Why it works
Research on teacher development highlights the importance of a developing professional identity, a sense of who you are and want to be as a teacher, your values and your purpose, in sustaining teachers and guiding their growth. For new teachers especially, a clear sense of their why and the kind of teacher they are becoming provides an anchor in an overwhelming year, guides countless small decisions, and sustains motivation. Identity develops through reflection and experience, not all at once.
The research: Research on teacher identity and development.
The run-of-show
Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.
The core activity: clarify your teaching why
New teachers leave with their why and core values named as an anchor.
- Name why you became a teacher, your core purpose.
- Name a few values that define the teacher you want to be.
- Consider how those show up (or could) in your daily practice.
- Plan to revisit this as an anchor when the year is hard.
Facilitator notes
- Help new teachers name their why and values.
- Connect identity to daily decisions.
- Revisit it, and let it evolve.
Adapt it
- <b>Elementary and secondary:</b> the same.
- <b>All settings:</b> name your why and values, revisit.
Participant handout
One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.
Your Teaching Identity: know your why
<b>An anchor for hard days:</b> your purpose, your values, and the teacher you are becoming, revisited often.
- Why I became a teacher (my core purpose):
- A few values that define the teacher I want to be:
- How those show up in my practice:
- How I will revisit this as an anchor:
- The teacher I am becoming:
Make it stick
Know your why:
- Know your why.
- Let it anchor you.
- Share your teaching why with your mentor.