SPEAKING FROM THE BORDERLANDS: Exploring Narratives of Teacher Identity

What does it mean to be a secondary school teacher? Those who have been high school or middle school teachers know that secondary school teaching is demanding work. They have taught 130-plus adolescents per day, spent weekends and evenings grading papers and planning lessons, and have negotiated the competing demands of various stakeholders including administrators, community leaders, colleagues, and students. They also know that the profession is often perceived, both by “insiders” and “outsiders,” asmorethan a job—as a way of life or a “calling.” A teacher is seen as an individual who should go above and beyond