Designing and Validating a Professional Identity Model for Iranian EFL Experienced and Novice Teachers: A Sequential Exploratory Mixed-Methods Research

Abstract

rofessional identity is considered as one of the main components of each educational system. This study was conducted with the main aim of qualitative and quantitative modeling EFL teachers’ professional identity. In so doing, it benefited from a sequential mixed methods design. As the study sample, three groups of the participants were selected in the study. The first group consisted of 50 male and female (25 novice and 25 experienced) EFL teachers who were interviewed in the qualitative phase of the study for the purpose of model development. The second group included 100 male and female (50 novice and 50 experienced) EFL teachers who participated in the quantitative phase of the study (i.e., exploratory factor analysis). The third group included 300 male and female (150 novice and 150 experienced) EFL teachers who participated in the quantitative phase of the study (i.e., confirmatory factor analysis). All the three groups were selected through available sampling. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview and a researcher-made questionnaire were used. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) (using exploratory confirmatory factor analysis), and Cronbach's alpha test. The results of data analysis led to proposition of a qualitative and a quantitative model of professional identity of Iranian EFL novice and experienced teachers. As shown by the results, the proposed qualitative and quantitative models consist of two main categories, each composed of some sub-categories. Moreover, the results showed that the proposed models enjoy an acceptable level of validity and reliability.

Keywords

• identity
• professional development
• professional identity
• teacher professional identity