Teacher Well-Being in English Language Teaching

The purpose of this interview‐based study was to explore the experiences of two university teachers who fled war‐torn Ukraine and currently reside in Poland. We collected the data through two individual interviews to illustrate the dynamism and complexity of the participants' language teacher identities (LTIs) and emotion labor when striving for inner and interpersonal peace, using positioning theory as a theoretical framework. Findings show that in response to the forced migration, the participants continuously strived for inner and interpersonal peace, which is an indispensable element of their language teaching practices. The participants' longing for inner and interpersonal peace needs to be understood as a dimension, reflecting the multilayered, complex nature between peace and tensions. Further, data reflected that participants' longing for inner peace directly shapes their emotion labor and language teacher identities. The manuscript ends with a discussion of the findings by referring to the concept of well‐being in language learning and teaching.

Section: Discussion and Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Peace, emotion labor, and language teacher identity in times of war: The stories of two Ukrainian English university teachers

Kałdonek-Crnjaković

Czopek

2023

Strength in storytelling: Peacebuilding via wordless books

Martinez-Alba

Herrera

2023

Peace and restoration (henceforth, peacebuilding) have become buzzwords as we continue to wrestle with global problems. In this article, the authors focus on storytelling as a form of peacebuilding using wordless books (or picture books without words), with a focus on how peacebuilding may be conceptualized and woven into the fabric of the English language teaching field. Wordless books have been used for decades to help people develop meaning from pictures, comprehend story structures, improve engagement and motivation, support language learning, and develop storytelling skills (Cruzado‐Guerrero & Martínez‐Alba, 2022). As such, wordless books become part of an open invitation to engage in storytelling. Through this article, peacebuilding via storytelling using wordless books is explained as a social–emotional learning (SEL) classroom practice. Supported by the available literature focusing on storytelling and peacebuilding, the authors share a lesson design providing a clear way to develop capacity for peacebuilding skills using wordless books.

Peace and well‐being with storytelling in TESOL: Exploring peacebuilding through voices of English language learners in Pakistan

Haidar¹,

Farrukh²

2023

Storytelling was initiated, as a part of this study, in a Pakistani university's undergraduate English class, involving reflective discussions and journal writing, to create a safe space where students can raise their voices. In a collectivist society, like Pakistan, society's norms are preferred over individual agencies (Bittles & Small, 2016), which instills a “collectivist obligation” amongst the youth to follow society's ways (Watkins & Biggs, 2001, p. 282) and, ultimately, distancing critical thinking (Feyyaz, 2016) and muting disparate voices (Zaidi et al., 2016). Moreover, Pakistan, being a developing country, faces multiple social and political issues (Droogan, 2018; Saeed et al., 2014) adding further pressure on these young minds. With technology, media, and education, the country's youth, especially majors in English, have started comparing their norms with modern values (Zubair, 2006) resulting in adjustment issues (Haidar, 2021a) which require attention and ventilation. In this study, the classroom was developed as a venting space for students whereby storytelling helped students in confronting conflicts, deliberating causes and navigating solutions. Data from journaling, discussions, and students' interviews revealed these practices were helpful in attaining mental peace, developing tolerance and building stronger human connections.