Problematizing ‘messy’ research: a novice language teacher educator’s reflexive account

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teacher education (TESOL TE) research seeks to understand how to prepare English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, primarily in regards to language teaching, to navigate and negotiate within their professional contexts. To date, there has been little information as to how novice teacher educators balance their social and professional identities, and how racial, economic, and linguistic contexts influence novice teacher educators’ identity development. Navigating such power structures found within this performativity-driven context is often difficult for novice teacher educators, with many relying on their past experiences and mentors. While studies outside of second language teacher education (SLTE) have noted that teacher educator identity is developed and maintained in relation to their students and their research, research in the field of SLTE in general and TESOL TE in particular provides a sterile picture as to how teacher educators construct their identities.