius 1986), and may reflect an individual’s expectations; including hopes, aspirations, fears, and threats that she or he anticipates in the near or distant future. Possible selves have been defined as the representations of “individuals’ ideas about what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they are afraid of becoming” (Markus and Nurius 1986; p. 954). According to Markus and Nurius (1986), possible selves theory plays an important role in understanding the dimensions of individual’s self-regulation of goal-directed behavior during life transitions, and possible selves represent what persons would like to become—“hoped-for selves,” what persons could become—“expected selves,” and what persons are afraid of becoming—“feared selves.” According to possible selves theory, expected selves are vital to behavioral adaptation. Moreover, possible selves theory suggests that feared selves are instrumental in continuance of behavioral adaptation. Markus and Nurius (1986) say that while feared selves may not serve to strengthen activity, they may function to guide avoidance behavior, thereby balancing the expected self. Hence, the theory of possible selves suggests that hoped-for, expected, and feared selves are distinct. To see the possible selves theory from an educational viewpoint, one may argue that a teacher in order to improve his or her professionalism may decide to learn from an experienced colleague or to attend a conference. In fact, these are the selves the teacher is hoping for or expect to be. Conversely, a teacher may avoid teaching large classes for the next year in order not to lose control and poor instruction. This behavior stems from the possible self the teacher fears from. That is, a teacher who decides to attend a conference, as an example, to improve his or her professional being, expects a professional self for him/herself. On the other hand, a teacher in order not to jeopardize his or her professional identity avoids teaching large class because he or she fears from not being able to manage it. All in all, teachers continually imagine different sort of selves for themselves some expected, some feared from on the basis of their interpretation of the interaction with their teaching context. Accordingly, teachers depict their selves either expected or feared based on two parameters of their job, teaching quality or teaching task. In other words, they either overweigh the quality of their teaching or their teaching task.

Possible selves theory has been applied in a wide range of research contexts including adult aging (Frazier et al. 2002), transition from prison (Harris 2011), and career counseling (Meara et al. 1995). Each of these contexts highlights the important role of self-relevant future “thinking” during times of life transition. Only limited work about possible selves has been done in the context of teacher education (Hamman et al. 2013). Possible selves theory suggests a unique way to integrate findings about the transition to teaching. Application of this theory may prove useful for interpreting results from teacher attrition and retention studies (Hong and Greene 2011) that have been largely a-theoretical (e.g., Ingersoll and Strong 2011).

The formation of possible selves could include an unlimited array of future self-projections, but those which are most important are also connected with representations of the current self. That is, future selves stem from one’s desires, hopes, reservations, and fears, but these aspirations and fears are influenced by an individual’s past and current social, cultural, and environmental experiences. Since possible selves are created within the parameters of an individual’s social context, projections of the self derived from what is valued, or perceived to be valued, within an individual’s specific social experiences are most likely to exert the greatest influence on behavior (Markus and Wurf 1987).

Markus and Nurius (1986) demonstrated that possible selves fulfill two important functions associated with self-regulation of behavior. First, possible selves provide information for individuals about progress toward, or away from, desired future selves. These future selves cast in terms of what one hopes to become (hoped-for selves), could become (expected selves) and fears becoming (feared-from selves), serve as behavioral blueprints (Robinson and Davis 2001) that inform judgments about present behaviors in light of whether they move the individual toward or away from the target outcome. Second, possible selves may also have a motivational influence by providing incentive to act in order to achieve a hoped-for possible self, or avoid realizing a feared possible self. These two functions of possible selves combine to influence an individual’s self-regulation of thoughts and behaviors aimed at achieving desired outcomes. Considering teacher identity through the lens of possible selves serves some advantages especially if one takes into account the developmental aspect of teacher professional identity. The virtue of possible self as a lens is the fact that seeing the self in terms of the future and possible implies a goal which may be anticipated or met. Buss (2001) held that the possible selves may also provide a mechanism for self-evaluation that depicts gaps between the present and future selves. Portraying teachers’ views of themselves in terms of possible selves, therefore, reveals the information about the identity in the present and includes the information about identity in the future.

Describing experiences that shape possible selves

The literature on teacher development often shows an interest in using identity as a way to understanding the press of contextual influences (Flores and Day 2006). Early research on teacher possible selves reflected this interest too. For example, Fletcher (2000) used possible selves theory to study the emergence of teacher identity in the context of mentoring relationships between the university supervisors and student teachers. Using qualitative data derived from interviews, she described how possible selves emerged from relationships and could be used to direct the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs.

Similarly, Conway and Clark (2003) studied changes in the possible selves of teacher interns over time as an indicator of their progress through Fuller’s stages of concern (Fuller and Bown 1975). They found that self-focused concerns were prevalent throughout the internship. Over time, however, new teachers’ focuses tended to shift from one of survival to one of self-development.

