Narrative inquiry into Hanban teachers' first years of professional identity construction in UK schools

This study explores how Hanban teachers construct their professional identities during their first years in UK schools, and the structural, educational, social and personal influences on the process. The theoretical framing of professional identity is drawn out of three theoretical traditions, namely psychological, sociocultural and poststructural. Professional identity is used in this study as an overarching frame containing the mental processes of an individual’s cognition and emotion, as well as his or her process of being and becoming through social relations and social practices. Located in the interpretivist tradition and narrative inquiry approach in particular, this qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews, personal artefacts, observation, organisational document and researcher’s reflective journal as research instruments. Longitudinal in nature, this inquiry follows six individual Hanban teachers throughout one academic year. It reveals that the initial stage of Hanban teachers’ school experience marks an often problematic transition from pre-departure training to the reality of working in schools. It entails an intensified period of professional learning and identity construction: Hanban teachers need to negotiate roles and responsibilities in the classroom; reconcile competing demands and requirements from different communities of practice; negotiate the personal meaning of work with the meanings that are imposed by multiple policy objectives; participate in the practices of constructing an effective second language identity, and harmonise their personal and professional lives. By understanding the nature of Hanban teachers’ professional identities, recommendations are made for teacher education, policy makers and host schools. They contribute to the better preparation and utilisation of the target group of teachers. Regarding the theoretical contribution, the unique nature of the research context allows me to bring together dimensions from other frameworks into the theorisation of teachers’ professional identity. It specifically contributes to ways of theorising teachers’ professional lives in the globalisation era, where much movement across borders is involved