The impacts of a pandemic on language teacher identity, beliefs, and practices in Japan

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had far-reaching effects on how language education was conducted, as well as on the beliefs, practices, emotions, well-being, and identities of those who taught. Research shows that teaching during this time caused teachers to reconstruct or reassess their identity (Zhang & Hwang, 2023); saw teachers exercising their agency according to their teacher identity (Ashton, 2022); led to changes in teachers’ beliefs and practices (El-Soussi, 2022); and restricted teachers’ access to other educators (Nagamine, 2023; Zhang & Hwang, 2023). This study shares results from government-funded research exploring how the pandemic influenced the identity, beliefs, practices, emotions, well-being, and professional development of language educators in Japan. Narrative inquiry, a methodology which reveals lived experiences within rich, story-filled data, was used to analyze both survey responses and interview transcripts to identify emergent themes. Looking at the content (what the stories are about), the form (the way they are organized and structured), and the context (looking at the events experienced, the storytelling, or a combination of both) allowed for deeper data analysis and greater appreciation of educators’ stories and experiences (Barkhuizen, 2023; Barkhuizen et al., 2013). Results suggest that educators felt various emotions during the pandemic, some positive and others quite the opposite. Even if they did not recognize it themselves, the effect of the pandemic on teachers’ identities was substantial. Teachers’ beliefs and practices were significantly impacted, particularly in how they embraced technology, navigated personal well-being, and took student welfare into greater consideration. Some pursued more professional development during the pandemic, while others withdrew completely from seeking it out, sometimes for the same reasons. Whether teachers moved online or not, they were challenged to adapt their teaching practices and provide adequate, if not quality, learning experiences for their students.