218 activity, he replied, “at least I know what I should improve in my teaching.
Consequently, I have a willingness to improve my practice, but I do not know if I have done enough and tried hard enough or I should transform into a different teacher
Interview 2, 0302 2012. As we can see, Joko felt reluctant to alter his professional identity. This may because he thought that changing his practice required him to be a
different teacher and relinquish his “power”. Power is defined as “a teacher’s ability to affect some way the student’s well-being beyond the student’s own control” Hurt et al.,
1978, p. 124. Given that Joko liked to have power as a teacher, he might be afraid to change his practices out of concern that he would lose his power. As a result, Joko
demonstrated denial-like behaviours which implied feelings of loss for what was being asked to be given up or left behind Oliver et al., 2005 . The possibility to lose power
seemed to limit his range of growth and development. To sum up, the findings of the
three case study teachers show that the change in teacher’s pedagogic habitus is influenced by five interrelated factors, namely
self-reflection, awareness of the need for change, commitment to change, action to change, and visualization of possible-selves.
8.4 The interrelated factors influencing the change in teachers’ pedagogic habitus
This section presents five interrelated factors that account for the change in a teacher’s pedagogic habitus, which, in turn, leads to the development in hisher identity.
These include 1 self-reflection; 2 awareness of the need for change; 3 commitment to change; 4 action to change; and 5 visualization of possible-selves. Each factor is
discussed further below.
8.4.1 Self-reflection
Teachers are not completely aware of what happens during their teaching since there are many things going on at the same time when they teach. Therefore, it is
necessary for them to examine their practice in order to be aware of how they teach and to “develop their knowledge of practice through reconsidering what they learn in
practice”Loughran, 2002, p. 34. Given the opportunity and encouragement to explore their teaching through a series of teacher self-evaluation activities, all case study
teachers were able to identify and explore their practice to see what worked and what did not work within their own understanding of the practice and how they saw
themselves as teachers. This understanding then led to the identification of their pedagogic habitus.
219 In other words, self-reflection provides useful information for teachers about
their practice. The acknowledgement of teachers’ pedagogic habitus, identity and some teaching aspects that require special attention encourages teachers to
determine personal goals for making changes.
The goals encourage teachers to take deliberate steps to develop and change existing pedagogic habitus and practice and develop their identity.
This suggests that the need for change will emerge from teacher self-reflection that supports teachers’ development and maintenance of professional expertise.
8.4.2 Awareness of the need for change
A series of teacher self-evaluation activities help teachers to reflect on their practice. This raises their understanding of their practice and themselves as teachers.
They, in turn, achieve a level of conscious awareness of the need to change. In my study, all case study teachers were able to identify aspects of their teaching and
themselves that hindered them from being a more effective teacher. For example, Maya realized that she needed to improve the way she interacted with her students; Andi fully
understood that he spoke too much in the class; Joko realized that he did not give enough waiting time for students to answer his questions. Understanding the things that
need to be improved from their teaching motivates teachers to plan steps for change. In other words, teachers raised their awareness for change after they knew what was
problematic in their instructional practice.
8.4.3 Commitment to change
