"Teachers as Conflict Managers": Mapping Novice and Experienced Iranian EFL Teachers' Professional Identity Conflicts and Confrontation Strategies

Autor/inn/en	Ghiasvand, Farhad; Kogani, Maryam; Nemati, Faezeh
Titel	"Teachers as Conflict Managers": Mapping Novice and Experienced Iranian EFL Teachers' Professional Identity Conflicts and Confrontation Strategies
Quelle	In: Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 8 (2023), Artikel 45 (22 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
DOI	10.1186/s40862-023-00219-z
Schlagwörter	Professional Identity; Language Teachers; English (Second Language); Conflict; Beginning Teachers; Experienced Teachers; Beliefs; Ideology; Self Concept; Clothing; Power Structure; Educational Policy; Testing; Course Descriptions; Foreign Countries; Coping; Iran + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Konflikt; Junior teacher; Junglehrer; Belief; Glaube; Ideologie; Selbstkonzept; Kleidung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Testdurchführung; Testen; Kursstrukturplan; Ausland; Bewältigung
Abstract	Teacher professional identity has been widely investigated in second/foreign language (L2) research in the past decade. However, the identity conflicts that English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers with various teaching experiences face in their profession has been mostly neglected. Moreover, the way such conflicts shape L2 teachers' identity and are resolved is yet under-explored. To fill these voids, this study scrutinized novice and experienced Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of professional identity conflicts, their influence on identity construction, and confrontation/management strategies. To this end, 30 EFL teachers (15 novice, 15 experienced) were recruited to attend a semi-structured interview and complete a narrative frame. The results of content and thematic analysis obtained by MAXQDA software revealed that both novice and experienced teachers mostly faced identity conflicts because of "teaching philosophy/ideology mismatch" and "mismatch between personal and professional self". Novice teachers also recurrently posed interference with "clothing and physical appearance" as a source of conflict, while experienced teachers believed "unequal power relations at work", "imposed policy mandates", and "traditional syllabus and testing" had produced conflicts. These conflicts affected teachers' identity construction by influencing novice teachers' emotional and inner world, but experienced teachers' pedagogical performance and interpersonal communication. To confront the conflicts, the participants suggested different strategies such as "negotiating conflicts with others", "avoiding conflicts", and "suppressing conflicts". The study discusses the findings and their implications for L2 teachers and educators regarding common identity conflicts and resolutions. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01