The lifelong journey to become a language teacher: exploring the professional identity of modern language teachers in England

This seminar aims to provide an overview on the multidimensionality of modern language teachers’ professional identity; their sense of agency in constructing their professional lives and in responding to and acting upon the transnational, fragmented, social and pedagogical landscapes they navigate. It also aims to provide stimulus to reflect on practice and to share knowledge and expertise.

The value of identity research has been acknowledged not only in the process of language teacher-learning and development (e.g. Norton, 2017; Pennington and Richards, 2016), but also increasingly in the retention of teachers in the profession (Morrison, 2013). This is particularly pertinent at a time when the national picture of language learning in England is less than encouraging with a continuing trend of declining levels of participation, partly as a reaction to Brexit (Tinsley, 2019). Research into language teacher identity often refers to individuals’ self-position as teachers, their affiliations to different aspects of their work and their attachments to communities of practice. To these, it is important to add the role of personal agency in shaping teachers’ lives and in making decisions about their own professional learning.