Developing a theory of clinical instructor identity using the experiences of medical laboratory science practitioners.

Abstract

This study investigated medical laboratory science clinical instructors' beliefs about teaching and how they viewed themselves as teachers. The first phase of the study included an integrative literature review, which suggested that the development of teacher identity in school-based educators, and to a lesser extent higher education faculty, is dependent on four dimensions: personal factors, training factors, contextual factors, and reflective practice. The second phase of this study began qualitative inquiry into the ways that these participants described their teaching and professional identity. Interviews were conducted with medical laboratory science clinical instructors in order to gain an understanding of their perceptions of themselves as teachers. The data collected in this study indicate that this group of clinical instructors saw themselves as teachers who were responsible for providing students with technical skills needed to become competent practitioners and the theoretical foundation necessary to pass the national certification exam. The study participants also saw themselves as mentors who were responsible for passing along professional knowledge to the next generation of laboratory practitioners. During data analysis three themes emerged that represent aspects of teacher identity in clinical instructors: belief in one's teaching ability, desire to expand one's professional responsibilities, and reflection on one's teaching. The findings from this study may provide a foundation for future research designed to measure teacher identity in clinical instructors.