From teacher to school principal: Analysis of an identity transition process 

The transition from teacher to school principal has been shown to be a professional challenge, and even though the research has identified the challenges involved, little is known about how the way it is approached determines the identity change it entails. We used a longitudinal design with a single case and multimodal data to describe the identity transition of a novice principal in his first year in this role. Based on the dialogic perspective, we describe his position on the critical incidents and analyse the episodes of identity transition and their function in his adoption of the new role. The analysis enabled us to identify the negotiation among the multiple voices (positions) when the principal was faced with challenges. The results show that some incidents opened up episodes of negotiation and repositioning that lasted over time, hindering him from effectively resolving the incidents and consequently taking on the new role of principal. The results have implications for the design of training that fosters the resolution of challenges through repositioning processes and the exploration of dialogic strategies that favour the construction of professional identity.La transici & oacute;n de maestro a director de escuela se ha demostrado como un reto profesional y, aunque la investigaci & oacute;n ha identificado los desaf & iacute;os que implica, se sabe poco acerca de c & oacute;mo su afrontamiento determina el cambio identitario que supone. Utilizamos un dise & ntilde;o longitudinal de caso & uacute;nico y datos multimodales para caracterizar la transici & oacute;n identitaria de un director novel en su primer a & ntilde;o. Bas & aacute;ndonos en la perspectiva dial & oacute;gica, caracterizamos su posicionamiento ante los incidentes cr & iacute;ticos y analizamos los episodios de transici & oacute;n identitaria y su funci & oacute;n en la adopci & oacute;n del nuevo rol. El an & aacute;lisis permiti & oacute; identificar la negociaci & oacute;n entre las m & uacute;ltiples voces (posiciones) ante los desaf & iacute;os. Los resultados mostraron que algunos incidentes abrieron episodios de negociaci & oacute;n y reposicionamiento que se prolongaron en el tiempo, dificultando la resoluci & oacute;n eficaz de los incidentes y, en consecuencia, la asunci & oacute;n del nuevo rol de director. Los resultados tienen implicaciones para el dise & ntilde;o de propuestas formativas que propicien la resoluci & oacute;n de desaf & iacute;os a trav & eacute;s de procesos de reposicionamiento y la exploraci & oacute;n de estrategias dial & oacute;gicas que favorecen la construcci & oacute;n de la identidad profesional.