A Study of Three Indonesian Teachers’ Identity
Construction in a US Graduate Program
Nugrahenny T ZachariasIndiana University of
Pennsylvania
Research Question(s)
Main Research Questions:How did the three Indonesian teachers negotiate their teacher identities while they participated in a US graduate program?
Sub-research questions: What are the factors affecting the
identity construction of the three Indonesian teachers?
How did the Indonesian teachers identify themselves at the beginning of their stays in the US?
As a result of further education and/or living in the US, did the three Indonesian teachers experience any shifts in their teacher identity?
About Indonesia (cont.)
A multilingual country Population: 240 millions 300 ethnic groups Number of Languages: 670 (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000).
Why Studying NNES Teacher Identities?
Becoming a teacher is “a
continuous process” (Vinz,
1996, p.73).
“Teacher identity as pedagogy”
(Morgan, 2004).
Teacher professional
Identities is a critical
component in language teaching
& classroom practice.
Part of teacher professional
development.
Theoretical Framework
Poststructuralist view identities :
dynamic & situated Multiple & contradictory
To find coherence, an individual needs to negotiate these competing identities.
Participants
3 Indonesian English Teachers
Trilinguals: Indonesian, English, local languages
Fullbright scholars
TOEFL: >550
Not immigrants but temporary sojourners
Methodology
Focus group
Individual Interview: 4 in-depth individual interviews; 1 hrs each:• Interview 1 (Past Narratives): December 2007
• Interview 2 & 3 (Present Narratives): February 2008
• Interview 4 (Future Narratives) : May 2008
Semi-structured
Documents: CVs class assignments (personal narratives & journals)
Data Collection Procedures & Analysis
Transcribe Interviews
Member-checking
Construct a life history for each subject
Identify emerging themes through a thematic analysis Past Narratives:
• Discourses affecting the 3 Indonesian identity construction
Present Narratives:
• Multiple identities subsumed by NNES identities
• The role of critical pedagogies to NNES identities
• Being Indonesian learners in the US classroom
Future Narratives:
• Envisioning teacher identities
Past Narratives:Discourses affecting Indonesian teacher identity construction
Teachers as moral guides.
Excerpt 1
When I was employed as a university lecturer many of my neighbors try to match me with girls. Because you are already teacher [my neighbors think] many girls accept [me as a potential husband]. Then three months later, I met with my wife. I have to acknowledge that I am a teacher at university. She asked like the approval from her parents [to marry me] and they are OK because you know the values of becoming a teacher in terms of social perspective is very high (Ido, 12/20/2007).
Discourses … (2)
Religion
Excerpt 2 In Islam teaching we have three tenets. First, you have to dedicate yourself to your parents. Second, you need to share your knowledge and skills with others in need. For example, if you find people who cannot read then, you have the responsibility to teach them even small things like reading one sentence. Third, you have to help others (Ido, 12/20/07).
Discourses … (3)
Nativespeakerism: NESs as the legitimate speakers of English
Yet,
They did not feel inferior of being NNES teachers.
Learning from subjects’ past narratives
Teacher identity construction is made of the personal & the professional dimensions of teacher lives.
In the present study, the professional identities seemed to ‘dominate’ the personal ones.
Religious identities appeared to be central in the identities construction of the 3 teachers.
Present Narratives:Multiple identities subsumed by
NNES identities
At the beginning of their stays in the US,
the teacher identities of Nesiani & Fatur
became an issue.
Excerpt 3
When I was speaking, they [NES friends] get really impatient. They cannot understand what we are talking about because in terms of pronunciation the way we pronunciation words sometimes is not understandable. Sometimes I have problem with that and I got frustrated and they say ‘What?’ ‘What is it?’ [and then I responded] ‘Sorry pardon [of my English]’ [I wonder] Is it because of my tongue or is it because of their ears?! (Nesiani, 2/25/08)
Present Narratives (2)
Ido’s narrative: deflecting the less-abled NNES identities.
Excerpt 4
When I attended [a course] ‘Introduction toTESOL’ taught by Dr. T, one of my American classmates like feel proud [what he meant was bragging] ‘Hey Ido I got A.’ [He is a] native speaker. [He asked] ‘How about you?’ ‘A plus’ [Ido answered] ‘How did you get more than I?’ [he asked] [Ido wondered] Who do you think you are? and I walked away (Ido, 5/6/08).
