The emergence of moral, sociocultural and political geographies experienced by an EFL pre-service teacher during international teaching practicum in an Indonesian primary school

Abstract

ABSTRACT Anchored by a close relationship between teachers’ emotional identity and teaching practice in the classroom, this paper reports on a qualitative case study of how an EFL pre-service teacher in an international teaching exchange programme in an Indonesian primary school constructed his emotional identity during the teaching practicum and how he coped with the challenges in the programme. The data were collected from the participant’s written diary and in-depth interview. Then, the data were identified and organised into several sub-themes. The themes were analysed using Hargreaves’ (2001a) emotional geography framework and labelled with three categories: moral, sociocultural and political geographies. The findings suggest positive and negative emotions enacted by the pre-service teacher that showcase three out of the five categories of Hargreaves’ emotional geography during the practicum in the primary school context. This study implies that teacher’s emotion can be used as a catalyst to a sustainable and comfortable working environment in a professional practice. This study also provides significant implications for pre-service teachers in an international context of teaching practicum situated within primary schooling sectors.