Language Teacher Educator Identity

The author examines who language teacher educators are in the field of language teaching and learning. This includes a description of the different types of language teacher educators working in a range of professional and institutional contexts, an analysis of the reflections of a group of experienced English teacher educators working in Colombia and enrolled in a doctoral program to continue their professional development, and an exposition of the work that language teacher educators do, particularly in the domains of pedagogy, research, and service and leadership (institutional and community). All of this is done with the aim of understanding the identities that language teacher educators negotiate and are ascribed in their working contexts. The author emphasizes the need for research to pay attention to the lives and work of language teacher educators, and offers forty research questions as an indication of possible future research directions. Cover 1 Title page 3 Copyright page 4 Language Teacher Educator Identity 5 Contents 6 1 Who Are Language Teacher Educators? 7 1.1 The Aim and Organization of This Element 10 1.2 Who Are Language Teacher Educators? 13 1.3 Definitions of Language Teacher Educators 20 2 Teacher Educators Reflecting on Their Identity 22 2.1 Background to the Study 24 2.1.1 Ana 25 2.1.2 Juan 27 2.1.3 Eduardo 28 2.1.4 Alex 30 2.1.5 Diego 31 2.1.6 Jenny 33 2.1.7 Yvonne 34 3 What Do Language Teacher Educators Do? 40 3.1 Becoming a Language Teacher Educator 40 3.2 Doing Language Teacher Educator Work 44 3.2.1 LTE Pedagogy Must Be Located 46 3.2.2 LTE Pedagogy Must Recognize Who the Teacher Is and Who the Teacher Wishes to Become 47 3.2.3 LTE Pedagogy Must Be Intentional and Goal-Directed: These Intentions and Goals Must Be Made Explicit 48 3.2.4 LTE Pedagogy Must Create Opportunities to Externalize Everyday Concepts While Internalizing Relevant Academic Concepts Through Authentic, Goal-Directed Activities of Teaching 49 3.2.5 LTE Pedagogy Must Contain Structured Mediational Spaces Where Teachers are Encouraged to Play/Step Into Being and Becoming a Teacher 49 3.2.6 LTE Pedagogy Must Involve Expert Mediation That Is Responsive to Teachers’ Immediate and Future Needs 50 3.2.7 LTE Pedagogy Must Have a Self-Inquiry Dimension, Involving Teacher Educators and Teachers Working Together or By Themselves, In Which They Seek to Trace Teacher Professional Development As It Unfolds Over Time and Place 51 3.2.8 LTE Pedagogy Must Demonstrate a Relationship of Influence Between Teacher Professional Development (As a Result of LTE Pedagogies) and Student Learning 51 3.3 The Identity Work of Language Teacher Educators 52 3.3.1 LTE Pedagogy 55 3.3.2 LTE Research and Scholarship 56 3.3.3 Institutional Service and Leadership 57 3.3.4 Community Service and Leadership 58 4 Further Professional Development of Language Teacher Educators 61 4.1 Teacher Educators’ Reasons for Continuing Professional Development 63 4.1.1 Juan 63 4.1.2 Yvonne 64 4.1.3 Eduardo 65 4.1.4 Alex 65 4.1.5 Diego 66 4.1.7 Jenny 68 4.2 Interconnected Identity-Related Professional Developments 69 5 Future Research on Language Teacher Educator Identity 71 5.1 Beginning Language Teacher Educators 72 5.2 Defining Language Teacher Educators 74 5.3 Being Language Teacher Educators 76 5.3.1 Pedagogy 76 5.3.2 Research 76 5.3.3 Institutional Service and Leadership 77 5.3.4 Community Service and Leadership 77 5.4 Conclusion 79 6 References 81 Acknowledgements 89 This Element examines the work of language teacher educators from diverse professional and institutional contexts, particularly in the domains of pedagogy, research, service and leadership (institutional and community). Barkhuizen reveals the significance of the identities that language teacher educators negotiate and are ascribed.