The relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem

Abstract

Teacher professional identity is seen as a sense of self that results from various factors such as experience, education, environment, and personal characteristics. The purpose of the present article was to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. The research data were collected with 224 EFL teachers teaching at different language institutes selected based on convenience sampling through two types of questionnaires (a professional identity and a self-esteem questionnaire). The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling software. The results indicated that all five sub-constructs of self-esteem predicted professional identity positively and significantly: Satisfaction, Knowledge, Commitment, Adaptation, and Communication. Implications for further research and teacher education were discussed.

Keywords:

• professional identity
• self-esteem
• satisfaction
• knowledge
• commitment
• adaptation
• communication

Public Interest Statement

Professional identity which is known as ones’ professional self-concept has been paid attention to by many scholars and researchers around the world. Professional identity is expressed in the perceptions of “who I am” and “who I want to become.” The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. Global self-evaluation is known as self-esteem. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed and the results indicated that all five sub-constructs of self-esteem predicted professional identity positively and significantly: Satisfaction, Knowledge, Commitment, Adaptation, and Communication.

1. Introduction

Professional identity is defined as ones’ professional self-concept based on various factors such as experience, belief, values, motivations, and attributes. It is a complex, changing, and personal entity which is an ongoing process and is developed by having interaction with other people. Professional identity is expressed in the perceptions of “who I am” and “who I want to become.” It can be improved and strengthened through the process of professional education and experience. It is both individual and social and is the result of working and living in various institutions and communities. As a working concept, it provides a framework for instructors and teachers to form their opinion of “how to act” and “how to be” in their work place and society (Sachs, 2005). It is an interesting area for researchers which has not been studied completely and in great depth. Some studies have provided some ideas and information in this area and can be useful in understanding professional identity in educational context.

Global self-evaluation is known as self-esteem. It is the extent to which an individual believes the self to be successful and capable (Khezerlou, 2017). Self-esteem refers to the feeling that how valuable we think we are to others. The concept of professional identity has been received attention in studies on teachers and their professional development in the last 25 years. Professional identity has been said to be connected to various individuals and contextual factors (Bressler & Rotter, 2017). According to Rodgers and Scott (2008), it is a dynamic process which is unstable, shifting and dependent upon social, cultural, and contextual factors and is formed in relationship with others. As self-esteem is a vital factor in every part of our lives, and no paper has been found on the relation which can be considered between self-esteem and identity, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between EFL teaches’ professional identity and their self- esteem. To come up with this idea, the following research question is posed:

Q: Is there any significant relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem?

2. Literature review

Teacher identity is a complex entity to be defined and this difficulty comes from the many ways the word identity has been used by educators over time. The term identity was formerly used to refer to the individualized self-image any person has. Later, it was used to refer to the ways an individual self-identifies with various factors such as culture, gender, class, race, religion, and nationality (Olsen, 2012). The word identity is found within different fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, literature, Philosophy, and neurology. Currently, identity is mostly viewed through sociocultural perspective.

Teachers and educators have always been struggling with the questions of “what kind of teacher am I?” and “what kind of teacher do I want to be?” Teacher identity is related to teaching and teacher development. Teaching is a complex procedure which concerns the whole person and is affected by personal and social processes (Olsen, 2012). Teacher identity pays close attention to teachers’ professional development. Teachers’ professional identity is not a fixed property and is a dynamic process which is socially situated and is differentiated from a teachers’ role (Olsen, 2012). This process is affected by the socio-political context and culture in which teachers work and live. This teacher identity process is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. The constitutive domains of the concept of teacher identity

Professional identity has been considered by many educators and researchers. There are numerous researches regarding the role of teachers’ identity some of which were reviewed in the present study. Martin and Strom (2016) worked on an empirical review of the literature on teacher identity and English learners. They examined how teacher identity has been viewed among educators in English dominant teaching context. Their findings suggested that three facets of teacher identity namely characteristics of teacher identity, factors contributing to teacher identity development, and contextual influences on teacher identity have been focused on in literature.

In another study, Nichols, Schutz, Redgers, and Bilika (2017) tried to develop an understanding of the relationship between early teachers’ emotions and emerging professional teachers’ identities. At the end, they came up with a model that reflected the teachers’ involvement in a reflective process of knowing themselves as it related to emotional episodes.

Pennington and Richards (2016) studied the notion of teacher identity and how it can be related to characteristics of language teaching and how it can be developed through experience and teacher education. Van Lankveld, Schoonenboom, Volman, Croiset, and Beishuizen (2017) did a systematic review of the literature and discussed teacher identities of university teachers. Their review showed that various factors contributed to the development of teacher identity. Their findings suggested that developing a teacher identity in the higher education context is not a simple process.

