Narratives of Desire, Love, Imagination, and Fluidity: Becoming an English Teacher in a University Preparation Program

Abstract

This is a narrative study into the co-construction of teaching identities narrated by twenty-four undergraduate students in the context of an English language teacher education program in Argentina. Teacher identities are defined in the literature as co-authored stories of living and becoming. Our method uses narrative inquiry to study lived experiences as co-narrated phenomena. The narrative analysis of different texts gathered in the teacher education program allowed the co-composition of each participant’s identity story. Results first display thematizations of identity strands in these narratives involving emotions—love, desire, imagination, and fluidity. Next, participants’ negotiation of their processes of becoming through these emotions are retold. The discussion examines results considering state-of-the-art literature. The conclusions summarize the implications of the research for English language teacher initial university education.