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ERIC Number: EJ1127887
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: N/A
Exploring Language Teacher Identity Work as Ethical Self-Formation
Miller, Elizabeth R.; Morgan, Brian; Medina, Adriana L.
Modern Language Journal, v101 suppl 1 p91-105 2017
In this article, we treat language teacher identity as foundational to educational practice and see Foucault's (1983, 1997) notion of ethical self-formation, and its adoption in teacher education research by Clarke (2008, 2009, 2010), as providing a potential vehicle for understanding the development of teacher agency and critical identity work. We use the 4 axes of Foucault's (1983) approach to ethical self-formation, as captured in Clarke's (2009) "Diagram for Doing Identity Work," in exploring a case study of an elementary reading and language arts teacher who worked in a multilingual inclusion classroom with exceptional (i.e., learning disabled) and mainstreamed students. We consider the relevance of how this teacher's identity developed over the course of 7 interviews, spanning 9 years, for teacher identity work in language teacher education (LTE). In doing so, we foreground the critical as well as the dangerous potential of all teachers' identity work and argue for the importance of nurturing teachers' reflective, action-oriented identity practices as well as fostering a self-awareness of language teachers as ethical subjects "acting on others" (Foucault, 1997, p. 262) even as they struggle within power relations that press upon educational practices and discourses.
Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A