Language Teacher Identity Research Articles

In Conversation with Gary Barkhuizen about Language Teacher Identity

Gary Barkhuizen,Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Auckland, is a prominentscholar studying narrative inquiry and language teacher education. Withacademic roots spanning South Africa and New Zealand, his journey began withstudies at the University of Essex and Columbia University, where he earned hisMaster’s and Doctorate degrees, respectively. His influence extends far beyondhis classroom, with numerous publications in esteemed journals such as TESOLQuarterly, RELC Journal, and Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. Renownedfor his co-authored books such as “Analysing Learner Language” and “NarrativeInquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research,” he continues to shapediscourse in applied linguistics with his work on language teacher identity. OnJanuary 16, 2024, he was interviewed by Huseyin Uysal. In their conversation,Gary reflects on pivotal career moments, emphasizing the power of connectionsin teaching. He explores the dynamic interplay of self-perception and externaldescriptions in identity formation, introducing facets like reflexive and projectedidentities. Dilemmic aspects during transitions, coping practices, and theimpact of early experiences on identity are discussed. Gary extends the focusto broader socio-political contexts, highlighting the influence of externalrealities. Regarding future research, he suggests exploring teachers ofmultiple languages, heritage languages, and Indigenous languages. He emphasizesthe need for self-study, addressing ideological spaces and practicalimplementation of identity research in language teacher education.@font-face{font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:swiss;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073697537 9 0 511 0;}@font-face{font-family:Georgia;panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;mso-font-charset:0;mso-generic-font-family:roman;mso-font-pitch:variable;mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{mso-style-unhide:no;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:107%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}.MsoChpDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;mso-default-props:yes;mso-ascii-font-family:Georgia;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-font-kerning:0pt;mso-ligatures:none;}.MsoPapDefault{mso-style-type:export-only;margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:107%;}div.WordSection1{page:WordSection1;}

A Future of Hope and Dread: How K-12 Pre-service Language Teachers are Situating Their Identities within Modern Japanese Value and Belief Systems

The current study is located among the body of language teacher identity research by focusing on the identities of pre-service language teachers in Japan. This study looks at how pre-service language teacher identities are situated among Japanese values and belief systems and investigates how participants are coping with disrupted language teacher identities as they are preparing to embark on teaching careers. Three pre-service teachers took part in this study, and data originated from narrative frames and semi-structured interviews. These participants are preparing for future employment as K-12 English teachers in Japan. Drawing upon grounded theory and Gross’ (2015) process model of emotional regulation, findings illustrate the conflicted manner in which preservice teachers are constructing their nascent language teacher identities against the backdrop of Japanese values and belief systems and the realities of teaching in Japan. In this context, the participants are approaching their future careers with deeply held emotions of both hope and dread, complicating the development of empowered language teacher identities. Additionally, this study found that the participants were able to employ Gross’ (2015) emotional regulation strategies to varying degrees of success. This article concludes with implications for pre-service teachers and pre-service teacher training programs in Japan and abroad.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Disrupted Language Teacher Identities in Times of Uncertainty

The English language teaching (ELT) profession is at its precipice with large-scale global events and transitions in the recent decade. Changes in global alliances, international conflicts, geopolitical tensions, wars, economic crises, and global climate changes brought uncertainties to the world and the ELT landscape. In this special issue, Between Indisposition and Perseverance: Disrupted Language Teacher Identities in Times of Uncertainty, we explore how English language teachers, researchers, and professionals grapple with indispositions from social, historical, political, economic, and emotional dilemmas in times of uncertainty. [First paragraph of the introduction to the special issue]

