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?