Strengthening Teacher Residencies for Paraprofessionals in Special Education: Building Identity from Within

There is a chronic, persistent shortage of fully licensed special educators. Teacher residencies in special education offer a path to address this shortage, and Special Education Classroom Assistants, (SECAs), are a unique subset to recruit into residencies. SECAs bring their own prior experiences and knowledge into the residency classroom. The purpose of this paper is to examine SECAs’ funds of knowledge, how they connect this knowledge to their self-identity and how they use these as they develop teacher identity. This study utilized two focus groups, with a total of 14 participating SECA residents. Focus group data were collected and analyzed to better understand the developing identities of SECAs. Based on the findings from focus groups, we identified three themes and subthemes, related to their funds of knowledge and self-identity. We discuss implications and future research related to teacher residencies, special education teacher residencies, and teacher preparation.