Page 162 - LA ENSEÑANZA APRENDIZAJE DE LENGUAS

LA ENSEÑANZA APRENDIZAJE DE LENGUAS:
162 UNA MIRADA DESDE EL SURESTE MEXICANO

Now I know that I have another identity because first I was a very kind teacher but then I became

very strict in that school. So, I changed because I was teaching young learners. I had troublemakers.

They belong to an orphanage so I had to be very firm with them. (Focus group, August 2014).

In this excerpt Otto acknowledges his proactive role and how his identity has evolved.

PSTs’ commented that their personal backgrounds and dispositions influenced how they

socialized within a CoP. They felt that institutional and social constraints in the schools where

they were placed imposed norms, values and common practices of the school upon their

teaching practices. However, by discussing their experiences with each other, they recognized
that different contexts require different approaches to effective handling of poor student be-

haviour, perceiving moments of success and failure and the development of coping strategies.

PSTs were transitioning from being students of teaching to becoming teachers of students.

This experience may be filled with apprehension and fosters the use of coping strategies as is

illustrated in the following excerpt from Julieta who taught young learners in a pilot programme

at the university:

In my opinion what I have to do is to talk with my partners about their experiences as teacher,

especially those who are working with children. I have done that with some of them when I

have the chance and sometimes I realized that they have very similar insecurities and situations,

thus I can infer that fear and doubts are normal on the process of become an English teacher.

Thus, cognitive, motivational and affective processes enabled participating PSTs to exer-
cise a certain degree of agency over environmental conditions, dependent upon how moti-

vated they were.

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas