Unraveling Professional Identity Through Lived Experiences Over Time: Employing Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Narrative Inquiry

This article demonstrates the advantages of combining hermeneutic phenomenology and narrative inquiry to examine the professional identity formation of English language teachers in Australia from non-native English-speaking immigrant backgrounds. By exploring the lived experiences of 16 teachers from 10 countries, this study foregrounds individual and shared trajectories, moving beyond the binary categories of native and non-native English-speaking teachers (NESTs and NNESTs) and capturing the evolving nature of identity formation over time. The study unravels the spatial-temporal and corporeal-relational dimensions that shape the identities, spanning from early lived experiences to current professional roles and future imaginations. Employing a recursive methodological orientation, this research emphasizes broad-based engagement with the phenomenon, framing critical questions, dialogic data generations, iterative interpretation, and reflective depth, facilitating an in-depth analysis of professional identity development. The integration of hermeneutic phenomenology and narrative inquiry offers holistic insights into the fluid processes underpinning identity construction, contributing to academic discourse on qualitative methodologies and offering practical implications for educational policy, teacher education, and support systems. This methodological approach demonstrates how such methods unveil the dimensions and layers of teacher professional identities, providing nuanced perspectives that can inform intercultural educational strategies and interventions.