Miller, Morgan, and Medina (2017) explored language teacher identity work as ethical self-formation. They tried to explore how teachers’ identity developed in language teacher education. Richardson and Alsup (2015) studied online instructors’ identities. Their purpose was to understand the experience of first time online instructors and how they develop their online teacher identity and they made some recommendations for teachers.

Arpaci and Bardakci (2016) investigated the relationship between prospective teachers’ early teacher identity and their need for cognition. They found out that as the level of need for cognition increases, the participants’ early teacher identity scores increase. Stenberg, Karlsson, Pitkaniemi, and Maaranen (2014) investigated first-year student teachers’ teacher identities through their practical theories. Their findings revealed that as student teachers start their teacher education, their identity as a teacher promoted. In another study, Hong, Greene, and Lowery (2017) considered multiple dimensions of teacher identity development from pre-service to early years of teaching. Three dimensions of identity construction (multiplicity vs. unity; social vs. individual; discontinuity vs. continuity) were studied. They explored this aspect over time in a longitudinal study.

Nguyen (2017) wrote a paper in which it was reported how a non-native English speaker developed her professional identity as a teacher during a practicum in Australia. Dassa and Derose (2017) regarded the relationship between teachers’ sense of identity and their attrition with in the first five years of career and they believed that this career decision is closely related to teachers’ identity. Bukor (2015) talked about the influence of personal and professional experiences on the development of teacher identity. Holistic perspective was used. The results indicated that teacher identity is rooted in one’s personal biography and family environment had great impact on teacher identity.

In another paper, Akkerman and Meijer (2011) had a dialogical approach to conceptualizing teacher identity. Here, teacher identity was seen as personal and social, continuous and discontinuous, and unitary and multiple. Considering that teacher identity is a central process in becoming a teacher educator, Izadinia (2014) reviewed related literature about teacher educators’ identity. The findings showed that new teacher educators generally had negative self-views about their abilities and professional identities.

However, teacher identity seems to be still unknown and vague to some teachers and scholars and need to be studied more carefully. The relationship between self-esteem and professional identity has never been studied. Therefore, in the present article the researchers tried to investigate the impact of self-esteem as a significant factor on teachers’ identity.

3. Methodology

3.1. Participants

The participants comprised 224 EFL teachers teaching at different language institutes in several cities of Iran. Their selection was based on random sampling. They were 124 females and 100 males whose age varied from 20 to 37 (M = 28.42, SD = 3.21) with 1 to 15 years of teaching experience (M = 8.24, SD = 2.79). The teachers had all majored in the various branches of English such as teaching, literature, and translation at BA or MA or PhD.

3.2. Instruments

In this study, two types of instruments were used. One instrument is professional identity questionnaire and the other is self-esteem questionnaire.

3.2.1. Professional identity questionnaire

Beijaard, Verloop, and Vermunt’s (2000) questionnaire was utilized to assess teacher’s professional identity. This scale includes three sub-scales; teachers in the subject matter field, teachers in the didactical field, and teachers in the pedagogical field. The teachers showed their professional identity by awarding a total of 100 points to the three sub-scales of their identity. The reliability of the Persian adapted version of the questionnaire has been found to be .71.

3.2.2. Self-esteem questionnaire

A reduced version of Aricak (1999) Professional Self-esteem Scale was used. It has 16 items. It assesses the teachers’ self-esteem feelings in five sub-scales of (1) satisfaction, (2) knowledge development, (3) commitment, (4) adaptation, and (5) communication.

The internal consistency reliability of the 16 items was r = .821, representing a very high reliability index for the measure

3.3. Procedure

The data collection of this study took place in September and October 2017. This correlational study collected quantitative data through two questionnaires. The participants (teachers) answered the questionnaires in the presence of the researcher. The questionnaire took about 30–40 min. There was no limitation of time in doing. After a brief explanation of the purpose of the research, the teachers received the questionnaires. Moreover, the process of distribution of questionnaires was done by hand. We explained the purpose of completing the questionnaire and asked them not to write a name on them. They were required to provide demographic information such as, gender and years of experience only. After gathering the data, they were calculated in SPSS software and were analyzed by structural equation modeling of Amos software (SEM). Structural equation modeling is a multivariate statistical analysis technique that is used to analyze structural relationships.

4. Results

Table 1 summarizes the information obtained from Cronbach alpha analyses. As can be seen, the utilized questionnaires gained acceptable indices of Cronbach alpha as a whole as well as in their subscales.

Table 1. Results of Cronbach alpha indices after reliability analysis

Scale	Subscales	Number of items	Cronbach alpha
Professional identity	Subject matter field	4	.80
	Didactical field	6	.73
	Pedagogical field	4	.77
	Total	14	.79
Self-esteem	Satisfaction	3	.91
	Knowledge	2	.87
	Commitment	5	.72
	Adaptation	4	.73
	Communication	2	.77
	Total	16	.78

The alpha coefficient for 14 items of Total Professional Identity (.79), and for 16 items of total self-esteem (.78), suggest that the items have relatively acceptable internal consistency (Note that a reliability coefficient of .70 or higher is considered “acceptable” in most social and psychological science research situations).

