An ecological inquiry into the identity formation of a novice TESOL research mentor: Critical autoethnographic narratives in focus

Abstract

This study reports on the identity formation of the author as a novice research mentor of an independent research course for TESOL teachers over six months (from the course design to the first research submission). The data is collected from four critical autoethnographic narratives written by the author before, during, and after this period. The narratives were analysed thematically with an eye on the theoretical underpinning of the study, i.e. ecological perspective, in three ecological layers namely micro-, meso-, and macrosystem. The results revealed that the author’s identity construction was influenced by different factors such as ‘autonomy in mentoring’, ‘mediating mentorship’, or ‘academic recognition’ in three levels of educational ecology. The results of this study can motivate research mentors and teacher educators, specifically novice ones, to find some similarities with the ideas discussed in this research and to record their lived experiences as a tool for reflection.

Keywords

autoethnography critical autoethnographic narrative educational ecology novice research mentor TESOL research mentoring

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aagaard

E.M.

Hauer

K.E.

(2003). A cross-sectional descriptive study of mentoring relationships formed by medical students. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(4), 298–302. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20334.x

Abrams

Hogg

M.A.

(1988). Comments on the motivational status of self-esteem in social identity and intergroup discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 317–334.

Arnsby

E.S.

Aspfors

Jacobsson

(2023). Teachers’ professional learning through mentor education: A longitudinal mixed-methods study. Education Inquiry, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2023.2273019

Barkhuizen

(2016). Narrative approaches to exploring language, identity and power in language teacher education. RELC Journal, 47, 25–42.

Barkhuizen

(2021). Identity dilemmas of a teacher (educator) researcher: Teacher research versus academic institutional research. Educational Action Research, 29, 358–377.

Breault

R.A.

(2016). Emerging issues in duoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(6), 777–794. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2016.1162866

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.

Bronfenbrenner

. (1979). The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press.

Bronfenbrenner

. (1993). The ecology of cognitive development: Research models and fugitive findings. In Wozniak

R.H.

Fischer

K.W.

(Ed.), Development in context: Acting and thinking in specific environments (pp. 3–44). Erlbaum.

10.

Canagarajah

A.S.

(2012). Teacher development in a global profession: An autoethnography. TESOL Quarterly, 46, 258–279.

11.

Cantor

(2020). The loneliness of the long-distance (PhD) researcher. Psychodynamic Practice, 26, 56–67.

12.

Chang

(2008). Autoethnography as method. Left Coast Press.

13.

Check

Schutt

R.K.

(2011). Research methods in education. Sage.

14.

Chhibber

P.K.

Verma

(2018). Ideology and identity: The changing party systems of India. Oxford University Press.

15.

Chong

S.W.

Plonsky

(2021). A primer on qualitative research synthesis in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 55, 1024–1034.

16.

Crisp

Cruz

(2009). Mentoring college students: A critical review of the literature between 1990 and 2007. Research in Higher Education, 50, 525–545.

17.

Dikilitaş

Mumford

S.E.

(2016). Supporting the writing up of teacher research: Peer and mentor roles. ELT Journal, 70, 371–381.

18.

Dikilitaş

Wyatt

(2018). Learning teacher–research–mentoring: Stories from Turkey. Teacher Development, 22, 537–553.

19.

Edgar

Geare

(2013). Factors influencing university research performance. Studies in Higher Education, 38, 774–792.

20.

Fagenson

E.A.

(1989). The mentor advantage: Perceived career/job experiences of protégés versus non-protégés. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(4), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030100403

21.

Garcia

Badia

(2023). ‘I as a practicum mentor’: Identities of mentors of student teachers. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 31, 335–351.

22.

Griffiths

(2013). Mentoring as a professional learning strategy. In Armour

(Ed.), Sport Pedagogy (pp. 299–311). Routledge.

23.

Griffiths

Thompson

Hryniewicz

(2010). Developing a research profile: mentoring and support for teacher educators. Professional Development in Education, 36, 245–262.

