"You've got the color, but you dont't have the shades" : primary education CLIL teachers' identity negotiation within the Finnish context
This dissertation explores how professional identity is experienced by teachers in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) instruction. In particular, it addresses
professional identity in relation to two immediate contexts of teacher activity, i.e. that of
the classroom and that of the collegial community. In addition to exploring how these
two sides of the professional self give rise to a broader understanding of professional
identity, this dissertation also explores aspects of professional agency and the negotiation of emotions in their work. The dissertation is founded on fourteen interviews with
Finnish kindergarten and primary education teachers doing CLIL. The data were thematically analyzed in relation to exercising teacher agency and negotiating teacher identity at work.
The dissertation first suggests that when CLIL teachers feel agentic at work, they
feel they can work in accordance with how they perceive their professional identity and
have strengthened motivation behind their actions in continuing CLIL. However, despite the overall positive attitude the participants had toward CLIL, constraints did exist
in their day-to-day practice. In addition to managing present resources and constraints,
agency is linked to teachers’ negotiation of their professional self as educational professionals and colleagues. This dissertation further suggests that individual and social elements in identity negotiation are interconnected under examination of smaller time
frames and that the teacher is the result of both. While not aiming at arguing for the
supremacy of individual over social aspects or vice versa, this dissertation does support
the central role of the individual in identity negotiation, as it agentically interprets sociocultural aspects in lived contexts and selectively responds to the various social affordances in the professional environment. Nonetheless, it is in such social contexts that
spaces can be created, in order to facilitate identity negotiation, professional initiative
and transformation of community practices. In relation to emotions, this dissertation argues that the process of (re)defining and shaping one’s professional identity is an emotional one. Holding potential for individual as well as professional learning, they become
part of professional trajectories and a resource for CLIL teachers. The dissertation concludes with practical and theoretical implications for CLIL teachers’ professional identity, agency and emotions.
...
Alternative title
Primary education CLIL teachers' identity negotiation within the Finnish contextPublisher
University of JyväskyläISBN
978-951-39-7466-4ISSN Search the Publication Forum
0075-4625Keywords
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) professional identity identity negotiation professional agency teachers' emotions Thematic Analysis Finnish primary education subject-centered socio-cultural approach alakoulu luokanopettajat lastentarhanopettajat ammatti-identiteetti toimijuus vieraskielinen opetus tunteet työyhteisöt
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