More recently, Hamman et al. (2010) explored the dimensions of job-related possible selves of new teachers. In that study, student teachers and new teachers completing their first year of employment were asked to describe both the teacher they expected to be, and wanted to avoid becoming, in the next school year. Findings from this study revealed four broad categories of possible selves (i.e., professional qualities, interpersonal relations in school, classroom management, and instruction).

As in the studies cited, experiences the teachers gain influence the development of possible selves by linking their present to the future. The transitions new teachers make into their professional role may be laden with most of the same challenges for self-definition as those faced by other individuals also making life transitions. Initial work that used possible selves theory has demonstrated the value of this approach for understanding teacher development, but most have focused exclusively on immediately transitioning or newly transitioned teachers.

Purpose of the study

Like previous studies concerning teacher identity, we first want to examine the dimensions of teacher possible selves during the transition into the later teacher’s professional life. Second, we wondered whether teacher possible selves would be similar among groups of teachers at different points in their teaching profession. The following research questions were examined in this study.

  1. 1.

    How do prospective, new and experienced teachers define their possible selves in the future, and how might their definition reflect a task versus quality focus?

  2. 2.

    What differences might exist in the composition of teacher possible selves based upon the teachers’ status?

A brief description of teaching and teacher education in Iran

In order to provide a fuller picture of the significance of the current study, and to highlight its generalizability, a brief description is provided about teacher education in Iran, and the context of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in government-supported schools.

In Iran, educational policies are decided primarily by the central government. As Razi and Kargar (2014) mentioned, all of the decisions made by the central government are then passed down through provincial organizations for implementation at lower levels, which have limited authority relative to the implementation of policies. Ensuring the quality of teacher preparation programs is also the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. Before a trainee teacher can take up a post at a school, he or she must complete a period of pre-service training, which is overseen by the local education authority. Shahmohammadi (2012) recently reported that in the last decade, the Iranian system of teacher education, like many countries, tended to admit candidates based on both academic knowledge and ideological, cultural, and religious values. The result has been the preparation of highly skilled individuals who receive from a centralized agency regular, ongoing training aimed at maintaining skill and qualifications.

There are, however, some limitations with the current system associated with pre-reform practices. These limitations create challenges for teachers and their careers. First, within the system, there is limited attention allocated to issues beyond initial and ongoing training. For example, there are no official efforts to identify what teachers might need to be more effective and satisfied within their jobs. Nor is there any official acknowledgement of the salary ranges that place Iranian teachers among the lowest paid professional groups. This situation may force many to seek outside work while also teaching and may have a negative effect on teachers’ motivation for their work. Second, the current system makes it difficult to respond to pressing needs such as too few teachers being prepared for the population size, and limited infrastructure (e.g., classroom space within universities) and a narrow teacher education curriculum. Finally, although teachers have opportunity for ongoing professional development, opportunities to collaborate with colleagues within schools are very difficult because local teacher groups are dominated by the residual of a hierarchical system, resulting in groups taking the form of ill-natured supervision rather than constructive collaboration and cooperation.

Methodology

Design of the study

To answer the study research questions, the researchers used a mixed methods approach (Tashakkori and Teddlie 2003), which is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and mixing or integrating both quantitative and qualitative data at some stage of the research process within a single study (Creswell et al. 2011). The rationale for mixing both types of data is that neither quantitative nor qualitative methods are sufficient by themselves to capture the details of teachers’ professional identity. When used in combination, quantitative and qualitative methods complement each other and give a more complete picture of the research problem (Johnson and Turner 2003; Tashakkori and Teddlie 1998).

This study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, consisting of two distinct phases (Creswell and Planko Clark 2011; Creswell et al. 2003). In this design, the quantitative, numeric data are collected and analyzed first, while the qualitative, text data are collected and analyzed second in sequence, and help explain the quantitative results obtained in the first phase. In this study, the quantitative data helped identify the possible selves among the three groups of teachers at different points in their professional life and depict a general picture of the transition path each group treads. Then, a qualitative study approach was used to capture the reasons why each group is expecting some sort of possible selves and simultaneously fearing from having some other. Figure 1 depicts the schematic representation of different steps taken in this study.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Schematic representation of the explanatory sequential design of the study

