Reflective writing, reflecting on identities: The construction of writer identity in student teachers’ reflections

Abstract

The study focuses on student teachers’ reflective writing as an academic literacies practice. Data are drawn from a combined ethnographic approach to student teachers’ reflective writing on their practicum experience in a Primary Education Department of a Greek University. Ivanič’ (1998) framework on the construction of writer identity is employed in order to explore the resources and the discourses which student teachers deploy to position themselves with or against academic and professional discourses available in the socio-culturally bounded context of Teacher Education in Greece. The discourses under negotiation resonate socially circulating discourses that underpin the formation of student teachers’ professional identity. Given the specifications of the genre and the specifications of the context, reflective writing could possibly call for a transformative approach to academic writing practices. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.