Peer group facilitator professional identity development, part four of four

Abstract

This study focused on the student paraprofessionals who facilitated study groups for rigorous college courses. A grounded research study of these student leaders at an institution identified professional identity development by them in ways not anticipated, and actually against written policies for their behavior. Rather than perceiving themselves as a study group leader following a narrow job description, many of them referred to themselves as teachers. This article unmasks this professional identity, identifies the mechanism for this choice, and presents a model to explain it.