A Study On High School English Teachers’Professional Identity

Teachers’ professional identity is a process as well as a state of mind. In this study, it is defined as a "process", that is, the form of teachers’ professional recognition process through interaction with society, organizations and others. Researches on teachers’ professional identity are still at a tentative stage both in China and abroad, and with flaws, such as the uncertainties in concept, the quantitative shortage in structural study, the disunity of relative studies and the emphasis on the qualitative research method. Based on a comprehensive analysis of these researches, this study made a tentative research on high school English teachers’ professional identity from the perspective of educational psychology. Both qualitative and quantitative are used.This thesis attempts to answer three questions:(1) What is the current perception of high school English teachers’ professional identity?(2) Are there any differences of high school English teachers’ professional identity? If so, how are they different?(3) What are the reasons for these differences?The study is based on a questionnaire survey, supplemented by interviews, with data from100English teachers, randomly selected from six high schools in Yueyang city of Hunan province. Results show that in general, high school English teachers had high professional identity, but low recognition of professional senses of belonging; significant differences existed in terms of gender, age, years of teaching, educational background, position and monthly income level; but no obvious difference was found in terms of professional titles. Besides, reasons for the differences in professional identity have been elaborated. And much constructive advice about how to improve teachers’professional identity has been given.In short, this study made a tentative research on the current status and differences of high school English teachers’professional identity, revealing some distinct characteristics of these high school English teachers. But because of the limitations of the author’s knowledge and ability, this paper is far from perfection and leaves a lot of questions to be answered in future studies.