Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities
Novice English teachers at China’s private universities are easily confronted with tensions when they constructed the professional identity in the early career stage. Drawing on a theoretical framework of social identity theory, self-discrepancy theory and situated learning theory, this narrative in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1485747/full |
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| author | Xiangchen Zhang Xiangchen Zhang |
| author_facet | Xiangchen Zhang Xiangchen Zhang |
| author_sort | Xiangchen Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Novice English teachers at China’s private universities are easily confronted with tensions when they constructed the professional identity in the early career stage. Drawing on a theoretical framework of social identity theory, self-discrepancy theory and situated learning theory, this narrative inquiry study explored the causes, manifestations, and solutions to teachers’ professional identity tensions through in-depth interviews. Data were interpreted through metaphorical biographies and thematic analysis. Results show that tensions were caused by discrepancies among three self-concepts and conflicts between the English teacher identity and the private university teacher identity. In tensions, many aspects of participants’ professional identities were impaired and they unfulfilled the organizational identification. Participants reconciled three selves and adopted two approaches (assimilation and dissimilation) to navigate PI tensions. Policy makers are suggested to offer a well-established identity policy and sufficient research funding to facilitate the academic development of both private universities and teachers there. Private universities are suggested to provide diverse supports to teachers for their career development. Novice teachers could take the initiative of adapting to the culture and regulations of private universities and combine their research interest with the working context. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e4a5381bcb3a44dea6c55563cf210086 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e4a5381bcb3a44dea6c55563cf2100862025-02-03T15:10:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-02-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.14857471485747Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universitiesXiangchen Zhang0Xiangchen Zhang1School of Humanities and International Studies, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou, ChinaThe School of Curriculum and Pedagogy, The Faculty of Arts and Education, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New ZealandNovice English teachers at China’s private universities are easily confronted with tensions when they constructed the professional identity in the early career stage. Drawing on a theoretical framework of social identity theory, self-discrepancy theory and situated learning theory, this narrative inquiry study explored the causes, manifestations, and solutions to teachers’ professional identity tensions through in-depth interviews. Data were interpreted through metaphorical biographies and thematic analysis. Results show that tensions were caused by discrepancies among three self-concepts and conflicts between the English teacher identity and the private university teacher identity. In tensions, many aspects of participants’ professional identities were impaired and they unfulfilled the organizational identification. Participants reconciled three selves and adopted two approaches (assimilation and dissimilation) to navigate PI tensions. Policy makers are suggested to offer a well-established identity policy and sufficient research funding to facilitate the academic development of both private universities and teachers there. Private universities are suggested to provide diverse supports to teachers for their career development. Novice teachers could take the initiative of adapting to the culture and regulations of private universities and combine their research interest with the working context.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1485747/fullnarrative inquirynovice English teacherprofessional identity constructiontensionsprivate university |
| spellingShingle | Xiangchen Zhang Xiangchen Zhang Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities Frontiers in Psychology narrative inquiry novice English teacher professional identity construction tensions private university |
| title | Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities |
| title_full | Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities |
| title_fullStr | Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities |
| title_short | Leave or stay? A narrative inquiry of tensions in novice English teachers’ professional identity construction at China’s private universities |
| title_sort | leave or stay a narrative inquiry of tensions in novice english teachers professional identity construction at china s private universities |
| topic | narrative inquiry novice English teacher professional identity construction tensions private university |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1485747/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xiangchenzhang leaveorstayanarrativeinquiryoftensionsinnoviceenglishteachersprofessionalidentityconstructionatchinasprivateuniversities AT xiangchenzhang leaveorstayanarrativeinquiryoftensionsinnoviceenglishteachersprofessionalidentityconstructionatchinasprivateuniversities |