Perceptions of the ‘good teacher’ in the recertification process of Internationally Educated Teachers in Canada

This paper examines how conceptions of the ‘good teacher’ are constructed and negotiated within recertification processes of Internationally Educated Teachers (IETs) in Canada. Drawing on interviews with IETs and institutional actors, alongside analysis of policy documents, the study identifies four discourses of teacher professionalism: the compliant technician, the competent craftsperson, the reflective practitioner, and the transformative educator. These discourses carry unequal weight: the first two reflect dominant, regulatory constructions of teacher professionalism under neoliberal governance, while the latter two occupy more contested terrain, simultaneously representing counter-traditions and remaining susceptible to co-optation within accountability frameworks. Recertification emerges not as a neutral process of credential validation but as a site of epistemic boundary-making, where measurable, standardised criteria render IETs’ prior knowledge, pedagogical traditions, and relational expertise as invisible or insufficient. The findings challenge binary constructions that position Canadian education as inherently superior to non-Western systems, illustrating how IETs draw on diverse transnational experiences to develop professional practice that enriches schools. The paper calls for teacher professionalism grounded in complexity and reciprocity, arguing that when teachers engage continuously with diverse perspectives on education and are given sustained opportunities to reflect on their practice alongside colleagues, the profession as a whole is strengthened.