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Participants

A total of 120 teachers participated in the quantitative phase of this study representing three different career groups (prospective teachers = 42; new teachers = 40; and experienced teachers = 38). For prospective teachers, the researchers consulted the English department of Sheikhbahaee University, Isfahan, and got permission to ask the students to participate in the study. We sent an e-mail to all the students and 42 students (out of 47) replied and agreed to the study. The prospective teachers were completing their final semesters in the Bachelor of Art in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program at the university. A majority of the participants were female (72 %). Participants’ average age at the time of data collection was 21.5 years. For the rest of the participants, the researchers went to the Office of Education in the City of Isfahan and got permission to get the list of all English teachers in the city. Of the list, 130 English language teachers were identified. The researchers classified the teachers according to their years of experience into two groups. Those who had below 5 years of experience were classified as new teachers, and those who were over 5 years of experience were classified as experienced. The researchers sent e-mails to all the English teachers, and 78 of them responded and agreed to participate in the study. The new teachers were recent graduates from the same program who had been teaching less than 5 years at public schools. Unlike the prospective teachers, a majority of the participants were male (82 %). New-teacher participants’ average age at the time of data collection was 26.6 years. Prospective and new teachers were directly affiliated with the Education Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Experienced teachers were those mostly graduated with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in TEFL and had been teaching English in public schools for more than 10 years. These educators were working in the same educational districts where the new teachers had been teaching. The majority of this group was also male (68 %). Experienced-teacher participants’ average age at time of data collection was 36.6 years.

The participants of the qualitative phase were selected through a two-stage procedure. During the first stage, the researchers identified the respondents in each participant group by calculating the summed mean scores for all participants in each of the three groups based on their responses to the questionnaires and then by selecting a few respondents from each group with the mean scores within one standard error of the mean. In the second stage, two best informants from each group were selected using a maximal variation strategy by which instead of seeking representativeness through equal probabilities, the sampling seeks it by including a wide range of extremes (Creswell 2005). This procedure yielded four males and two females. All six agreed to participate in the study (see Table 1).

Table 1 Participants of the study
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Quantitative procedure

For the first, quantitative phase, the cross-sectional survey design (McMillan 2000) was used. The survey instruments were two questionnaires, which have been developed and validated by Hamman et al. (2013) through undertaking two analyses, a correlation analysis, and a MANOVA whose results showed the relations among and within the expected and feared subscales are statistically significant. The questionnaires were revised slightly by changing some wordings and formatting in order to assure that the participants fully understood the items. For example, the item “Be organized and prepared” seemed difficult for participants to understand. Therefore, it was changed to “Be ordered and ready.” As Dörnyei (2007) holds, piloting is vitally important in quantitative research. To do so, the researchers asked three colleagues to go through the items and provide feedback. Based on the feedback obtained, a near-final version of the questionnaires was collected. Then the questionnaires were administered to a group of 50 participants and the answers were analyzed statistically to finalize them. The reliability of the scales and items was established (r = .92) using internal consistency reliability indexes. The first questionnaire was a six-point, Likert-type scale consisting of nine items (e.g., “Learn from experienced colleagues”), measuring the expected teacher possible selves, which represents two factors (i.e., Factor 1: Professionalism and Factor 2: Learning to Teach) representing the quality and task dichotomy identified by Conway and Clark (2003). The second one, which measures the feared teacher possible selves, was also a six-point, Likert-type scale consisting of nine items (e.g., “Lose control when students are disruptive”) that represent three factors (i.e., Factor 1: Uninspired Instruction; Factor 2: Loss of Control; Factor 3: Uncaring Teacher). The dichotomy of quality and task was apparent as well (see “Appendix 1”).

Due to some restrictions on access and availability, different procedures were used to gather the data. For the prospective teacher, we gathered the data in one session. Before distribution of the questionnaires, we explained the purpose of the study, and volunteers were given the questionnaire to complete (n = 42). They needed almost 20 min to complete the questionnaires. The other two groups of the participants, new and experienced teachers, on the other hand, participated in the study via e-mail. Through an electronic message, a request for participation in the study was sent, the purpose of the study was concisely described in the e-mail, and a link to the online questionnaire was provided. Of the 130 messages sent, 12 % were returned as being invalid addresses. Of those messages delivered, 95 teachers responded (69 %), and of those numbers, 78 provided complete data. Based on the information about their years of teaching the participants provided, we divided them into two groups, the new teachers (n = 40) and the experienced teachers (n = 38).

Qualitative procedures

For collecting and analyzing the data in the second, qualitative, phase multiple sources were used: (a) in-depth semi-structured telephone interview with six participants; (b) electronic follow-up interview with each participant to gather additional information on the themes; and (c) participants’ responses to the open-ended questions of the second phase. Data collection was done up to the point of saturation (Dörnyei 2007). Each participant was comprised of responses from one individual from the larger sample.

The content of the interview protocol (see “Appendix 2”) was grounded in the quantitative results from the first phase of the study. Due to the fact that the goal of the qualitative phase was to elaborate on the results of the questionnaires, we wanted to understand more how different groups of teachers respond to open-ended questions exploring the five issues (“Professionalism,” “Learn to teach,” “Uninspired teaching,” “Classroom management,” and “Uncaring teacher”) which depicted statistically significant predicting power for this sample of teachers.

