11 While they are in the learning process which prepares them as future
teachers, however, pre-service teachers are always in a state of becoming a teacher Danielewicz, 2001. In this process of becoming a teacher, the pre-service teacher
may construct new identity or transform her or his identity, adapt personal understandings to realities, and decide how to express herself or himself in
classroom activity Rodgers Scott, 2008. Besides, in defining pre-service teachers’ identity, Gee 2000 emphasizes that identity is related to what pre-service
teachers believe about who a teacher is. Furthermore, Gee clearly states that what pre-service teachers believe about who a teacher is is connected with how a teacher
acts. In relation to this, Beijaard et al. 2000 also define that analyzing what pre- service teachers believe about what a teacher does is lens in observing pre-service
teachers’ identity. Hence, from this perspective, it can be concluded that EFL pre- service teachers need time to practice the knowledge or the theory they have gotten
during the courses. Furthermore, this teaching practice program helps them develop their professional identity as teachers, although they are still in the state of
becoming a teacher.
2. Pre-service Teachers’ Identity Transformation
While the pre-service teachers are in the process which prepares them as future teachers, they are always in a state of becoming a teacher Danielewicz,
2001. As mentioned previously, Rodger Scoot 2008 argues that pre-service teacher may construct new identity or transform her or his identity, adapt personal
understandings to realities, and decide how to express herself or himself in classroom activity during this teaching practice program. Thus, this section will
12 discuss the pre-
service teachers’ identity transformation and the factors that contribute to the transformation.
a. Pre-service Teachers’ Identity Transformation on Imagined Identity
While doing their teaching practice, many pre-service teachers still experience a reality shock during the transition from the first to the next teaching
practice due to unpredictable educational contexts Xu, 2012. In this case, pre- service teachers start their first teaching practice with their imagined identities.
Specifically, the imagined identity is individual’s imagination, as described by
Wenger 1998:
... a process of expanding our self by transcending our time and space and creating new images of the world and ourselves. Imagination in this sense is
looking at an apple seed and seeing a tree. It is playing scales on a piano, and envisioning a concert hall as cited in Xu, 2013, p. 20.
Imagination, in this case, is the way people may create unlimited images of themselves based on their unlimited experiences. Besides, Xu 2013 argues that
social cognition theories are used to analyze imagined identity features. Moscovici 2000 mentions that “social cognitions, of which professional is one kind, can be
classified as based on rules, cues, exemplars, or schema” as cited in Iswandari, 2016, p. 3. The detailed explanation on the classification of social cognitions is
shown on Table 2.1 in the next page.
