The Innovative and Research Professional Identity of Future Early Years and Primary School Teachers and Their Relationship with Psychological Well-Being

: Teacher’s professional identity (TPI) is an essential and decisive element in the way future EY and primary teachers approach their labour. This study aims to analyse how and when student teachers build TPI and to study its relationship with personal well-being. The sample was made up of 135 students of the Faculty of Education of the University of Burgos (Spain), aged 18–44. A questionnaire elaborated ad hoc and an individual psychological well-being scale were both implemented. The results suggest that training activities, initially scheduled by the university courses, are those which most contribute to the building of a TPI; that there seem to be no di ﬀ erences in relation to gender and year of study in the factors which contribute to its development, regardless of whether it is rather innovative or research-oriented and that there is a relationship between types of TPI, as well as between these and the satisfaction with academic choice, and psychological well-being. Future teachers should build a solid TPI which enables them to successfully adapt to complex educational settings and encourages them to innovate. It is necessary to gradually make room for reﬂection from the beginning of the university training, as this could improve the future professional performance and the students’ psychological well-being.


Introduction
One's own professional picture gradually develops through a process of reflection fostered by interactions with other individuals who perform the same tasks. For some authors, it is in these interactions where professional identity is formed by means of socially recognised identifications, representations and attributions which make one group different from others [1]. On the other hand, identity changes from one person to another, as each individual incorporates the content and procedures which they think fit best their mental picture about the profession [2].
Thus, a teacher's professional identity (hereinafter abbreviated as TPI) is an essential and decisive element in the way EY and primary teachers approach their labour and depends on a range of professional and personal circumstances [3]. The large number of elements comprising TPI and the complexity of such elements make conceptualisation difficult. Cattonar [4] defines TPI as a continuous process of explanation and reinterpretation of life experiences which becomes developed in a collective, contextual, and singular manner.
On the other hand, what they make of their experiences, their learning, their possibilities, and their future, will determine the development of specific life projects or goals in different settings, including the professional one. According to Little [15], part of people's psychological well-being lies on accomplishing personal projects. Thus, psychological well-being largely depends on the combination of sources of satisfaction gained in different life domains, such as study and work. This satisfaction helps people experience an overall feeling of subjective well-being [16].
With the aim of delving into this line of thought, a study has been conducted to elucidate how and when TPI becomes developed in future EY and primary teachers and its relationship with personal well-being. More specifically, this study is intended to: (1) Explore the activities which contribute to the development of TPI in future EY and primary teachers; (2) Analyse the views regarding research of TPI in future EY and primary teachers depending on gender, year of studies and self-perception as a student; (3) Analyse the views about innovative TPI in future EY and primary teachers, depending on gender, year of studies and self-perception as a student; (4) Verify the relationship between research and innovative TPI; (5) Explore the relationship between innovative TPI and material and personal well-being; and (6) Analyse the relationship between satisfaction with professional choice and personal well-being.

Sample
The sample was made up of 135 students of the Faculty of Education of the University of Burgos (Spain), aged 18-44 (M = 200.37; SD = 3.038). With respect to gender, 34 (25.2%) were male and 99 (73.3%) were female, while 2 of them (1.5%) did not specify gender. As to the programme of study, 26 (19.3%) were studying a degree in early years' teacher education, and 109 (80.7%) a degree in primary teacher education. 73.3% (n = 99) were enrolled at the first or the second year of the degree, while the remaining 26.7% (n = 36) were enrolled at the last two ones. Convenience sampling was used for all years of studies.

