Research project Addressing identity creation of English speaking international teachers in Sweden
English profile school that provide English language instruction are common today, and despite the fact that English speaking international teachers make up approximately 50% of the teacher population of these schools, there is no empirical data to date collected on this group within Sweden.
In recent years the number of English profile school that provide English language instruction of various subjects and throughout the grades has been growing in Sweden. In order to fulfil the English ethos of these schools and the social demand for the English language learning the number of English-speaking teachers entering the job force in Sweden has grown.
While English speaking international (ESI) teachers make up approximately 50% of the teacher population of these schools, there is no empirical data to date collected on this group within Sweden. In recent years, the need for such data has been increasing as newspapers are writing more and more about the work and life conditions of this group. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap in research and offer new insight about ESI teachers living and working in the Swedish context.
Project description
My research project will address English speaking international (ESI) teachers working in English profile schools within the Stockholm region. I am interested in the way ESI teachers form their identity within the school and the greater Swedish context of society. I will be looking at three levels of identity – personal, professional, and organizational, and examine how they interact and affect the individual identity of the teacher.
It is the hope that this research will be able to add to the conversation about teaching and working within the Swedish school system from a new and unexplored perspective. Also add to research looking at teacher professional identity and well-being from a perspective rarely address, that being the foreign teacher. Furthermore, paying particular attention to the context, this study adds value to the conversation within teacher’s professional identity research, which often focuses on competencies as an identity marker, rather than the general landscape of the work and life.
By using a combination of different data collection methods… (surveys, interviews and documents)… I will be able to gain a deeper understanding of what contributes to teachers' identity formation and which aspects of their daily lives in Sweden have the greatest impact on their well-being.
Project members
Project managers
Katarzyna Maria Twaróg
PhD student
Members
Staffan Nilsson, Main Supervisor
