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This qualitative study, based on semi-structured interviews, analyses the emotions of six (n = 6) pre-service teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a Chilean full-year education programme through metaphors they used to describe the process by which they became professionals. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers understand emotions as burdens, tools, and sources for self-knowledge. Metaphors also indicate that teacher training might be experienced as a shifting and hostile proof that challenges their self-conceptions, impelling personal adaptation and learning. Accordingly, this study shows that candidates employ metaphors to create professional knowledge, review past experiences, and develop identities. Lastly, it is also suggested that integrating metaphor-based work during the training might help PSTs to build narrative agency and gain valuable insight into their processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shortage of special education teachers globally has created the need to understand how this group views itself, especially at the preservice stage. Understanding special education teachers’ identity construction could assist in providing teacher education that attracts and retains more special education teachers. However, little attention has been paid to preservice special education teachers’ (PSETs) identity formation. Utilising Gee’s discursive approach to identity within an interpretive qualitive paradigm, this multiple case study collected rich data via semi-structured individual interviews and weekly reflective writing from 10 PSETs in China over four months of school-based practicum. Analysis of data showed that the participants (re)constructed the Discourse of being special education teachers in and through enacting the four sub-Discourses of advocate, teacher, professional and learner. Drawing on the findings, it is argued that PSETs’ identity (re)construction during practicum involved continuous negotiation between their practicum experiences, their own personal discourses and dominant social discourses about special education teachers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed regarding improving specialist teacher preparation programmes and raising special education teachers’ social status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the mounting stresses associated with teaching in the UK resulting from decades of neoliberal reform (Ball, 2021), lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) teachers experience a range of challenges to their professional identity from institutions that perpetuate the gender binary and hegemonic heteronormativity. Consequently, there is an urgent need for a deeper understanding of how these teachers can be better supported to thrive in education settings. To begin to address this, this pilot study employs the Power, Threat, Meaning Framework (PTMF) with five LGBTQ+ teachers. The main findings from this study are that teachers experience power as a form of self‐surveillance and policing but also positively, as a tool to reclaim space for positive representation. Threats came principally from media and parents and impacted participants' sense of inclusion/exclusion in practice. Finally, participants made meaning of their experience through channelling their LGBTQ+ activism into EDI leadership roles, reclaiming space as a role model and using visual tokens to prompt 'micro‐moments' of connection. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of the PTMF for future research to support LGBTQ+ teachers in practice and that the rigid nature of the framework may benefit from a more holistic approach to data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Teacher identity is defined as a continuum of a person's self-conviction ('Identity is something I have') and a context-dependent action ('Identity is something I do in a context') (Lankveld et al. 2021). It has been identified a relevant contributor to physicians' teaching commitment. In this study, we further improve the currently only existing questionnaire instrument (37 items) measuring physicians' teacher identity. Methods: Survey data on 147 clinicians at a German university hospital were (1) analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We tested (a) the model fits of the originally suggested scales and (b) potential for improvement of model fits by item reduction. As this could not reveal satisfactory fits for all scales, we (2) applied a principal axis factoring as an exploratory approach. Last, we combined findings from (1) and (2) with a theoretical item content discussion and suggest (3) reassembled scales which were again checked using CFA. Findings: (1a) Two scales from the original instrument were successfully confirmed. (1b) Some scales benefited from item reduction. (2) The exploratory analysis identified three factors that explained at least 5% variance. (3) By integrating confirmatory and exploratory findings with a content analysis of the items, we propose a partially rearranged questionnaire instrument, comprising seven scales: (1) Feeling intrinsic satisfaction from teaching; (2) Feeling responsibility to teach; (3) Exchange of teaching experience; (4) Identification and enjoyment of the teaching role; (5) Development of teaching; (6) Teaching self-concept of ability; (7) Desired rewards for teaching. Four items were kept as single items. Conclusion: We suggest that when assessing teacher identity in physicians, all items should be constructed to allow for responses, even from physicians who are presently not actively involved in teaching. The scales benefited from categorizing items based on the continuum of teacher identity as outlined by van Lankveld et al. (2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, vocational education occupies a paradoxical space. Seen as critical to powering a nation's economic growth, it is often neglected and marginalised in favour of general academic education. Also paradoxically, the success of vocational education is thought to be underpinned by high quality teachers and teaching while the voices of these teachers remain largely absent from policy discussions and from the international literature. Therefore, this paper reports the results of a study that gives voice to a vocational education English language teacher in China. Using a narrative approach and grounded in a framework of teacher identity construction, the paper presents three short stories that describe how one of the participants in the study, Selina, confronted and contested the marginalised identities assigned to her as an English language teacher in a vocational education college in China. Results show that she exercised agency in ways that allowed her to position herself, and to be positioned by others, as a useful vocational education English language teacher. These results can help to raise awareness amongst stakeholders, including policy makers and leaders of vocational education institutions, about how they can support and sustain vocational education English language teachers as they construct their personal and professional identities in China and around the globe. Implications for teacher learning and suggestions for future research are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internationalisation of education poses local challenges for training pre-service teachers to navigate new and unfamiliar education