Present Narratives (3):The role of critical
pedagogies
From an NNES to a multilingual.Excerpt 5
Back then I did not consider English my language. I consider it as a foreign language. I speak others’ language. I remember one article that I read about bilingual. Then I realized I was a bilingual or multilingual. I knew when I was here [in the US]. I never knew I was multilingual and then all of these languages are mine. All of these languages are mine. So it’s really changes when I am here. It’s more like I become more aware of who I am (Fatur, 5/5/08).
Present Narratives (4)
Nesiani: grew to be more tolerant of her pronunciation.
Excerpt 6
The most important thing for me is they [NESs] can understand what I am talking about. Accent actually doesn’t really matter for me. I mean nonnative speaker will always have accent. They cannot leave their accent so I don’t feel really intimidated as well (5/6/08).
Present Narratives (5):Indonesian Learners in a US
classroom
Fatur: always an active learner Ido: classroom participation pattern
was mediated by the presence of NES peers.
Excerpt 7
When I attended that class taught by Dr. DS, [In the
classroom, there were] all Americans. But I was
challenged to participate in the class because I need to
show even I am not a native speaker I could
participate in the class. Many native speakers look us
[NNESs] down. [I think NES peers thought] it is
because he is not native speaker so he couldn’t
participate in the class. That judgement is wrong
(2/1/08).
Present Narratives (6)
Nesiani: At the beginning: struggled to negotiate her learner identities
Overtime: chose to be a silent learner
Excerpt 8
I believe that being silent doesn’t mean you don’t
know anything. You silent because silent is golden. I
mean it’s cool. You silent [but] actually you know
everything. [You only speak] when your professor ask
you to say something and then you just say and you
say the right thing. I enjoyed that moment. I mean
rather than keep on talking for no reason. Talking
nonsense and we don’t know what we are talking
about. It’s like we are not ready to talk but we have
that desire to talk (5/6/08).
Learning from the 3 subjects Present Narratives
Teacher identities are
multidimensional.
Teacher identities can shift. In the
present study, the shift was mostly
mediated by the critical pedagogies
employed in the graduate courses &
NES peers
The view of identities as some kind of
core selves (Nesiani’s narrative).
Future Narratives (1):Teacher identities as agents
of change
Fatur: Use materials from local contexts. Raise students’ awareness of World
Englishes. Nesiani:
Create independent & critical learners.
Ido: Become an exploratory and
reflective teacher.
Future Narratives (2):
Concerns
Fatur: expressed concerns of going
home as a Western-trained English
teacher.Excerpt 9
I bring something new and they [the senior
teachers at his department] will hate me. They
might think ‘Common because you have master
degree and you have a higher degree than me and
then you wanna challenge us? How many years
have you been working? Are you senior
enough?’ That’s the question [what he meant was
thoughts] they have In their minds, I’m just a kid.
That’s why I am not excited about teaching
(2/7/08).
Conclusion
The teacher identities of the three subjects
support the poststructuralist view of
identities.
Teacher identities are situated.
Teacher identities are dynamic and can
shift:
Critical pedagogies
NES peers in the program
However, learning from Nesiani’s narrative:
The belief of cultural identity as a core
self.
Implications for Teacher Education
Programs
TESOL programs as a site of identity
construction (Pavlenko, 2003) & reflection:
Using personal (multilingual) narratives as
pedagogical texts to introduce the concepts
of identities in the classroom.
“Teacher identities as pedagogies”
(Morgan, 2004).
Introducing/integrating issues of critical
pedagogies in the second language
classrooms.
Implications for Home Universities
The need for home university to provide “effective mechanism” (Wenger, 1998) to ease teacher-returnees’ re-entry into the university.
For example: providing a space for teacher
returnees to share their experiences and identity struggles while studying abroad.
Providing continued supports forteacher returnees as they reintegrate their participation and identities back into the universities.
Questions for Discussion
If any, what do you take away from the presentation?
How do you address issues of identities in your classroom?
In your teaching, do you often share your ‘stories to live-by’ (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999)? What’s your purpose in sharing the story?