Title
‘To act in a good way’ Constructions of EFL teacher-self

Keywords: Teacher-Self, Orientation to the Good (Moral and Pedagogical), Nicaraguan Secondary School English Language Teachers

Authors
Michael Fennell, PhD
Arab American University Jenin, Palestine

Bio Data
Michael Fennell is an assistant professor in TEFL in the Department of Modern Languages, Arab American University Jenin, Palestine. His research interests include the construction of the teacher-self and teachers lives.

Abstract
This article examines the notion of good in the construction of the teacher-self. Brown (2005) challenges those of us involved in ESL teaching…to resist complacency in the construction of ESL teacher identity as a force for good and remain aware of the potential to be much less than this (2005, p.18). This article addresses such a challenge drawing on data collected from a doctoral study into the lives of Nicaraguan Secondary School English language teachers ELTs (Fennell 2007). The study presented a multi-layered model of the teacher-self and it is the second layer which is the focus of this article, showing how an orientation to the good (moral and pedagogical) influences the construction of the teacher-self and how, too, this orientation with its perceived outcome in classroom behaviour falls short in actual classroom behaviour.