“I Feel like a Power Plant”: <scp>TESOL</scp> Teacher Educators' Directed Motivational Currents

Abstract In TESOL, motivation research has usually examined learners and teachers. However, less is known about teacher educators, who play a crucial role in the architecture of language teaching and learning processes. In response to this niche, this article describes the directed motivational currents (DMCs) of a group of 36 TESOL teacher educators from Latin America who agentically formed an online professional network to support each other. It also depicts the synergy between DMCs and situated practices. To this effect, a 33‐month qualitative study was conducted within the network. Data were collected through visuals (drawings, memes, photos, and teachoramas), group meetings, and individual meetings, and subjected to thematic analysis. In this article, we specifically report data from four participants (exemplars) to depict four trends/types of DMCs according to their orientation: (1) character virtue development‐oriented, (2) trajectory‐oriented, (3) project‐oriented, and (4) professional development‐oriented. We propose a context‐responsive TESOL teacher educators' model of DMCs in which goals, emotions, events, strategies, and practices play a pivotal role. Implications and limitations are included.