Disrupted English Language Teacher Identities: A Social Justice Perspective

Informed by Huber's (2021) framework of critical ethnography from a social justice perspective, this study aimed to (a) figure out how language teachers struggle for equity embedded within their socio-cultural contexts of schooling; (b) examine the micro, meso, and macro-factors affecting their identities with the impact of dominating ideologies; (c) uncover how they position themselves in challenging such practices and constraints. This study employs an exploratory qualitative case study design and an inductive data analysis method to document the voices of two in-service and three pre-service English language teachers and two teacher educators as professionals in K-12 school settings in Türkiye. The study addressed how ideologies stemming from power, authority, and institutional structures shape their ongoing teacher identity formation. As a result, language educators referred to oppression stemming from imposed decisions, decontextualized in-service and pre-service teacher training practices, and limited space for decision-making. Bringing in a social justice orientation, this study documented language educators' ways of challenging the dominant ideologies and schooling practices. This research brought voices from various layers to provide a composite picture of the potential gap(s) between their practice contexts and initial and in-service teacher-training practices.

From the Editor

[First part only] Dear Readers, Welcome to the first issue of our 28th Volume! This issue contains a “Special Issue” within it on “Between Indisposition and Perseverance: Disrupted Language Teacher Identities in Times of Uncertainty” ably edited by Hyunjin Jinna Kim and Huseyin Uysal. We hope that you will find it both informative and relevant to your own teaching context. In addition, this issue contains 8 feature articles. We offer our usual smörgåsbord for your reading pleasure, topics include learner autonomy, ChatGPT, sustainable development goals in global education, digital literacy, vocabulary knowledge for writing, speech pragmatics of hotel negotiations, migrant learners, and language learner beliefs. In order to make our articles useful to our global readership, we are strictly enforcing our policy that articles must be applicable to other contexts despite the research having been carried out in a single country. SCOPUS ranking improves. TESL-EJ’s ranking on the newly released 2024 version of scimagojr.com‘s SCOPUS listing has moved up to #253 from #267 out of the 312 journals in their Q1 “Linguistics and Language” category. We congratulate our editorial team, our contributors and you, the readers, for the steady improvement in our listing over the five years that we have been listed. Kudos. We are proud to say that past Review Editor, Ilka Kostka and our new Review Editor, Rachel Toncelli (see below) received the TESOL “Ron Chang Lee Award for Excellence in Classroom Technology,” while Huseyin Uysal, co-editor of the current Special Issue, received the “TESOL Leadership Mentoring Program Award” for 2024. Congratulations to all! Passages. Rachel Toncelli (Northeastern University) joins Dylan Burton on our Book Review Team. Dr. Toncelli was introduced by our former review editor and colleague, Ilka Kotska who co-authored the “On the Internet” article on ChatGPT in our November 2023 issue. We thank Behzad Mansouri for his long service to TESL-EJ as a co-editor, media review editor, special issue editor and special mentor to struggling authors. Behzad has now moved away from ELT, and is currently involved in a study of “community-engagement and leadership.” New book! We are pleased to announce another book publication, Tips for Writing Well: Research-Based Principles, by Scott Alkire. This volume contains 25 easy-to-read and easy-to-follow tips on effective academic writing. The topics range from how to find sources to improving your style to grammar and proofreading. It is free for download in PDF from this site. It will soon be available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. Our policy is that 100% of profits from this and all of our books go to supporting TESL-EJ’s mission to remain free from advertising, and free from subscription fees. Thank you for considering a purchase. Thanks to recent reviewers. We thank the reviewers of all submissions that had reached a decision since our last issue – regardless of whether the paper was accepted or declined. Thanks go to: Abdul Syahid, Adrian Leis, Ahmed Bashir, Andrias Susanto, Anh Ton-Nu, Aránzazu García-Pinar, Aurelio Vilbar, Azran Azmee Kafia, Baburam Upadhaya, Bao Trang Thi Nguyen, Betsy Gilliland, Boudjemaa Dendenne , Burak Senel, C-S Anna Chang, Chin Ee Loh, Cihat Atar, Claire Louise Rodway, Colin William Campbell, Dale Brown, Danial Babajani Azizi, Daron Benjamin Loo, David Berry, Eli Hinkel, Elisabet Murtisari, Emrah Cinkara, Eric Hagley, Fatemeh Ranjbaran, Flora Debora Floris, Frank Hermann, Gözde Balıkçı, Gina Paschalidou, Grant Eckstein, Ha Hoang, Hamid Bahador, Hjalmar Hernandez, I Putu Indra Kusuma, Ilka Kostka, Ismail Xodabande, Jofen Wu Han, Juland Salayo, Kathleen Eilers-crandall, Kuang Li, Kyle R. Van Horn, Larry Xethakis, Leonardo Veliz, Made Hery Santosa, Md. Didar Hossain, Meliha R Simsek, Michael Joseph Ennis, Minh Le, Mirjam Anugerahwati, Napak-on Sritrakarn, Nurkamilah, Omer Gokhan ULUM, Paul Mathieson, Penkhae Wongosuriya, Peter Ilic, Piyapong Laosrirattanachai, Rita Elaine Silver, Sachiko Nakamura, Shaun Manning, Shizuka Sakurai, Sophia Skoufaki, Theresa A Antes, Ufuk Atas, Valentin Werner, Vijayakumar Chintalapalli, Xiaoli YU, Xirui Cai, Yosefina Rosdiana Su and Zainurrahman. Another Special Issue production by Thomas Farrell is in the offing! Moving Forward With Reflective Practice in TESOL is now calling for contributions, to be published in the August 2025 issue. Best wishes, Thomas Robb, for the Editorial Team