To analyze the data, audio-recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim and were printed for the purpose of analysis. The analysis of the transcription was then carried out in several stages. First, the researchers read the transcripts and open-coded them. This was carried out through probing, comparing, and categorizing the data to produce as many substitute categories as possible. As Corbin and Strauss (2014) held, the researchers tried to frame the categories as activities or processes. The categories were filed with the interview excerpts.

In the axial coding, the second stage, the coded data were perused for repeated ideas to arrive at more general themes. For this, the categories were examined as an entirety to find those higher-order themes which allowed the classification of ideas. This stage involved the identification of categories and putting them together to form a whole depiction. After that, categories were repetitively compared and contrasted with each other to refine them. There were some categories which were grouped as different at first but then fell into the same category. In the next stage, the categories that best captured the meaning of the data were chosen. The researchers kept memos to pile up ideas produced at coding stages for future use. While coding the interviews, the researchers tried to not only describe the data but also locate those main themes which might capture the meaning of the phenomena under study. In addition to the ideas generated in the iterative process of data analysis, the researchers also interpreted the findings in the light of previous research findings to evade any nuisance of preexisting ideas and assumptions on the interpretations.

Several sources were taken into account to meet the credibility of the findings. As an external audit, a colleague who was familiar with teacher identity and qualitative research performed the external auditing of the codes and inferences. He stated that the themes were based on the data and sound interpretations were made. Through informal interviews with the participants, member checking was also accomplished by reviewing the results and interpretations.

Ethical considerations

Several ethical considerations were held before, during, and after data collection and data analysis. Prior to the interviews, the researchers informed the participants about the purpose and the nature of the study. In addition, they were ensured that their privacy would be guaranteed, their identity would not be revealed, and the information they gave would be confidentially treated. They were assured that they could withdraw from the study if they wanted to. An informed consent was signed by all the participants. During the interviews, the researchers made an attempt to build rapport and create an environment which was trustworthy. The interviewer also tried not to intrude on the participants’ life and time. During the study, the researchers tried to present only participants’ views and stay away from bias and misinterpretations.

Results

Quantitative findings

Three analyses were carried out in order to identify the relation between teacher possible selves and differences that might exist between groups of teachers. First, a correlation analysis was undertaken with the scores derived from the subscales. Then two separate MANOVAs were conducted to examine differences related to expected and feared teacher possible selves.

Subscale coefficients and means for the entire sample

Results from the correlation analysis of the scores derived from the subscales revealed that the relation between and within the expected and feared subscales was statistically significant. Results contained in Table 2 show that for both prospective and new teachers, responses reflecting expected teacher selves were positively correlated with one another, but negatively correlated with the feared teacher selves except for the subscale “Uncaring teacher.” That is, an increase in one subscale resulted in an increase in another subscale. As an example, the more uninspired instruction of a teacher had, the more loss of control of classroom he or she experienced. The prospective teachers’ responses reflecting feared teacher possible selves were positively correlated with one another. But this is not the case for the new teachers. These participants’ responses were positively correlated for two subscales but negatively correlated for the third one. The picture was a bit different for the experienced teachers. Responses from this group of participants reflecting expected teacher selves were negatively correlated with one another and with the feared teacher selves. But the responses reflecting feared teacher possible selves were positively correlated with one another. These findings are different from a Western sample, that of Hamman et al. (2010), in which the new teachers’ responses reflecting expected and feared teacher selves were correlated. In particular, the responses reflecting feared subscales were revealing different pattern of correlation.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients for three groups of teachers’ possible selves
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Expected possible selves

In order to observe differences in possible selves across the three groups of teachers, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed with status (prospective, new, and experienced) as the grouping variable and expected possible selves (professionalism and Learning to teach) as the dependent variables. Preliminary assumption testing was conducted to check for normality, linearity, univariate and multivariate outliers, homogeneity of variance–covariance matrices, and multicollinearity, with no serious violations noted. At the multivariate level, there was a statistically significant difference between expected selves for prospective, new, and experienced teachers on the combined dependent [F (4, 232) = 43. 84, p = .000; Wilks’ lamba = .324; partial eta squared = .43]. At the univariate level, the results also showed statistically significant differences for both expected quality-focused (professionalism) [F (2, 117) = 84.19, p = .000; partial eta squared = .059] and expected task-oriented (learning to teach) [F (2, 117) = 10.91, p = .000; partial eta squared = .015]. An inspection of the mean scores indicated that prospective teachers reported slightly higher levels of expected learning to teach (M = 4.51, SD = .69) than new teachers (M = 4.12, SD = .74) and experienced teachers (M = 3.58, SD = .56). On the other hand, new teachers reported markedly lower levels of expected professionalism (M = 2.67, SD = .67) than prospective teachers (M = 4.18, SD = .10) and experienced teachers (M = 4.48, SD = .11) (see Table 3).

