Funds of Professional Identity in Language Teacher Education: A Longitudinal Study on Student‐Teachers

Abstract

This article describes the professional identity formation of a group of pre‐service English as a foreign language student‐teachers at an initial English language teacher education program in Argentina. To this effect, a four‐year longitudinal study was designed drawing on the concept of funds of identity. Participants’ drawing of significant circles and interviews were used to document the main components of their funds of professional identity and the factors which informed their construction. In this paper, we specifically describe three student‐teachers’ funds of professional identity to exemplify three trends identified across the participants: (1) knowledge as a constant fund, (2) a shift from past to present and future funds, and (3) a shift from external to internal funds. Drawing on Esteban‐Guitart’s (2014) typology of funds of identity, this study puts forward a typology of funds of professional identity which incorporates three new funds, valuative, disciplinary, and anticipatory, to understand student‐teachers’ trajectories in language teacher education.

Negotiating the impact of international experiences on professional identity development: A case study of Chinese college English teachers

“…So far, researchers have examined the construction of language teacher identity in diverse contexts, such as the classroom contexts ( Kanno and Stuart, 2011 ; Hiver and Whitehead, 2018 ), the broader institutional and social contexts ( Tsui, 2007 ; Wang and He, 2022 ), the online contexts ( Stranger-Johannessen and Norton, 2017 ; Chao, 2022 ), the educational innovation contexts ( Tao and Gao, 2018 ; Kessler, 2021 ; Dikilitaş and Bahrami, 2022 ), and various formal and informal learning contexts ( Trent, 2013 ; Yuan and Mak, 2018 ; Jeongyeon and Hye Young, 2020 ; Banegas et al, 2022 ). However, there has been a paucity of research attention on the construction of language teacher identity in study abroad contexts, although study abroad has generally been considered an important tool for teacher learning with positive outcomes for the professional development of language teachers, as the above review of relevant works has shown.…”

Four spheres of student-teachers’ professional identity formation through learning about curriculum development

“…While these two studies as well as others (e.g. Banegas, Pinner, and Larrondo 2022;Chu 2020;Trent 2013) provide comprehensive explications of student-teachers grappling with their professional identities in relation to past, present, and imagined social and individual experiences, they are solely focused on their identities as practitioners. This should not be surprising since that is the primary aim of initial teacher education programmes: to prepare teachers for teaching posts.…”

“…I see myself as a teacher who is capable of always learning. (Amira, Source 2, Extract 6) Extract 6 also attests to student-teachers' concern with their own English language proficiency and the hegemonic role that the native speaker has as a measure of their own confidence in language use (Banegas, Pinner, and Larrondo 2022;Lowe 2020;Richards 2021).…”

“…Scholars have acknowledged the importance of understanding the malleable and multifaceted process of identity formation in student-teachers (e.g. Banegas, Pinner, and Larrondo 2022;Beauchamp and Thomas 2009;Chu 2020;Fairley 2020;Flores 2020;Izadinia 2015;Kier and Lee 2017;Timŏstšuk and Ugaste 2010). While the literature recognises that initial teacher education is a conducive space to encourage studentteachers to interrogate their professional identity, there is a dearth of studies which examine what other roles student-teachers imagine they can fulfil while completing their studies.…”

Öğretmen Mesleki Kimliğini Anlamak: İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Görüşleri

“…Teacher identity affects the quality of education, teacher preferences (Olsen, 2016) and teacher behavior management (Dugas, 2016); informs a teacher's decisions on instruction, content and their relationships with students (Beijaard et al, 2004) and mediates a teacher's actions (Chong et al, 2011). Additionally, providing opportunities for reflection might promote prospective language teachers' critical attitudes toward curriculum and language teaching strategies and their agency (Banegas et al, 2022). Although the literature focuses mostly on pre-service teachers (Henry, 2016;Varghese & Snyder, 2018), language teacher identity in non-Western contexts such as Turkey remains under-researched with scarce qualitative designs (Taşdemir, 2021).…”