24.

Habibzadeh

(2008). On stealing words and ideas. Hepatitis Monthly, 8(3), 171–172. https://www.sid.ir/paper/306184/en

25.

Hadar

L.L.

Brody

D.L.

(2013). The interaction between group processes and personal professional trajectories in a professional development community for teacher educators. Journal of Teacher Education, 64, 145–161.

26.

Hall

E.E.

Walkington

Shanahan

J.O.

Ackley

Stewart

K.A.

(2018). Mentor perspectives on the place of undergraduate research mentoring in academic identity and career development: An analysis of award winning mentors. International Journal for Academic Development, 23, 15–27.

27.

Harrison

J.K.

Lawson

Wortley

(2005). Mentoring the beginning teacher: Developing professional autonomy through critical reflection on practice. Reflective Practice, 6, 419–441.

28.

Hawkins

Norton

(2009). Critical language teacher education. In Burns

Richards

J.C.

(Eds.), Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 30–39). Cambridge University Press.

29.

Heikkinen

H.L.T.

(2020). Understanding mentoring within an ecosystem of practices. In Olsen

K.-R.

Bjerkholt

E.M.

Heikkinen

H.L.T.

(Eds.), New teachers in Nordic countries – ecologies of mentoring and induction (Ch. 1, pp. 27–47). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk. https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.105.ch1

30.

Heikkinen

H.L.T.

Pennanen

Markkanen

Tynjälä

(2020). A brief history of the peer-group mentoring model in Finland: Struggling for space in a contested niche. In Olsen

K.-R.

Bjerkholt

E.M.

Heikkinen

H.L.T.

(Eds.), New teachers in Nordic countries – ecologies of mentoring and induction (Ch. 5, pp. 107–128). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk. https://doi.org/10.23865/noasp.105.ch5

31.

Jensen

D.H.

Jetten

(2018). Exploring interpersonal recognition as a facilitator of students’ academic and professional identity formation in higher education. European Journal of Higher Education, 8, 168–184.

32.

Kamali

(2023). Metamorphosis of a teacher educator: A journey towards a more critical self. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 6, 252–259.

33.

Kamali

Nazari

(2023). Transnational language teachers’ emotional vulnerability and professional identity construction: An ecological perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2257659

34.

Kessler

(2023). Autoethnography for language teacher education programs: Connecting identities, ideologies, and experiences to curricular design practices. TESOL Journal. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.772

35.

Kirk

(2019). Identity, glass borders and globally mobile female talent. Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, 7(3), 285–299. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-02-2019-0010

36.

Kirkwood

Christie

(2006). The role of teacher research in continuing professional development. British Journal of Educational Studies, 54, 429–448.

37.

Koay

(2023). Self-directed professional development activities: An autoethnography. Teaching and Teacher Education, 133, 104258.

38.

Kunst

J.R.

Coenen

A.C.

Gundersen

Obaidi

(2023). How are acculturation orientations associated among majority-group members? The moderating role of ideology and levels of identity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 96, 101857.

39.

Lammert

DeWalt

L.M.

Wetzel

M.M.

(2020). ‘Becoming’ a mentor between reflective and evaluative discourses: A case study of identity development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 96, 103179.

40.

Larsen

Jensen-Clayton

Curtis

Loughland

Nguyen

H.T.

(2023). Re-imagining teacher mentoring for the future. Professional Development in Education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2023.2178480

41.

Lincoln

Y.S.

Guba

E.G.

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.

42.

Lunsmann

C.J.

Beck

J.S.

Riddle

D.R.

Scott

C.E.

Adkins

A.B.

(2019). Extending the apprenticeship of observation: How mentee experiences shape mentors. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 27, 342–363.

43.

Mancuso

C.A.

Berman

J.R.

Robbins

Paget

S.A.

(2019). What mentors tell us about acknowledging effort and sustaining academic research mentoring: A qualitative study. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 39, 29–35.

