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#TeachersOfTikTok - From Hashtags to Habits: Social Media's Influence on Teacher Identity, Practice, and the Role of Teacher Preparation Programs (Chapter from Exploration of K-12 Teaching and Learning Teacher Educators)
Martha A. Wilkins and Danielle Ligocki
Social media, particularly TikTok, has become a major influence on pre-service teachers (PSTs), shaping their professional identity, pedagogical expectations, and instructional decision-making. While TikTok offers networking and inspiration, its algorithm-driven content prioritizes entertainment over evidence-based pedagogy, reinforcing idealized, oversimplified, and commercialized portrayals of teaching. Many PSTs consume and apply TikTok-derived strategies without critical evaluation, contributing to the casualization and deprofessionalization of the profession. Ethical concerns, including student privacy, influencer-driven monetization, and digital professionalism, further complicate its role in teacher education. Grounded in Critical Media Literacy (CML) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study argues for explicit media literacy training in teacher preparation programs to help PSTs critically engage with social media and distinguish between entertainment-driven trends and credible pedagogical knowledge.
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