Chinese Languages Other Than English (LOTEs) Teachers’ Identity Construction and Emotional Experiences in Macro‐Level Multiple Educational Changes

ABSTRACT Teachers’ identity construction and emotional experiences can be profoundly affected by macro‐level educational changes. Understanding the inherent complexity of teachers’ professional selves and their emotional worlds within the macro‐level‐driven ecological dynamics is of fundamental importance, as the identity‐emotion interplay lies at the very heart of teacher agency, well‐being, and ultimate effectiveness in educational reforms. The present study focuses on how Languages Other Than English (LOTEs) teachers’ identity development interacts with their emotional experiences within interconnected ecological systems, seeking to produce a contextualized understanding about this uniquely ecologically positioned yet often overlooked teacher group as to empower a wider range of marginalized educators. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological system framework, this longitudinal multiple case study employed semi‐structured interviews to explore how 4 Chinese LOTEs teachers in a science and engineering university navigate their identity construction and emotional responses amid ongoing macro educational reforms. The findings reveal that macro reforms influence LOTEs teachers’ identity construction and emotional experiences by compelling them to break away from their local eco context and engage in interactions across different workplace ecosystems. Our findings emphasize the necessity for tailored support systems in educational changes to address LOTEs teachers’ diverse professional needs, as to facilitate their smoother identity transitions and nurture their affective well‐being, thus having important implications for educational reformers, teacher educators, and foreign language teachers.