Why this matters
Teacher educator identity is not built privately. It develops through participation, recognition, belonging, authority, and dialogue with others. This tool helps make those relational conditions visible.
Work through the four domains below, then map the relational network you already have—and the part of it you need to build.
Recognition
- Who first treated me as a teacher educator? — Name the person or moment that shifted how you understood your own work.
- Whose recognition matters most right now? — And where is my expertise recognized? Where do I still feel I need to prove myself?
- Who might I be failing to recognize? — Recognition is something you give as well as receive.
Belonging
- Where do I feel like an insider? — And where do I still feel peripheral or uncertain?
- Where can I admit uncertainty? — Where can I say I do not know without feeling that I lose legitimacy?
- What community would help? — What community would make my learning less isolated?
Authority
- What gives me authority here? — Experience, scholarship, role, relationships, expertise, institutional position, something else?
- When do I lean on it too fast? — When do I rely on authority to resolve uncertainty too quickly?
- How do I share it? — How do I share authority while still taking responsibility for teacher learning?
Participation & voice
- What am I now entering? — What conversations am I entering that I once avoided?
- Where do I retreat? — Where do I still retreat into silence?
- Whose voice shapes me? — Whose voice shapes my practice? Whose voice is missing? What participation would help me grow next?
My relational learning network
- Mentor — Who is it? What do they offer? What might I need more of?
- Critical friend — Who questions my interpretation without merely agreeing?
- Peer — Who is learning alongside me at a similar point?
- Sponsor / connector — Who opens doors, names opportunities, or vouches for me?
- Practice partner — Who co-plans, co-teaches, or debriefs with me?
- Community — What group gives me language, challenge, and permission to experiment?
One relational move
What relationship, invitation, conversation, or community would most strengthen your becoming right now? Name it, and name the first step toward it.
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