An inquiry into the professional identity formation of early career English language teachers in rural settings of the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo

Abstract

Research on professional identity of teachers began to be considered as important in the nineties. Through research in this area, educational researchers and educators saw an opportunity to help them understand a number of occurrences and behaviours inside the classroom, schools and within the broader community of schools. Identity was not only considered as a great concern to educators but also to educational leaders and decision makers. The reason that identity research became so crucial in education was because of the way in which the nature of schools was changing. Educational researchers saw the need to understand how teachers were able to adjust and cope with the changes occurring and how they impacted on the teacher’s sense of self. A growing realisation that, language is at the centre of all learning activities has recently led to a continued growth in research within the terrain where English is a medium of instruction. This study contributes knowledge in the field of professional identity formation among rural teachers of English second language (ESL) or appropriately referred to as English First Additional Language (EFAL) in the South African schooling setting. It is believed that when a person tells a story, they always include a selection of remarkable experiences hence I have used a narrative research design because it has potential to bring authenticity, ownership and accuracy of the story, since the researcher has to make sure that the data provided is legitimate. This design seems to be more appropriate, looking at the fact that the study collects data through interviews. The participants were able to narrate their individual stories and experiences. The participants in this study are four EFAL located in rural high schools of Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces. In terms of teaching experience, they all have a minimum less than one year and maximum of three years. The teachers in this study are appropriately referred to as Early Career Teachers (ECTs). For gender balances, the focus was on four females as well as four males but unfortunately there were five females and three males who each have previously studied at various universities in South Africa. Grounded theory was used to analyse the data collected because, according to Suddaby (2006), this theory contributes insights into self and how people interpret different phenomena.

This study brings forth an understanding of how ECTs of EFAL form their professional identities in their field of work. To the research community, this study will help fill the gaps that where left out by other studies conducted before that may be similar to this one. It will give more clarity on the kind of identity portrayed by ECTs of EFAL in schools and the sort of environmental influences that impact on the formation of professional identity of English First Additional Language teachers in rural settings. It seems that, when EFAL teachers engage themselves in reflection they get to know themselves best as professionals as this impacts greatly in an EFAL classroom. This is in response to the narratives given by the participants that their reflections changed the attitudes of their learners. This could mean that the change in learners’ attitude serves as a huge factor in the PI formation of EFAL teachers. Therefore, I have discovered that the influence of the learner in helping EFAL teachers form their PIs allows the teachers to portray the following identities: personal, social and role identities (as explained in chapter 2). I have also found that story telling is very much useful when one aims at learning another person’s life.