Critical Incidents in Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs and Motivation to Become English Teachers: A Study of Teacher Professional Identity Construction

Abstract

Personal journeys in teacher education programs are crucial in helping pre-service teachers to build “a strong and positive professional identity” (Ivanova & Skara-Mincne, 2016; Yuan & Lee, 2015). This study aimed to elaborate on critical incidents regarding beliefs and motivation to become teachers in shaping teacher professional identity. It involved pre-service teachers who major in a Master’s Program in English Education at a university in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. As the methodology to collect data, critical incident techniques was used, which constitute five steps: 1) Establishing general aims; 2) Establishing plans and specifications (formulating frames of references and categories); 3) Collecting data; 4) Analyzing data; and 5) Interpreting, analyzing, and reporting data (Hughes, Williamson, & Lloyd, 2007). Some teachers may mix their experiences with blind judgments due to emotional reactions. Thus, critical incident technique enables pre-service teachers to revisit their incidents critically. The results of the study led to a conclusion that lack of personal connections between the participants and people who had taught them contributed to the participants’ neutral beliefs about teaching, which in turn contributed to their low intrinsic motivation to be teachers.

Reflecting on Reflections Concerning Critical Incidents in Developing Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Identity: Evidence from a TESOL Education Project

“…Moreover, the formation of a language teacher identity driven by critical incidents from early learning experiences is evident in the literature (Kılıç et al, 2020). Besides, Jennifer and Mbato (2020) also confirm the conducive nature of critical events in building beliefs and motivation that constitute the identities of the teachers.…”

Identification of the Identity of Remote Area Teacher as a Driving Force

“…Previous research reveals that the construction of teacher identity is constructed by a continuous interpretation of past and present experiences. This experience contributes to beliefs and motivations which are components of identity (Jennifer & Mbato, 2020). This study also criticizes the interpersonal relationships between students and lecturers that contribute to neutral beliefs about teaching which results in low intrinsic motivation for students to become teachers and to be able to implement theory and experience in learning activities that lecturers and students experience (Beijaard et al, 2004;Korthagen, 2004) .…”

“…A teacher's identity is influenced by how education and the socio-cultural context are implemented in the Teacher Education Program as well as an understanding of how to become a professional teacher before and while students are studying in the Teacher Education Program (Gholami et al, 2020;Singh, G., & Richards, 2006;Yazan, 2019). Previous study found that there is a lack of understanding about how to become a professional teacher: 1) the teacher has not mastered the material provided, which makes students have difficulty to understand, 2) the teacher is still teaching using traditional methods so that the teacher simply transfers their knowledge automatically, 3) the ability technology is still low, 4) feedback is rarely given, because most of the time is spent working on worksheets (Bertus, 2019;Botha & Onwu, 2013;Jennifer & Mbato, 2020). An identity is defined as a dynamic and continuous process of interpretation and reinterpreted through an experience.…”

Exploring the Use of Gibbs’ Reflective Model in Enhancing In-Service Esl Teachers’ Reflective Writing

“…As such, they were unable to apply a more systematic process of collecting, recording and analysing their thoughts and observations, as well as those of their students. Besides, teachers with less practice in reflective writing were unable to go through the reflective cyclical process systematically (Helyer, 2015;Cirocki & Widodo, 2019;Ahmed, 2020) and thus, failed to reflect critically in building a robust, motivated and progressive professional personality (Jennifer & Mbato, 2020). They missed out on essential elements of reflections as they could not focus on the main themes in their reflective writing, and were unable to record and analyze events in a prescribed manner to foster reflective thinking (Mohammadi et al, 2020;Rousseau, 2015;Shandomo, 2010).…”