Pre-Service Language Teachers and Practitioner Research: Investigating Professional Role Identity Formation

Öz

Following the Exploratory Practice principles to equip pre-service language teachers with practitioner research skills through a research course, we employed narrative inquiry to explore perceptions of research engagement and the professional role identities constructed through it. The data for this study came from its two participants' written and oral narratives. Our findings indicated that the participants viewed their involvement in practitioner research positively and benefited from it both personally and professionally, achieving a transformative shift from a singular student-focused perspective to a more complex dual viewpoint that also embraces aspects of a teacher's perspective. Among the various professional role identities that language teachers enact, our participants emphasized the roles of ‘care provider’ and ‘motivator’ over more traditional role identities such as ‘presenter’ and ‘manager’. In addition, the roles of ‘learner’ and ‘researcher’, when combined, were found to be more dominant than the role of ‘knowledgeable, signifying an inquiry and growth mindset. We conclude that a course design requiring active research engagement and reflection on teacher identity offers significant benefits for language teacher education and, therefore, should be included in the curricula of such programs.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• pre-service language teachers
• practitioner research
• research engagement
• professional role identities
• teacher education.

Öğretmen Adayları ve Uygulayıcı Araştırma: Mesleki Rol Kimliği İnşasının İncelenmesi

Öz

Bu çalışma, öğretmen adaylarını uygulayıcı araştırma becerileriyle donatmayı amaçlayan ve Keşifsel Uygulama (Exploratory Practice) ilkelerini temel alan bir araştırma dersi kapsamında, araştırma sürecine katılımlarına dair algılarını ve bu süreçte inşa ettikleri mesleki rol kimliklerini incelemek için anlatı araştırması (narrative inquiry) yöntemini kullanmıştır. Çalışmanın verileri, iki katılımcının yazılı ve sözlü anlatılarından elde edilmiştir. Bulgularımız, katılımcıların uygulayıcı araştırmaya olumlu bir bakış açısıyla yaklaştıklarını ve bu sürecin hem kişisel hem de mesleki gelişimlerine önemli katkılar sağladığını göstermektedir. Katılımcılar, öğretmenlik rollerine ilişkin algılarında tek boyutlu, öğrenci odaklı bir perspektiften, öğretmen bakış açısını da içeren daha bütüncül ve çok katmanlı bir bakış açısına dönüşüm geçirdiklerini ifade etmişlerdir. Öğretmenlerin üstlendikleri çeşitli mesleki rol kimlikleri arasında, katılımcılar geleneksel ‘bilgi sunucu’ (presenter) ve ‘yönetici’ (manager) rollerinden ziyade ‘bakım sağlayıcı’ (care provider) ve ‘motivasyon kaynağı’ (motivator) rollerini daha ön planda tutmuşlardır. Bunun yanı sıra, ‘öğrenen’ (learner) ve ‘araştırmacı’ (researcher) rollerinin bir araya geldiğinde, geleneksel ‘bilgili kişi’ (knowledgeable) rolünden daha baskın olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu durum, katılımcıların öğretmenlik kimliklerinde araştırma temelli bir büyüme ve sorgulama zihniyetinin öne çıktığını göstermektedir. Sonuç olarak, öğretmen kimliği üzerine düşünmeyi teşvik eden ve öğretmen adaylarının aktif araştırma sürecine katılımını gerektiren bir ders tasarımının, dil öğretmeni eğitiminde önemli kazanımlar sağladığı ve bu nedenle öğretmen yetiştirme programlarının müfredatına entegre edilmesi gerektiği ileri sürülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Öğretmen adayları
• uygulayıcı araştırma
• araştırma sürecine katılım
• mesleki rol kimlikleri
• öğretmen eğitimi.

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