contexts. For Chinese language teachers in Australia and beyond, undertaking initial teacher training has been informed by China's wider agenda regarding the worldwide promotion of Chinese language. Building upon Dialogical self theory, this paper adopts traditions from autoethnography to unpack a Chinese novice teacher's learning journey during a placement in an Australian Chinese language learning classroom. We focus on the lead author's conflicted identity and how this identity was positioned and repositioned in response to contexts and through dialogue with the self and with others. This paper offers an alternative approach to understanding pre-service teachers' learning and professional development, providing insight into how the practicum can be improved to better support Chinese international pre-service teachers who are navigating unfamiliar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality teacher education plays a crucial role in the development of successful educational systems around the world. However, educational systems face challenges in relation to attracting and retaining excellent teachers. To meet teacher shortage, the Swedish government introduced alternative programmes that are more flexible than traditional teacher education. This paper aims to analyse a one-year governmental teacher education initiative and provide deeper insight into career changing student teachers´ as well as newly graduated teachers´ transition into the teacher profession. Research questions asked were which students choose to become teachers, why individuals from other professional backgrounds choose to change career and become a teacher, and what aspects student teachers emphasise as crucial for developing their professional identity as teachers of their particular subject content. As such, the results might give implications for the way student teachers are recruited to teacher education programmes and how newly graduated teachers can develop professionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an autoethnographic study of the emotions and identities of a foreign language teacher in an Australian university while I was struggling with a heavy teaching workload due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using self-narrative data of emotional experiences related to my teaching, I examine how my emotions and identities are related to the context of my work. My two different identities as a teacher were in conflict, which triggered clashes between those identities and my teaching actions, and negative emotions. My teacher identities were affected by ideologies espoused in university policies, as well as by my values and beliefs about teaching based on my past experience. My identities and emotions were also affected by the power of the higher management of the university and by my positioning of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to investigate how the legal requirement to promote fundamental British values (FBVs) impacts Muslim teachers' professional identity formation, utilising Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with self-identified Muslim teachers, including both male and female individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, employed in secondary schools across England. This study seeks to interpret Muslim teachers' experiences through Anthony Giddens' ontological security theory. Firstly, Muslim teachers expressed pride in being British and their successful integration into society. Secondly, the meaning of Britishness was elucidated by the participants through references to the values described in the current government guidelines on promoting FBVs. Finally, the impact of the obligation to promote FBVs on the professional identity formation of Muslim teachers points to a degree of ambivalence rooted in seeking ontological security. Certain teachers adopted an uncritical stance towards FBV policy, prioritising 'values' within the debate and thereby normalising the discourse surrounding FBVs. In contrast, others engaged in a critical analysis of FBV rhetoric, highlighting its adverse impact on academic discussions and their professional identities. From the perspective of ontological security theory, Muslim teachers are situated in a fragile position; while the majority grapple with ontological insecurity, others exist in a realm between ontological security and insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to identify and understand the voices and I-positions of Francia, an experienced Chilean educator, in a critical incident that proved fundamental in her identity construction. The adaptation to a school institution in her novice professional development period as an early childhood educator emerges as a significant episode worth exploring. Through a narrative case study and the application of dialogical self-analysis tools, internal, external and outer voices are identified, like the I as someone postponed, the I as a protector, the I as a professional, the I as a collaborator and the school as an outer protective voice. This case highlights the tension between childcare and teacher self-care, revealing a transition towards professionalism. What stands out are collaboration and the need for professional learning in how to deal with critical situations, especially situations related to diversity, underscoring the importance of ethics and consideration of institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise in globalization and transnational migration, universities worldwide are experiencing an influx of international students, some of whom choose to pursue teaching as a profession. Despite the growing presence of international prospective teachers (IPTs), they continue to be positioned as outsiders through dominant discourses and teacher preparation practices. Employing narrative inquiry, the study examined how four IPTs navigated learning to teach in a predominantly White teacher education programme at a large public university in the United States. Inspired by the podcast This American Life, the study presented three 'Acts' that illustrate the complex stories of how IPTs negotiated multifaceted ascribed outsider identities — linguistically as non-native speakers, socially and culturally as international students, and professionally as foreign employees. The study also discussed situations where IPTs' sense of agency was achieved, particularly when they embraced identity positions from an asset-based and strength-focused perspective. The study offered recommendations to teacher education researchers, practitioners and policymakers on supporting IPTs and other educators from minoritized backgrounds to join and thrive in the teaching profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe rapid expansion of K-12 computer science education highlights the urgent need for well-prepared teachers. The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) facilitates the development of local teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) through CSTA chapters. This study investigated the types of support CSTA chapters provide, how teacher leaders establish local PLCs and engage teachers of computer science, and the challenges encountered in this process. The investigation included multi-year focus group interviews with chapter leaders and teacher member surveys. The findings reveal that CSTA chapters serve as vital resources of professional support, amplify teachers’ voices, and nurture their