Table 3 Expected teacher possible selves type by status
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As the statistical analyses show prospective teachers were both task-focused (learning to teach) and quality-focused (professionalism) considering their expected teacher possible selves. That is, they did not turn a blind eye on one dimension for the sake of the other one. For them, development of teaching practices and strategies are as important as development of their professionalism such as being organized and prepared for teaching and building positive relationships with parents. For new teachers, they were more task-focused. That is, they tried to expect a teacher self which orbits around the classroom management, learning from the experienced colleagues. On the other hand, for experienced teachers, as the results show, their main concern was about both task and quality aspects of their teaching. Interestingly, there was a U-shaped pattern concerning quality-focused orientation in the course of teacher’s identity development. That was, both prospective and experienced teachers were more quality-focused than new teachers. Figure 2 schematically reveals the patterns of professional development between these groups of teachers.

Fig. 2
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Differences in allocation of expected teacher possible selves based on teacher status

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Feared possible selves

To examine feared task versus quality teacher, possible selves, a MANOVA with status (prospective, new, and experienced) as the grouping variable and possible selves task (uninspired instruction) versus quality (loss of control and uncaring teacher) as the dependent variables, was undertaken. Preliminary assumption testing was conducted to check for normality, linearity, univariate and multivariate outliers, homogeneity of variance–covariance matrices, and multicollinearity, with no serious violations noted. At the multivariate level, there was a statistically significant difference between prospective, new, and experienced teachers on the combined dependent variables [F (6, 232) = 20. 81, p = .000; Wilks’ Lamba = .42; partial eta squared = .34]. At the univariate level, the results also showed statistically significant differences for feared loss of control [F (2, 117) = 34.30, p = .000; partial eta squared = .37], feared uncaring teacher [F (2, 117) = 31.82, p = .000; partial eta squared = .35], and feared uninspiring instruction [F (2, 117) = 20.40, p = .000; partial eta squared = .25]. An inspection of the mean scores also indicated that new teachers reported slightly higher levels of feared task-focused (uninspiring instruction) (M = 4.30, SD = .67) than prospective teachers (M = 3.23, SD = .10) and experienced teachers (M = 3.21, SD = .85). On the other hand, experienced teachers reported markedly higher levels of feared uncaring teacher and loss of control as quality-focused selves (M = 4.17, SD = .90), (M = 4.22, SD = .84) than prospective teachers (M = 3.07, SD = .71), (M = 3.17, SD = .81) and new teachers (M = 2.63, SD = .99), (M = 2.69, SD = .85) (see Table 4).

Table 4 Feared teacher possible selves type by status
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Figure 3 depicts differences in feared possible selves. As the statistical analyses showed, prospective teachers are both feared quality-focused and task-focused though they had more orientation toward feared task-focus. They were concerned with not having a good classroom management plan, being unsuccessful in teaching, and treating students unfairly. All of these represent the prospective teachers’ concern of task and quality of teaching. New teachers, on the other hand, were more concerned with feared task-focused possible selves concerning issues like losing control while teaching and being uncaring to students. Experienced teachers, however, were concerned with both feared task-focused and quality-focused possible selves and had more orientation toward feared quality-focused selves.

Fig. 3
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Differences in allocation of feared teacher possible selves based on teacher status

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Patterns in possible selves among groups

The findings reveal that teacher status and possible selves types were related, with new teachers exhibiting a greater focus on task self-concepts. Prospective teachers appeared to express about the same proportion of feared task and quality-focused possible teacher selves when considering the teacher they wanted to avoid becoming, and the experienced teachers were also more concerned about the quality-focused possible teacher selves. This finding seems to reveal that self-concerns for task and quality may both be salient during the different phases of teachers’ identity development.

These findings, like those of Hamman et al. (2010), showed a trend toward a dichotomized teacher possible self-concept in which teachers were focusing either on task-related or quality related dimensions of one’s future self. A moderate to strong negative correlation found between task and quality-focused teacher possible selves seemed to support a stage-related interpretation of the findings.

Qualitative findings

Findings from interviews were used to further elaborate on the ways teachers defined themselves as professionals and what they saw as the most important ingredient to being professional. In the analysis of participants’ responses, the researchers listened for teacher self-concepts that reflected (a) professionalism, (b) learning to teach, (c) uninspiring teaching, (d) classroom management, and (e) uncaring teacher. Themes from the qualitative phase are presented to show how teachers from each status group formulated their teacher selves.

