The Dynamic Process of Student-Teachers’ Construction of Identity as Future Teachers

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative narrative-inquiry study aimed at exploring what English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student-teachers’ life stories revealed about their identity construction as future teachers. The project was carried out with eighth-semester student-teachers from a public university in Tunja, Boyacá (Colombia). Hence, the data collection drew upon written life stories and in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that critical factors helped student-teachers construct their identities as future EFL teachers. These factors are all tied to the student-teachers’ previous experiences as language learners themselves, a connection and affiliation they established with their teacher-educators as projected images they have of themselves as future teachers. Moreover, real teaching experiences were opportunities for student-teachers to make sense of the myriad of issues in education, which made them develop positions towards education as future teachers.