One Course, Two Approaches: Unpacking International Teaching Assistant Educators' Diverging Ideologies

Educators of International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) have been overlooked, erroneously. As teacher educators, their work is exponentially important to North American universities. A multiple case study examined three ITA Educators' ideologies, involving data from two interviews -one being a stimulated recall using classroom observations fieldnotes, syllabi, assignments, and feedback left on students' work. Through qualitative content analysis, two incompatible ideologies were found being implemented in sections of one class: one orienting learners to undergraduate classrooms, and the other towards passing mandatory language testing. Cynicism was found to characterize two instructors' pedagogies. Findings highlight the ethical complexities of language teaching and assessment. ITA training programs must address foundational issues and examine how ITA Educators are supported. This novel study provides a baseline for future work on ITA Educators, and contributes to literature on language teachers' ideologies. Future work should elucidate how ITA Educators' identities and external ideologies impact ITAs' learning trajectories.