This study examines the two kindergarten teachers’ shared professional
identities in teamwork in an effort to clarify what constitutes their
shared identities and how these identities affect the teachers’
professional practices and beliefs. The relational nature of identity
maintains that individuals are not the only constructors of their
identity, and the literature on teacher education emphasizes the
importance of identity in teacher development. The in-depth analysis of
the two kindergarten teachers’ narrative interviews revealed how the
educators constructed their professional identities by intertwining the
features of their context, feedback, and teaching. The findings indicate
that the shared professional identities of the two early childhood
teachers are developed and negotiated through four shared features:
commitment, feedback, educational tasks, and professional agency.
Together these four shared features shape the teachers’ professional
roles and pedagogical practices—either by giving support to professional
growth and empowerment or by having a decreasing effect on the
teachers’ professional identity and agency in early childhood contexts.