Construction of professional identities by English language teachers in Thailand through professional development initiatives

Construction of professional identities by English language teachers in Thailand through professional development initiatives

The development of English language teachers’ professional identities is an integral part of their professional development learning during their career, but as non-linear complex systems they have significant implications for teachers’ ongoing learning and practice during their career. Nevertheless, research on what kinds of professional development English language teachers prefer and how such experiences impact their practice and develop their identities is lacking. Using complexity theory as the theoretical framework, this present study aimed to explore what preferences English language teachers have for teacher professional development (TPD) initiatives and how TPD activities help English language teachers construct their teacher professional identities (TPIs). As a case study, in which a sample of secondary school teachers of English from Khon Kaen province in Thailand (N = 210) were the participants; an online survey and semi-structured interviews were the instruments of data collection. Descriptive and parametric statistics were undertaken to analyse the quantitative data. Qualitative data were analysed through a process of thematic analysis. The teacher participants reported their TPD preferences which were categorised into two groups: sponsored and independent TPD. Their TPD preferences revealed the complexity of TPD which involved teachers’ professional needs, school contexts, and socio-political and socio-educational contexts. Furthermore, the teachers reported the impacts of their TPD experiences on their TPIs. They were the positive contribution to TPI development and the least impact on TPI development. The findings revealed the complexity of the TPI developmental process which dealt with teachers’ experiences, including TPD experiences, school contexts, and socio-political contexts. While the TPD experiences were found to either positively or negatively impacted the teachers’ TPIs depending on the alignment of teachers’ needs, school contexts, and the goals of the Ministry of Education, their TPI indicators, which were self-perception, self-efficacy, motivation, commitment, job satisfaction, and additionally future perspective and teacher agency emerging in the present research, have been interconnected and influenced each other. These findings provide strategic advice for both EFL policy and practice reform and are of specific help in designing and delivering improved TPD initiatives that are more conducive to shaping TPIs to which such teachers of English aspire.

File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author.