Investigation of language teacher’s identity experiences in adopting the ‘participatory’ approach through active learning spaces in undergraduate education writing classrooms

The purpose of this paper is to explore how two English Language Teachers (ELT) adapt their identity to face the new institutional reform of participatory approach classrooms at a University in the UAE. Using a post-structural framework, it examines the dynamics between teacher identity, agency, and structure to understand how these affect the professional experiences of teachers in the face of an institutional reform. The study adopted the qualitative approach; the data of the study was collected through an interview with two ELT teachers who volunteered to teach in the Active Learning Spaces and were simultaneously teaching in the traditional lecture rooms during the same semester. Both teachers were female and had taught the language to students in an English as a Second Language (ESL) context for more than 5 years. The findings of the study indicate that despite having similar contexts of reform, teachers’ ‘selves’ were affected by the change and dealt with them in multiple ways. The findings of this study provide insights into the dichotomy of two different pedagogies that exist in one workplace. Such disparities exist in many educational institutes around the world due to rapid globalization and open-border policies practiced in higher education. This study provides insight into how institutional reforms can present obstacles for instructors and therefore need to be addressed.