‘I think that I am fossilized’
Abstract
In the process of becoming a teacher, novice teachers are likely to experience multiple tensions that shape their sense of professionalism. Despite their importance, novice teacher identity tensions have rarely been studied in second language pedagogy. The present study reports the role of tensions in a novice Iranian EFL teacher’s (Mina) identity development during her first year of teaching and three years later. Data were collected from three rounds of semi-structured interviews, online narratives, classroom observations, and post-observation conversations. Detailed analyses of the data indicated four major themes underlying Mina’s identity development vis-à-vis the tensions she experienced: (a) tensions between imagined and enacted identities, (b) tensions between claimed and assigned identities, (c) excessive emotion labor, and (d) resisted identities. Although tensions primarily functioned as negative mechanisms that created multiple identity conflicts for Mina, they partly made her renegotiate and restructure her identity in relation to various stakeholders in the long run. The findings are discussed in light of particularities of teaching and power relations that (re)define novices’ effective identity construction.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses: Negotiating personal and professional spaces. Routledge.
Barkhuizen, G. (2016). A short story approach to analyzing teacher (imagined) identities over time. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 655–683. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.311
Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2011). New teachers’ identity shifts at the boundary of teacher education and initial practice. International Journal of Educational Research, 50, 6–13.
Beijaard, D., P. C. Meijer, & N. Verloop. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107–128.
Benesch, S. (2020). Theorising emotions from a critical perspective: English language teachers’ emotion labour when responding to student writing. In C. Gkonou, J. M. Dewaele, & J. King (Eds.), The emotional rollercoaster of language teaching (pp. 53–69). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.04.003
Block, D. (2021). Innovations and challenges in identity research. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bucholtz, M. (2003). Sociolinguistic nostalgia and the authentication of identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(3), 398–416. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00232
Clarke, M. (2009). The ethico-politics of teacher identity. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 41(2), 185–200. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00420.x
Daniel, S. M. (2015). Empathetic, critical integrations of multiple perspectives: A core practice for language teacher education? TESOL Journal, 6(1), 149–176. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.184
De Costa, P. I., & Norton, B. (2017). Introduction: Identity, transdisciplinarity, and the good language teacher. The Modern Language Journal, 101(S1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12368
Delamarter, J. (2019). Proactive images for pre-service teachers: Identity, expectations, and avoiding practice shock. Springer.
Douglas Fir Group. (2016). A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world. The Modern Language Journal, 100(S1), 19–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12301
Duff, P. A. (2008). Case study research in applied linguistics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Eslamdoost, S., King, K. A., & Tajeddin, Z. (2020). Professional identity conflict and (re)construction among English teachers in Iran. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 19(5), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2019.1676157
Fairley, M. J. (2020). Conceptualizing language teacher education centered on language teacher identity development: A competencies-based approach and practical applications. TESOL Quarterly, 54(4), 1037–1064. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.568
Farrell, T. S. (2008). Critical incidents in ELT initial teacher training. ELT Journal, 62(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm072
Francis, D. C., Hong, J., Liu, J., & Eker, A. (2018). ‘I’m not just a math teacher’: Understanding the development of elementary teachers’ mathematics teacher identity. In P. A. Schutz, J. Hong, & C. Francis (Eds.), Research on teacher identity: Mapping challenges and innovations (pp. 133–145). Springer.
Freeman, D. (2013). Teacher thinking, learning, and identity in the process of educational change. In K. Hyland & L. L. C. Wong (Eds.), Innovation and change in English language education (pp. 139–152). Routledge.
Gkonou, C., & Miller, E. R. (2020). An exploration of language teacher reflection, emotion labor, and emotional capital. TESOL Quarterly, 55(1), 134–155. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.580
Haneda, M., & Sherman, B. (2016). A job-crafting perspective on teacher agentive action. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 745–754. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.318
Kanno, Y., & Stuart, C. (2011). Learning to become a second language teacher: Identities-in-Practice. The Modern Language Journal, 95(2), 236–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01178.x
Kong, M. (2018). The hopes and experiences of bilingual teachers of English: Investments, expectations and identity. Routledge.
Leijen, Ä., & Kullasepp, K. (2013). Unlocking the potential of conflicts: A pilot study of professional identity development facilitation during initial teacher education. International Journal for Dialogical Science, 7(1), 67–86.
Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. University of Chicago Press.
McIntosh, K. (2020). Introduction: Re-thinking applied linguistics and language teaching in the face of Neo-nationalism. In K. McIntosh (Ed.), Applied linguistics and language teaching in the Neo-nationalist era (pp. 1–13). Palgrave McMillan.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.
Mirzaee, A., & Aliakbari, M. (2018). ‘They now respect me and send me to the best schools!’: Identity construction of an Iranian EFL teacher. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 15(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2017.1327794
Morgan, B., & Clarke, M. (2011). Identity in second language teaching and learning. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 817–836). Routledge.
Nazari, M. (2021). Plan, act, observe, reflect, identity: Exploring teacher identity construction across the stages of action research. RELC Journal, 53(3), 672–685. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688220972456
Pennington, M. C. (2015). Teacher identity in TESOL: A frames perspective. In Y. L. Cheung, S. B. Said, & K. Park (Eds.), Teacher Identity and Development in Applied Linguistics: Current Trends and Perspectives (pp. 16–30). Routledge.
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
Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. Cambridge University Press.
Ruohotie-Lyhty, M. (2018). Identity-Agency in progress: Teachers authoring their identities. In P. Schutz, J. Hong, & D. Cross Francis (Eds.), Research on Teacher Identity (pp. 25–36). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_3
Smagorinsky, P., Cook, L. S., Moore, C., Jackson, A. Y., & Fry, P. G. (2004). Tensions in learning to teach: Accommodation and the development of a teaching identity. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487103260067
Song, J. (2016). Emotions and language teacher identity: Conflicts, vulnerability, and transformation. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 631–654. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.312
Trent, J. (2016). Discourse, agency and teacher attrition: Exploring stories to leave by amongst former early career English language teachers in Hong Kong. Research Papers in Education, 32(1), 84–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2016.1144215
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
Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identity: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 4(1), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0401_2
Varghese, M., Motha, S., Park, G., Reeves, J., & Trent, J. (2016). Language teacher identity in (multi)lingual educational contexts. TESOL Quarterly, 50(3), 545–571. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.333
Valmori, L. & De Costa, P. I. (2016). How do foreign language teachers maintain their proficiency? A grounded theory approach. System, 57, 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.02.003
Wolcott, H. F. (1994). Transforming qualitative data: Description, analysis, and interpretation. Sage.
Xu, H. (2012). Imagined community falling apart: A case study on the transformation of professional identities of novice ESOL teachers in China. TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 568–578. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq
Yazan, B. (2018). A conceptual framework to understand language teacher identities. Journal of Second Language Teacher Education, 1(1), 21–48.
Yazan, B., & Lindahl, K. (2020). Language teacher identity in TESOL: Teacher education and practice as identity work. Routledge.
Zembylas, M. (2005). Discursive practices, genealogies, and emotional rules: A poststructuralist view on emotion and identity in teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(8), 935–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.06.005
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Second Language Teacher Education
Volume 1 • Number 2 • 2022
Pages: 137 - 157
Copyright
© 2023, Equinox Publishing.
History
Published in print: 2022
Published online: 18 January 2023
Keywords
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Related Content
Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Download article citation data for:
Second Language Teacher Education 2022 1:2, 137-157
Second Language Teacher Education 2022 1:2, 137-157