Viewpoint on Pedagogizing Language Teacher Identity

Abstract

This viewpoint article adopts a mostly appreciative eye toward studies featured in this special issue, which look at how language teacher identity (LTI) is pedagogized by language teacher educators through a variety of activities and assignments and in varying contexts and settings across the globe. What stands out in this special issue is that the studies concurrently provide critical offerings to both teacher educators and researchers in the field. The studies include many different kinds of activities that have been used, as well as providing the specifics for setting up these activities, which could be especially helpful for language teacher educators. Moreover, they show how the authors have studied implementing these activities, as well as their outcomes. Overall, I highlight four themes that I found to be prevalent across several of the studies: the first was that of the practical implications of the different activities and assignments that were undertaken to pedagogize LTI; the second was the importance of place and context in terms of what was undertaken and for what purposes; the third was the centrality of emotions and emotional labor that surfaced through the LTI pedagogizing work; and last was the focus on justice and agency of a particular project for teacher candidates.