English Language Teachers' Emotional Vulnerability in the Era of Self‐Branding on Social Media

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to explore English language teachers' vulnerability and identity negotiation in relation to self‐branding on social media. It focused on 15 Iranian teachers' experiences in teaching and self‐promotion on Instagram through narrative frames and follow‐up interviews. The analysis of the teacher narratives demonstrated that the new online context that valorizes visibility by demanding audience appealing content and personalities generated a great amount of vulnerability among the language teachers. The results evidenced the teachers' constant struggles in competing against those who seemingly possess superior skills and resources for self‐promotion and their resistance to the “rules of the game” in gaining quick visibility. They shed light on language teachers' vulnerability and identity negotiation in their efforts to present themselves as authentic and legitimate teachers on Instagram against popular, self‐branded individuals. Highlighting the intersection of language teaching, emotion, and identity, this study provides theoretical and pedagogical implications for language teacher identity in a shifting teaching context.

Realization of Language Teacher’s Ideal Identity as Peacebuilder

Language teaching has the potential not only to teach language skills but also to create a peaceful learning environment where students feel relaxed, safe and valued. To achieve this goal, teachers need to develop an ideal identity that reflects their commitment to promoting peace in their classrooms. In the interest of developing peacebuilder language teachers, this study investigated the ideal identity of English language teachers as peacebuilders, the strategies they employ to achieve their peacebuilder identities, and the manifestation of peace language: hope, help, and harmony (Oxford & Curtis, 2020). The narratives of three Iranian language teachers were thematically analyzed to understand their hopeful, helpful, and harmonious experiences. Our findings indicate that teachers’ ideal peacebuilder selves are becoming ‘an encouraging teacher’, ‘a more hopeful and caring teacher’, and ‘a patient teacher’. To achieve their peacebuilder identity, they proposed strategies such as encouraging students to communicate internationally, caring about students’ success, pursuing academic studies, and improving emotion-regulation skills. The findings of this study contribute to incorporating peace in language education and developing peacebuilder language.

Language teacher identities and identity tensions of early career English teachers

AbstractIn this article, we explore the tensions early career English teachers experience in their language teacher identities (LTIs). To this effect, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with three early career English teachers at Turkish public schools. The findings showed that the teachers experienced tensions with their roles as teachers, language competency, and structural and relational aspects in their contexts. Devising and employing coping strategies in navigating challenges, the teachers developed their own ways to deal with various identity tensions. The findings of this study conclude that (i) maintaining LTIs is emotionally complex, (ii) LTIs happen in social practice, and (iii) meso and macro contexts supersede ideals causing dilemmas, conflicts, and tensions in LTIs. Drawing on the findings, we argue that teachers' emotional needs and identity tensions should be provided for through institutional and interrelational support systems so that teachers can manage tensions and emotionality as potential in their identities.

