Emergence of the professional identity of teachers who teach Mathematics in conversations in a virtual community of practice

Abstract

This manuscript investigates emerging issues about the professional identity (PI) of teachers who teach Mathematics, from their participation in a virtual community of practice (VCP) based on a WhatsApp group. For the data production, conversations about their training and performance were used, as well as the impacts of their participation in the group. The data was analyzed using content analysis. It was observed that three characteristics of the PI emerged in the conversations: vulnerability, sense of agency and political commitment. Vulnerability and a sense of agency were responsible for leading teachers in the search for lifelong learning about teaching. The political commitment arose from the narratives that involve their work, since the search for improvement is also understood as a political commitment to the community. Participation in CVP turned out to be a catalyst for the constitution of the IP of these teachers in a collective perspective.