Changing Places: Negotiating Instability in the Emerging Professional Identities of Experienced Teachers Abroad

• In Event: 72.049 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 72.049-2 - Teaching Experiences of Shanghai Teachers, Native English Teachers in Hong Kong, and Chinese Teachers in the United States

Abstract

In recent years, much research has been conducted on teacher identity, particularly in beginning teachers, and the ability of teachers to manage emerging and changing identities in shifting and varied educational environments. This paper aims to explore these processes further by considering the first-year experiences of teachers abroad and the ways in which these experienced teachers negotiated existing professional identities and classroom practices as a result of significant change in educational context. Three short story fragments from a larger study on the first-year experiences of Native English-speaking Teachers (NETs) in Hong Kong are presented and discussed, as well as implications for broader application for policy makers, school leaders and teacher educators.

Author

• Nicola Gram, The University of Hong Kong