The perceptions of pre-service EFL teachers on their professional identity formation throughout practice teaching

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2016

Öğrenci: HANİFE TAŞDEMİR

Danışman: GÖLGE SEFEROĞLU

Özet:

This qualitative case study aims at exploring the pre-service EFL teachers’ opinions on the essentials of teacher professional identity, their own professional identity development throughout practice teaching, and the effects of practice teaching and reflection on their understanding of their professional identity. Thirty-one pre-service EFL teachers, enrolled to the second course of the practicum component FLE 404 Practice Teaching, participated in the study. Data were gathered through pre-practice teaching and post-practice teaching focus-group interviews and article reflective response journals. The findings revealed that teacher professional identity encompasses teachers as subject-matter experts, didactical experts, and pedagogical experts according to the participant pre-service EFL teachers. The findings also suggested that there was a transition from cue-based and exemplar-based identities to rule-based and schema-based identities of pre-service EFL teachers during practice teaching. Practice teaching was perceived as a process of professional growth characterized by observations of real classroom practices and reflection was found helpful for an in-depth understanding of the participants’ professional identities. In this regard, pre-service EFL teachers can be encouraged to reflect critically on their professional identities more frequently; practice teaching and reflective practice could be tailored accordingly.