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Between Expert and Novice: Identity Transition from Teacher to Student as Sustainable Agentic Construction

Author

Listed:
  • Xing Xu

    (Department of English Studies, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing 400031, China)

  • Helena Sit

    (School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia)

  • Hui Li

    (Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China)

Abstract

Education for sustainable development in foreign language teaching and learning impacts students’ lives in their current or future endeavours. Despite a wide body of literature elucidating identity navigation of EFL teachers and international doctoral students, a relative scarcity of scholarship casts light on the in-between cohort, namely those who transit from the former to the latter. Via a holistic lens, utilising a qualitative case study based on an Australian university, this research scrutinised how a group of 10 international doctoral students who served as EFL teachers in their home countries enacted agency to navigate the identity transition. The study discusses what generally constitutes sustainable, successful language learning and teaching practices in different social, cultural, and educational contexts. The findings reveal that torn between teaching English as an expert and learning research as a novice, they negotiated the identity transition as a “doing” process subject to different positionings and structural contexts and mediated by various dynamics across a past–present–future trajectory. This study contributes to pertinent literature by shedding nuanced and holistic light on the under-researched topic of teacher-to-student identity transition. It ends with implications for attending to EFL teachers’ complex lived experiences to promote sustainable development in EFL teaching and learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Xing Xu & Helena Sit & Hui Li, 2022. "Between Expert and Novice: Identity Transition from Teacher to Student as Sustainable Agentic Construction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:10085-:d:888421
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wenxiu Chu & Honggang Liu & Fan Fang, 2021. "A Tale of Three Excellent Chinese EFL Teachers: Unpacking Teacher Professional Qualities for Their Sustainable Career Trajectories from an Ecological Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Sha Xie & Luyao Liang & Hui Li, 2022. "Emotional Labor and Professional Identity in Chinese Early Childhood Teachers: The Gendered Moderation Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Qiang Sun & Lawrence Jun Zhang, 2022. "Understanding Novice and Experienced Teachers’ Cognitions and Practices for Sustainable Teacher Development: The Case of Form-Focused Instruction in English Language Teaching," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    4. Guanglin Xu & Jungyin Kim, 2022. "Building and Sustaining a Group of Chinese EFL Learners’ Imagined Identities and Agency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Putri Gayatri & Helena Sit & Shen Chen & Hui Li, 2023. "Sustainable EFL Blended Education in Indonesia: Practical Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-13, January.

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