44.

McLaughlin

(2011). Towards an ecology of teacher collaboration on research. In Mockler

Sachs

(Eds.), Rethinking educational practice through reflexive inquiry: Professional learning and development in schools and higher education: Volume 7 (pp. 1–12). Springer.

45.

Meijer

P.C.

Oolbekkink

H.W.

Meirink

J.A.

Lockhorst

(2013). Teacher research in secondary education: Effects on teachers’ professional and school development, and issues of quality. International Journal of Educational Research, 57, 39–50.

46.

Muncey

(2005). Doing autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 4(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690500400105

47.

Nyanjom

(2020). Calling to mentor: The search for mentor identity through the development of mentor competency. Educational Action Research, 28, 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2018.1559069

48.

O’Pry

S.C.

Schumacher

(2012). New teachers’ perceptions of a standards-based performance appraisal system. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 24, 325–350.

49.

Poetter

T.S.

McKamey

Ritter

Tisdel

(1999). Emerging profiles of teacher-mentors as researchers: Benefits of shared inquiry. Action in Teacher Education, 21, 102–126.

50.

Richards

J.C.

(2023). Teacher, learner and student–teacher identity in TESOL. RELC Journal, 54, 252–266.

51.

Richards

(2003). Qualitative inquiry in TESOL. Springer.

52.

Robnett

R.D.

Nelson

P.A.

Zurbriggen

E.L.

Crosby

F.J.

Chemers

M.M.

(2018). Research mentoring and scientist identity: insights from undergraduates and their mentors. International Journal of STEM Education, 5, 1–14.

53.

Schön

(1983). The reflective practitioner. Basic Books.

54.

Sherman

B.J.

Teemant

(2023). Pedagogical coaching as identity work: Cultivating and negotiating ESL teacher narrative identities. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2023.2224000

55.

Spooner-Lane

(2017). Mentoring beginning teachers in primary schools: Research review. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 253–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1148624

56.

Stanulis

R.N.

Wexler

L.J.

Pylman

Guenther

Farver

Ward

White

(2019). Mentoring as more than “cheerleading”: Looking at educative mentoring practices through mentors’ eyes. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(5), 567–580. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118773996

57.

Steiner

T.G.

Vescio

T.K.

Adams

R.B

Jr. (2022). The effect of gender identity and gender threat on self-image. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 101, 104335.

58.

van Lier

. (Ed.). (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Springer.

59.

Vásquez

(2011). TESOL, teacher identity, and the need for “small story” research. Tesol Quarterly, 45(3), 535–545. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.

60.

Vygotsky

L.S.

(1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press.

61.

Wall

(2006). An autoethnography on learning about autoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5, 146–160.

62.

Wei

(2023). How mentoring cultivates the craftsman spirit of protégés: A moderated mediation model. Sustainability, 15, 6384.

63.

Yazan

(2018). Towards identity-oriented teacher education: Critical autoethnographic narrative. TESOL Journal, 10, e00388.

64.

Yazan

(2019). Identities and ideologies in a language teacher candidate’s autoethnography: Making meaning of storied experience. TESOL Journal, 10(4), e500.

65.

Yazan

(2022). Reflective practice as identity work: A teacher educator’s reflections on identity tensions. In Tajeddin

Watanabe

(Eds.), Teacher reflection: Policies, practices and impacts (pp. 164–178). De Gruyter.

66.

Yazan

(2023). Incorporating teacher emotions and identity in teacher education practices: Affordances of critical autoethnographic narrative. The Language Learning Journal, 51, 649–661.

67.

Yazan

Canagarajah

Jain

(Eds.). (2021). Autoethnographies in ELT: Transnational identities, pedagogies, and practices. Routledge.

68.

Zare-ee

Mohd Don

Shu Sim

(2015). Teacher research in higher education: A comparative study of Malaysian and Iranian English language lecturers’ perceptions. The International Journal of Humanities, 22, 1–28.