Novice Teachers’ Professional Identity Reconstruction
A transition from pre-service training programs to teaching is a dramatic and somehow painful experience for novice teachers. The question is what dif.
- Pub. date: August 15, 2022
- Pages: 449-464
- 545 Downloads
- 1631 Views
- 3 Citations
A transition from pre-service training programs to teaching is a dramatic and somehow painful experience for novice teachers. The question is what difficulties novice teachers face and how they negotiate their professional identity to cope with difficulties and find joys in their career. This study is aimed to investigate novice teachers’ professional identity reconstruction, from their imaged-identities to their practiced identities. The use of semi-structured interviews collected data from four Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) novice teachers. According to the data, cue-based was the most common type of novice teachers’ imagined identity. Regarding the practiced identities, the interviewees reported different professional identity reconstructions in the first five years of teaching practice. The participants’ excerpts enlisted some challenges that the novices faced such as students’ learning attitudes, working environments, or unorganized colleagues. Based on the research findings, some solutions were proposed in order to help novice teachers get through their difficult times at the very beginning of their career.
Keywords: Novice teacher, professional identity reconstruction, teacher education.
References
Al-Seghayer, K. S. (2014). The actuality, inefficiency, and needs of EFL teacher-preparation programs in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 3(1), 143-151. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.1p.143
Amin, M. Y. M., & Rahimi, A. (2018). Challenges faced by novice EFL teachers. International Journal, 5(1), 149-166. https://bit.ly/3zJVRc8
Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001
Brighton, C. M. (1999). Keeping good teachers: Lessons from novices. In M. Scherer (Ed.), A better beginning: Supporting and mentoring new teachers (pp. 197-201). ASCD.
Caspersen, J., & Raaen, F. D. (2014). Novice teachers and how they cope. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 20(2), 189-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2013.848570
Christopoulou, M., Lakioti, A., Pezirkianidis, C., Karakasidou, E., & Stalikas, A. (2018). The role of grit in education: A systematic review. Psychology, 9(15), 2951-2971. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2018.915171
Darling-Hammond, L. (2003). Keeping good teachers: Why it matters, what leaders can do. Educational Leadership, 60(8), 6-13. https://bit.ly/3zKmqxV
Day, C. (2018). Professional identity matters: Agency, emotions, and resilience. In P. A. Schulz, J. Hong & D. Cross Francis (Eds.), Research on teacher identity (pp. 61-70). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_6
Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087–1101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087
Eret-Orhan, E., Ok, A., & Capa-Aydin, Y. (2018). We train, but what do they think? Preservice teachers’ perceptions of the adequacy of their teacher education in Turkey. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46(2), 183-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2017.1355050
Evans, C. (2018). Analysing semi-structured interviews using thematic analysis: Exploring voluntary civic participation among adults. In J. Lewis (Ed.), SAGE research methods datasets (pp. 1-6). SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526439284
Fantilli, R. D., & McDougall, D. E. (2009). A study of novice teachers: Challenges and supports in the first years. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(6), 814-825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.02.021
Fareh, S. (2010). Challenges of teaching English in the Arab world: Why can’t EFL programs deliver as expected? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3600-3604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.559
Farrell, T. S. (2003). Learning to teach English language during the first year: Personal influences and challenges. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(1), 95-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00088-4
Farrell, T. S. (2006). The first year of language teaching: Imposing order. System, 34(2), 211-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2005.12.001
Farrell, T. S. (2012). Novice‐service language teacher development: Bridging the gap between preservice and in‐service education and development. TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 435-449. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.36
Farrell, T. S. (2016). Surviving the transition shock in the first year of teaching through reflective practice. System, 61, 12-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.07.005
Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record, 103(6), 1013-1055. https://doi.org/10.1111/0161-4681.00141
Flores, M. A., & Day, C. (2006). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(2), 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.002
Hamiloglu, K. (2014). Turkish student teachers’ reflections on their professional identity construction and reconstruction process during the practicum [Doctoral dissertation, University of Leicester]. University of Leicester Publications. https://bit.ly/39nwbqX
Haynes, L. (2011). Novice teachers' perceptions of their mentoring experiences. [Doctoral dissertation, Lamar University-Beaumont]. ProQuest. https://bit.ly/3HBkJVq
Hebert, E., & Worthy, T. (2001). Does the first year of teaching have to be a bad one? A case study of success. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(8), 897-911. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00039-7
Hong, J. Y. (2010). Pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity and its relation to dropping out of the profession. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(8), 1530-1543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.003
Hong, J., Day, C., & Greene, B. (2018). The construction of early career teachers’ identities: Coping or managing? Teacher Development, 22(2), 249-266. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2017.1403367
Jiang, L., Yuan, K., & Yu, S. (2021). Transitioning from pre-service to novice: A study on Macau EFL teachers’ identity change. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 30(1), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-020-00510-4
Kang, Y., & Cheng, X. (2014). Teacher learning in the workplace: A study of the relationship between a novice EFL teacher’s classroom practices and cognition development. Language Teaching Research, 18(2), 169-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168813505939
Kim, K. A., & Roth, G. L. (2011). Novice teachers and their acquisition of work-related information. Current Issues in Education, 14(1), 1-28. https://bit.ly/3QmlCFj
Lampert, M. (2010). Learning teaching in, from, and for practice: What do we mean? Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 21-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109347321
Lasky, S. (2005). A sociocultural approach to understanding teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(8), 899-916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.06.003
Lomi, A. N. K., & Mbato, C. L. (2020). Struggles and strategies in constructing professional identity: The first-year teaching experiences of Indonesian EFL novice teachers. Journal of English Education and Teaching, 4(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.33369/jeet.4.1.1-19
Loughran, J., Brown, J., & Doecke, B. (2001). Continuities and discontinuities: The transition from pre-service to first-year teaching. Teachers and Teaching, 7(1), 7-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600125107
Moscovici, S. (2001). Social representations: Essays in social psychology. New York University Press.
