Identity expectations in early childhood teacher education: Pre-service teachers' memories of prior experiences and reasons for entry into the profession

• Given high attrition amidst teachers, we study pre-service teachers’ identity expectations in a Canadian context.
• We examine how students base reasons for entry into profession on prior experiences.
• In addition to school memories, students referred to memories of home and prior work.
• Reasons for entry involved past teachers, personal convictions, and imagined students.
• Idealized identities relied on expectations with emotional overtones.

In the context of preparing early childhood teachers for a field with high attrition rates, this Canadian study examines pre-service teachers' identity expectations. Pre-service teachers wrote biographical narratives describing memories that influenced their reasons for choosing the teaching profession. Fifty-three narratives were analyzed. Implications from the study's findings suggest that teacher educators: 1) attend to the emotional dimensions of pre-service teachers' memories and identities; 2) help pre-service teachers access and articulate their tacit expectations about teaching; 3) address the image of the teacher as role model; and 4) attend to the political aspects of a prospective teacher's convictions.