Dynamically Stable Evolution of Ideal Selves in Motivation of High School English Teachers in China

Given that few studies focus on the complex and dynamic nature of English teachers’ teaching motivation in China (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2021), this study aims to explore English teachers’ teaching motivation development with the possible selves theory (Markus & Nurius, 1986), which offers the most comprehensive and versatile lens for the analysis of teachers’ teaching motivation. There were seven participants in this study, including English teachers at early, mid, and late stages of their careers from a public high school in northern China. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and teachers’ reflective journals. This study found that there was a dynamically stable evolution of participants’ ideal teacher selves. While the dynamics meant that there was continuous emergence of new ideal images, the stability meant that teachers’ ideal selves were static within a particular period. It is also true that the emergence of new ideal images did not mean that participants had discarded or fully realized prior ones. On the contrary, they preserved and adapted key components of previous ideal images while acquiring new ones. In effect, they formed a synthesized ideal teacher self with various components (i.e., key components of various ideal images emerging at different professional stages), which is susceptible to future changes. In addition, the agreement between ideal selves and the ought-to self enhanced participants’ motivation.