professional identities in teaching computer science. This study provides a nuanced understanding of local PLCs for computer science educators, informing future endeavors in teacher preparation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the experiences of 17 teacher candidates who participated in a literacy‐focused service‐learning initiative in the aftermath of destructive tornadoes in their community. In response to the natural disaster, the Literacy Ambassadors, composed of university literacy faculty and teacher candidates, sought to address the critical need for book access among area students impacted by the tornadoes. Over the course of 8 months, researchers collected initial questionnaires, participant reflections, meeting transcripts, and anecdotal notes as the group met to learn about book matching, text complexity, and to acquire, sort, and curate book bags for individual preK‐12 students. Books were shared with community members on three occasions—two occurred 12 months after the tornadoes and served eight schools; another occurred 16 months after the event and served one school. Participants revealed themes of shifting identity, a developing understanding of the complexity of literacy, and the relational power of literacy—offering valuable insights into the impact of community engagement on teacher candidates in response to disaster. These findings support previous research that emphasizes the potential of service‐learning as real‐life experiences that address community needs while simultaneously enriching the professional growth of future educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis multiple-case study is framed within the Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) paradigm, calling for a break from standard English norms in teacher education. Though relevant literature underscores the positive influence of GELT-focused teacher training on teachers’ perceptions, classroom applications remain underexplored. Thus, this study explored the long-term impact of a GELT course on teachers’ instructional practices along with enablers and challenges of Global Englishes practices in diverse settings. The findings show that teachers’ practices became more inclusive linguistically and culturally, offering insights for teachers and teacher educators keen to integrate GELT-informed strategies into their practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative case study explores how rural teachers in the Colombian periphery perceive and appropriate national bilingual policies. I drew theoretically on coloniality/decoloniality, bilingualism, and teacher agency and collected data through questionnaires and in-depth interviews from four self-contained rural elementary school teachers. Data were analysed through thematic analysis and thematic coding and yielded three research categories: (a) bilingual policies and teaching realities gap, (b) policies’ discourses and teacher identity interconnectedness, and (c) eclectic and collaborative teachers. The main findings suggest that teachers perceive bilingual education merely as English language teaching and that bilingual policies’ powerful discourses have influenced their identity negatively. Likewise, they acknowledge that the educational authorities’ expectations are distant from the rural realities, so theyrecur to various pedagogical strategies and collaborative work to teach English and address bilingual policies’ methodological shortcomings. However, these efforts suggest racialised/colonised perceptions and teaching practices that enforce global agendas and neglect local necessities. Hence, it is paramount that educational actors decolonise/deracialise bilingual policies by localising pedagogies and humanising bilingual education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses autoethnography to examine the development of and changes in my professional identity through my study and work experiences since I came to Australia from Japan. I am currently an academic teaching Japanese language and research in the field of applied linguistics in an Australian university. I wrote a self-narrative about my experiences and the related emotions covering the time of my arrival in Australia from Japan in 1997. Because teaching and research are the major roles in my current position, I coded the narrative for statements concerning my teacher identity and my researcher identity. After reading the narratives and repeatedly reviewing the coding, I produced stories about my teacher and researcher identities. The development and changes of my professional identity were closely linked to sociopolitical aspects of my work in my immediate teaching and research contexts and to my linguistic and cultural backgrounds. My relationships with students and research colleagues tended to trigger positive emotions and contribute to the development of a positive professional identity, whereas relationships with higher management at the university were likely to cause negative emotions and contribute to the development of a negative professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite high‐quality initial teacher education (ITE), a notable proportion of newly graduated teachers encounter a stark reality shock upon entering the profession, facing burnout and suboptimal teaching performance. While internships during ITE are often seen as a potential solution to bridge the gap between theory and practice, their effectiveness is questioned. This multiple‐case study (N = 38) delves into the ideals and attributes of teacher identities as perceived by preservice teachers in both ITE and internship contexts, with a specific focus on the role of digital technology in education. The interview findings highlight an expectation gap and a susceptibility to succumb to contextual pressures, even within the sheltered environments of internships. This study advocates for closer collaboration between ITE and internship settings to uphold the development of a sound teacher identity and sustain teacher resilience in the increasingly digitalised educational landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This case study aims to enrich research on language teacher identity and cognition by detailing the experiences of English language teachers instructing students with visual impairments in Türkiye, exploring the (re)formation of their identity and cognition within this context. