Exploring professional identity development of foreign language student-teachers in PROMETE as a community of practice

Abstract

This longitudinal case study sought to identify the professional identity development of foreign
language student-teachers embedded within the practicum component of an initial teacher
education programme known as PROMETE (Programme for the Betterment de Enseñanza de
Inglés) a presumed Community of Practice (CoP) in a central-western state in Mexico. It uses the
reflective practice carried out by these student-teachers during their practicum as a research tool.
Informed by research trends in teacher education, this investigation analyses the professional
identity development of student-teachers embedded within a unique community of practice, as
defined by Wenger (1998, 2010), where they were carrying out their practice at the primary
school level. Moreover, the study sought to link this professional identity development to the
practice, meaning making, and community as defined by communities of practice.
This research is an interpretive longitudinal case study, which utilized the previously written
reflective tools produced by a group of student-teachers embedded within PROMETE as CoP, in
which the researcher was their tutor at the time of their practicum. These reflections were
produced for the purpose of their teaching practice class and not as a research tool. They were
subsequently requested by the researcher at the end of the practicum for analysis of their
professional identity development (see 5.6 ethical considerations). The data analysis was done
through coding as an independent analytical strategy using N-vivo 11.
Qualitative data analysis revealed the way professional identity of student-teachers develops
during their involvement within PROMETE as a Community of Practice. This professional identity
development was analysed through the practice, meaning making, and community components
as defined by Wenger in Communities of Practice. It was noticed that this professional identity
moved from being merely BA students, before their practicum started, to becoming studentteachers
at the beginning of their practicum where they perceived their role within PROMETE
through a very practical view. This original view of their identity is also influenced by their own
humanity in terms of the feelings and emotions their incipient practice arouses in them.
As time went on, this professional identity development showed not to be linear, nor the same for
all participants. Student-teachers within PROMETE became active participants within the
community showing an identity which was practical in nature. At this time, they started
attempting different practical initiatives to find solutions to their classroom problems. A number
of tensions related to their professional identity development were also identified, being the most
notable the one created by acting as teachers and not as students. This tension was created when
they started to become worried about their young learners within PROMETE and not only about
being able to pass the teaching practice class. This tension naturally led to the one which caused
them to care for their students, but they also needed to be tough to deal with the difficulties they
encountered while teaching. This stemmed from the fact that they were facing many discipline
issues in their classroom.
There were two more tensions clearly identified; the first one relates to their original vision about
teaching English to young learners and the reality they were experiencing. The second one relates
to their lack of ability to maintain an emotional distance between themselves, the young learners,
and the different issues within the classroom the former encountered. It is important to note that
at the end of their involvement within PROMETE CoP, some of these tensions were resolved. That
is, at the end of the second cycle of PROMETE, they viewed themselves as teachers and not as
student-teachers; and certainly not as mere BA students. They were able to find a balance
between wanting to care for their young learners and their need to have an effective classroom
management. As a result of having a better understanding of their students; they were able to set
limits and resolve some of the discipline issues in their classroom, they were able to show concern
for the learning of their students, and they became aware that some students lack the necessary
motivation to learn English.
In relation to PROMETE as a Community of Practice, information about the role played by the
different actors within the community was found: their teaching partner, the tutors within
teaching practice, the young learners in their classes, the main teachers of their students within
the primary school, and other teachers within FLEX. The different trajectories within PROMETE
CoP were identified and how they transitioned from one onto the other.
All the previous led me to have a better understanding of the professional identity development
of the student-teachers in the PROMETE community. Hence, the way that the PROMETE
framework was aided by the different elements proposed by Wenger’s (1998) model of
communities of practice in the construction of the student-teachers professional identity.
Furthermore, the results of this study will not only inform other researchers working in identity
development of pre-service teachers, but it will also provide evidence to other teacher educators
to justify the fostering of communities of practice as a learning framework for their practicum.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Laura Dominguez: orcid.org/0000-0003-2701-2469

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