Becoming a Teacher in a Rural or Remote Community: The Experiences of Educational Assistants

In 2014, a university in Western Canada introduced a new community-based Bachelor of Education pathway targeting students in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. Many students enrolled in this program are current or former educational assistants. This study employed a descriptive phenomenological methodology to have participants reflect on their experiences as they transitioned from educational assistants to the role of teacher over the course of the program. Drawing on transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1978; Mezirow & Taylor, 2009), the authors specifically examine how the experiences of these pre-service teachers impacted their sense of personal identity and social positioning (Johnson-Bailey, 2012). Among the many findings are the impacts of the program on perspectives of self, others’ perspectives, school roles, and participants’ views of students.