Out-of-field Mandarin teaching and its effects on teacher identity developments – Experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand primary school teachers

Abstract

Out-of-field teaching (OOFT) and its effects on teacher identity has been the focus of some research, but how teaching a language out-of-field impacts teacher identities has received less attention. This case study contributes to this research gap and reports on two Aotearoa New Zealand primary school teachers’ experience of out-of-field Mandarin teaching across a school year. Portfolio and interview data suggest that communities of practice support teachers’ OOFT and that OOFT can become part of teacher identity depending on how teachers perceive themselves, but more research is needed to investigate the influence of OOFT on teacher self-perception and teacher identity.