Instrument
Data collection was performed by using two tools: (1) A questionnaire specifically elaborated for the study, previously assessed by three expert university researchers and two EY and primary teachers with a vast experience in teaching, who approved the final version, and (2) A personal psychological well-being scale, EBP [17].
The questionnaire was divided into several sections: (1) General: registration of general views on TPI in 24 binary items (true/false); (2) Satisfaction with choice of profession: data collection in 15 Likert-scale question-response items, eight of which were specially related to satisfaction with professional choice, while seven were intended to collect attractive aspects of the profession (α = 0.724); (3) Major milestones in the building of professional identity: highlighting of those activities which, according to the student, contribute to develop TPI during the foundational training process, in 40 Likert-scale question-response items (α = 0.863); (4) Research TPI: what matters to be a good researcher-teacher is assessed in 9 Likert-scale question-response items (α = 0.840), and (5) Innovative TPI: scoring 11 Likert-scale items (α = 0.807) related to teacher innovation. There were five Likert-scale response options (from 1 = very low, to 5 = very high).
Additionally, an ad hoc collection was performed on sociodemographic data (year of study, age, gender and qualification) and participation/non-participation in a series of training activities, by way of 10 binary items.
The personal psychological well-being scale, EBP [17] is aimed at evaluating 65 items about subjective psychological, material, work-related and couple relationships well-being on a 1-5 scale (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = nearly always, 5 = always). It has four sub-scales: (1) subjective psychological well-being, (2) material well-being, (3) work-related well-being, and (4) couple relationships. In the present study, only the first two ones are addressed, considering the goals of the research and the target population. The subjective psychological well-being sub-scale refers to satisfaction in life and to positive and negative affection, where the highest score is awarded to a greater subjective perception of well-being (30 items). Material well-being is based on income, quantifiable material belongings and similar (10 items). Reliability of both sub-scales is excellent (α = 0.942 and α = 0.866, respectively).

Procedure
The questionnaire was administered during the second semester of the academic year 2018-2019. All participants were informed by the researchers of the goals of the study and its purely academic purpose. First-and second-year students were administered the questionnaire in a face-to-face mode after having been explained what they were required to do, and that there were no wrong answers, and requesting voluntary participation. The tests were completed collectively and anonymously during an ordinary lecture. Completion took 20-25 min. For third-and fourth-year students, the tests were sent online and were provided with written instructions for completing the questionnaire.

Data Analysis
The research methodology was quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional, based on the implementation of the above-mentioned questionnaires. The data obtained enabled us to perform a descriptive analysis (means and standard deviation) in order to get to know the views of the participants in the training activities. In order to verify the differences existing amongst the different groups regarding their views on research and innovative TPI, Student's t-test (gender) and Anova (year of study) were used. When major statistical differences were found, Bonferroni test was also performed to identify the groups causing the said differences. These tests were conducted after having obtained the results provided by Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, which had been implemented to examine whether the variables were normally distributed. In order to determine the effect size of the above-mentioned differences, the eta-squared index was obtained, a small effect size being between 0.20 ≤ d ≤ 0.49, a medium one between 0.50 ≤ d ≤ 0.79, and a large one d ≥ 0.80 [18]. In order to study the relationship between the variables subject matter of study, Pearson's r was used. As statistical significance, p < 0.01 was used in most cases, while p < 0.05 in others. During the whole process, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used, with version Statistics 25 for Windows.

Results
As for the first goal, "explore the activities which contribute to the development of TPI in future EY and primary teachers", Table 1 shows that, under practical work in different courses, oral presentations, reading of scientific articles, and practical classroom exercises, scores are above average-both in the total sample and in that of each of the years of study. However, in practicum I, this just occurs in the third and the fourth years of studies; in practicum II, school placement logbook, degree thesis, degree thesis linked to practicum, participation in teacher innovation projects and events only in the fourth year; while in participation in science saturdays, hospital classroom, collaborative scholarships, academic research papers, participation in conferences and talks, summer course attendance, erasmus exchanges, it does not occur in any of the years of study nor in the total sample. As for the second goal, "analyse the views about research TPI in future EY and primary teachers ( Table 2) depending on gender and year of study", no relevant differences have been found between men and women, except under the item "Would you like to participate in a research project on, for instance, how to better manage diversity?". Not assuming equal variances, girls obtained a higher mean (M = 4.42 (0.757)) than boys (M = 3.91 (1.026); t (45) = 2.673; p = 0.01). In this case, effect size (d = 0.565) may be judged as a medium value. As to the year of study, no relevant differences could be observed, as values obtained were p > 0.05. Table 2. Items that evaluate investigative and innovative teacher's professional identity (TPI).

