Doctoral thesis: multiple professional identities of practitioner-lecturers in universities of applied sciences are fragile but inspiring
Practitioner-lecturers in universities of applied sciences need support in finding a balance between their identities in their professional work and in their role as teachers. The key is to value both roles.
Estonian universities of applied sciences often employ practitioners as lecturers – specialists in their field who start teaching with professional experience. While they bring valuable practical knowledge to the classroom, it takes them time to adapt to the role of a teacher.
Elina Peri's doctoral thesis at the Department of Educational Sciences of Tallinn University reveals that the intertwined roles of practitioner and lecturer lead to a complex and multi-level experience of multiple professional identities. It is both a challenge and an opportunity for development.
"Having multiple professional identities means a sense of self related to several professional roles at the same time,” explains Elina Peri. “The practitioner-lecturer plays the role of both a practitioner and a lecturer.” It takes time for practitioners to develop an identity as a lecturer, as they seek to balance practical experience and the challenge of teaching in higher education. In her doctoral thesis, Peri focuses on how practitioner-lecturers experience their multiple professional identities.
At the heart of the research is the notion that having multiple professional identities is related to the experiential sense of self in connected roles. Practitioner-lecturers see themselves first and foremost as representatives of their profession and rely mainly on sharing their own professional experience when teaching. At the same time, they find it difficult to find suitable teaching methodologies as new teachers. Multiple identities are formed when practitioners start teaching and experience the expectations and demands of the teaching role. "The sense of self that is experienced in the classroom has an important impact on self-identity," says Peri.
Having multiple professional identities is both fragile and inspiring, especially at the beginning of their teaching journey. Although it causes tension between identities, role confusion and internal conflicts, experiencing it offers an opportunity for development.
In her thesis, Peri makes recommendations for practitioners starting out in the role of lecturer, as well as for universities of applied sciences, so that they can better support the process of becoming a lecturer through valuing the development of multiple professional identities. Therefore, it is important to create an environment where practitioner-lecturers feel that both their roles – practitioner and lecturer – are valued, and are offered opportunities to reflect on their experiences.
However, Peri stresses that the internal readiness of practitioners to work with themselves is the most important part of becoming and remaining a teacher. "A strong practitioner will develop into a teacher if they have the will to develop and if the university can provide the opportunities to do so," says Peri. "A developing teacher needs time and purposefully created opportunities to reflect on their role as a teacher. This makes the lecturer more confident in teaching and helps them continue to teach.”
Peri's doctoral thesis provides valuable insights into how to alleviate the identity tensions of practitioner lecturers in universities of applied sciences. Research shows that many practitioners, whatever their profession, return to professional work after a short period as a lecturer. However, keeping them in teaching is essential for maintaining the quality of education in applied higher education.
The subject of the thesis grew out of Elina Peri's personal experience of dividing herself between the roles of nurse and nursing lecturer over 20 years.
The thesis defence
Elina Peri is a PhD student at the Department of Educational Sciences of Tallinn University.
Her PhD thesis is titled Multiple Professional Identities As Experienced By Practitioner-Lecturers at Estonian Universities of Applied Sciences – A Phenomenological Perspective.
The public defence of the thesis will take place on 14 October 2025 at 15:00 in Tallinn University Hall M-648.
The public can also follow the defence and ask the degree candidate questions via Zoom.
The supervisors of the thesis are Larissa Jõgi, Associate Professor at Tallinn University and Marvi Remmik, Associate Professor at the University of Tartu.
The opponents are Judit Strömpl, Associate Professor at the University of Tartu and Krista Loogma, Distinguished Professor at Tallinn University.
The doctoral thesis is available in the ETERA digital environment of the Tallinn University Academic Library.