Descriptive statistics of different components of professional identity and self-esteem questionnaires, are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of professional identity and self-esteem questionnaires

	N	Min	Max	Mean	SD
Subject matter field	224	4	20	12.22	3.11
Didactical field	224	6	30	17.74	4.15
Pedagogical field	224	4	20	13.59	3.87
Satisfaction	224	5	15	8.81	1.77
Knowledge	224	3	10	6.79	2.35
Commitment	224	7	20	15.10	4.12
Adaptation	224	6	20	13.14	2.88
Communication	224	3	10	8.20	1.99

To examine the research question, the proposed model was tested using the Amos 24.00 statistical package. To check the strengths of the causal relationships among the components, the standardized estimates were examined. As indicated in Figure 2, an estimate is displayed on each path. This standardized estimate is the standardized coefficient or beta coefficients (β) resulting from an analysis carried out on independent variables that have been standardized. It explains the predictive power of the independent variable and the effect size. The closer the magnitude to 1.0, the higher the correlation and the greater the predictive power of the variable is.

Figure 2. The schematic relationships between teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem

A number of fit indices were examined to evaluate the model fit: the chi-square magnitude which shouldn’t be significant, χ²/df ratio which should be lower than 2 or 3, the good fit index (GFI), and the comparative fit index (CFI) with the cut value greater than .90, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of about .06 or .07 (Schreiber, et al., 2006). The results indicated that, the χ²/df ratio (2.95), RMSEA (.063), GFI (.97), and CFI (.91), all the fit indices lie within the acceptable fit thresholds. Hence, it can be concluded that the proposed model had a perfect fit with the empirical data.

Figure 2 represents the schematic relationships between teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. The results demonstrated that all four sub-constructs of self-esteem predict professional identity positively and significantly: Satisfaction (β = .49, p = .000), Knowledge (β = .25, p = .000), Commitment (β = .43, p = .000), Adaptation (β = .38, p = .000), and Communication (β = .35, p = .000).

Moreover, Pearson correlation was conducted to find the possible relationships among components of professional identity and self-esteem questionnaires. Table 3 shows the results of Pearson correlation among components of professional identity and self-esteem. As the results indicated the highest correlation is seen between Pedagogical Field and Satisfaction (r = .81, p = .000) and the lowest correlation is seen between Subject Matter Field and Communication (r = .16, p = .021)

Table 3. Results of Pearson correlation among components of professional identity and self-esteem

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Subject matter field	1.00
2. Didactical field	.74**	1.00
3. Pedagogical field	.79**	.77**	1.00
4. Satisfaction	.69**	.54**	.81**	1.00
5. Knowledge	.70**	.20*	.42**	.79**	1.00
6. Commitment	.49**	.65**	.65**	.77**	.64**	1.00
7. Adaptation	.53**	.33**	.38**	.75**	.62**	.54**	1.00
8. Communication	.16*	.35**	.29**	.65**	.69**	.42**	.40**	1.00

* p-value is significant at the level of .05.

** p-value is significant at the level of .01.

5. Conclusion and discussion

The aim of the present study was to investigate relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem. For this purpose, a question was posited: “Is there any significant relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem?” The research question was addressed by examining the proposed model with SEM and using Pearson correlation coefficient.

By considering the above results, all five sub-constructs of self-esteem predict professional identity positively and significantly: Satisfaction, Knowledge, Commitment, Adaptation, and Communication. Also, as the results indicated the highest correlation is seen between Pedagogical Field and Satisfaction and the lowest correlation is seen between Subject Matter Field and Communication. Accordingly, not paying necessary consideration to EFL teachers’ professional identity in foreign language milieus, in turn, might lead to EFL educators’ ineffectiveness in improving their teaching self-esteem, which is vital for performing well in different situations. Hence, it can be claimed that the knowledge and consciousness of educators’ professional identity is crucial for attaining effective teaching.

The result of this study corroborates the results of Foster (2010), Zivkovic (2016), Fajardo Castaneda (2011), and Canrinus (2011) studies. Foster (2010) in his PhD dissertation found a significant relationship between professional identity and collective self-esteem in school counselors. So, the result of his study confirms the finding of the present study. Furthermore, Day, Kington, Stobart, and Sammons’s (2006) in their study argued that teachers’ professional identities are normally constructed not only from practical and sentimental facets of teaching and teachers’ personal lives, but similarly from relations between personal participation and the social, cultural, and educational situations which are important features that build up teachers’ self-esteem. Also, Settlage, Southerland, Smith, and Ceglie (2009) argued that the educators in their study indicated professional identity of instructor as contributing to a “doubt-free” teaching self.”

