Challenges of teacher educators: Professional experiences of a beginning educator and researcher

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the challenges  experienced by a beginning teacher educator during her first two years in the profession at a Spanish institution. Narrative inquiry was used to provide insights into the formation of her professional identity at the university context. This  methodology was also utilized to co-construct, through a collaborative process of reflection, stories which focus on critical events occurred during her introductory phase at the tertiary level.  In a subsequent phase, these incidents were analysed by the author, who defined three recurrent themes: the praxis -shock experienced during her initial phase in the university setting, the adaptation of her teaching approach to the new working context and the research activity carried out and required at the university. The resul ts reveal the importance of providing beginning teacher educators with the support and the tools needed to ease their adaptation to the university context and contribute to their professional development. This article concludes with a reflection  about the formal and informal initiatives that might be carried out to deal with the challenges in the university context.