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a qualitative approach, combining interviews, observations, field notes and legal document analysis. Hiver and Al-Hoorie's (2016) Complexity Theory guides data collection and analysis, supported by MAXQDA software. Findings: The findings highlight the influences of personal, social, cultural and educational factors on language teacher identity and cognition, with a focus on interactions in preservice education, institutional requirements and instructional methods at the School for the Blind. Originality/value: This case study provides practical and theoretical insights into language teacher identity and cognition within special education schools, contributing to the broader discourse on diversity in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a universal consensus that effective English-medium instruction (EMI) experiences depend on high-quality EMI teachers with pedagogical competence, reflective abilities, as well as a sense of mission and commitment to student learning in EMI environments. However, currently, while much has been discussed about the linguistic and pedagogical aspects of EMI, relatively limited attention has been paid to EMI teachers and their perceived needs and lived experiences in multilingual and multicultural settings. This special issue responds to such a gap by curating and presenting a series of research studies focusing on various aspects of EMI teachers’ inner worlds, including their identities, emotions, and agency. It also showcases practical initiatives implemented at the institutional level or through bottom-up collaborative efforts, which seek to enhance EMI teachers’ professional competence. Based on the introduction and analysis of these papers, we provide a tentative discussion of an “effective” EMI teacher, pedagogically, socio-affectively, and spiritually. Directions for future research are also outlined for this budding and promising line of inquiry at the intersection of teacher education and applied linguistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative inquiry has often been merged with other methodologies to conduct research in schools. Its interweaving with appreciative inquiry as a methodology to research within education, however, is newly emerging. In this study, which interweaves the two methodologies, narrative inquiry and appreciative inquiry are used to examine stories of teaching and explore teacher identity—an evolution of narrative inquiry that facilitates the telling of participant school stories in a focused and intentional way through an appreciative inquiry framework. This paper explores the interweaving of the methodologies and provides an example of its use. It draws on a doctoral study titled Identity as pedagogy: Locating the shadows in the sacred space between, which examined the stories of teacher identities and the ways such stories manifest in pedagogy, with a group of teachers from a common educational jurisdiction in eastern Canada. The data that emerged through the appreciative inquiry process were narratively analyzed and understood through the common themes they presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the emotion labor experienced by transnational world language teachers (TWLTs), with a focus on Chinese language teacher candidates in a US dual immersion school residency program. Despite existing research on emotion labor in language teaching, the experiences of Chinese TWLTs have been underexplored. Through an analysis of mentorship and co-teaching, our findings reveal that much of the emotion labor among our participants stems from hierarchical mentorship structures influenced by Confucian ideologies. This hierarchical system constrains pedagogical autonomy, hindering TWLTs from fully embodying their transnational teacher identities. Consequently, the lack of power negotiation exacerbates the issue, leading to internalization of emotion labor and reduced teaching agency. We conclude by offering recommendations for future research on TWLTs' emotions and advocating for a renewed emphasis on their mentoring experiences during teacher preparation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated language teachers’ emotion regulation motives (ERMs) and their identity construction in cross‐cultural contexts. Drawing upon qualitative data about eight Chinese as a second language teachers for international students through semi‐structured interviews, classroom observation, and document collection, the study identified three overarching motives and six identities of language teachers: teacher as instructor and disciplinarian who regulated emotions for improving teaching effectiveness, teacher as caregiver and observer who regulated emotions for navigating teacher–student relationships, and teacher as mediator and defender who regulated emotions for reconciling cultural differences. These findings revealed the multifaceted, discipline‐specific, and contradictory nature of language teachers’ ERMs and reflected their balancing of sub‐identities to construct their professional identities in cross‐cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to better understand threats to the wellbeing of multiply marginalised and underrepresented (MMU) teachers by unpacking the ways their multiple social identities intersect with each other and with their teacher identities. This study foregrounded the eudaimonic aspect of wellbeing, examining the extent to which the participants' needs for relatedness, autonomy, and competence are met within school systems that tend to privilege dominant societal beliefs and structures. We employed a case study to delve into the lives of two MMU teachers, Eva and George, through narrative interviews. Within their school and social contexts, they struggled to fully embrace and enact their identities. They consistently negotiated their multiple intersecting identities, which sometimes required them to conceal certain identities. Concealing sexual identity resulted in protective support for Eva, but put George's wellbeing at risk. The different ways Eva's and George's relatedness, autonomy, and competence are met and interconnected illustrate the complex nature of teacher wellbeing. Expanding the definition of wellbeing to incorporate positive and negative dimensions and underlying psychological processes, as well as implications for school leadership and district policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how inequalities of race impact on the way migrant teachers of English in Thailand articular their identity and belonging to the teaching profession and to the society they live in. There is at present a rather limited body of work on the migration of language teachers, despite the fact that mobility of teachers across conventional borders is part-and-parcel of language education in the globalised era. We report on research conducted in Thailand, whose education sector accommodates a large, varied population of migrant teachers. On the basis of 14 interviews with migrant teachers based in Thailand, the article highlights significant tension around identity and belonging, both at the professional level (identification with the teaching profession) and the societal level (identification with Thai society). The study highlights the need to balance perspectives in the study of identity and belonging in teacher migration, including the ways teacher migration may be instrumentalised as part of local inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discourses of social justice are becoming increasingly prevalent in educational spaces, with rising numbers of teachers and teacher education programs expressing their aims to teach towards social justice. Yet, recent scholarship has documented the contested meanings of social justice in contemporary educational contexts. This qualitative case study aims to build upon existing literature by examining how two equity-oriented Black educators in an urban elementary school conceptualized and critiqued the discourses of social justice circulating in their school. Through thematic and discourse analysis of data generated through teacher inquiry group meetings and interviews, it examines their experiences with the language of social justice becoming associated with dehumanization and white saviorism, and it documents the equity-oriented pedagogical positions constructed by these teachers in opposition to such discourses. This analysis draws attention to contemporary (mis)uses of social justice discourses and proposes