From identity unbecoming to becoming: Duoethnography of multilingual and multicultural English language teacher identities

Language teacher identity (LTI) has become essential in educational research. The discourse is progressively moving away from the deficit-based label of non-native-English-speaking teachers towards the asset-based appreciation of their multilingualism and multiculturalism. This paper explores two multilingual and multicultural English teachers’ (MMETs) LTI shift from unbecoming (experiencing negative moments in identity formation) to becoming (experiencing moments that validate the self) over life stages and national contexts, impacting their teaching pedagogies. Applying duoethnography as the methodology, data were collected through tandem writing and dialogic conversations. Findings indicate that (1) MMETs' ongoing LTI construction is enmeshed with their primary discourse, educational, professional, and cross-cultural experiences, and discourses and ideologies embedded in social contexts; (2) LTI construction entails perpetual unbecoming and becoming moments; embracing and valuing themselves multilingualism and multiculturalism is beneficial to guide MMETs toward LTI becoming; (3) MMETs' perceptions of their own and students' multilingualism impact teaching practices when instructing students. Research demonstrates that duoethnography involves four layers of identity work: storying, reflecting, dialoguing, and writing. Through duoethnography, language teachers can explore their LTI experiences, reframing their identities from the asset-based perspective and offering inspiring stories for other teachers, thus making it the potential to support professional development in teacher education.

Conceptualising the role of practice level in language teacher identity construction: An identities‐in‐practice study

AbstractLanguage teachers deal with different groups of learners as a natural aspect of their professional careers. However, little is known about how teachers construct their identities in response to various learner groups. This study relies on the concept of identities‐in‐practice and explores how six English‐L2 teachers construct their identities across beginner and advanced levels of teaching. Data were collected from semi‐structured interviews, stimulated recalls, and classroom observations to examine teacher identities across the two practice levels. Data analyses revealed similarities and differences in teacher identities across the two levels, which involved three components: agentic variations, discursive realisations, and extended identities. These findings provide novel implications for understanding language teacher identity construction across different learner groups. The study also provides implications for teachers and teacher educators to pay focal attention to the role identity plays in teachers’ work across different practice levels.

The struggle for pedagogical recognition in higher education: short stories of tension and triumph in the professional identity construction of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) practitioner in Hong Kong

AbstractA considerable body of work now exists on the role that identity plays in understanding teachers and teaching. Developing and sustaining teacher identities in higher education can, however, be challenging given the subordinate positioning of teaching in some educational contexts. Despite the growth of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programmes in many parts of the world, recent research suggests that EAP practitioners are especially vulnerable to being assigned marginalized identities within the academy. Therefore, this paper reports the results of a study which used a short story approach to investigate the tensions and triumphs one EAP practitioner in Hong Kong experienced in constructing her language teacher identities (LTIs). Findings suggest that her identity tensions and struggles take place across space and time and play out at different scales, including classrooms, educational institutions, and within broader societal discourses. However, the short stories presented in this paper speak not only of tension and struggle, but also of determination and resilience to construct LTIs in the academy. Consequently, the results of this study can help to raise awareness amongst stakeholders, including policy makers, leaders of higher education institutions, and language teaching practitioners, of how they can support and sustain the construction of LTIs within the academy. Implications for professional learning for language teaching practitioners and suggestions for future research are considered.

Role of Expectations and Emotions in Pre-service Teacher Identity Construction

The construct of Language Teacher Identity has garnered tremendous research interest over the past two decades with teacher aff ect – the relationship between emotional factors and teacher identity construction – as one of the areas of focus. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) enter the teacher education program (TEP) with expectations of becoming ‘good’ teachers. These are negotiated and mediated through the practicum experience that entails enormous emotional investment on the part of the PSTs as they experiment with their developing skills and knowledge to transact learning. This paper explores the role of expectations and emotions in the emerging identities of PSTs. It examines: a) PSTs’ beliefs about ‘good’ teachers which translate into expectations, b) teaching events involving pleasant and unpleasant emotions for PSTs infl uencing the construction of a positive and negative sense of identity as teachers and c) ways in which PSTs negotiate and adjust their emerging identities as language teachers vis-à-vis their expectations and emotions. Five PSTs enrolled in a TEP at a Central University in India are the participants of the study. Reflective journals, classroom observation, and oral narratives are used as tools to collect data which is analyzed qualitatively. The fi ndings reveal that PSTs use several coping strategies to combat unpleasant emotions that erode their fragile emerging identities while exercising agency all through to develop positive identities with the help of pleasant emotions.

