An Investigation of the Professional Identity of Japanese Teachers of English in Japanese Higher Education (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
This paper presents the results of a study that investigated the professional identity of seven Japanese female teachers of English in Japanese higher education. The study employed a narrative approach and used Gee’s (2000) four perspectives of identity as the theoretical framework to analyze interview data obtained from the seven women, ranging in age from their early thirties to their early sixties. It was found that the participants’ gender plays a profound role in the formation of their professional identity from ( a ) their early access to English language education, which was a foundational step toward becoming university teachers; ( b ) to how they gained the necessary academic qualifications to become university teachers, and ( c ) to how they are recognized and accepted within their academic communities. The paper concludes that there is a complex relationship between gender and power that is directly related to English study in Japan and to the employment of female univers...
Exploring English Teacher Professional Identity in the University Context
Handbook of Research on Language Teacher Identity, 2023
Identity is a topic that leads towards many paths, people perform many identities depending on the roles or contexts in which they are involved. In this research study, the teachers' identity in a group of English teachers in a private university in Colombia was analyzed. For the data collection process three instruments were applied: a survey, a journal, and an interview. These instruments revealed that teachers see themselves as agents of social change; they feel identified with some iconic representations; teachers' perspectives about their role have been changing over time and there are some imaginary places that for them are ideal for teaching. The participants of this research come from many places, they have distinctive teaching experiences and relate to different backgrounds, nevertheless, all of them believe that their work transcends English teaching as they can be a life example and make their students construct a better society.
EXPLORING HOW ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CONSTRUCT THEIR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES
International Journal of Engineering Technologies and Management Research, 2022
This study explores how English Language teachers in primary school construct their professional identities (PI) as English teachers. Teacher interview was uses as a data gathering tools for the study. Accordingly, ten English language teachers who were teaching English in upper primary schools were interviewed to collect data needed. The results of the interview data reveal that former English as FLT willingness to help students learn well, good teaching skills, students' engagement, the understanding that schools as a safe learning environment, and teacher confidence and competence were honored by EFL to construct their profession identities. Similarly, teachers' commitment, sense of appreciation and self-understanding, sense of connectedness, and imaging future career were also honored to develop teacher professional identity. The teacher interview data imply that the English teachers are required to professionally develop the willingness to help students learn well, to develop the motivation needed to engage students to increase their classroom practices. Based on the findings of the study, it was suggested that UPSET is also required to get further development programs so that they develop their knowledge and pedagogic skills needed to create a safe learning environment and to their increase confidence and competence needed to teach this grade level students.
An English Teacher's Professional Identity Development: The Effect of Educational Policies
Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies, 2018
A fundamental aspect of teacher socialization and development is the construction and maintenance of vivid and strong professional identity. As a multi-layered and dynamic phenomenon, teacher identity is affected by diverse range of social and institutional factors. Aiming to add to the growing literature on teacher identity, the current study examined the effects of language teaching policies on an English teacher"s identity development. Following narrative approach which is the dominant paradigm in identity research, the stories of an English teacher obtained through semi-structured interview were examined. The teacher"s narratives and accounts of his teaching experiences were analyzed through constant comparative approach which produced five main themes including lack of teacher autonomy, the effect of macro political concerns on language teaching, movement towards communicative language teaching, lack of resources, and inappropriate student placement strategies. The results indicated that every single language teaching policy shaped and reshaped the teacher"s understanding of himself.
Education Research International
It is crucial for teachers to become aware of and understand their professional identity as this has implications for their day-to-day professional practices. Teachers who are more aware of their professional identities are more willing to endure thwarting contextual conditions by adjusting their identities. However, presently most teachers seem to overlook their professional identity while they often tend to associate the poor quality education with a lack of external resources alone. The aim of this study was thus to create this awareness in teachers by unveiling how the perceived personal and contextual conditions constitute the professional identities of experienced EFL teachers working in secondary schools. In this study, teacher professional identity is conceptualized and understood within the theory of symbolic interactionism. Data were generated through a one-on-one semi-structured in-depth interview with two EFL teachers (Fazi and Tare). Thematic analysis was used across pa...
