Should I Stay, or Should I Go? A Mixed Method Study of Pre-Service English Second Language Teacher Efficacy-Identity Development in Quebec

The author notes that research tells us that teachers with high self-efficacy are more resilient and less likely to leave the profession. This research also tells us that teacher self-efficacy beliefs are most pliable early in learning, and that teacher education programs are a key site for professional identity construction. The author uses a mixed method approach to look at the ways in which pre-service English Second Language (ESL) teachers from two different universities in Quebec developed their self-efficacy within their professional teacher identity. She collected quantitative data before and after a major practicum to see if experiences during the practicum influenced the participants’ TSE scores or their intentions to remain in the teaching profession. She also collected narrative, thematic and graphic data at three different times during the practicum to explore what kinds of experiences the participants were having and how these experiences influenced their understanding of the kind of teacher they were becoming. The key findings from the author's research suggest: 1) that teacher-self efficacy and professional identity development does occur during the practicum; 2) that recognition of status from students and members of the teaching community is essential to building professional identity; 3) that teacher-self efficacy is most effectively built through a process of trial, error and reflection – especially when teaching alone; and finally that 4) the structure of evaluation creates conditions unfavourable for the consolidation of either teacher-self efficacy or professional identity. The author concludes with a discussion of the ways in which her findings will contribute to an understanding of the role teacher education programs can play in preventing future language teacher attrition.

PhD dissertation

McGill University

Montreal

2021

xii-238p.

en