Covidentity: examining transitions in teacher identity construction from personal to online classes

ABSTRACT

Despite the substantial growth of research on teacher identity construction in real-life contexts, little is known about teachers’ online identities, especially their identity shift from real-life to virtual contexts. The present study aimed to address this gap by examining transitions in six teachers’ identity construction from personal to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, self-reported practices, and group discussions. Data analyses indicated that the teachers’ identity transition was marked by six components: Subject-related instructional variation; tensions such as low agency, greater responsibility, and low professional preparation; emotional labour; conceptual change in becoming technophile teachers; (in)congruities in identity extension; and enhanced reflectivity. The study concludes with implications for teachers and policy-makers in developing various stakeholders’ awareness of technology adoption to facilitate the transition towards online instruction.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher identity construction
• online teaching
• identity shift
• COVID-19

Acknowledgement

We would like to cordially thank the teachers for participating in this study. We would also wish to thank the editors and reviewers of European Journal of Teacher Education for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper.

Declaration Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Although these scholars do not necessarily comply in their understanding of GT, especially Charmaz’s recent understanding, the adoption of their ideas does not represent their relative incongruity in this study as their ideas have been employed integratively.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any funds from any special sectors.