Forced Online: An Exploratory Study of Language Teacher Identities During Emergency Remote Teaching from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective
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Abstract
Developing our understanding of teachers and supporting them to be the teachers they want to be is not just beneficial for the wellbeing of teachers but also a fundamental
element to the learning process. Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) can dramatically change how teachers are required to teach and influences their lives in many ways. This study aimed to explore how the teacher identities of three teachers changed since becoming online teachers and what the circumstances and context was for these changes. Following three recorded online discussions data was collected in the form of transcribed discourse which was interested from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory perspective. Changes in the roles teachers have been found since becoming online teachers that differed compared to face-to-face teaching. A broad range of influences were found to be significantly impacting the teacher identities of the participants from both inside and outside the teaching context. The study
found that changes in the teacher roles of the participants changed significantly, teacher roles may consequently result in more feasible teacher identities and that interaction with students and building rapport are key contextual aspects for these changing roles. The study suggests further use of complex dynamic systems theory for articulating and understanding teacher identities.
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