implications for justice- and equity-oriented teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In English-medium instruction (EMI), students learn content knowledge through their additional language. Despite the implicit English learning goals, EMI content subject teachers have been urged to provide more language support for their students. Such expectations may not be something that EMI teachers were professionally prepared for. It is then worth examining how EMI teachers (re)construct their identity when facing such new expectations. Based on Wenger’s [Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press] identity construction framework, this qualitative multiple case study reveals how three EMI teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland China secondary schools negotiated their identity when being supported to incorporate language teaching in their content lessons. From data collected in co-planning meetings, lesson observations and interviews, all the teachers were engaged in constructing the identity of language aware content teachers, but some of them appeared to experience identity conflicts. The contrast of the three cases reveals that teachers’ professional training, school context and curriculum requirement are important in shaping teachers’ professional identity. Teachers’ agency also impacts on how teachers negotiate their identity, especially when facing contextual constraints. These findings underscore the importance of preparing teachers both psychologically and practically in EMI teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are doctoral researchers who are paid to teach. Building on work exploring identity construction in doctoral education and in the GTA context, this study uses role identity theory (McCall and Simmons 1978) as a theoretical framework to explore the factors influencing GTAs' teacher identity development. Role identity theory emphasises the importance of social interaction and negotiation of identity with those in similar and opposing roles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine GTAs from a variety of STEMM disciplines. From a role identity perspective, we found that the development of GTA teacher identities was strongly influenced by the behaviours and values of others, whilst maintaining the autonomy of the individual. We conclude with a set of recommendations for academic leadership and practice that consider the institutional cultures within which teaching and learning are situated to suggest how GTAs can be supported to develop their identities as teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the research field of English-as-Medium-of-Instruction (EMI) in China has experienced growth in recent years, covering topics ranging from top-down policies to classroom implementations and teachers’ needs, there has been limited attention given to the lived emotional experiences of EMI teachers and how such experiences influence their teaching practices and identity construction. This study adopts a case study design to investigate the teacher identity of a novice lecturer of EMI in a Chinese higher education institute, examining the role of emotions in shaping EMI teacher identity. Multiple data sources, including interviews, reflective journals, and digital conversations and posts, were collected from September 2021 to June 2022. Data analysis was conducted both inductively and deductively. The analysis reveals that, firstly, emotion discourses give teachers a chance to be aware of their identity construction, and secondly, emotions are not solely individual encounters but are intertwined with social and cultural contexts. This study encourages EMI teachers to embrace their lived emotional responses and contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in the development of teacher identities in EMI contexts. Furthermore, this study provides important implications for EMI policymaking and teacher training programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Becoming a teacher is a tricky road paved with struggles. The purpose of this reconstructive educational case study is to exemplify the complex construction of teacher identity by following the five-year journey of one student teacher in the process of qualifying as a primary schoolteacher in Finland. With the heuristic analysis of longitudinal thematic narrative interviews in the frame of Dialogical Self Theory (DST), the key results of the study make a substantial contribution by illustrating how struggles are entrenched in various I-positions of teacher identity. According to our results, we conclude that four I-positions should be carefully supported in teacher education: I as a person, I as a foreigner, I as an academic student and I as a teacher. The role of teacher education in supporting student teachers in this respect is discussed in light of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, school choice has become a characteristic feature of urban school systems and, like students, teachers must choose among schools with various characteristics. Such decisions become new sites for teachers to enact their professional identity. This study uses qualitative data to explore the identity negotiations of 26 teachers employed in six choice high schools in Preston, a large Northeastern city. Sample teachers worked in schools that varied based on sector (public vs. charter), enrollment mechanism (neighborhood, lottery, selective), and model (progressive, highly structured). Drawing on the concept of a role identity standard—a goal against which a person judges themselves—we found that teachers in our sample held themselves to a standard that either emphasized instruction or social justice. Some viewed their school as conducive to enacting their role identity standard. These teachers were generally satisfied with their school and conceptually supportive of school choice. However, most teachers in our sample adhering to a justice-based teacher identity standard described incongruence between some aspect of their chosen school and their professional identity. This conflict created stress and drove teachers to re-frame aspects of their chosen school so that remaining there felt more consistent with their professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing interest in STEM education and imminent curricular reform places new demands on teachers, giving impetus to re-examining how we prepare primary teachers for more integrated approaches. In addition to the acquisition of knowledge and skills, sustainable change demands the development of teacher identity, in which teachers are seen by themselves and others as STEM teachers. This paper reports on the emerging STEM teacher identities of five preservice primary teachers. Using STEM story-lines as an innovative graphing exercise, participants were prompted to reflect on key events that shaped their journey and share future-oriented narratives through drawing and storytelling, as they negotiated becoming STEM teachers. Findings suggest that although their own school experiences were varied and influential, an integrated STEM intervention was the common turning point in their STEM identity development, whereby participants aligned critical components of STEM with personal experiences and values. The reflective tools used supported identity work, by triggering a rediscovery and reinterpretation of their experiences with the benefit of increased knowledge for teaching STEM and, in