The changing professional identity of pre-service technology education students

If a preservice technology teacher to teach technology education using a holistic approach, then the advancement of their professional identity as a technology teacher will be reliant upon the grasping of essential technology education concepts. This is a part of a larger study, which examines the transition of a pre-service Technology Education teacher during their pre service program. It records their journey from their initial identity as a trade worker; tracing their identity, knowledge, skill, values and attitudes development during their first encounter in a school as a pre-service secondary Technology teacher. This study demonstrates how the developing professional teacher identity is impacted within the Technology Foundation Course and identifies the factors causing the greatest change. The focal lens is on the coursework and the authentic activity, including the Technology Day which leads to a solid understanding of Technology Education. It uses personal folio’s, online reflective journaling and interviews as a way to trace the professional identity change and the results are presented using the Logic Framework Model. This paper discusses significant changes in the students’ professional identity and this has significant implication for the training of secondary teachers.