Identity Work as Ethical Self-Formation: The Case of Two Chinese English-as-Foreign-Language Teachers in the Context of Curriculum Reform

Anne Li Jiang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.774759

Abstract

Curriculum reform urges teachers to constantly reflect on existing identities and develop probably whole new identities. Yet, in the wake of the poststructuralist view of identity as a complex matter of the social and the individual, of discourse and practice, and of agency and structure, teacher identity is a process of arguing for themselves and hence ethical and political in nature. Drawing on Foucault’s notion of ethical self-formation and its adoption by Clarke (2009a) “Diagram for Doing Identity Work” in teacher education research, this 2-year-long case study explores how two Chinese English-as-foreign-language (EFL) teachers engaged in identity work in a changing curricular landscape. The analysis of narrative frames and semistructured interviews reveals the relations between the relative stable and the evolving elements of teachers’ identity work, and the essential role of teachers’ ethical agency based on reflective and critical responsiveness to the contextual reality and the dynamic power relations during the reform. The findings argue for the importance of nourishing teachers’ reflective identity work and ethical agency during the turbulence of educational change.

Highlights

Curriculum reform is a constant reality in teachers’ professional lives, and English-as-a-foreignlanguage (EFL) teachers are invariably urged to develop professionally so as to adapt to the challenge of innovation and new curricular (Jiang and Zhang, 2021)
Analysis of the narrative frame responses and interview data shows that the two teachers have agentively worked on themselves to transform their identities and practices to adapt to the new curriculum. Such transformation is embodied in the four ethico-political aspects of their identity work, as elaborated
Teacher identity is often replete with tensions, stemming from the challenges of new curriculum, the inconsistency between individual beliefs of teaching and the mandates of the reform, and between the established roles and the roles expected, and potential unfavorable power relations embedded in the reform climate

Summary

Introduction

Curriculum reform is a constant reality in teachers’ professional lives, and English-as-a-foreignlanguage (EFL) teachers are invariably urged to develop professionally so as to adapt to the challenge of innovation and new curricular (Jiang and Zhang, 2021). Professional development involves continuous learning and developing new roles, and cultivating new identities. From a post-structuralist perspective, identity is seen as multiple, dynamic, and a site of contradiction and struggle (Norton, 2013). Transformation in teacher identity is, by no means, an easy and linear process. Instead, it is slow, intricate, recursive, and, often, replete with hardship (Vähäsantanen, 2015), largely due to the intimate relationship of identity formation to the discourses and the communities within which teachers work.

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Discussion

Conclusion