A NARRATIVE INQUIRY INTO THE IDENTITIES OF IRANIAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN TÜRKİYE

Date

2026-8-10

Author

Ghyasi, Majid

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The purpose of this study is to investigate accumulated experiential capital, post-immigration identity negotiation, and imagined identities of immigrant English teachers from Iran working in Türkiye, a group that is not well-represented in identity-focused research on teacher immigration. Drawing on the theory of poststructuralism, the study explores how these teachers‘ life backgrounds, formed during their years in Iran, contribute to their current identities. Bourdieu‘s theory of capital can best capture the resources playing a role in the identity of the teachers. The study also aims to discover how the teachers negotiate identities in light of the new contextual nuances after immigrating to Türkiye. Finally, the study discovers the imagined identities teachers possess, which are explored in the form of communities they want to associate with in the future. The study employs a multiple-case narrative inquiry design, involving diaries and semi-structured interviews with seven Iranian immigrant private school teachers in Ankara, Türkiye. Data were analyzed thematically, with attention to the content of stories, commonalities, categorical analysis, and cross-participant comparisons. The findings indicate that participants reconstruct identities by negotiating their Iranianness and new contextual realities. They both benefit and balance capitals earned in Iran with the new contextual realities, but they are subjected to new identities and experience a loss of their power within the new context. However, imagined identities show strong optimism in how they view themselves in the future. These results suggest that the identities of the participants are shaped by life experience, structural affordances and limitations, and imagined future trajectories within and beyond the host education system. By emphasizing the voices of Iranian immigrant teachers in Türkiye, this study contributes significantly to discussions about immigrant teachers and identity negotiations. The study offers implications for educational institutions, teacher education programs, and immigrant teachers themselves. While it is essential to inform teachers of such status about their valuable potential, it is also incumbent on educational institutions to recognize their legitimacy and teacher education programs to facilitate their inclusion in educational planning.

Subject Keywords

Teacher Identity, Poststructuralism, Bourdieu‘s Capital, Imagined Identity, Narrative Inquiry

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/120013

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis