התפתחות ייצוגי הזהות של סגל ההוראה בתהליך האקדמיזציה של המכללות

The study employs a Social Representation Theory perspective in order to examine how college teachers deal with the transition to academic accreditation and the requirement to combine teaching with research. Central to the study is the question of how their pedagogical identities clash or conflate with their research identities. Utilizing a focus group methodology, the minutes of discussions regarding the question of teachers ׳ identity were collected and analyzed in accordance with the typology of old hegemonic representations, emancipated representations, polemical representations, and new hegemonic representations developed by Moscovici (1988). The findings reveal that while the old hegemonic representation has almost completely disappeared from the social discourse, there is still evidence of a defensive polemical discourse that attributes difficulties to external factors. It was found that teamwork enables teachers to overcome the difficulty in the transition from the limited identity of a teacher to the expanded identity of a teacher-researcher. It was also found that the new hegemonic representation is prominently connected to the college and is internalized as a requirement of the organization. The conclusions emerging from the study are that the process of academic accreditation undergone by the college faculty mandates the active assistance of the organization as regards training in research methods, obtaining resources, and receiving appreciation and support. Additionally, it seems that teamwork in research helps some teachers to conflate the two identities. From the perspective of the Social Representation Theory, the development of the teacher-researcher ׳s identity is essentially a social process and is constructed in a constant discourse within the peer groups.