Possible selves of prospective teachers

Commitment to learning to teach and fear of being uninspired

HelenaFootnote 1 and Javad are 22 and 21 years old, respectively, and in their last semester of BA-level studies in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). At the time of the interview, they had no classroom teaching experiences. They believed that the best way to develop expected self was by devoting enough time and energy to being successful. They said that:

… While understanding the realities of the working conditions most teachers face, and how they impede their pursuit of higher academic study, I expect that I will pursue advanced studies. (Helena)

There is only one way to promote our professionalism and that is through living an academic life. Continuing our field of study at high-profile universities definitely is the key to our profession success. (Javad)

Helena reported that professional teachers should try to be up-to-date in terms of the new advancements in the field of ELT (English Language Teaching), and she believed that if this happens, it will increase the quality of teaching. The possible teacher selves described by Helena clearly reflected the idea that learning to teach extended beyond initial preparation to working cooperatively with colleagues in order to learn more about teaching.

… and this could happen through having in-service education, participating in the English teachers groups and discussing the problems one may face in one’s teaching with the more experienced colleagues.(Helena)

They seemed to fear most being teachers who is uninspiring to their students. They described the lack of inspiration from teachers as a cancer to the teaching profession and felt that teachers should help to build positive attitudes among students.

A good teacher … tries to plant the seeds of value, attitude and knowledge in the learners’ mind. The teacher should always try to avoid presenting an uninspiring lesson. The teachers must take into account the emotional aspect of teaching dynamics as well. (Helena)

To me, a good teacher should be a psychologist who gives priority to emotional aspect of teaching before going through the teaching the subject matter. (Javad)

Helena said teachers should treat students fairly and consistently and this treatment from teachers will help students develop a positive attitude about their education, and possibly about becoming a teacher.

Like most new teachers, Helena and Javad also expressed concerns about classroom management, but like more experienced teachers, they saw the connection between good management and good instruction.

This (good classroom management) … helps teachers to present the materials in a better way when they have control over disruptive students. Disruptive students, although seen as a problem for teaching, should also be taken as a part of the reality of classroom context. Teachers play the most important role in education. If we imagine that teaching activity as a triangle whose angles are materials, student and teacher, the teacher is the leading factor in the whole process. The teacher should be well-organized and well-prepared before entering the classroom. (Helena)

No teaching goals and objectives can be met unless the teacher has a good command on the classroom management and tries to avoid any anomalies which impede the process. (Javad)

These prospective teachers saw that time and experiences are needed to develop the skills of classroom management and that this does not happen completely within the preparation program.

Possible selves of new teachers

A classroom combatant grappling with discontinuity

Bahram and Reza are 24 and 26 years old, respectively, and recently graduated with master’s degrees in TEFL. At the time of the interview, Bahram had been a classroom teacher for 4 years and Reza was experiencing the third year of her teaching. Bahram said he believes in developing his teaching abilities through studying materials, cooperating with colleagues, and reflecting on his teaching, but the majority of his responses reveal what appear to be a daily struggle with management issues, and an acute awareness of the apparent discrepancy between the theory he learned in his preparation and the realities of the classroom. His responses offered a real glimpse into the feared side of teacher selves, especially related to the “loss of control.”

Problems inside and outside classroom prevent you from thinking about the quality of your teaching. My once utopic viewpoint has become a dystopic one. All I try to do is to get my students quiet, and that’s a hard task … my colleagues never like to be of help to me because they look at teaching from a radically different perspective. I don’t think we have a common language. What you face in the real classrooms is so complex and different from what you have studied in the books that you always feel helpless in doing your duty. This always reminds me of often-quoted saying that education has been damaged by the half-baked notions of theorists who have never been in a real classroom. (Baharm)

To me it is quite ridiculous to follow what we have studies in the methodology books and the complexity of the real teaching. I give up, in a word!!! (Reza)

Bahram’s struggle with management seemed to overshadow his entire view of teaching, and his view of himself as a teacher. This also seems to be a problem for Reza. They seemed pessimistic that students would see the teacher as a role model, primarily because of the low salaries teachers often receive. Reza’s own financial insecurity may also have contributed to his dire outlook on his role, and his future.

It is unrealistic to say that teachers are role models for the students because the relationship between teachers and students are of a commercial one. Students today are not looking for a moral model, but rather are thinking about status and pay. (Bahram)

How can a teacher to be model for the student when he is wrestling the very basic needs of his life. I think that there is an ocean of discrepancies between theory and practice. (Reza)

Interestingly, just as Bahram’s views reflected primarily his struggles within the classroom, his view of how he, and teachers in general, should express care for students also seemed bounded by the walls of the schoolroom.

Teachers …… should not be disorganized and unprepared and should anticipate some potential problems they might face. But all this must be confined to the classroom. I am not really interested in having positive relationship with the students and their families. I care for them, but just inside the classroom. (Bahram)

As new teachers, both Bahram and Reza struggled with fundamental tasks of classroom management, and their apparent lack of success colors their entire vision of teaching. Unlike Helena and Bill, who embrace their future as teachers, these two new teachers seem to see their future as teachers like wrestlers squaring off against an opponent.