turn, provided a means to re-envisage the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of recent protests at Drag Queen Story Hour events, this essay offers a critical examination of the role of gender performance in secondary schools and English lessons through a personal exploration of how I perform gender as a queer English teacher. I show that schools perpetuate a model of gender that is binary and heterosexist; that teachers and students perform gender in complex ways; that reading in English requires queer performances of gender; and that the professional is always personal when it comes to teacher development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I consider how teachers discursively instantiate their identities through narrative work, which I frame using the metaphor of weaving a tapestry of the self, and drawing together a conceptualisation of technologies of the self with ideas around performativity, agency and psycho-technologies. I have included data from my analysis of sixteen life history narrative interviews conducted in North West England with teachers at different stages of their careers. My analysis contributes to the burgeoning area of international research which has indicated the need to better understand teachers' sense of self, and intercedes with a unique insight into re-conceptualising identity development as discursive and performative. Three key aspects are addressed: how technologies of the self are instantiated via construction of the teaching self; how this self is performed as ethical with reference to normalised educational values; and how risk to this performance is "repaired". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated how different dimensions of digital literacy (DL) competence were related to digital literacy practices in teaching and teacher identity. Survey data were collected from 910 pre-service teachers in China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to analyse the data. Findings indicated that among the five dimensions of DL competence, three were significant positive predictors of digital practices in teaching, including information and information literacy, communication and collaboration, and security. In addition, digital literacy practices significantly and positively predicted teacher identity and mediated the effect of DL competence on teacher identity. The study suggests the significance of enhancing DL competence and integrating digital technology as pedagogical tools to help pre-service teachers bridge the gap between their personal use of technology and teacher identity in relation to digital literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore the identity traits formed in the education of graduates from the Pedagogy program at the Federal Institute of Santa Catarina - Videira campus (Santa Catarina). The approach adopted was qualitative, using semi-structured interviews as a data collection instrument, guided by content analysis. Interviews were conducted with six pedagogues who graduated from the program and currently work in both the public and private sectors of Early Childhood Education in Videira. The research results indicated that the initial education plays a significant role in the process of identity formation. This finding was evident in the statements of the pedagogues regarding the impact of their education on their teaching identity. The findings suggest that the teaching identity is the result of a construction process influenced by experiences and thoughts, being formed through a continuous and endless process of experiences and reflections in education and professional practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has developed theoretically and empirically over the past decades, there are few documented studies on EAP practitioners’ identities. Our study examined 12 Iranian EAP practitioners’ role identities (as one type of identity) in light of the conceptualization of English for specific purposes (ESP) practitioner roles. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study revealed the role of various contextual factors shaping the practitioners’ role identities as being EAP practitioner agents of transformative education, being a course designer and the quest for needs analysis, being a materials provider and managing the oscillations, being a collaborator and the lack of collegiate connection, being a researcher and dispositional variations, and finally being an evaluator and dynamic assessors. The study provides implications regarding how policy and planning shape practitioners’ role identities and suggests future lines of inquiry to build the associated scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to teacher identity heritage as a result of the implementation of a research device created through Arts-Based Research (ABR) methods, specifically with video elicitation and video essays used as research tools. Two main objectives were addressed. The first one was to establish the real relevance of focusing performance on teacher identity. The second one involved testing a new methodological proposal specifically designed for this purpose, but still useful in other contexts where heritage identity is as present as in teaching. The device, a body camera, involves a process that allows new ways to understand the creation of identities using video to encourage the production of new meanings through visual and oral data. The participants were teachers in training during their internship period. Some notions about teachers' identity heritage were revealed, and also preserved, firstly through personal perspectives by video elicitations, and secondly through collective perspectives by video essays. Both are video structures used in ABR which mix creative experience, memories, life experiences, relationships, and links that shape the teachers' professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Meta-Aggregative (MA) Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) identified, investigated, and critically appraised examples of 'quality' Teacher Critical Reflection (TCR) in recent peer-reviewed research. The key question guiding the synthesis of literature was, How is teacher critical reflection evidenced, justified, and communicated in peer-reviewed research? The synthesis detected the importance of TCR in supporting quality teacher practice in early childhood and primary school settings. The MA element guided the choice of articles and the QES identified evidence of the intricacies of teacher critical reflection. The MA QES provides insights into sustainable and purposeful TCR. Thirteen studies conducted between 2013 and 2019 met the requirements of a four-phased MA QES and were critically appraised to inform the synthesis. Recommendations derived from this review include the importance of identifying the objectives of TCR, TCR as part of teacher identity and its impact on TCR, the significant role that social collaboration plays in TCR, and the tools that support successful TCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study examines how academic librarians understand, conceptualize, and describe their teacher identity. The role of the academic librarian has greatly changed due to the advent of information technology. Traditionally, they were generalists, who were responsible for selecting and maintaining library collections. Academic librarian roles have evolved into web developers, information literacy (IL) instructors, emerging