Pedagogizing the Affective Dimension of Language Teacher Identity Through Critical Emotional Reflexivity

Abstract

Bridging research and practice on teacher emotions, this study demonstrates how the affective dimension of teacher identity can be pedagogized through emotion as a mode of critical inquiry. Focusing on Ray, a Spanish language teacher in a rural area in the US, the study presents the process and outcomes of his semester-long self-inquiry. Data analysis, drawn from Ray's reflective narratives on his emotions in teaching and biweekly collaborative dialogues with a teacher educator, examines how this inquiry led to his development of critical emotional reflexivity. The findings reveal how his critical inquiry enabled him to recognize tensions in his teacher identity when required to teach subjects outside his area of expertise. Additionally, the study highlights how pedagogizing identity fostered his critical perspectives on biases and unfair practices related to his teacher identity, particularly when his Spanish class was regarded as “other” space compared to the classrooms of “regular” subjects. The findings suggest that teacher emotion as critical inquiry requires not only an understanding of one's emotions, but also a critical awareness of the intersection between the social and political contexts of teaching and those emotions. The study provides implications for language teacher education and training.