Exploring Modern Language Teachers’ Professional Identity Through Visual Self-Representations of Professional Lifelong Journeys

Abstract

AbstractResearch into language teacher identity often refers to individuals’ self-position as teachers, their affiliations to different aspects of their work and their attachments to communities of practice. To these, it is important to add the role of personal agency in shaping teachers’ lives and in making decisions about their own professional learning. This study aims to contribute to the existing body of research on language teachers’ identity. It explores the multidimensional idiosyncrasy of language teachers in the UK and their sense of agency in responding to and acting upon the transnational, fragmented, social and pedagogical landscapes they navigate. Within the narrative frameworks present in twenty one graphic self-representations of teachers’ professional journeys in which cognitive activity is mediated by semiotic tools, this study applies Narrative Inquiry and Keyword Theory in the analysis of socially prominent words (e.g. teaching, anxiety, learning) and critical incidents to investigate and draw up territories of interest in the development of teachers’ professional identities. The results show that language teachers’ professional journeys are marked by academic achievement as well as by transnational experiences associated with academic and professional progression. The desire for learning opportunities and a passion for language teaching often feature as a key aspect in shaping individuals’ motivation for becoming teachers.KeywordsLanguage teacher identityAgencyNarrative inquiryGraphic representations