technology innovators, marketing and outreach coordinators, open education resources (OER) advocates, and scholarly communication experts. This research investigates the academic librarian as teacher phenomenon, how they describe their professional identity as teachers, the skills, knowledge, and competencies they teach, and their beliefs of how they are perceived by faculty. The author conducted interviews with six participants via Zoom. Using in vivo and descriptive coding, the author analyzed the interview data and three broad themes emerged: philosophy, identity, and perception. This study contributes to the literature of the importance of IL as a key facet of academic librarians' professional identity, their instructional role on campus, the increase in their teaching responsibilities, and how they describe their professional identity as teachers. Further, this research contributes to academic librarians' teaching practices and may inform LIS program administrators to update their curriculum and offer more courses on instruction, pedagogy, and learning theories. The study also illustrates a disconnect between academic librarians' lack of instructional preparedness and an increased demand for teaching among academic librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars in teacher education have observed that the dichotomy between teachers' professional and personal identities could restrain their pursuits of adopting innovative approaches in the classroom. At the same time, adopting new pedagogical approaches often contests teachers' professional identities and confidence. In this paper, we examine a graduate course on game-based learning, designed for professionals such as teachers and practitioners. While video games and game-based learning have gained attention from researchers and practitioners, they may pose challenges for many teachers. We observed that this course could provide opportunities for participants to construct their narratives in relation to gaming and learning over time. They may also reinterpret and extend their cultural worlds as part of their teacher identity. We conclude that enabling teachers to confront tensions and risks of adopting unfamiliar practices could help them transform their self-narratives. This study could inform design considerations to support teachers' adopting innovative pedagogies in future research and practices on professional learning. It is also important to acknowledge that the study had limited participant diversity and representativeness. There is the need for further exploration of teachers with different backgrounds and experiences in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities of adopting innovative pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early childhood education teacher workforce is consistently relied upon to bolster children's academic and socioemotional development in preparation for kindergarten and long-term outcomes. This is especially true of children who, historically overlooked and marginalized, are labeled "at risk." While research has focused on pervasive stressors as obstacles to these classroom professionals (e.g., teacher/teaching stress, curricular mandates, quality assessments, COVID-19), there is less research on stress in relation to the formation of teacher identity; specifically, how stress contributes to and detracts from the formation of a teacher's micro-identity, and how negative impacts of stress to the micro-identity may contribute to teachers' decisions to leave the field. Although once considered to be one of the fastest growing industries, The Great Resignation, as it has come to be known, estimates up to 25–30% of the workforce leave annually. To better understand the choices teachers make to leave the profession, the current study examined the influence of stress on teachers' microidentity by centering the voices of six Head Start teachers. Implementing a qualitative design, this investigation asked (a) Who are the Head Start teachers in the workforce today? (b) What are the particular stressors with which they contend? (c) How does the micro-identity of these teachers change as a result of stress, and what are the potential choices that follow? Results and findings indicated that Head Start teachers experience (1) stress as reality, (2) stress-shaped identities, and (3) identity-mediated choice. Implications and insights are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examinations the nexus between creativity and teacher identity in post-war peacebuilding. It aims to understand how infusing creativity into teacher preparation geared towards peacebuilding can help language educators reflect on their identities, values and their roles in bridging a fragmented society at the end of a war. Drawing on data generated from a visual ethnography carried out in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's civil war, one of the longest civils wars in recent history, this study explores the power of self-generated identity portraits in helping teachers to visualise their identities as second language educators. This paper highlights the potential of creativity and creative approaches to teacher education to help teachers articulate their identities, expectations, responsibilities towards their learners and challenges they face. The paper highlights the power of creative approaches to meaning making, especially in tapping into identities that are otherwise hidden and the need be for teachers to be included in larger discussions on educational reforms towards peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an epoch-making event, Covid re-set understandings of teacher professionalism, raising the question what it might now mean to be a 'professional teacher'. This paper draws on data from interviews conducted in 2021 with eight academics employed in Australian teacher education programs as part of a wider study, Critical Times: Producing the Global Graduate in a Pandemic. It uses 'big D' Discourse analysis to explore complex constructions of the 'global teacher graduate' in academics' accounts of producing such graduates during a pandemic. It focuses on an expansive Discourse of professional teacher that participants invoked to construct their graduates as autonomous professionals with a shared service ethos and distinctive disciplinary knowledges. Based on retrospective, occupationally defined accounts of 'teacher' and professionalism, this Discourse appears to have a generational aspect. Despite academics' hopes, it may represent experiences of saying, doing and being a 'professional teacher' no longer available in the present epoch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has resulted in increasing teacher diversity in the teaching workforce in many countries. Yet, the prevailing perception in the receiving countries regarding who the teachers are and how they should be and act has made the professional transition challenging for immigrant teachers who do not fit into this frame. This study examines how immigrant teachers construct their belongingness to their receiving schools. Using a qualitative inductive approach, this paper reports on the experiences of 10 teachers who migrated from Asia to teach in Australia. Findings revealed that teachers’ sense of belonging occurred on a continuum and was co-constructed by their professional identity, vulnerability, and intercultural perspectives. We conclude by presenting the theoretical model developed