EFL Student Teachers' Professional Identity Construction: A Study of Student-Generated Metaphors During Student Teaching Period

• In Event: Developing Perceptions of Teaching Through Portfolios and Metaphors

Abstract

Metaphors are powerful windows to view EFL teachers’ professional identities.This study examined 33 Chinese EFL student teachers’ self-generated metaphors aboutteaching pre- and post their student teaching. Before their student teaching experience, they were 1) optimistic, but had unrealistic perceptions about their roles, 2) worried about their inadequacy to teach professionally, and 3) anxious about their relationship with cooperating teachers. Post-practicum, we noted 1) increased transformative perceptions about their role, 2) professional knowledge growth, 3) challenge of building good student relations, and 4) placement-school influence on their identity. Implications for facilitating EFL student teachers’ professional identity (trans)formations are discussed.

Author

• Gang Zhu, East China Normal University