From Pre-service To Novice:A Qualitative Study On The Transformation Of English Teachers’ Identities

Owing to the shortage of qualified English teachers and the increasing attrition rate of teachers,more attention should be paid to the improvement of English teachers’ professional development.Professional identities as a core of teachers’ professional development should be attached more importance.As seen from previous literature concerning English teachers’ professional identities,most of them emphasized either the pre-service teachers’ professional identities or the novice teachers’ professional identities,few focused on the transformation period from pre-service stage to novice stage.Therefore,this thesis aims to investigate four EFL(English as a Foreign Language)teachers: Hua,Jing,Xin,and Ting’s professional identities transformation process in three critical stages: before teaching practicum,after teaching practicum,and at the beginning of novice teaching.Based on Theory of Community of Practice and the Framework of Teachers’ Professional Identities,pre-service teachers usually constructed their imagined professional identities in pre-service period,and after they go through authentic classroom teaching,their imagined identities would have some changes under the influence of various factors.Detailed research questions were as follows:1.How do the pre-service English teachers experience identity transformation from the pre-service period to their novice teaching?2.What factors influence identity construction and identity transformation?To solve the two questions above,the study adopted the qualitative method in which unstructured interviews and classroom observation were used to collect the data from 2019 to2020.Three rounds of interviews were conducted.In the data analysis,the researcher used the three-level coding method to analyze the interview data.The findings show that Hua,Jing,Xin,and Ting,the four teachers’ professional identities underwent three stages: defreezing and blood transfusion,change and hematopoiesis,refreezing and blood donation.In the pre-service period,especially before the practicum,pre-service teachers showed their imagined identities such as routine performer,learning source provider,language expert and student-centred teacher.They began to realize the importance and responsibilities of the teaching profession,but because of the limited teaching practice,they hardly had the correct understanding of the teaching profession.Therefore,they must defreeze or deconstruct their old thinking patterns,and try to get some new blood from others.Besides,English learning experiences as well as important others such as parents and teachers’ thoughts of teaching profession influenced pre-service English teachers’ professional identities.After they participated in teaching practicum,pre-service English teachers’ imagined identities were first challenged and their original teaching imagination had conflicted with the teaching practices in practicum school.Their professional identities were outsider,insider,educator expert,actor and assistant.After pre-service teachers began the teaching practicum,they found there was some dissonance between the teaching theories and practical classroom teaching,so they asked for help from their tutors and colleagues.When the four English teachers entered the teaching career and being an in-service teacher,their imagined identities transformed into practiced identities,that is,they reconstructed themselves as service-provider,spiritual guide,market salesman,routine performer,baby-sitter,and follower,which were mainly influenced by the school context and the interpersonal relationship especially the teacher-student relationship.Novice EFL teachers began to emphasize more on their teaching practices and refreeze or reconstruct their teaching beliefs by self-reflection from their teaching practices.Compared with imagined identities,practiced identities were context-based.The study showed some implications that in pre-service period,English student teachers should take good advantage of the opportunity of teaching practicum to sharpen their teaching skills and make preparation for better internalizing pedagogical practices.And in novice period,perseverance and agency should be further emphasized in novice teachers’ professional development so that the direction of the transformation of their professional identities can be more effectively and positively guided.