Investigative Innovative
Knowledge of education research Collect data for research on teacher improvement Read and publish papers and books related to teaching Disseminate their teaching innovations through congresses, conferences Reflect on the teaching/learning processes Knowing the gaps or voids in the education system and designing research to solve them. You would be interested in participating in a research project that studies, for example, how gender roles affect the educational process You would be interested in participating in a research project that explores, for example, how to better serve diversity. You would be interested in participating in a research project to study new models of student assessment Being an active agent for social change To have knowledge of active methodologies Knowing how to apply new techniques to achieve learning. Managing ICTs. To be able to manage in other languages. Be able to apply different methodologies in order to attract the attention of children To carry out regular training activities Participate in local, regional, state projects Keep in touch with the university. Commitment as a trainer of trainees Apply effective study methods.
As for the third goal, "analyse the views about innovative TPI in future EY and primary teachers ( Table 2) depending on gender, year of study and self-perception as student", no relevant differences have been found as to gender in those items assessing innovative TPI (p > 0.05). However, assuming an equal variance, significant differences were found as to the year of study under the item "It is important to undertake frequent training". Third-year students considered this more important than first-year students (M Regarding the relationship between research and innovative TPI, there is a correlation between both variables (r = 0.449; p = 0.001). Linear regression indicates that 20% of research TPI variance can be explained by the innovative one (t = 3.517; gl = 50; p < 0.001).
In the present study, a relationship between both TPIs and the two psychological well-being sub-scales can be observed (p = 0.01) (see Table 3). Performing linear regression, 8% of innovative TPI variance can be explained by material well-being (t = 2.074; gl = 50; p < 0.04), while 15% of innovative TPI variance can be explained by subjective psychological well-being (t = 2.951; gl = 50; p < 0.05). Nevertheless, 13% of material well-being variance can be explained by innovative TPI (t = 2.740; gl = 50; p < 0.01), while 27% thereof is explained by subjective psychological well-being (t = 4.218; gl = 50; p < 0.00). As for the last goal, "analyse the relationship between satisfaction with professional choice and personal well-being", satisfaction with professional choice has been broken down into two types of questions. The first six ones collect the extent to which each participant is satisfied with the chosen profession (42-49), while the rest of the questions collect how appealing the profession is for each participant (50-57). A relationship between both types of questions and the two psychological well-being sub-scales can be observed (Table 4). When performing a linear regression, 9% of the variance of satisfaction with professional choice can be explained by material well-being (t = 3.636; gl = 134; p < 0.00), while 14% thereof can be explained by subjective psychological well-being (t = 4.681; gl = 134; p < 0.00). However, 3% of the variance of satisfaction with professional choice is explained by material well-being (t = 2.131; gl = 134; p < 0.04), while 9% is explained by subjective psychological well-being (t = 3.543; gl = 134; p < 0.00). Table 4. Correlations between satisfaction with profession choice and psychological well-being.

