Teachers’ possible selves and their use of ICT in TEFL: Multiple case studies in Indonesia / Rizki Israeni S. Nur

Rizki Israeni , S. Nur (2019) Teachers’ possible selves and their use of ICT in TEFL: Multiple case studies in Indonesia / Rizki Israeni S. Nur. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Of late, a rapid growth of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has tremendously changed educational practices, particularly in English language teaching and learning. Consequently, many EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers actively use ICT in their classroom practices as it offers amount of benefits in facilitating student learning. Nevertheless, the advantages of ICT in educational practices do not always impress some other teachers. Some teachers, particularly senior teachers, feel reluctant to integrate ICT in teaching. They do not see themselves as figures who are able to teach more effectively using ICT. In psychological perspective, the way people see themselves refers to a ‘self-concept’, which is formed by past experiences. In the case of ICT use among teachers, the way teachers see themselves as ICT practitioners not only are associated by past experiences, but also by their possible potential in the future classroom practices. In other words, teachers’ self-concept about ICT use also links to how they envision themselves and restructure their future classroom practices. The content of the future-oriented component of self-concept have been termed ‘possible selves’. By employing possible selves theory, this study attempted to better understand teachers’ possible selves and their use of ICT in TEFL by seeing how EFL teachers in urban and rural setting perceive their possible selves from their past conventional teaching practices to the current ICT use in teaching practices. Another aim was to see how those particular teachers’ characteristics (ideal self and ought-to self) in each setting (urban and rural) influence their use of ICT in TEFL. The research methodology utilized in this research was qualitative approach within multiple case studies. Four senior EFL teachers participated in this study through purposeful sampling. Each participant went through two interview sessions and three classroom observations. The participants’ students took part in focused-group interview about EFL subject and their teachers (the participants). The interviews and observations were recorded with the consent of participants. To ensure the trustworthiness of this study, several steps were taken. These steps comprised data triangulation, member check, long-term observation, peer examination, and researcher’s bias through reflexivity. The findings of this study revealed that teachers, who guided with ideal selves, were prominently focused on the value of students’ learning experiences. Whereas teachers guided by ought-to selves tended to use ICT to merely pass through the lessons without bringing any significant advantage to students’ learning. The implication for teacher education and teacher professional development are discussed.

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