Becoming a CLIL teacher: exploring in-service teachers' emerging identity and investment in Taiwan

Abstract

In recent years, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has become popularized as a pedagogical method, aiming to meet the demand of an increasingly globalized world. Since the enactment of the 2030 bilingual policy in 2018, Taiwan has accelerated its demand for the provision of CLIL teachers, with the Ministry of Education (MOE) responsible for promoting bilingual in-service teacher training programs. Although there is a growing call for CLIL teachers, little is known about the impact of CLIL training on in-service teachers investment and changing identities. Based on Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of identity and investment, this study aims to explore a group of in-service teachers' CLIL investment during and after their training program, specifically how they negotiated different identities and its influence on their teaching practices. Observations, in-depth interviews, and other verbal narratives were used as the primary source of data collection. Findings show that the participants navigated, negotiated, and legitimized a wide range of identities through their CLIL investment, resulting in identity shifts that had prominent influence on their teaching. These shifts were mainly driven by participants’ enhanced cultural and social capital, with emotional labor found to have played a critical role in mediating such changes. Additionally, the participants explored the complexity and fluidity of their positioning in different contexts, despite experiencing various internal (e.g, ideology) and external constraints (e.g., school policy). As the participants engaged in reflective practices, the recursive and dynamic process of identity negotiation allowed them to gain clarity on their emerging selfs as CLIL professionals, which resulted in enhanced self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and consequently, sustained investment. Pedagogical implications of identity work is included with aims to enhance the current bilingual in-service teacher training program.

Keywords

CLIL, teacher identity, investment, in-service, teacher education, bilingual education