Teacher Identity is Awakened through Narrative Inquiry and Reflection

This thesis is a story of discovery based on narrative inquiry and reflection of researcher's and her partner's experience of 8 classes in a vocational school. During this process, researcher's teacher identity is awakened when facing challenges and puzzles and transforms later. From observation, journal reflections, and conversation with the partner, this thesis elicits that a good teacher has a power of connectness, teaches as telling a story and teaches who we are, which provides insight into how a student teacher think, reflect and take actions especially for those who are dedicated to teaching profession and are striving to the goal. More to the point, this thesis reveals that learning to teach is a highly complicated process and needs enough courage to teach.

How to Cultivate an Excellent English-Teacher-in-Future?-A Study on the Changes on Pre-service Language Teacher Identity During the Practicum

For the teacher’s professional development,identity plays a crucial role in promoting the teacher’s maturity and skills.For pre-service teachers,the level of identity determines whether they are willing or even determined to take teaching as their future career,and also represents whether their professional development is smooth.Therefore,the research on pre-service teachers’identity is of great significance.Combining quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis,this study aims to explore whether the identity of pre-service English teachers changes before and after the practicum and the influencing factors during the practicum through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews.Based on the four dimensions of identity proposed by Xun,Sun,and Peng(2014),this study investigated the juniors before their practice and the seniors who had practiced for two months.It is found that the scores of careers belonging,foreign language teaching belief,English proficiency,work involvement,professional behaviour tendency,and foreign language teaching reform are higher than those of the students before the practicum.Through semi-structured interviews,it can be concluded that the factors affecting identity include personal factors,mentor factors,job content,and organizational support factors.According to the survey results,this study puts forward corresponding suggestions to improve the positive impact of practicum on students’identity.

Three Approaches to the Inquiry into Teacher Identity: A Narrative Review Enlightened by Habermas's Human Interests

Purpose:This paper attempts to review and conceptualize how different scholars approach research on teacher identity through the lens of three human interests defined by Jurgen Habermas.Design/Approach/Methods:This literature review,guided by Habermas's three human interests,illustrates the characteristics of three different approaches to the inquiry into teacher identity.Findings:This paper summarizes three approaches to researching teacher identity and their characteristics,namely the technical approach,the practical approach,and the critical approach.The implications for future research and teacher development are also discussed.Originality/Value:By incorporating Habermas's three human interests into teacher identity inquiries,this article offers a theoretical narrative review of the approaches to investigating teacher identity.Strengths and weaknesses of each approach as well as the possibility of a combined application of different approaches provide an original discussion of teacher identity research.

Technology Integration into the Language Classroom:Developmental Trajectory of Beginning Teachers

This study adds to the current literature on teacher technology integration with an investigation into five beginning teachers’technology use in the language classroom in their first two career-entry years.The longitudinal interview study reveals that these teachers went through a developmental trajectory of technology use towards using it for more diversified instructional purposes and with a greater orientation towards student learning over the years.The study also finds that the teachers’developing understanding of technology use intertwined with their growing teaching competency and identity.It further finds that school culture not only had a direct influence on their technology use but also moderated the influence of teaching competency and identity on the nature of this technology use.This study concludes with suggestions for promoting research on the support needed for beginning teachers and the school culture in technology use.

A Bumpy Border Crossing into the Teaching Culture on a U.S.Campus:Experience of a Chinese Faculty Member

Guided by cultural border crossing and teacher identity development theories,this case study explores the bumpy process of a junior Chinese faculty member’s border crossing into the U.S.teaching culture and analyzes the challenges,coping strategies,and consequences of his border crossing on teaching and teacher identity development.The study found the subject demonstrated an active process of adaptation during his border crossing and experienced multifaceted and ongoing identity development in which both Chinese culture and the culture that he embraced played important roles in reshaping and facilitating the development of his professional identity,teacher learning,and teaching practices.