Identities and emotions in online language teacher education programs

Language teacher education has long centered on equipping teachers with the teaching skills and techniques necessary for effective classroom practice. However, what remains conspicuously absent in existing teacher training programs is input and explicit discussions on the psychologies – including emotions and identities – of language teacher educators and trainees. This chapter reports on an interview-based study with English-language online language teacher education (OLTE) instructors who offered online training to teacher candidates in the UK. The findings show that the participants experienced highs and lows in their emotional experience and identity shifts during the transition from being language teachers to becoming language teacher trainers. Without being solicited, they also mentioned specific emotions and emotion-related words encountered throughout this phase. Additionally, they discussed their identities and emotions in relation to specific dimensions of online teacher training such as dealing with the emotions of trainees by touching upon emotion-regulation strategies, providing feedback, and reflecting on the role expectations in their current positions. The OLTE instructors also compared online and face-to-face training and made suggestions about training focused on identities and emotion management. Implications for improving OLTE programs by incorporating discussions and tasks on teacher trainee and teacher trainer identities and emotional skills are discussed.