Language Teacher Identity. Outside the State-School Context
Language Teacher Identity. Outside the State-School Context

Summary/Abstract: The importance of understanding language teacher identity is well-established in theexistent literature. It has been shown to impact upon many aspects of teachers’ lives bothinside and outside the classroom, such as wellbeing (Day & Kington, 2008) and self-efficacy(Canrinus, Helms-Lorenz, Beijaard, Buitink, & Hofman, 2012). The nature of language teacheridentity is broadly categorised from a socio-cultural perspective, as dynamic rather than static,as negotiated in social interaction and (potentially) a source of struggle (Barkhuizen, 2017)or friction (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). As this struggle with identity comes to thefore during periods of transition, when identity is seen to be challenged, the focus of researchhas largely been trained on pre-service or early-service teachers (Mercer & Kostoulas, 2018).The research in this paper addresses a teaching population who have thus far escaped theresearch gaze, but aspects of whose identity could be problematic and possible sites of struggle.Drawing upon a narrative approach, in case-study form, I examine how two establishedteachers (with four years or more service) who have been trained to work in the state-schoolcontext and who, for a variety of reasons are now working outside it, construct their languageteacher identities. The findings point to the importance of the teachers’ own experiences aslearners in their identity formation, and how emotion accompanies and acts as a driver ofidentity change as they seek stability and status on an uncertain professional path.The importance of understanding language teacher identity is well-established in theexistent literature. It has been shown to impact upon many aspects of teachers’ lives bothinside and outside the classroom, such as wellbeing (Day & Kington, 2008) and self-efficacy(Canrinus, Helms-Lorenz, Beijaard, Buitink, & Hofman, 2012). The nature of language teacheridentity is broadly categorised from a socio-cultural perspective, as dynamic rather than static,as negotiated in social interaction and (potentially) a source of struggle (Barkhuizen, 2017)or friction (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). As this struggle with identity comes to thefore during periods of transition, when identity is seen to be challenged, the focus of researchhas largely been trained on pre-service or early-service teachers (Mercer & Kostoulas, 2018).The research in this paper addresses a teaching population who have thus far escaped theresearch gaze, but aspects of whose identity could be problematic and possible sites of struggle.Drawing upon a narrative approach, in case-study form, I examine how two establishedteachers (with four years or more service) who have been trained to work in the state-schoolcontext and who, for a variety of reasons are now working outside it, construct their languageteacher identities. The findings point to the importance of the teachers’ own experiences aslearners in their identity formation, and how emotion accompanies and acts as a driver ofidentity change as they seek stability and status on an uncertain professional path.

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