Abstract
As the education for sustainable development (ESD) has been advocated in diverse educational contexts, increasingly more attention has been paid to facilitate teachers as the promoters of such educational practice in higher education. Yet, less sufficient research has focused on the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) teachers, who are regarded as the pioneers of ESD practice, and their professional development. This study aims to promote teacher professional development in the area of ESD practice by investigating the identity construction of eight ESP teachers from a northern Chinese university. Drawing on a model of ESP teacher identity, the authors conducted life-history interviews concerning the five frames of identity construction. The results reveal a complex picture of ESP teachers’ professional identity construction. It is revealed that a majority of participants claimed a sense of achievement in their teaching of ESP skills and sustainability competences in graduates for the local socioeconomic development. However, their professional identification is undermined by such factors as the marginalization of ESP as a legitimate discipline, lack of acknowledgement of ESD in curriculum design, and teachers’ professional insecurity resulted from their professional incompetence and low academic status. This study provides a new and innovative perspective on the issue of ESD development in higher education.
Highlights
The year of late 2019 has witnessed the outbreak of global pandemic of COVID-19, threatening people’s health and lives all over the whole world
Since education for sustainable development (ESD) teaching is integrated into their instructional orientations, it may impact the practices of individual ESP teachers and alter their instructional identity as they master a new teaching concept with diversified expertise
Our findings show that the identity construction of ESP teachers is mediated by institutional and socio-economic contexts
Summary
The year of late 2019 has witnessed the outbreak of global pandemic of COVID-19, threatening people’s health and lives all over the whole world. It has set people to reflect their relationships with the nature. The issue of sustainable human development has been given unprecedented attention and emphasis in all fields. Being the most fundamental field, education for sustainable development (ESD) equips students with sustainable development principles and essential skills to solve problems in post-pandemic era. It is true of universities in higher education. As university teachers are playing a decisive role in implementing educational practices, the construction of their professional identity is worth all the more academic attention
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have