Crossing boundaries–pre-service teachers' situated and imagined views of socioemotional competence and dialogicality

Abstract

Pre-service teachers often hold idealistic or static views of socioemotional competence. More research is needed on their situated reflections and imagined futures. This study focuses on pre-service secondary teachers' situated and imagined views of the socioemotional and dialogical dimensions of becoming and being a teacher. The study took place within multidisciplinary collaboration, online teaching, and the COVID pandemic. Fourteen pre-service teachers' interviews were analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis, applying the concept of boundary crossing. Our findings indicated three boundaries: between (1) disciplines, (2) online and face-to-face practices, and (3) being a student and being a teacher. In their situated views, pre-service teachers crossed disciplinary boundaries in collaboration with the help of social cohesion, perceived a threshold in online interaction, and held a normative conception of talkativeness. In their imagined futures, they struggled to specify socioemotional competence, emphasized challenging situations as a boundary, and expressed dialogical and monological voices regarding teachers' competences. There were tensions at the boundary between situated and imagined views, indicating idealized beliefs. Implications include providing safe spaces and time for collaborative boundary crossing and critical reflection. Our study addresses teachers' socioemotional competence and dialogicality amid crises and further theorizes the boundary between the situated and the imagined.