The research is a network of studies exploring the relationship between, on the one hand, the development of "practical sense" and academic teacher identities in Medicine and Health Sciences Education and, on the other hand, context-specific educational sites such as clinical workplace learning at hospitals, faculty development at research-intensive universities, and peer mentoring processes among faculty in health sciences education.
In 2024, studies on how to use solicited audio diaries to support teacher identity formation in medical teachers, early career academics, and educational leaders in health professions education will be conducted. Audio diaries involve solicited audio recordings of participants’ reflections centred on a specific theme over a longer period. This method has been used for studying student learning. However, the use of audio diaries in faculty development has not yet been extensively researched.
The research is grounded in qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, narrative-biographical inquiries, audio diaries, and focus group interviews. Currently, the solicited audio dairy methodology is used in two studies:
In these studies, audio diaries are used both as a research methodology and a reflective tool for teacher identity formation.
Teacher identity is not easy for early career teachers or newly appointed educational leaders to talk about nor for faculty developers to support in a busy clinical workday. Little is known about what may help these professionals reflect on their teaching in a way that supports their identity formation as teachers.
The use of the solicited audio diary method could be a new way of supporting reflective teacher identity formation in everyday pedagogical interactions. But is it feasible to use audio diaries as a reflection tool as well as a research method at the same time? The research will shed light on the pros and cons regarding the combination of faculty development and the use of audio diaries.
