Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the concept of role identity among Iranian English language teachers. Narrative inquiry was adopted as an approach of the study. Twenty-one Iranian English language teachers from three educational contexts (university, school, and institute) were interviewed and provided their written narratives. Then, the collected data were analyzed through thematic analysis and credibility and trustworthiness of the data were ensured through data triangulation and coding agreement. Results of the study revealed that Iranian EFL teachers conceptualized their role identity from multi-dimensional perspectives, including managerial, professional, and socio-cultural perspectives. The findings also showed that thirteen sub- role identities were explored and emerged under three main themes of role identity for Iranian EFL teachers. The three main themes included teachers’ role identity as manager, professional, and acculturator and the thirteen sub-role identities consisted of ‘knowledge transmitter, trader, juggler, interaction supervisor, promoter, arbiter, entertainer, pundit, collaborator, learner, social panacea, cultural adapter, and tutelage-provider’. The results of the current study can be useful for policy makers, teacher educators, and evaluators to have a better judgment and make appropriate decisions about teachers. Finally, the limitation of the study along with suggestion for the further research were also discussed.
Highlights
One controversial issue in every educational system is the role of teachers as persons who perform an undeniable and pivotal role in that educational system
The main role identity of manager and their related sub-categorizations were in line with previous studies, such as Beijaard et al (2000), Farrell (2011), and Kummaravadivelu (2012) one of the sub-role identity, i.e. knowledge transmitter was in contradiction with prior studies
The sub-role identity of Iranian EFL teachers as knowledge transmitters opposed to Beijaard et al, (2000) teacher expertise which denotes that the role of teacher is more than the transmitter of knowledge and Kumaravadivelu’s (2012) post-modernism view to teacher identity which considered teacher as transformative intellectual
Summary
One controversial issue in every educational system is the role of teachers as persons who perform an undeniable and pivotal role in that educational system. Norton (2013) defines the notion of identity as “how a person understands his or her relationship to the world, how that relationship is structured across time and space, and how the person understands possibilities for the future” The notion of teachers’ identity stands for how teachers recognize their own beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, and values (Kumaravadivelu, 2012). For the first time the synthesized term -teacher role identity- was coined by Farrell and it is defined as “how teachers recognize their roles within their world and involves their beliefs, values, and assumptions about teaching and being a teacher” 55).So, in every educational context, the notion of identity and role is conceived by teachers and teacher educators as a synthesized term which considers the psychological, sociological, and functional sides of teachers For the first time the synthesized term -teacher role identity- was coined by Farrell and it is defined as “how teachers recognize their roles within their world and involves their beliefs, values, and assumptions about teaching and being a teacher” (Farrell, 2008, p. 55).So, in every educational context, the notion of identity and role is conceived by teachers and teacher educators as a synthesized term which considers the psychological, sociological, and functional sides of teachers
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