Constructing Teacher Identities in Stories

There is now a wealth of research that explores the relationship between identity and foreign language teaching. This paper, by analysing stories delivered by teachers of varied professional experience, is intended to show that teacher identity can be viewed not just in relation to the cognitive dimension of the self, but rather with respect to the professional discourses prevailing in a particular historical period. Conceiving identity in this way requires a focus on the professional aspects of teaching theories and practices, along with issues of individual identity development situated in socio-political contexts and identifications with communities of practice. The paper centers on the contextually embedded factors that are liable to change with the social, cultural and historical discourses of practice.