ABSTRACT

This study draws from theories of attachment to examine prospective teachers’ reflections on the role of the parent in their childhood memories in shaping the imagination of their future selves. As part of a larger qualitative study, we collected and analyzed the memory narratives of teacher candidates and undergraduate students preparing to work with children, and selected 53 of the 116 narratives that featured parents. These memories demonstrate three ways in which parents figured into the participants’memories and reflections on their motivations to work with children: 1) as supportive role models, 2) as catalysts of sympathy for children whom teachers imagine as lacking the privileges their own parents provided, and 3) as spurs for empathy towards children whom they identify with as experiencing challenging situations. In each case, the participant created an internal working model of the child-adult relationship in their memory and imagined themselves taking up a parallel role as the adult in a future child-adult relationship. As teacher educators concerned with the identity work of preservice teachers, our findings highlight the importance of critically exploring childhood memories of parents as models for the teacher-child relationship.

摘要

本研究从依恋理论出发，考察未来教师对父母在童年记忆中塑造未来自我想象力的作用的反思。作为一项更大规模的定性研究的一部分，我们收集并分析了教师候选人和准备与孩子一起工作的本科生的记忆叙述，并在 116 个以父母为特色的叙述中选择了 53 个。这些记忆展示了父母以三种方式进入参与者的记忆和反思他们与孩子一起工作的动机：1）作为支持性榜样，2）作为同情孩子的催化剂，教师认为他们缺乏自己父母提供的特权, 和 3) 作为对他们认同为经历具有挑战性的情况的孩子的同情的刺激。在每种情况下，参与者在他们的记忆中创建了一个儿童与成人关系的内部工作模型，并想象自己在未来的儿童与成人关系中扮演成人的平行角色。作为关注职前教师身份工作的教师教育工作者，我们的研究结果强调了批判性地探索父母的童年记忆作为师生关系模型的重要性。