Symbolic endorsement, structural unprotection, and the positioning of language teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand

This study examines how Languages Other Than English (LOTE) educators in Aotearoa New Zealand experience and negotiate their professional roles within a policy environment that publicly values multilingualism but provides limited structural support for language education. While languages are consistently endorsed in curriculum and policy documents, they remain optional and lack institutional guarantees, resulting in fragile and uneven provision. Drawing on narrative inquiry and positioning theory, the study analyses interviews with five language educators to explore how these policy conditions shape their professional identities. The findings show that teachers are recognised as promoting valuable educational goals yet are also expected to take primary responsibility for sustaining programmes, advocating for their subjects, and justifying their continued existence. We conceptualise this contradiction as symbolic endorsement alongside structural unprotection, where rhetorical support is not accompanied by institutional commitment. Rather than being a neutral policy choice, this optionality makes language programmes vulnerable to local decision-making and gradual decline. The study contributes to language education research by demonstrating how policy conditions shape teachers’ rights, responsibilities, and professional identities in Anglophone contexts.