Abstract

Despite the growth of knowledge on teacher emotional tensions and identities, little research has explored how emotional tensions shape teacher identity development within teacher education courses. This study explored the contributions of a professional learning community (PLC) structured around sharing and discussing emotional tensions to eight Iranian English teachers’ identity (re)construction. In line with our theoretically-grounded proposed model of PLC – as settings in which individuals share ideas to expand their learning, data were collected before, during, and after the PLC using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals over a four-month time span. Data analyses revealed that before the PLC, the teachers had problems in developing the identity of agentic teachers and in their interpersonal relationships with colleagues. During the PLC, they were able to develop collegial identities that facilitated embracing the course contents. After the course, the teachers experienced enhanced collaboration and agency-induced autonomy that enabled them to effectively manage emotional tensions. Collectively, the PLC helped the teachers in agentically exercising praxis in relation to their colleagues, practices, and relationships with students. Based on the findings, we provide implications for teachers to use their current potential to form PLCs and for teacher educators to systematize PLCs at the institutional level.