Reading Teacher Identity

Reading Teacher Identity exemplifies the transition from ‘before’ becoming a trainee teacher of reading behaviours, attitudes and identities to the ‘after’ of reading teacher and explores the transition space through teacher education. The typology and reader identity types provided will support trainee teachers, and those responsible for their continuing development, and provide an opportunity to reflect, consider and shape their own reading histories and reader identities.

Emma J. Rogers examines the challenges student teachers face in forming positive reading teacher identities, especially when past experiences have led to a non-reader identity. Exploring early influences that shape perceptions of reading, chapters follow ten first-year student teachers as they redefine themselves as both readers and educators. Using data visualisation, life history drawings, and interviews, chapters illustrate how students reflect on their reading lives, revealing key factors like early shared reading, embodied experiences, self-efficacy, and their sense of belonging in reading communities. Their stories shed light on the values and beliefs shaping their approach to teaching reading and the pedagogical strategies they develop in their evolving identities.

Reading Teacher Identity offers essential support for lecturers, mentors and teachers developing a curriculum in which reader identity formation is fundamental.