İngilizce öğretmeni eğitimcilerinin mesleki kimliklerine ve öğretmen eğitimi sonrası deneyimlerine yönelik bir inceleme

This qualitative case study aims to investigate the professional identities of English language teacher trainers in Turkish in-service education context. The study mainly describes a group of teacher trainers' identity development in the lenses of motivation and aspiration, job description, knowledge and expertise, personal approaches, and professional affinity for offering in-service teacher training in the field of ELT. In relation to identity development, another aim of this study is to scrutinize teacher trainers' descriptions of the experience of training language teachers. Since these trainers do not practice teacher training as often as they previously did, their current post-teacher training educational engagements are also examined. To achieve these aims, in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were carried out with 12 teacher trainers. Content analysis of the data displayed that there are major identity pillars in developing as a teacher trainer in the in-service training context. Experienced teacher educators' encouragement and support positively contributed to trainer identity development. The audience, officially-appointed teachers with experience and content knowledge, played a critical role in trainer identity construction. Trainers frequently reviewed themselves based on the participant teachers' behavior and approaches, and went through a constant struggle for legitimacy as trainers. Trainers' assignment-based job and the lack of a sustainable trainer position posed multiple challenges for identity construction. Trainers' desire for personal and professional life-long learning initiated and maintained their commitment to the job of teacher training. By spotlighting the identity of teacher trainers, this study offers implications for sustainable, needs-based, and school-embedded teacher professional development.