ERIC Number: EJ1434072
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-May
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1072-4303
Available Date: N/A
Ecological Intersections of Religious Ideology, Agency, and Identity: Voices of Iranian English Language Teachers
TESL-EJ, v28 n1 2024
Parallel with the growth of research on the role of religious ideologies in teachers' professional lives, the present study drew on an ecological perspective and explored how religious ideology (i.e., Islamic principles) intersected with Iranian English language teachers' agency and identity. The study was methodologically situated within a narrative inquiry methodology, and data were collected from narrative frames and semi-structured interviews. Data analyses revealed that Islamic principles intersected with teachers' agency and identity in three major ways: Islamic principles as a humiliating cult, agency-demolishing nature of ideology, and resisting Islamic ideologies. The study shows that, on the one hand, ideology can serve as a source of humiliation and harm to teachers' agencies and identities. On the other hand, teachers also influence ideology by not only showing resistance, but practicing certain instructional initiatives that raise students' awareness of the destructive nature of Islamic principles. The study concludes with implications for teachers on how to communalize their agentic initiatives so that they can construct their identities in more constructive ways.
Descriptors: Religion, Self Concept, Professional Autonomy, English (Second Language), Language Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Islam, Ideology, Religious Factors, Resistance (Psychology), Private Education
TESL-EJ. e-mail: editor@tesl-ej.org; Web site: http://tesl-ej.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A