Becoming teachers of emergent bilinguals: navigating ideological and identity tensions

• Baburhan Uzum ^[1] ; Bedrettin Yazan ^[2] ; Netta Avineri ^[3]
  1. [1] Sam Houston State University

     Sam Houston State University

     Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] University of Texas at San Antonio

     University of Texas at San Antonio

     Estados Unidos

     
  3. [3] Monterey Institute of International Studies

     Monterey Institute of International Studies

     Estados Unidos

     

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• Localización: Language teaching research, ISSN 1362-1688, Vol. 29, Nº. 8, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Part 1: Challenges and Practices to Advance Sustainable and Inclusive Practitioner Research. Part 2: Tensions in Language Teachers’ Professional Identity Development and Coping Strategies), págs. 3567-3591
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Teacher candidates (TCs) go through intense identity negotiations and tensions at the intersection of personal, professional, and political dimensions of education. This iterative and complex process brings about ideological tensions. In this article, following a qualitative research design, we analysed the interviews of 48 (majority white monolingual) TCs during a semester-long practice teaching experience with emergent bilingual students (EBs) in grades 6–8 classrooms. The constant comparative method and critical discourse analysis informed our data analysis. The findings demonstrated that TCs experienced tensions related to their identities, ideologies, and future student populations. These tensions were revealed in their discourses, language choices, and the metaphors they adopted. One prevalent metaphor used was ‘language barrier’, depicting TCs’ limited agency and helplessness in their teaching if they did not speak the first language of their EBs. Another recurrent theme was the need to better understand the who, what, where, when, and why questions of teaching as TCs reflected on their professional decision-making at the intersection of personal, professional, and political discourses of teaching EBs. The study suggests that these ideological tensions should be unpacked in teacher education programs to build identity-focused critical teacher learning practices. Such practices can help TCs understand and navigate discourses that are introduced during teacher preparation in an effort to develop ideological clarity and claim ownership of their transformation into becoming social justice-oriented teachers of EBs.