Identidad indagadora y posicionamientos del profesorado de educación primaria ante un proceso de innovación educativa

Abstract

The new educational models have caused profound changes in the development of innovation in schools. These changes, together with the numerous technological advances of recent decades, have had a notable impact on the educational challenges that teachers face in 21st century schools. In this new school context, inquiry in its individual and group dimensions, due to its great potential combined with innovation and the identity of the teaching staff, represents a very relevant support for solving the pedagogical problems that arise daily in schools. Despite this, existing scientific studies on this subject are limited and it is necessary to conceptualize the identity of teachers as inquirers based on components and descriptors of the “I” and the “We”. This doctoral thesis aims to contribute to the study of the I-position and the We-position of inquiry of Primary Education teachers. To this end, Dialogical Self Theory (DST) has been used as a vehicle to identify the components and descriptors that make up the inquiring identity of teachers in their individual and group dimensions. At a theoretical level, we aim to identify the components and descriptors that are part of the positioning that teachers adopt when participating in a process of educational innovation. At a methodological level, the thesis aims to construct two instruments, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview that will allow the collection of information on the components and descriptors of the identity of teachers as inquirers in their individual and group dimensions. To construct a definition of the I-position and the We-position of inquiry, the following have been used: the conceptions of teaching-learning as a component of the “I” and the “We” and the agency, ownership, meaning, emotions, leadership, commitment, collaborative inquiry, self-regulation and inquiry activities as descriptors of the I-position and We-position of inquiry. They have been analyzed through two studies in which Primary Education teachers participated. The first, quantitative, collected the responses of 123 participants through a questionnaire. The second, qualitative, included the voices of 31 teachers, collected through seven focus groups. The analyses of both studies have highlighted the usefulness of the theoretical framework adopted to provide new knowledge to the inquiring identity of teachers in their individual and group dimensions. In the same way, the existing relationship between the conceptions of teaching-learning as a component of the "I" and the "We", the descriptors of the inquiring identity and the prototypical inquiry activities within the framework of an educational innovation project has been determined. Likewise, the descriptors that predict the change in teachers' inquiry identity, their positioning at the individual and group level and the conditions that determine the way in which Primary Education teachers position themselves in the face of a process of educational innovation have been identified. The limitations have been taken into consideration when carrying out studies using a questionnaire and focus groups as instruments. Finally, a series of implications have been established for educational practice that we consider will facilitate the different members of the educational community in the design and implementation of educational innovation projects.

Date of Award	10 Sept 2024
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Antonio Badia Gargante (Director) & Lorena Becerril Balín (Director)