Learning to Teach, Learning to Be

This chapter reiterates teacher identity construction, a meticulous process shaped deliberately, and not an emergent construct driven by the teaching practice itself. Teacher education, through the fusion of narrative, reflection, and communities of practice (CoP), has the potential to foster professional agency, community, and a sense of moral purpose. A design-for-identity approach incorporates narrative, reflective practice, and collaborative professional inquiry as three pathways to grow interdependently. This advocates for the systems and policies to recognize identity work as professional capital for teaching to be a sustainable practice. The proposed future research entails identity work in the form of longitudinal, digital CoPs, and cross-cultural studies. Ultimately, the study invites the framing of teacher learning as a moral and relational act of becoming in a community of practice, where educators learn not only to teach, but learn to live within a community of practice, a professional community that upholds their dignity, purpose, and humanity.