‘What Kind of Teacher I Wish to Be’: Exploring Prospective English Language Teachers’ Future-oriented Identities
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Studies on identity has shown that future-oriented thinking could be a useful framework for studying teacher identity development and in the contexts of language teacher preparation; however, research into the future-oriented dimensions of teacher identity is still rather limited. Therefore, in this case study, how prospective English language teachers envision their possible selves as future teachers were explored. Writings from the 56 participants were used as a method of data collection to provide a more profound analysis of the context-sensitive nature of their future-oriented identities. Following an interpretive analysis of qualitative data, the findings revealed two patterns in the participants’ future-oriented identity work: highly developed and (under)developed possible selves as L2 teachers. Both groups of participants appeared to be quite diverse in the nature of their hopes and fears as well as in their exercises of agency and response to tensions and challenges of language teaching. Also, participants’ possible language teacher selves seemed to be classified into three primary categories (i.e., L2 teacher development, L2 teacher competency and L2 teacher proficiency). Based on the findings and discussions, how future-oriented perspective may inform teacher identity development and teacher preparation in the context of language teaching was discussed. Several recommendations for further research and preparation of prospective language teachers were made.
Metrics
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Aneja, G. A. (2016). (Non)native speakered: Rethinking (non)nativeness and teacher identity in TESOL teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 572-596. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.315
Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175-189.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640902902252
Block, D. (2003). The social turn in second language acquisition. Georgetown University Press.
Christofferson, M., & Sullivan, A. L. (2015). Preservice teachers' classroom management training: A survey of self-reported training experiences, content coverage, and preparedness. Psychology in the Schools, 52(3), 248-264. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21819
Clarke, D. W. (2020). First my dad, then my iPhone: An autoethnographic sketch of digital death. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 21(2), Art. 8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-21.2.3258
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230153
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson Education.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2014). Strengthening clinical preparation: the holy grail of teacher education. Peabody Journal of Education, 89, 547–561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2014.939009
Furlong, C. (2013). The teacher I wish to be: Exploring the influence of life histories on student teacher idealised identities. European Journal of Teacher Education, 36(1), 68-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2012.678486
Hadi, A. (2019). Exploring preparation of pre-service teachers’ English proficiency and pedagogy: Stories from an EFL teacher education program. The Qualitative Report, 24(8), 1946-1966. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3771
Hamman, D., Gosselin, K., Romano, J., & Bunuan, R. (2010). Using possible-selves theory to understand the identity development of new teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(7), 1349-1361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.03.005
Hamman, D., Wang, E., & Burley, H. (2013). What I expect and fear next year: Measuring new teachers’ possible selves. Journal of Education for Teaching, 39(2), 222-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.765194
Hiltunen, K., Sääskilahti, N., Vallius, A., Pöyhönen, S., Jäntti, S., & Saresma, T. (2020). Anchoring belonging through material practices in participatory arts-based research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 21(2), 1-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/fqs-21.2.3403
Hiver, P. (2013). The interplay of possible language teacher selves in professional development choices. Language Teaching Research, 17(2), 210-227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813475944
Hong, J., & Greene, B. (2011). Hopes and fears for science teaching: The possible selves of preservice teachers in a science education program. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 22(6), 491-512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-011-9247-y
Johnson, K. (2016). Language teacher education. In G. Hall (Ed.), Routledge handbook of English language teaching (pp. 121-134). Routledge.
Kayi-Aydar, H. (2019). Language teacher identity. Language Teaching, 52(3), 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444819000223
Krzywacki, H. (2009). Becoming a teacher: emerging teacher identity in mathematics teacher education. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Helsinki]. https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/20029/becoming.pdf?se
Kubanyiova, M. (2007). Teacher development in action: An empirically-based model of promoting conceptual change in in-service language teachers in Slovakia. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Nottingham.
Kubanyiova, M. (2009). Possible selves in language teacher development. In Z. Dörnyei, E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 314–332). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691293-017
Kumazawa, M. (2013). Gaps too large: Four novice EFL teachers' self-concept and motivation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 33, 45-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.02.005
Lutovac, S. (2020). How failure shapes teacher identities: Pre-service elementary school and mathematics teachers’ narrated possible selves. Teaching and Teacher education, 94, 103-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103120
Lutovac, S., & Kaasila, R. (2014). Pre-service teachers’ future-oriented mathematical identity work. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 85(1), 129-142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-013-9500-8
Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954-959. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.9.954
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Meyers, J., Mathur, S., & Barnes, S. (2017). Exploring the impact of extended and early practicum experiences. Excellence in Education Journal, 6(2), 5-31. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1210161.pdf
Newby, P. (2014). Research methods for education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315758763
Norton, B. (2010). Language and identity. In N. Hornberger & S. McKay (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language education (pp. 349–369). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692849-015
Oyserman, D., & James, L. (2015). Possible selves: From content to process. In K. D. Markman, W. M. P. Klein, & J. A. Suhr (Eds.), Handbook of imagination and mental simulation (pp. 373-394). Routledge.
Oyserman, D., Bybee, D., Terry, K., & Hart-Johnson, T. (2004). Possible selves as roadmaps. Journal of Research in Personality, 38(2), 130-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00057-6
Pellikka, A., Lutovac, S., & Kaasila, R. (2020). The change in pre-service primary teachers’ possible selves in relation to science teaching. European Journal of Teacher Education, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1803270
Pennington, M. C., & Richards, J. C. (2016). Teacher identity in language teaching: Integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal, 47(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688216631219
Rahmati, T., Sadeghi, K., & Ghaderi, F. (2019). English language teachers’ vision and motivation: Possible selves and activity theory perspectives. RELC Journal, 50(3), 457-474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688218777321
Robinson, B. S., Davis, K. L., & Meara, N. M. (2003). Motivational attributes of occupational possible selves for low-income rural women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(2), 156-164. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.50.2.156
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.
Stevenson, J., & Clegg, S. (2011). Possible selves: Students orientating themselves towards the future through extracurricular activity. British Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 231-246. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920903540672
Taylor, F., Busse, V., Gagova, L., Marsden, E., & Roosken, B. (2013). Identity in foreign language learning and teaching: Why listening to our students’ and teachers’ voices really matters. ELT Research Papers, 13(2), 1-21. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/C683%20Identity%20in%20foreign%20language%20report_A4_WEB%20ONLY_FINAL.pdf
Tekir, S., & Akar, H. (2019). The current state of instructional materials education: Aligning policy, standards, and teacher education curriculum. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 19(1), 197-222. https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2019.1.043
Tsui, A. B. (2007). Complexities of identity formation: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher. TESOL Quarterly, 41(4), 657-680. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00098.x
Urzúa, A., & Vásquez, C. (2008). Reflection and professional identity in teachers’ future-oriented discourse. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1935-1946. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.04.008
van Lier, L. (2005). Case study. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language learning (pp. 195-208). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Varghese, M. M., Motha, S., Trent, J., Park, G., & Reeves, J. (2016). Language teacher identity in multilingual settings. TESOL Quarterly, 49(1), 219-220. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.221
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803932
White, C., & Ding, A. (2009). Identity and self in e-language teaching. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.) Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 333-349). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847691293-018
Whitty, M. (2002). Possible selves: An exploration of the utility of a narrative approach. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 2(3), 211-228. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532706XID0203_02
Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21-48. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327514138_A_Conceptual_Framework_to_Understand_Language_Teacher_Identities
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed). Sage.
Yowell, C. M. (2000). Possible selves and future orientation: Exploring hopes and fears of Latino boys and girls. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 20(3), 245-280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431600020003001