Language Teacher Identity in TESOL, Teacher Education and Practice as Identity Work

Although identity is something that every language teacher has, language teacher identity (LTI) has been established and researched as a concept recently, in the past two decades. Language teacher identity has a critical role in language teachers’ professional and personal lives as it portrays how they position themselves and how others (i.e., colleagues, students, and other professionals) perceive them within the field and the work they do. Thus, LTI has the potential to drive the language teachers’ transformation into the teaching professional they want to become. Language Teacher Identity in TESOL, Teacher Education and Practice as Identity Work, edited by Bedrettin Yazan, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Kristen Lindahl, Associate Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA, is a much-needed book that showcases ways of using language teacher identity to inform language teacher education practices.

“It's Just a Feeling!”: Emotions and Intersectionality in Language Teacher Narratives

AbstractLanguage teacher identities and emotions are deeply sociocultural phenomena. Although intersectionality has asserted itself as a powerful framework in other fields, it is just beginning to emerge in language teacher education. This article argues that intersectionality provides a powerful conceptual lens for analyzing the complex and varied connections between language teacher identity and emotions. It also claims that emotions originate in the spaces between different social factors. Specifically, the article investigates the following questions: How do English‐as a‐second‐language teachers construct their emotions in narratives and what discourses of emotion do they evoke? How are emotions generated within the intersectional spaces of facets of their social identities? To address these, the article focuses on the micro‐level of analysis and the daily emotional experiences of two language teachers. The findings show how the focal participants navigate the complex emotional landscapes of teaching and how these are mediated by the intersections of different social identity markers such as gender, race, non‐native speaking status, and socioeconomic status.

Researching Language Teacher Identity Towards Critical Pedagogy

The landscape of teacher education has recently experienced a significant transformation, shifting away from conventional constructivist methodologies towards more socio-culturally grounded and critical pedagogical approaches. This shift underscores the growing importance of exploring language teacher identity and underscores the imperative for in-depth research into its construction within teacher education programs. This evolution is vital not only to enable language educators to gain deeper insights into their students' ideologies but also to facilitate their understanding and cultivation of their own professional identities. Within the framework of critical pedagogy, pivotal concepts such as power, identity, and agency empower language instructors with the tools necessary to actively shape their own identities and effectively challenge the language ideologies held by their students. Consequently, it is essential to investigate how socio-cultural and political contexts influence the identities of language educators and how these educators can proactively mold their identities to meet the diverse needs of their students. Throughout this study, critical pedagogy serves as a lens for evaluating teacher education programs, highlighting how their incorporation can enhance the educational landscape. In light of the dynamic nature of education, particularly in evolving contexts, a critical language pedagogy perspective necessitates further research into the identity of language teachers within the field. This aligns with the assertion made by Kubota (2017), emphasizing the imperative of additional research concerning the identity of language teachers within the realm of critical language pedagogy.

NON-QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO ENGLISH TEACHER IDENTITY RESEARCH: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (2012-2022)

The qualitative approach appears to be dominant in language teacher identity (LTI) research. Emerging LTI studies using non-qualitative methods have been overlooked. To date, a review that synthesizes English teacher identity (ETI) studies using non-qualitative methods is lacking. This paper reports on a PRISMA-based systematic review of 20 identified studies from the Google Scholar and CNKI databases. The outcomes of the review are as follows: First, studies tend to concentrate on five countries, but mostly in China and Iran. Second, Beijaard’s definition and measuring instruments of TI are most frequently cited. Third, samples were predominantly university teachers. Finally, a framework was proposed to capture six research themes: (i) ETI levels and socio-demographic factors, (ii) comparative study, (iii) ETI and one construct, (iv) ETI and two constructs, and (v) ETI and technology use or metacognition. Recommendations for future research and limitations of this study are discussed.