As mentioned above, all five sub-constructs of self-esteem are Satisfaction, Knowledge, Commitment, Adaptation, and Communication. Satisfaction refers to positive feelings of teachers to their teaching and job. Canrinus (2011) in his study mentioned satisfaction as one of the indicators of teachers’ sense of professional identity and this sense could be changing and dynamic over time.

Knowledge development refers to teachers’ willing to develop competencies and skills essential in their profession. This is a kind of professional development. The findings of this study are in line with the findings of Zivkovic (2016) study. He examined the relationship between teachers’ professional development and their identity. According to their findings, there are the positive significant relationship between teachers’ professional development and their identity. So, knowledge development as one of the indicators of self-esteem can predict teacher identity. Also, Fajardo Castaneda (2011) in his PhD thesis argued that “a teacher’s identity not only comprises personal knowledge and action, but is also influenced by the ideological, political and cultural interests and circumstances surrounding teachers’ lives and work” (p. iii).

Commitment as the third indicator of self-esteem refers to a feeling of preparing for the work and performing a qualified work. This study also revealed that commitment as the other dimension of self-esteem has a positive relationship with teachers’ identity. This finding confirms the finding of Delima (2015) study. He found a relationship between teachers’ professional commitment and professional identity. Also, Canrinus (2011) in his study mentioned commitment as the other one of the indicators of teachers’ sense of professional identity.

Adaptation as the fourth indicator of self-esteem indicates sense of adapting teachers to job circumstances. This study also revealed that adaptation as the other dimension of self-esteem has a positive relationship with teachers’ identity. Teachers should adapt themselves to new working conditions. And this level of their adaptation to conditions shapes their identity.

Finally, communication as the last indicator of self-esteem refers to teachers’ motive to convey and share their information, knowledge, and experience to with others and based on the results, this indicator positively predicts teacher identity. Obviously, the social skills of the teachers and their ability to communicate and engage effectively with others can influence their professional identity. Also, Ewing (2004) in her study showed that teacher communication has an effect on students’ identity.

The result of this study has some implications. Teachers should be informed of self-esteem as a vital matter, because by developing their self-esteem dimensions their professional identity is being shaped and this identity determine their job performance and job achievement in workplace. Also, a person’s feeling of “occupational or professional identity” is a powerful component of their feeling of individual identity (Skorikov & Vondracek, 2011; Slay & Smith, 2011). According to some scholars a professional identity lets a career to be considered as a conclusive and valuable contributor to the prosperity and growth of a nation. Another implication of the present study could be directed primarily to educators and administrators in EFL teacher and instructor development centers, in order to give more consideration to teachers’ identity (i.e. professional and institutional identities), and their self-esteem and incorporate these constructs into curriculum to equip and provide those pre-service educators with higher teachers’ sense of self-esteem, and also better understanding of institutional and professional identities. Besides, the results of the current study might imply that EFL teachers should try to detect the potential sources of their self-esteem, professional identity and institutional identity and present some practical strategies which are likely to enhance the degree of their understanding of these variables. Furthermore, findings of the present study can help teacher educators and curriculum developers grasp a better picture of EFL teacher characteristics (i.e. institutional and professional identity) and its relationship with educational self-esteem.

This study has some limitations. One of the limitations of this study is that a questionnaire for measuring professional identity and self-esteem was used. Also, another limitation of this study is that only EFL teachers from Iranian context were chosen as population.

In this study, professional identity is defined in the literature by ones’ professional self-concept based on various factors such as experience, belief, values, motivations, and attributes. Future researchers might examine professional identity through a qualitative lens. EFL teachers might be interviewed regarding their perceptions of what constitutes their professional identity. Also, the researcher examined the relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity and their self-esteem among language institute teachers. Further research can examine the role of these two variables in public schools and compare them with the results of the present study. Also, other researches can be implemented to explore the relationship between EFL teachers’ professional identity with other variables such as students’ achievements.

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Khalil Motallebzadeh

Khalil Motallebzadeh is an associate professor at the Islamic Azad University (IAU) of Mashhad and Torbat-e-Heydarieh Branches, Iran. He is a widely published researcher in teacher education, e-learning and teaching methodology. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) in 2007–2008. He is also an accredited master trainer of the British Council since 2008 and is currently Iran representative in Asia TEFL.

Bahman Kazemi

Bahman Kazemi is a PhD candidate in Teaching English in Islamic Azad University, Torbat-e-Hydariyeh branch. He is a university instructor, an EFL teacher, and a researcher. His field of interest includes Teaching, Testing, Computer assistant language learning, Technology, curriculum development, syllabus design, and material development.