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Despite a burgeoning body of research on teacher identity development, little is known about how incongruities between the ideal and real-life teaching practices create identity tensions. The present study adopted an arts-based approach and examined teachers' ideal and actual teaching practices, and the associated identity tensions and related coping strategies in the context of Afghanistan. Data were collected from six English teachers via drawings and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis indicated that the teachers experienced unattainable ideal praxis in terms of 'time, space and facility', 'ideal teaching methods', 'ideal instructional materials', and 'technology-enhanced classroom', which resulted in various identity tensions. However, thinking reflectively about their imagined community and ideal practices offered affordances for the teachers to be creative to manage the tensions, and build resilience and reflexivity. The study concludes with implications for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers in developing awareness of ideal-real mismatches to support teacher identity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While e‐learning has gained prominence globally over the past several years, little is known about the successes English language teachers (ELTs) experience in e‐learning environments in non‐WEIRD (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) contexts where teacher support is limited or unavailable. This two‐stage, primarily qualitative multi‐method study specifically aimed to examine the extent to which ELTs found success through e‐learning in Afghanistan and Egypt. Survey (N = 82) and interview (N = 15) data showed that the teachers reported daunting challenges, including institutional malfunctioning, ineffective policies, absence of facilities and technical knowledge, large heterogeneous classes, students' low emotional investment, negative perceptions, and absence of rigorous and systematic assessment. The teachers also narrated their effective coping strategies to resolve the existing tensions, described how they incorporated the success elements, and how they improved student engagement and learning outcomes. The study provides surprising insights about how the move to emergency online teaching in under‐resourced non‐WEIRD contexts has changed and can inform teaching delivery. We conclude with implications for teachers to develop more effective e‐learning environments in such contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]