Identity tensions: one early career teacher's stories of navigating the school context

As teachers enter the profession, tensions between their values and beliefs and the expectations of their schools and colleagues are common. This study gains insight into such struggles with these individual and contextual factors, or identity work, by reporting on initial analysis of one early career mathematics teacher’s stories of navigating a tension between herself and a colleague. Using a narrative inquiry approach, stories were elicited through personal written reflections and an exploratory interview. Analysis of these stories demonstrates how interactions with colleagues are emotive experiences which are likely to cause identity shifts and tensions. To help make sense of this, and choose how to navigate the situation, the teacher drew on past experiences as both a teacher and learner of mathematics and was ultimately able to view this experience as an opportunity for professional learning.