'I Feel Like a Hypocrite': School Choice and Teacher Role Identity

In recent decades, school choice has become a characteristic feature of urban school systems and, like students, teachers must choose among schools with various characteristics. Such decisions become new sites for teachers to enact their professional identity. This study uses qualitative data to explore the identity negotiations of 26 teachers employed in six choice high schools in Preston, a large Northeastern city. Sample teachers worked in schools that varied based on sector (public vs. charter), enrollment mechanism (neighborhood, lottery, selective), and model (progressive, highly structured). Drawing on the concept of a role identity standard--a goal against which a person judges themselves--we found that teachers in our sample held themselves to a standard that either emphasized instruction or social justice. Some viewed their school as conducive to enacting their role identity standard. These teachers were generally satisfied with their school and conceptually supportive of school choice. However, most teachers in our sample adhering to a justice-based teacher identity standard described incongruence between some aspect of their chosen school and their professional identity. This conflict created stress and drove teachers to re-frame aspects of their chosen school so that remaining there felt more consistent with their professional identity.