Conceptualising (mathematics teacher educator) identity work: an enactivist-informed approach

The role of the mathematics teacher educator (MTE) is to shape the learning and development of mathematics teachers across all stages of their professional lives. Research suggests that engaging in identity work is a vital part of a process of becoming a mathematics teacher and that MTEs can be key to supporting this process. What we know less about, however, is the identity work of those who facilitate the identity work of mathematics teachers (i.e., MTEs). In this paper, we contribute to this dearth of literature whilst exploring what the perspective of enactivism has to offer identity research given its emphasis on relationships and embodied action. We formulate our conceptualisation of MTE identity work as a set of seven methodological principles informed by the enactivist theory of cognition, specifically: focusing on process (as opposed to outcome); orienting towards relationships and attending to the other; working from and with multiple perspectives; privileging non-rational forms of knowing; engaging in a process of becoming self-aware; facilitating the letting go of ego-centered habits; and enabling new ways of making distinctions.