Understanding immigrant teacher identity through literature : with a focus on Finnish society

Abstract

Teacher identity is at the core of the teaching profession. It affects not only teachers’ teaching approaches in practice but also teachers’ sense of purpose, self-efficacy, motivation, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness. Teacher professional identity is formed at the confluence of a teacher’s personal experience, professional context, and external political environment. The shifting, contextual, and emotional characteristics of teacher identity indicate that teachers need to recast their existing ideologies, beliefs and negotiate their new teacher identity when migrating from one country to another. This literature review addresses the identity work of immigrant teachers by examining the following research question: what factors contribute to the formation and development of immigrant teacher’s identity? Findings reveal the prominence of culture in shaping immigrant teacher identity. The quality of reception from the host country, the acceptance and support from the local community could significantly contribute to the process of immigrant teacher’s acculturation and identity transformation. The emotional dimension of teacher identity which exhibits as professional vulnerability is addressed during the identity transformation. Teacher’s activist identity is demanded in the identity (re)establishment process because of various uncertainties and challenges immigrant teachers face when becoming a teacher in the new host country. These findings shed light on how to support immigrant teachers’ identity work in the Finnish context, which is the final focus of this literature review.