Teachers’ professional identities are the foundation of their practice. Previous scholarship has largely overlooked the extent to which the broader reform culture shapes teachers’ professional identities. In this study, I draw on survey data from 950 teachers across four US states (California, New York, Florida, and Texas) to examine the extent to which teachers’ professional identities are associated with what I term “institutionalized conceptions” of their roles. Across diverse state policy contexts, I find that teachers draw upon a shared set of institutionalized conceptions of their roles, which are associated with their professional identities. The findings suggest that the taken-for-granted ways society frames teaching may be associated with dimensions of teachers’ professional identity, such as self-efficacy and professional commitment.
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