Pedagogical Coaching as Identity Work: Cultivating and Negotiating ESL Teacher Narrative Identities

ABSTRACT

Language teacher learning and professional identity can be understood as intertwined. Radical changes in practice entail changes in how teachers understand themselves. Thus, narratives of identity should be considered a significant concern of professional learning. Employing a narrative conception of identity, we argue that narrative identity work is a valuable channel for mediating and supporting teacher growth. We highlight how pedagogical coaching, a dialogic and longitudinal form of professional learning, can create a space for narrative identity work. Using a theoretical lens of narrative identity, we explore one pedagogical coach’s collaboration with two elementary ESL specialists over one school year. We consider how the coach employed identity work tactics to support teacher growth. In so doing, we posit two novel identity tactics: reflective articulation and narrative bricolage. This work highlights the potential of teacher narrative identity work in professional learning for ESL specialists particularly, and general education teachers broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher identity
• identity work
• ESL
• professional learning
• instructional coaching

Disclosure statement

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

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. This is not to discount obviously non-discursive ways of establishing identity, such as behaviours or apparel. Here, we emphasize the discursive aspects of identity.

2. Kreiner and Sheep (2009) refer to this as spiritual identity, a term appropriate for their work with clergy but less fitting for broader, potentially secular contexts. “Developing purpose” represents the authors’ description of the term.

Additional information

Funding

We received funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, National Professional Development Grant [T365Z170226].

Notes on contributors

Brandon J. Sherman

Brandon J. Sherman works with the development and practical application of educational theory and philosophy in the realms of teacher professional learning, language teaching and learning, and culture, diversity, and equity in schooling. He also works on innovation in research methodology, including exploration of transdisciplinarity. He is co-principal investigator on Project CELEBRATE, a U.S. Department of Education National Professional Development grant funded project supporting teacher professional learning benefiting multilingual learners.

Annela Teemant

Annela Teemant studies quality teacher preparation for PK-12 teachers of multilingual learners. Under this umbrella, she leads innovative program development, teacher certification, school change leadership, family engagement, and pedagogical coaching. Critical sociocultural perspectives inform her quantitative and mixed methods research. She has been awarded seven U.S. Department of Education grants ($14 million) to advance teacher and school quality for multilingual learners.