TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: EXPLORING TWO FACETS OF EFL PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
In the transition from a student to a teacher, pre-service teachers must face various challenges to construct their identity as professional teachers. Teacher identity is a complex and challenging concept because the question of “who we are†evokes a vast array of complementary and contradictory responses. The focus of the study is to investigate the process of teachers’ identity construction of two female English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers who participated in the teaching training program by concerning two facets, namely student-teacher relation and values and professionalism. This research methodology is framed in qualitative research, in which the data is obtained through interviews. The study results revealed that in terms of the student-teacher relation and values, both pre-service teachers found difficulties in balancing their authority and solidarities when facing their students. Meanwhile, in terms of professionalism, the first pre-service teacher tends to put her identity first, while the second pre-service teacher tends to put her assigned identity first. These findings call for attention to future research to look in detail regarding the place of religious beliefs in ELT, specifically as they relate to the teacher’s sense of spiritual identity. Some recommendations and directions for future practice and research are also discussed thoroughly.
Keywords: EFL Teachers, Teacher Identity Construction
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