‘This game is not easy to play’: a narrative inquiry into a novice EFL teacher educator’s research and publishing experiences

Yuan, Rui Eric 袁睿

doi:10.1080/19415257.2016.1182936

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…While EFL academics’ professional identity construction is permeated with numerous changes and identity conflicts, such changes and conflicts can also present opportunities for them to exercise self-agency, allowing them to reshape their professional identities and advance their sustainable career development. Consistent with the findings of previous studies [ 24 – 26 ], this study revealed that agency played an important role in EFL academics’ actions in bridging their identity deficit. In Kevin’s case, he experienced conflict between his ought identity (an EFL teacher with research capacity) and his actual identity (an EFL teacher with limited research knowledge and skills) in the early stage and conflict between his actual identity (an EFL teacher with administrative positions) and his ideal identity (an EFL teacher-researcher) in the mid-stage.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Prior research has also emphasized the importance of agency in assisting EFL teachers in reconstructing their professional identities in changing higher education contexts. For example, in Yuan’s [ 24 ] study on the research journey of an EFL teacher, the participant constantly exerted agency to negotiate his professional identities with various contextual factors, such as institutional research policy, eventually becoming a novice researcher in the “publish-or-perish” academic culture. Through a longitudinal case study of an English language teacher in Hong Kong, Huang [ 25 ] discovered that while personal and social-institutional factors all exerted influence on the participant’s becoming and being an English teacher, teacher agency played a critical role in constructing her professional identity and facilitating her professional development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developing sustainable career paths as teacher-researchers in a changing academic landscape: A tale of two EFL teachers in China

Zhang

2023

PLoS ONE

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Purpose The study aimed to investigate how two English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers integrated their teacher and researcher identities to achieve sustainable professional growth in the context of a changing academic landscape. Methods Using purposive sampling, two EFL teachers from a non-elite public university in China were selected as participants for this qualitative study. Data were collected and triangulated from multiple sources, including semi-structured interviews, narrative frames, document analysis, and the academic profiles of the participants. A qualitative, inductive thematic approach was employed in the data analysis. Adopting “identity” as an analytical lens, this study examined how the two participants underwent different identity trajectories to develop into teacher-researchers under the influence of their personal values and beliefs, as well as contextual factors such as institutional research policy. Findings Throughout their identity construction process, the two participants encountered identity deficits and tensions between multiple professional roles, leading to their struggles with identity and complex identity (re)construction. While the participants underwent interactions between various forms of identity throughout their careers, they enacted agency to take actions and draw on available resources to address their identity deficits and conflicts, ultimately resolving them by pursuing a sustainable career path as teacher-researchers in their situated socio-institutional environment. Conclusion Despite their different identity trajectories, the construction of the participants’ teacher-researcher identity facilitated their continuing professional development. This study contributes to our understanding of the complexities of EFL teachers’ identity (re)construction when seeking to establish sustainable career paths in a changing academic context. This study also has implications for both EFL academics and university management on how to assist EFL teachers in integrating teacher and researcher identities to achieve sustainable professional development in higher education.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing sustainable career paths as teacher-researchers in a changing academic landscape: A tale of two EFL teachers in China

Zhang

2023

PLoS ONE

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“…A qualitative case study is an intensive, holistic description, and analysis of a single entity, phenomenon, or social unit; it is "particularistic, descriptive, and heuristic" and relies heavily on inductive reasoning when handling multiple data sources (Merriam 1998, p. 16). According to Yin (2003), a case study investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. In this study, we aimed to attain a holistic understanding of university foreign language teachers' funding application experiences through the collection of multiple sources of information or perspectives on observations and an in-depth analysis of the data; thus, a qualitative case study (Huberman and Miles 2002) was used to facilitate in-depth examination of the participants' agency enactment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Making it possible’: the complex dynamics of university foreign language teacher agency for research in funding applications

Ruan,

Zhu,

Toom

2024

Humanit Soc Sci Commun

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Teacher agency for research, which refers to teachers’ decision-making and initiative acts in the context of academic engagement, plays a pivotal role for teacher learning, teacher research, and thus teachers’ professional development. Despite the burgeoning number of studies that have examined teachers’ research and publishing experiences, it is unclear how university teachers exercise their agency for research in funding applications. This study examines how foreign language teachers at a university in China practice agency in the application of the National Social Science Fund of China from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory perspective. Narrative frames and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data, and thematic analysis was adopted to elucidate the complexity and dynamics of teacher agency for research. Revealing that there are subsystems of teacher agency for research in funding applications, i.e., agency beliefs, agency practice, and agency emotions and that the developmental trajectories of their agency for research are situated and relational, the findings highlight the need to view teacher agency as complex systems and dynamic entities. This study not only offers a conceptual framework as to unravel teacher agency for research in funding applications but also provides a tentative pathway for teachers exercising agency in applying for external funding both in the context of China and beyond.

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“…EFL academics do not construct their professional identities in a vacuum. Their identity formation and development are subject to not only individual factors (e.g., personal beliefs and values) but also a range of contextual factors (e.g., national policy and institutional culture) in their broad socio-institutional contexts (Yuan, 2017). Adopting this theoretical model allows researchers to present an organic account of the interrelation and interaction among the ecosystems within a context, including the micro, meso, and macro levels in the system.…”

Section: Literature Review Conceptualizing Ecological Systems Model I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese EFL Academics’ Experiences of Aligning Researcher Identity (Re)-Construction with University Policy Practices of a National Research Policy

Lu,

Yoon

2024

TESL-EJ

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While the past two decades have witnessed a surge of studies on the researcher identity of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) academics, research on how the intertwined connections between EFL academics and the larger ecological system within an institution affect their researcher identity construction remains relatively scarce. Utilizing a three-tier system framework, this study seeks to address this gap by exploring how EFL academics (micro level) in China navigate the complexities of aligning their researcher identity (re)construction with institutional practices (meso level) of a national policy (macro level). Adopting a case study design, this study collected and triangulated data from three sources: semi-structured interviews, narrative frames, and document analysis. Data analysis revealed that there were (mis)alignments between EFL academics’ research expectations of national research policy and interpretations of research policy at the institutional level, and participants adopted different responses in re-adjusting their research practices to align with research policy. The study implies the need for university administrators to take into account academics’ disciplinary features, research values, and needs when implementing institutional research policies. Such an orientation provides more opportunities and resources to shape, rather than break, the researcher identities of EFL academics and ultimately facilitate the sustainable development of higher education.

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‘This game is not easy to play’: a narrative inquiry into a novice EFL teacher educator’s research and publishing experiences

Cited by 33 publications

References 30 publications

Developing sustainable career paths as teacher-researchers in a changing academic landscape: A tale of two EFL teachers in China

Developing sustainable career paths as teacher-researchers in a changing academic landscape: A tale of two EFL teachers in China

‘Making it possible’: the complex dynamics of university foreign language teacher agency for research in funding applications

Chinese EFL Academics’ Experiences of Aligning Researcher Identity (Re)-Construction with University Policy Practices of a National Research Policy

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