FROM LAURA INGALLS TO WING BIDDLEBAUM: A STUDY OF TEACHER IDENTITY IN WORKS OF LITERATURE

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to systemically analyze the types of teachers that appear in works of literature, and to explore the various teacher identities that are depicted. The data consists of 44 novels, plays, short stories, and children’s books with teachers as characters. Each work was carefully read with particular attention paid to the characterization of teachers and the identities they assumed. Through a process of analytic induction, the following themes emerged: teacher as nurturer, teacher as subversive, teacher as conformist, teacher as hero; teacher as villain, teacher as victim, and teacher as outsider. Implications of this research are discussed.