Making Sense of Gee and Identity in (Language) Teaching

This perspective article discusses Gee’s (2000) four-pronged framework of identity in the context of (language) teaching . To better make sense of Gee and his framework, I first present a scenario from my teaching context, which contains all the components of Gee’s framework. I then mention some identity questions that encapsulate the scenario and pave the way for discussing the framework. Next, Gee’s conceptualization is presented with a focus on its four dimensions, as followed by a critical discussion of the framework with reference to layers of the scenario. Finally, I conclude with a conceptualization of identity that complements Gee’s framework in better making sense of identity in (language) educational work.