Teacher Identity and Agency in Language Education

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• research a specific topic independently and with minimal guidance;
• analyse and evaluate oral, written, and multimodal narratives from a variety of sources;
• apply narrative knowledge in the analysis and interpretation of issues in language learning and teaching;
• define, present and illustrate concepts;
• relate issues and questions encountered in the research literature to situations with which you are familiar yourself;
• formulate and defend personal interpretations clearly and persuasively on the basis of evidence gathered from both primary and secondary sources.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• key concepts and terms used to describe storytelling in language education;
• the main components of oral narrative;
• key methodologies to explore the role of narratives, in different forms, in the processes we follow when learning and teaching language.
• Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: the field of narrative inquiry and how it differs from narrative analysis;
• the scope and limitations of different theoretical approaches to narrative inquiry;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• use libraries, archives, learning resources, and ICT to access relevant information.
• work effectively alone and/or in collaboration with others to solve problems and/or carry out a task;
• communicate effectively and confidently, both orally and in writing, including being able to engage an audience in discussion and to sustain a long and complex piece of writing;
• research a specific topic independently and with minimal guidance;

This module will introduce you to the study of teacher identity and agency as shaped by our life experiences. The ways in which we experience language learning across different stages of life, and within the various contexts in which we are socialised (such as family, school, social activities, and work), influence the perceptions we develop about the languages and varieties we choose—or are required—to learn. These experiences also shape our decisions to become language teachers. Such experiences surface in our everyday lives, manifested through anecdotes, memories, and small stories. Our narratives are suffused with emotions, subjectivities, values, and beliefs, which form the fabric of our learning socialisation and become the focus of our attention. The study of identity and agency within the field of “narrative inquiry” requires a combination of theoretical understanding and practical engagement. For this reason, we will examine definitions of narrative inquiry and explore various methodological approaches to this topic. These will be applied in practical activities in which we analyse the stories we collect. Some of the guiding questions we will consider include: Why do we tell our stories? How do we organise them, and why? How can we, as researchers, collect meaningful stories? What can these stories reveal about the identities and forms of agency expressed within them? As one of the most widely used methods in qualitative research, narrative inquiry offers rich insights but also has limitations. We will therefore critically explore both its potential and its constraints within the field of language education.

Teaching methods include: -short introductory presentations by the course tutor, in which key concepts and theories will be introduced; -a weekly seminar discussion based on prepared readings, workshops, and student group presentations. These activities will help students analyse identity and agency in narrative. The seminars will offer opportunities to engage with a range of methodologies and to apply them to the analysis of various forms of narrative, including oral, written, and multimodal storytelling.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.