Becoming an English language teacher: Continuities and Discontinuities

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to report a three-year phenomenographic study conducted on seven EFL Polish teachers with the focus on presenting how they experience different aspects of language teaching at three crucial stages: 1) the time of ELT theory studying, 2) the time of school placement, 3) the time of first-year working as professional teachers. Each stage of the study is presented from the perspective of affordances standing for the respondents' expectations (continuities) as well as constraints (discontinuities). The article concludes that discontinuities, rather than continuities, can prove invaluable in language teacher identity development.Keywords language teacher identity, phenomenography, continuities and discontinuities, Poland IntroductionBecoming a teacher seems a never-ending process which is by no means final on receiving teaching credentials. It is continuously constituted, never fully completed or coherent. It usually starts very early with a person's desire to enter the teaching profession and may last well into their retirement period. The process of formal learning to teach is only a phase which brings a person closer to the process of 'becoming' a teacher, although a very important one. It can be the time when previous expectations and imaginations of candidates for the teaching profession are given rational explanations through theoretical tuition. It is also the time when their teaching abilities are tested during school placements. This period of 'learning to teach' is formative but can be transformative through providing contexts for innumerable changes with regard to pre-service teachers' preferences, self-perceptions, choices or even job-related decisions. Learning to teach is, therefore, a process of professional identity construction rather than the acquisition of knowledge or collection of new skills.In this article I intend to take a look at the process of becoming a teacher through the concepts of 'continuities' and 'discontinuities', both acknowledged as contributors to learning. The former which stand for smooth fillers or seamless transitions from ignorance to knowledge are more popular in the common understanding of learning (English, 2013, p. xix). The latter which mean confusions, doubts, perplexities, struggles or simply anxiety before the new and unfamiliar are in line with thinking that "learning necessarily involves discontinuous moments" (ibid.). It seems that explicit targeting the selected periods of the process of becoming a teacher (the time of studies and the first working year) through the perspective of continuities and discontinuities may help in advancing our understanding of learning teaching. The current study explores the building of seven English pre-service teachers' professional identities at three crucial stages: 1) the time of university tuition, 2) the time of school placement, 3) the first year of working as professional teachers with a view to illuminating their conceptualizations of language teacher becoming experiences.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Narratives: Why Did I Decide to Become an English Language Teacher?

“…The results of this study are consistent with other investigations (Hong et al, 2017;Kavanoz, Yüksel, & Varol, 2017;Warner, 2016;Werbińska, 2015;Yüksel & Kavanoz, 2015) that pointed out that pre-service teachers enter the program with false beliefs about themselves and the profession which may lead to encounter tensions during their teacher preparation program. However, unlike previous studies, the most relevant personal aspect in this research included the EFL pre-service teachers' perceived ability to learn and teach English.…”

Qui suis-je

“…Discontinuity can be connected to the multi-dimensionality of teacher identity, which has engendered a debate about whether teacher identity entails a continuing site of struggle in striving for harmony and coherence, especially for non-native language teachers (Beijaard et al, 2004;Tsui, 2011;Varghese et al, 2005). For instance, English language teachers decide on their career based on language and teaching interests, hoping to secure membership in formerly imagined communities of successful English users or English teachers (Werbińska, 2015). In this study, the participants purposefully directed their identity negotiation to French learning and immersion teaching in a manner reflective of their values.…”

Der phänomenographische Ansatz in der glottodidaktischen Forschung

“…z. B. Pawlak 2008;Adamczak--Krysztofowicz 2009;Nerlicki 2011;Michońska-Stadnik 2013;Ellis 2014;Jaroszewska 2014;Piechurska-Kuciel 2014;Werbińska 2010Werbińska , 2015Aleksandrzak 2018). Den geäußerten Sichtweisen liegt reflexives Handeln der Lernenden zu Grunde, das sich durch die externe (etwa durch Fragestellungen in semistrukturierten Interviews) und / oder interne Evozierung der Bewusstheit in dem Was (was unterliegt der Reflexion?)…”