Ngo, N. T. (2018). The influence of personal, situational and sociocultural factors on Vietnamese EFL novice teachers’ cognitions and practices. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Wollongong]. University of Wollongong. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/448
Nguyen, C. D. (2017). Beyond the school setting: Language teachers and tensions of everyday life. Teachers and Teaching, 23(7), 766-780. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2016.1276054
Nguyen, H. T. (2017). Novice English language teachers in Vietnamese secondary schools: Resources and identity development. [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. The University of New South Wales.
Nguyen, P. A. P. (2015). EFL teacher professional identity construction: The case of a non-native novice teacher. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Foreign Languages]. VNU LIC. https://bit.ly/3b97D5B
Nikoopour, J., & Esfandiari, N. (2017). The relationship between emotional, social, cultural, spiritual intelligence and EFL teachers’ teaching effectiveness. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(1), 138-148. https://doi.org/10.17507/JLTR.0801.17
Norton, B. (2001). Non-participation, imagined communities, and the language classroom. In M. Breen (Ed.), Learner Contributions to Language Learning: New Directions in Research (pp. 159-71). Pearson Education.
Numrich, C. (1996). On becoming a language teacher: Insights from diary studies. TESOL Quarterly, 30(1), 131-153. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587610
Öztürk, M., & Yıldırım, A. (2013). Aday öğretmenlerin uyum sorunları [Adaptation challenges of novice teachers]. Hacettepe University Journal of Education/ Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 28(1), 294-307. https://bit.ly/3xxSNNq
Pennington, M. C., & Richards, J. C. (2016). Teacher identity in language teaching: Integrating personal, contextual, and professional factors. RELC Journal, 47(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688216631219
Pitton, D. E. (2006). Mentoring novice teachers: Fostering a dialogue process. Corwin Press.
Razmjoo, S. A., & Mavaddat, R. (2016). Understanding professional challenges faced by Iranian teachers of English. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(3), 208-220. http://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v6n3p208
Richards, J. C. (1998). Beyond training: Perspectives on language teacher education. Cambridge University Press.
Richardson, P. W., & Watt, H. M. (2018). Teacher professional identity and career motivation: A lifespan perspective. In P. A. Schulz, J. Hong & D. Cross Francis (Eds.) Research on teacher identity (pp. 37-48). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_4
Sali, P., & Kecik, I. (2018). Challenges of first years of teaching in Turkey: Voices of novice EFL teachers. English Language Teaching, 11(4), 117-131. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n4p117
Senom, F., Zakaria, A. R., & Ahmad Shah, S. S. (2013). Novice teachers’ challenges and survival: Where do Malaysian ESL teachers stand? American Journal of Educational Research, 1(4), 119-125. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-1-4-2
Shagrir, L. (2010). Professional development of novice teacher educators: Professional self, interpersonal relations and teaching skills. Professional Development in Education, 36(1-2), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415250903454809
Smith, K., & Sela, O. (2005). Action research as a bridge between pre‐service teacher education and in‐service professional development for students and teacher educators. European Journal of Teacher Education, 28(3), 293-310. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619760500269418
Trent, J. (2016). The identity construction experiences of early career English language teachers in Hong Kong. Great expectations and practical realities. Research Papers in Education, 31(3), 316-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2015.1037336
Tsui, A. B. (2007). Complexities of identity formation: A narrative inquiry of an EFL teacher. TESOL Quarterly, 41(4), 657-680. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00098.x
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2015). Teacher policy development guide: Summary. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000235272
Van Veen, K., & Sleegers, P. (2006). How does it feel? Teachers' emotions in a context of change. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 38(1), 85-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220270500109304
Varah, L. J., Theune, W. S., & Parker, L. (1986). Beginning teachers: Sink or swim? Journal of Teacher Education, 37(1), 30-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248718603700107
Widiati, U., Suryati, N., & Hayati, N. (2018). Unraveling the challenges of Indonesian novice teachers of English. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(3), 621-629. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9824
Wonacott, M. E. (2002). Teacher induction programs for beginning CTE teachers. Columbus.
Wyatt, R. L., & White, J. E. (2016). Making your first year a success: A classroom survival guide for middle and high school teachers. Skyhorse.
Xu, H. (2013). From the imagined to the practiced: A case study on novice EFL teachers' professional identity change in China. Teaching and Teacher Education, 31, 79-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.01.006
Yost, D. S. (2006). Reflection and self-efficacy: Enhancing the retention of qualified teachers from a teacher education perspective. Teacher Education Quarterly, 33(4), 59-76. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23478871