Indonesian Novice English Teachers’ Identity Formation

Abstract

In the early years of teaching, beginning teachers should make a lot of adjustments while dealing with many expectations from others, which may cause some tensions for them. Under a narrative inquiry framework, the researcher collected reflective stories of five Indonesian beginning teachers of English language and interviewed them to examine common tensions experienced and how they cope with these tensions. The findings revealed 19 kinds of tensions they were facing, ranging from the more common tensions to contextual tensions. Furthermore, four common coping strategies were identified, namely looking for solutions by themselves (negotiating, choosing one stream, and learning more about something), accepting as the situation as it is, receiving help without asking, and sharing with significant others. It is suggested that fellow teachers, school staff, and related authorities give more to help beginning teachers handle the tensions.
 
 Keywords: beginning teachers, coping strategies, identity, tensions

Between Two Worlds: Indonesian Novice Efl Teachers’ Tensions and Needed Supports During Pandemic

“…Table 1 shows the background of the participants -all are given a pseudonym. 2) commonly encountered by novice teachers which were originally taken from the list provided by Pillen et al (2013) and then were further adapted by Cendra (2019). In the present research, however, this list of tensions was then further adapted and adjusted in three ways.…”

“…First, based on the guided reflections blueprint, some tensions that had great similarities were merged. For example, in Cendra's (2019) work, the tensions "university ideologies vs practicality found in the reality" and "one's own lay theories vs other theories seen relevant to teaching profession" were considered as two separate tensions. In the present research, however, the tensions were merged into "using this vs that teaching technique" as the theories used as the basis in the blueprint were similar.…”

“…It could be a very agonizing process for novice teachers, as they are usually young and turbulent, to let go of their own beliefs and incorporate new beliefs (Sydnor, 2017). When left unattended, tensions will cause burnout and affect novice teachers' well-being (Cendra, 2019;Xu, 2013). A study done by Hanušová et al (2019) further supports this as they found that novice teachers are the most vulnerable group to this problem.…”

“…Novice teachers may experience tensions in at least these three aspects: pedagogy-technical decision (Cendra, 2019;Pillen et al, 2013;Sydnor, 2017;Xu, 2013), sense of belonging to the teaching profession (Cendra, 2019;Pillen et al, 2013;Sydnor, 2017), and culture-relationship (Cendra, 2019;Pillen et al, 2013;Xu, 2013). When their views and beliefs in these three aspects clash with the stakeholders' expectations (i.e., peers, students, parents, schools, regulators), oftentimes novice teachers are forced to negotiate and get their ideal view down to reality, creating tensions (Cendra, 2019;Xu, 2013).…”

“…However, they might feel more overwhelmed in this pandemic situation as they are still on their journey of adapting to their work environment, finding their calling and identity and, on top of that, facing their tensions. Studies conducted before the pandemic (e.g., Cendra, 2019;Yayli, 2017) have underlined that novice teachers experience a lot of tensions, such as being a caring vs a strict teacher, following curriculum vs students' progress, and fantasy vs professional reality.…”