from data in this study, its implications, and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses narrative inquiry as a research method and intersectionality as an analytical tool to explore how a 'non-native' gay ESL teacher of Kurdish ethnic background working in Canada (re-)constructs and negotiates his identities and how these identities shape (and are shaped by) his pedagogy and practice. Data was collected through written responses to prompts about the participant's professional and social background, a one-hour follow-up interview, as well as text and voice messages. The results revealed that tensions and a feeling of self-doubt lie at the intersections of the participant's identities. These feelings manifest in his teaching practice in the form of hesitation to raise queer and ethnic/racial issues and struggles in navigating heteronormative and racialized spaces. This study's findings add further nuance and insights to the burgeoning literature on language teacher identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-service middle school mathematics teachers’ descriptions for the metaphors they produced for how they considered themselves as mathematics teachers (actual teacher identities) and how they wanted to be in the future (designated identities) at the end of the third and fourth years of the teacher education programme were analysed via a teacher identity framework focusing on areas of teacher expertise. Participants described their actual teacher identities mostly with the self-referential metaphors in both year levels and expressed the need to improve themselves as mathematics teachers. A hybrid of different expertise areas appeared more in the descriptions of designated teacher identities. There was a decrease in the didactics expert and self-referential metaphors, and an increase in the pedagogical expert and hybrid metaphors from the third year to the fourth year. The increase in the hybrid metaphors revealed that their aim was to become an expert in multiple domains in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on the reflections of preservice middle school mathematics teachers who participated in informal learning environments (science and mathematics camps) as assistant teachers. It was aimed to explore whether participation in these informal settings contributed to their teacher identity development. The findings revealed that preservice teachers developed a better understanding of learner-centered teaching and learner characteristics and reflect better on their existing teacher identities based on their experiences in the science and mathematics camps. Furthermore, their reflections revealed that they became more confident about their teaching capabilities and motivated to begin teaching. Therefore, it is possible to claim that the experiences in the science and mathematics camps cognitively, affectively, and emotionally contributed to the participant preservice teachers' teacher identity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued spread of Western ideology, English as a lingua franca, and the myth of the native speaker all play a role in the racialisation of language teaching (Phillipson, R. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Ramjattan, V. A. 2019. Raciolinguistics and the aesthetic labourer. Journal of Industrial Relations 61, no. 5: 726-738. doi:10.1177/0022185618792990.). As a former English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher, numerous racialised encounters compelled me to reflect on my own professional identity as an educator and seek out the lived experiences of other teachers of colour. A framework that connects foundational elements of sociocultural identity theory to theoretical perspectives from critical race theory was utilised to co-construct narratives from four EFL teachers. Data collection relied on three interviews and four forum posts. Transcribed data were then coded using first and second cycle coding methods, and thematically analysed. Findings depict discriminatory practices in EFL hiring, self-efficacy issues surrounding authenticity, racialised interactions, the influence of race on professional identity, and an absence of diversity in curricular materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background or Context: During the first months of the COVID pandemic, teachers were forced to move to online instruction without the appropriate resources. They resorted to social media to gather expertise and ideas. This study is grounded in an analysis of the questions posed by K–12 teachers on popular Facebook groups. Purpose, Objective, Research Question, or Focus of Study: The authors argue that a close analysis of what K–12 educators are asking and wondering about in online teacher groups at a moment in which much of what they know and trust has been disrupted can be generative as a novel feedback loop to engage in conversations about some common practices in teacher education. Specifically, they ask: How can an analysis of questions posed by educators on public Facebook groups in the early pandemic enter into a productive conversation with teacher education programs beyond the specificities of that context? Research Design: The study performs a thematic analysis based on categories that were inductively coded from 752 questions posed between March and June 2020 by educators in the three most popular public Facebook groups dedicated exclusively to K–12 teaching during the pandemic. The goal is to consider the underlying assumptions and ideas embedded in the questions being asked in these groups, and to place them within the context of the authors' political understandings of the role of teacher education. Conclusions or Recommendations: Four themes emerged from the analysis: an expanding notion of community, tensions in the understandings of "context," new positionings of expertise, and a questioning of what counts as legitimate schooling. The themes led to a need for teacher education programs to always consider their students' professional identities as collectively constructed and to find ways to disrupt universal models of the mind. The authors also invite programs to rethink the location of expertise by taking into account the practices that young teachers are already engaged in when seeking professional knowledge. This opening could potentially lead to perhaps the hardest thing to do within teacher education programs: to provide the conditions to reimagine schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professionalism of artists and further education (FE) teachers is often questioned. This research will evaluate the impact this has on artist–teachers working in FE. Schön defines a professional as an individual who works in a highly specialized occupation. This article examines how this applies to artists and FE teachers, with reference to historical and contemporary cross‐disciplinary research. Published research focuses on professionalism in terms of meeting sets of criteria. However, research participants within this study were more concerned with the activities undertaken by artist–teachers and how these reflected their professionalism. The research findings focus on the perceived professionalism of artist–teachers in adult community learning (ACL), a sub‐section of FE in the United Kingdom that encompasses adult and community learning delivered to adults aged 19+ but local authorities or general FE colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]