THE PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF PRE-SERVICE ENGLISH TEACHERS: A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

Abstract

Teacher education is widely believed to play a pivotal role in shaping the professional identity of pre-service teachers. Although plethora of prior studies have been conducted to explore this area, a gap was identified in relation to the scarcity of studies conducted to explore the perceptions of pre-service teachers on how social interaction contributes to their professional identity construction prior to actual on-site teaching practices. Investigating this area is imperative, since the shaped professional identity, at any extent, may influence their teaching practices and professional identity construction. The present study was conducted to address the gap by exploring the roles of social interaction in shaping professional identity of pre-service English teachers prior to their engagement in on-site teaching practices. Nine pre-service English teachers enrolling into English language teacher education program were purposefully selected to participate in the study. Data were collected through one-on-one semi structured interview, conducted prior to the participants' enrolment in a teaching practicum program. Thematic and interpretive analysis were used in the data analysis. The findings revealed that social interactions through observations and discussions contributed to initial professional identity construction of the pre-service teachers. Different actors within and beyond the teacher education context were reported to play distinct roles in shaping professional identity of pre-service English teachers. The implications were discussed to create more meaningful social interaction that can facilitate stronger professional identity construction of pre-service teachers amid their teacher education.