Discussion
As to the building of TPI in future EY and primary teachers, only a few studies have been published in our area of research, so this study is going to focus on getting to know TPI thanks to the views of the students of the degrees in early years and primary teacher education, and their relationship with the perceived psychological well-being.
According to the students, the activities which contribute most to the development of TPI are those incorporated into the usual dynamics of the courses from the foundational stage of the studies and those that require the active participation of the student (practical work in different courses, oral presentations, reading of scientific articles and practical classroom exercises), in addition to practical courses, or research-or innovation-oriented activities (school placement logbook, degree thesis linked to practicum, participation in teaching innovation projects and experiences) as included in the undergraduate curriculum. All of the said activities are compulsory for graduation. Curiously, the least appreciated are those voluntary activities, in which participation is actually quite limited and which probably contribute to exploring their TPI, changing erroneous beliefs. In this line, some authors argue that facilitating experiences of mismatch between idealised perceptions and reality promotes the development of TPI [19,20].
It is a true fact that there is an increasing demand for a wider range of professional skills beyond those purely related to teaching, with teachers being asked to use innovative methodologies or research and disseminate knowledge, among other tasks. This may contribute to a certain lack of definition of their professional identity [21], but it is also a challenge for university professors in charge of training these future teachers. Actually, in this study, a solid relationship has been found between research and innovative TPI, suggesting that a number of students have made a move into the assumption of a more elaborate and complex TPI, a new profile of innovative and research-oriented teaching as a function inherent in their role [22].
Delving into the development of this new, rather complex profile, contrary to the thesis of Sánchez Lissen [23], no clear differences can be observed between men and women, although the value placed by women on participation in research projects to develop a research TPI must be highlighted.
This brings about an interesting discussion on when students assume these functions. When studying the differences as to year of study within the degree in which they are enrolled, and although some authors [17,24] did show some changes in TPI conception as students progressed in their studies, the present study does not certify a different perception of research TPI per year of study. Probably from the beginning of their training as future teachers, university students are certain that a part of their future professional activity is to include the research function.
In this line of thought, Pérez de Albéniz and Medina [7] state that most first-year students already have a clear picture of the kind of teachers that they want to become, believe an EY or a primary teacher's professional profile must be different from that of other professionals in education, and consider that a good TPI influences performance quality.
Following the analysis per year of study, a peculiarity has indeed been found, which is the value placed by third-year students on training activities when it comes to acquiring an innovative TPI. This is surely due to the placements that they engage with in real school settings. In fact, López and Bláquez [25] put great emphasis on this stage when it comes to TPI development. Furthermore, the practicum can contribute much to the interactive dimension of TPI as suggested by Caballero [26], formed thanks to the contacts and interactions achieved during professional performance. This interactive dimension has a direct repercussion on the inner self dimension (the way each individual understands and performs their labour), as those relationships are going to influence the way to understand and perform the profession.
In this way, first-year students' simplistic picture of the innovative role which teachers must adopt, where teachers have a rather classroom-centred role, evolves to third-year students' more elaborate and complex picture, who have already been in real-life classroom settings and have formed a faithful image of a teacher in duty. In this line of thought, Bolívar et al. [9] suggest that third-and fourth-year students see the teacher's role as an actor in curricular design and innovation, as part of a teaching team, and as a social actor with influence over a wider social-educational environment. Hong [27] indicates that in their early days, pre-service teachers tend to have naive and idealistic perceptions of the profession.
One last goal of this research was to address issues affecting the psychological well-being perceived by students in the university environment.
There is a relationship between the building of research and innovative TPI, and the perceived material and personal well-being, as also occurs between satisfaction with professional choice and personal well-being.
Although no studies have been found to address the said links in a straightforward way, these results are aligned to other authors' findings in which good academic performance was positively correlated to satisfaction with the studies taken, or between the subject's well-being and their academic performance [28][29][30].
Therefore, we believe that it may be worth delving deeper into these variables indirectly affecting university teaching quality, to later design strategies to develop a solid TPI and increase personal commitment, which may eventually lead to greater wellness.

Conclusions
Students believe that classroom activities contribute to the development of ICT's, but consider that internships in schools further contribute to a more realistic picture of the teaching role.
Therefore, among the conclusions and implications derived from this study, we must highlight the need to consider the results obtained in this sort of research when it comes to designing the foundational training process of these future teachers within the EY and primary teacher education curricula, by both the academic management and the faculty.
We consider that the information provided can be a baseline from which to deploy more complex analyses and more detailed investigation processes. From this study, we infer that it could be convenient to further study TPI and how it is an index in personal well-being knowledge in current and future EY and primary teachers. Scarce, though, are the studies in this field within our area of research, and there are no research papers which subject the training of students of EY and primary teacher education degrees to analysis, despite their importance when it comes to determine what activities are suitable and when they must be implemented. From such a basis, students could be provided with spaces and activities to help them build their TPI. This study, therefore, contributes to increasing TPI knowledge and fostering the planning of future training activities which support their development as future teachers of elementary education.