Understanding Teacher Autonomy, Teacher Agency, and Teacher Identity: Voices from Four EFL Student Teachers

Scarce studies have been conducted to understand teacher autonomy, teacher agency, and teacher identity exhibited by English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers. This study was conducted to fill this gap by exploring how four student teachers take control of their teaching, conduct agentic behavior, and negotiate identities in the Chinese EFL context. Data included interviews, school documents, participants’ practicum reports, and lesson plans. Findings revealed that EFL student teachers encountered constraints related to the school curriculum, evaluation mechanisms, and social settings. Constraints affected their capacity to negotiate the gap between reality and ideals and fostered changes and innovations in teaching. These forces, influenced by the social, institutional, and physical settings, also affected the formation of their identities. The different development trajectories during the teaching practicums were found to be related to teacher autonomy, teacher agency, and teacher identity. While concluding with implications for teaching pre-service teachers and running teaching practicums, the present study also argues for considering the three interrelated constructs as essential parts of researching pre-service EFL teacher education.

在職前教師教育研究中,教師自主、教師能動及教師身份之間的相互關係並未受到足夠關注。本研究旨在探索職前教師實習過程中可能存在的制約,並分析他們的能動行為及了解他們身份變化,以提升對這一方面的理解。調查結果顯示:實習教師對學校「課程規劃」及評估機制較消極,認為會帶來制約,這影響了他們應對構建專業身份時出現的各種挑戰,同時也對他們在創建自我能動空間帶來了影響。然而,通過以往教學經驗和教師培訓形成的強大的職業認同,能部分幫助實習教師理解工作環境,為教學自主創造條件。本研究認為將三個相互關聯的因素視為職前教師教育不可或缺的部分。