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2016
In the past few decades, professional identity has emerged as a separate research area in the field of teaching and learning language. Research has shown that many contextual factors are involved in teachers' perception about their personal identities and the formation of this personality trait. It has been found that professional identity is one of the factors that impacts the curriculum, teachers' beliefs and behavior, and students' learning. Accordingly, the present study attempted to investigate the professional identity of the language teachers in Iranshahr city, Iran. The relationship between gender and work experience of teachers and their professional identity was also explored to determine any significant relationship. 79 language teachers of private language institutes in Iranshahr city participated in this study. To collect the data, a questionnaire developed by Beijaard, Verloop and Vermunt (2000) was used. The questionnaire was piloted and its reliability and internal consistency was verified. Beijaard et al. (2000) identified three aspects of professional identity: teachers as subject matter experts, teachers as didactical experts, and teachers as pedagogical experts. The results showed that teachers identify themselves mostly as didactical experts, then as pedagogical experts, and least as subject matter experts. There was no significant relationship between the gender and experience of the participants and the three sub-scales of professional identity, except for a significant relationship between subject matter expert and experience of the teachers.
The Implementation of an English Teacher’s Identity
2021
In recent years, identity has become a critical factor in teacher training as this affects the teaching practice in the classroom. However, many teachers remain confused about their identity as teachers, as persons, and as professionals who may lead to an identity crisis. This narrative study aims to discover how teachers implement their identity as a teacher in a classroom. It is employed in one of the Islamic schools in Indonesia. Interview data revealed that the teacher constructed three facets of the teacher’s identity: teacher-student relation, professionalism, and religious beliefs based on Johnston's framework. It showed that a teacher's identity is undoubtedly influenced by teachers' religious beliefs and social values, which affects the way the teacher teaches. Due to the teaching experience, there is no identity crisis and difficulties in implementing the identity. The teacher can distinguish his role as a teacher and as an individual. Findings also showed that...
EXPLORING THE FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF NON-NATIVE PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH TEACHERS
Teachers’ professional identity development has been receiving increasing attention from teacher educators [1]. However, a relatively small number of studies have addressed the issue of professional identity formation of non-native teachers of English [2]. During the teacher preparation program, the pre-service teachers are continually reconstructing their self identity as well as their professional identity as a result of a variety of university courses and field experiences. Each environment contributes differently to the student-teacher’s construction of knowledge and identity [3]. This study aims at investigating the effect of the pre-service English program on the formation of the professional identity of the student-teachers at the Faculty of Pedagogy at the Lebanese University. Seventeen female participants took part in this study. These student-teachers filled the Professional Identity Survey at the beginning and end of their senior year. Focus group interviews were also used to collect data. Results showed that there was no statistical significance in the difference in means in the pre and post tests although there was a slight increase in the post means. Participants admitted that their enrollment in the pre-service program made them change their mind about the profession of the teacher which they viewed now as more demanding and challenging. This small convenient sample of participants could be a limitation to this study. More research is recommended to explore the formation of the teacher identity of non-native English speaking student-teachers. Keywords: Identity formation, professional identity, pre-service teachers, teacher preparation program, elementary cycles
English language educators' professional learning as a site of identity struggle
This study explored teacher educators' account of how they make meaning of their professional learning. The study aimed to understand how they conceptualize their "professionalism" as English language teacher educators, particularly within the context of Indonesia. The research participants were four English language teacher educators of a pre-service teacher education programme. The data were collected using in-depth interviews. In the interviews, the teacher educators were involved in reflexive accounts of their professional work and lives. The narrative data depict how the sense of "struggle" is an important part of the teacher educators' process of learning. Therefore, in this article, I chose to further explore the notion of "struggle" in living with various discourses of professionalism in English Language Teaching (ELT) as brought up by the teacher educators through their teaching narratives. Their narratives display tensions, paradoxes, transformations, and (re)negotiations of beliefs, values and conceptions of teaching-self within overlapping dimensions of their teaching professional landscapes (historical, social, political, and institutional). Their narratives illustrate how their professional learning is closely related to their process of learning and re-learning their identities and the "struggle for voice" in interacting with various discourses of professionalism they encounter in their teaching works and lives.