Understanding Muslim English-Language Teachers’ Professional Identity and Emotions during Curriculum Change

ELT curriculum reform has revealed a lot about English-language teachers’ emotions and their professional identity. This study explores Muslim English-language teachers’ professional identity and emotional experience focusing on Kelchtermans’ (1993, 2009) three components of professional self: self-image, self-esteem and job motivation. The findings extend on the dynamics of teachers’ personal biographies and emotions in the construction of their professional identity. As teachers’ professional identity construction depends on the interplay between their past and current school contexts, this study provides new perspectives on the unexplored relationship between teacher identities and religion plus how understanding of these could benefit during curriculum change.