Professional Identity and Pedagogical Space: Negotiating difference in teacher workplaces

Abstract

This paper explores 'spatial struggle' in the formation of professional identities of overseas born teachers. The basis of this struggle arises from a limited number of subject positions available for them in pedagogical spaces of the Australian system of education. We argue that relations of power/professional knowledge in teacher workplaces as well as the binary strategy of 'us' and 'them' generate marginal locations for overseas born teachers within schools. This construction of marginality is informed not only by discourses of what counts as being a professional but also by the conception of workplace-spaces of the school, staffroom and classroom-as monocultural, pre-given and bounded entities (McGregor, 2003). By rethinking workplaces as relational, as spaces that are connected to other sociocultural places as well as spaces of semiotic flows, we can also rethink the professional becoming of overseas born teachers. This involves a critical understanding of their positionality, which can be conceptualised as a struggle for voice within "a cacophony of past and present voices, lived experiences and available practices" (Britzman, 1991, p. 8). It is because of this polyphony of voices and multiplicity of experiences that the process of professional identity formation for 'alien' teachers should be seen as becoming in continual negotiation of power/knowledge relations within workplaces. Recognising this dynamic is important for reconstructing our pedagogical spaces and, in turn, for a more equitable workplace practices.

‘At least I'm the type of teacher I want to be’: Second-career English language teachers' identity formation in Hong Kong secondary schools

“…Within this spatial territory participants made claims to particular 'identity territories', such as 'out-of-the-box' teacher, which were distinct from other teacher identities available within their schools and which allowed them to claim ownership of the meanings that mattered to them (Wenger, 1998). This points to the importance of individual agency in teacher identity formation and suggests that these participants were not simply socialized into the practices of their local school community (Kostogriz & Peeler, 2007). Rather, these teachers, aided by organizational values and practices that did not value skills and competencies from the identity trajectories they brought to teaching, established 'identity territories' that drew upon first-career identities skills and competencies, and provided a sense of legitimacy for themselves as English language teachers.…”

The Tensions Between EFL Teacher Identities and INSET in the Turkish Context

“…Considering the fact that the existing centralized system being responsible for the administration of inset falls short of providing training courses regarding the specific local needs of teachers (Kırkgöz, 2009), there is an urgent need to establish professional learning communities instead of giving one-off or distance inset to teachers because that kind of training cannot be as successful as the ones given in situ. Therefore, the focus should be on developing teacher identities (Thomas & Beauchamp, 2011) because teachers can be active members of and contribute to "communities of practice" owing to their attributes such as critical reflection, selfawareness, collaboration with stakeholders, and their aspirations to further professional development (Flores & Day, 2006;Kostogriz & Peeler, 2007). Establishing an effective rapport without the support of school managers, mentors, experienced teachers (Akcan, 2016;Langdon, Alexander, Ryde, & Baggetta, 2014;Norton & Toohey, 2011), and higher education institutions or universities (Akcan, 2016;Flores & Day, 2006) may not be the reality for many countries.…”

A conversation of teachers: In search of professional identity

“…This implies that teacher identity emanates from multiple lived experiences and sociocultural histories that converge. Forging identity is in the becoming in the interaction between tradition of the workplace and the flows of meanings, values, and discourses (Kostogriz & Peeler, 2004). Furthermore, we understand the concept of identity to be formed and characterised by a number of aspects such as cultural, political, societal, economic, racial, ethnic and religious features (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004).…”