Possible selves of experienced teachers

A big-picture view bound by context

Chavosh and Anna are 45 and 38 years old, respectively, and hold bachelor’s degrees in TEFL. At the time of the interview, they had been teaching English for nearly 25 and 17 years, respectively. Responses to interview questions by these experienced teachers suggest they have a clear idea about what it means to be a professional teacher, and their view is quite broadly stated. As such, their self-views as teachers seem to also reflect the “quality focus” exhibited by prospective teachers.

They have had long careers as teachers, and based on their responses, their relationship with their students appear to be at the center of how they view their professional status.

Teaching… is not just a sort of transfer of a body of knowledge from one source to another one. It should help students increase their motivation and interest and if a teacher does not do this, it is unspeakable. (Chavosh)

Teaching is a way to teach the students how to live in a good manner. Teachers’ vital role is to keep the student moving ahead and pushing them forwards. (Anna)

Professionalism …… is not all about the details of the teaching activity or about pursuing one’s subject as a scholar. You also have to take care of the quality of one’s teaching. To me, a professional teacher is one who strives to understand his students and to see all their potential abilities, and even helps to realize them. (Chavosh)

Teaching is not just presenting what the textbooks say. It consists of a great deal of issues of social, cultural aspects. To me, teaching is the most complex process. (Anna)

Teaching is a multifaceted phenomenon in which a number of interrelated factors are at work, a teacher should take all these into consideration and care about it all, especially the emotional and social factors …(Chavosh)

A successful teacher or better to say a professional teacher is one who can diagnoses the students’ potentials and makes the arena to help them grow up for a good life. (Anna)

Although Chavosh and Anna rooted their sense of professionalism in meeting the needs of students, they were aware of some of the same contexts that seemed most to frustrate Bahram and Reza. Specifically, Chavosh described personal frustration with limited interest and opportunity for collaboration with colleagues. This situation, he felt, drained his energy for being innovative and inspiring to his students, and instead inclined him toward approaching teaching in a routinized manner.

This static nature of the system I have been working in for a number of years… leaves no space for thinking about and trying out not-yet-proven-useful teaching techniques. It also stops me from cooperating with my colleagues who are often suffering from the same problem I am facing. (Chavosh)

Like Chavosh, Anna seems to have overcome the need to be so focused on issues surrounding classroom management. Her responses belie her long experience, and her awareness that having to focus too much on management is detrimental to one’s quality of teaching.

Teachers, as their teaching experience increases, develop a repertoire of techniques that can be put into practice when they find themselves grappling with classroom management issues. This repertoire allows them to not divert their attention too much to the problem that copes with quite easily. Well of course, it is true that some students are not easily managed. (Chavosh)

The question of classroom management has already been answered. Although you may find some distruptive students, which is a part of class dynamism, the attention should be focused on other quality aspects of teaching. (Anna)

The responses from Chavosh and Lily are interesting because they contain kernels of the view expressed by both prospective and new teachers. They seem to have a desire to be innovative and to inspire students. At the same time, they expressed frustration with the isolating contexts in which most teachers find themselves. Their responses offer insight into what Iranian teachers might hope-for as well as what they might fear becoming.

Discussion

Summary of teachers’ self-concepts

Across the participants, several interesting findings emerged that point to differences and similarities among the groups. First, each of the participants indicated that “care” is expressed as being prepared for instruction. This finding is consistent with the premium placed upon content knowledge during preparation and in postgraduate professional development opportunities sponsored by the Ministry.

Second, the responses of the new teachers appeared to be most similar to the responses of the experienced teachers. For example, both perceived serving as a “model” for students to be an important role as a teacher. The reasons for this are unclear. Perhaps the responses of the experienced teachers portray an individual who has been able to maintain their early enthusiasm for teaching; or perhaps they portray a prospective teacher who already possesses a “realistic” view of working in schools despite having no teaching experience.

Finally, most interesting of all is the contrast in responses provided by the new teachers. Of the six cases, the responses provided by new teachers appeared to be the most pessimistic, especially when juxtaposed to the responses of the experienced teachers. The negative connotations found in their responses may indicate “possible selves” running up against realities of working in schools for which they were unprepared, and a process of renegotiating what they hope and fear becoming as teachers. Their extreme focus on task possible selves may also reveal a vulnerability to attrition, especially after 4 years of teaching. Their responses may also provide a clear characterization of why the Ministry would do well to consider the needs of in-service teachers.