Theorizing Transnational Language Teacher (Educator) Identities: An Autoethnographic Study of a Border Dweller

This autoethnographic narrative inquiry explores the lived experiences and identities of a transnational English language teacher (educator). The aim of this research was to gain insight into my own transnationality, in order both to better inform my beliefs and practices as an educator, and to highlight the value of exploring transnationality as an important dimension in language teacher identity (LTI) construction. Drawing on autobiographical writing and art work as data sources, constant comparison and line-by-line analysis were employed to identify themes in the data, which were synthesized with relevant literature to further make sense of and theorize (my) transnational LTIs. Featuring theme-focused experiences from my life, findings are organized in a past-present-future structure, looking back at how my past identities can inform my present identities, and how these past and present identities are informing my future imagined identities. Major insights gained from this research into transnational LTI include: (a) social categorization, whether conferring high or low status, is a form of objectification, closely linked to the concept of (un)desire; (b) viewing emotions as signals of sites of growth can help to free us from emotional overwhelm; and (c) identifying and acknowledging our strengths can emancipate us from unjust power dynamics and empower others to do the same. Implications for language teacher education are discussed.

Collaborative Complaints, Alignment, and Identity Positioning During Teacher-Mentor Post-Observation Meetings

ABSTRACT Post-observation meetings are shown to be important contexts for language teacher identity development. Studies examining post-observation discourse have observed teachers negotiating identities as developing novices and knowledgeable experts through narrating difficult experiences, articulating pedagogical rationale, contesting colleagues’ decisions, and imagining future selves. Responding to calls to further investigate identity negotiation during post-observation meetings, this study adopted a narrative discourse analytic lens to explore how two graduate TESOL student teachers constructed identity positions through collaborative reflection about co-teaching and mentoring relationships. The findings highlight the complexity of overlapping identity positions constructed in relation to different factors within teachers’ ecologies as well as how identity is constructed both within the content of narrated small stories and through the interactional practice of storytelling. Findings are discussed in light of research on language teacher identity development, small stories in teacher education, and post-observation discourse, with implications for supporting novice language teachers through peer mentoring and collaborative reflection.

The formation of language teacher identity: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher's ER implementation

AbstractThis narrative inquiry investigates an English as a Foreign Language teacher's storied experience of 30‐year extensive reading (ER) implementation, with the aim of exploring the formation of language teacher identity (LTI) of this individual teacher. Two narrative interviews were conducted, respectively focusing on the holistic story and detailed accounts of some critical incidents and significant others. Two researchers played different roles: one insider, conducting, transcribing, translating, and analysing interviews; one outsider, analysing the data with a relatively neutral perspective. Data analysis adopted an ecological approach and a three‐level framework (societal, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels). Findings highlight the complex links between discursive features, personal experience, teacher emotions, and power differentials in shaping the dynamic and multi‐faceted nature of LTIs. Meanwhile, the considerable evolution of the teacher's ER implementation validates the importance of teacher training, especially opportunities for teachers to gain experiential knowledge which further contributes to teacher identity development.

Exploring transnationality as a resource for promoting social justice in language teacher identity construction: Insights from an inquiry group

This study explored the transnational identities of six English language teachers in an Egyptian university context, using an identity-focused teacher inquiry group. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of identity as critical pedagogy, and transnationality as a disposition that can be cultivated, narrative analysis revealed insights into what a transnational disposition entails, and how teachers (can) draw on their transnationality as a resource for promoting social justice in their work. Specifically, three prominent themes emerged: the adoption of humanizing teaching approaches, the bridging of cultural divides, and the promotion of transformative teaching. Implications for pedagogizing language teacher identity are discussed.