In this study, the possible selves of three groups of teachers were examined in order to understand both the dimensions along which they build their expected and feared selves; and to examine ways in which teacher possible selves may differ during three important points in the course of the transition from prospective teacher to new teacher and experienced one. Our results offer that teachers’ possible selves may be classified into two primary categories reflecting a distinction previously identified by Conway and Clark (2003) between task-oriented self-concepts and quality-focused self-concepts.

Dimensions of prospective, new, and experienced teachers’ possible selves

Our findings support the work of Conway and Clark (2003) by showing that differences exist between possible selves at three distinct phases of teacher professional development, but unlike Conway and Clark (2003) and Hamman et al. (2010), our findings reveal that prospective teachers formulate expected and feared teacher possible selves that are both quality-focused and task-focused, though there is a difference which is not statistically significant. This suggests that they consider their teacher selves in a manner that is not confined to the immediate role and context. Their formulation of both expected and feared possible selves seem to have been derived from the theoretical foundations they have constructed during their academic studying. This could have some practical implications for the teacher education practitioners to provide prospective teachers with more opportunity to have a sensible and down-to-earth viewpoint about the teaching profession through implementing more practicum courses in order to increase their degree of familiarity with the real situation in a real classroom.

New teachers, who have experienced the classroom reality, on the other hand, formulated expected teacher possible selves that were task-focus related to survival and integration into the classroom context. At the same time, the new teacher constructed a similar proportion of feared selves that were task-focused. Experienced teachers seem to build both expected and feared teacher possible selves that were quality-focus related to achieving a specific professional quality. This formulation of possible selves may suggest that as teaching experience increases, teachers may go beyond the everyday tasks and pay attention to a more abstract, value-laden dimension of professional identity.

Our findings also revealed group differences that may point to a possible transition path through which teachers pass in the development of professional identity. In terms of task-focus, as it was shown, the more teachers gain experience teaching in classroom settings, the less they are concerned with the task-focused aspects of professional development. On the other hand, we could see a U-shaped pattern for quality-focused aspects. Prospective teachers formulate selves for both task- and quality-focus, while the new teachers are less concerned with the professional quality and more concerned with task-focused aspect of teaching profession. Experienced teachers, on the other hand, move forwards formulating their own teaching and learning views and giving priority to the professional quality.

Here reference can be made to Fuller (1970) and her stages of teacher development that are supported by the findings of this study. According to Fuller, teachers go through three stages in their professional growth, each stage being depicted by a shift of emphasis as to what is regarded as important. The emphasis of the initial stage is on the self; during this stage, teachers want to present an ideal image of themselves as practitioners. Their self-concept and practice at this stage are highly influenced by images of an ideal teacher. In the second stage, teachers become concerned with classroom control and management. At this stage, the expected ideal image will be challenged by the very realities of the classroom, and teachers become concerned with survival and integration into the professional context they are in. In the third stage, teachers develop the required confidence to sort out common classroom issues and focus on ways to improve students’ learning outcomes. Teachers at this stage are in a position to develop their own teaching and learning philosophies.

Implications for teacher possible selves

Possible selves theory enables a body of research trends to incorporate into one theoretical view oriented by self-concept and identity. All teachers concern some issues such as fitting into a new school setting, expressing care, or maintaining classroom control. These issues can constitute the teachers’ agenda for self-concept. Self-concept and identity theories can undoubtedly unite different research areas in teacher development, but the contribution of this study is that it presents more evidence about the fruitfulness of doing so. From a practical point of view, possible selves theory also provides a framework to examine the effectiveness of interventions in teacher pre-service and in-service preparation courses.

Limitations and future research directions

Although application of possible selves theory to teacher professional identity development suggests insights into teacher identity, this current study has limitations. First, the interview questions explicitly omitted queries about all other relevant domains of one’s future self that could also be related to teacher’s self-concept. Second, the data reported here presented a limited sample of participants and included a one-time, cross-sectional look at teachers’ possible selves which cannot address directly how possible selves may affect self-regulation. In order to better research the issues of identity formation and development in transition into teaching, a more longitudinal study is needed. Third, as Hamman et al. (2010) point out, the dichotomizing of teacher possible selves (task versus quality-focused) could hide other salient teacher selves. Fourth, although the current study describes potential differences between three groups of teachers based on teaching experience level, there is limited empirical research about how possible selves responses are related to other variables important to teacher education researchers like teacher agency, instructional quality, or a social orientation toward teaching. Last but not least, it should be noted that due to the fact that the prospective teachers in this study were mostly female but the other two status groups were mostly male, gender differences might have influenced the result of the study.

These limitations, of course, pave the way for future research. For instance, researchers could examine possible selves of teachers from other perspectives including comparing different groups of teachers based on some other factors such as certification level, gender, educational districts and nature of classrooms they attend using different methodologies. Possible selves theory can also be used to focus on important issues such as teachers’ job satisfaction as well.