Emotional tensions in identity transition from teachers to teacher educators: voices from early-career teacher educators

Abstract Despite the recent interest in the emotions of language teachers, there is limited research on the emotions experienced by teacher educators during their identity transition from being teachers to teacher educators. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and a narrative frame, this qualitative study investigated the emotional tensions experienced by seven early-career English language teacher educators teaching at language institutes in Iran as they navigated new roles and expectations. Findings revealed a notable relationship between this identity transition and emotional tensions experienced by teacher educators, resulting in three main emotional tensions, namely feeling de-skilledness and self-doubt due to new expectations and responsibilities (dual identity), a lack of resilience against emotional tensions, and frustration due to a lack of immediate impacts. This study is important in that early-career teacher educators' identity has not been extensively examined, manifesting a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the emotional tensions they may experience during the transition from teachers to teacher educators. The findings offer implications for understanding the emotional tensions experienced by early-career teacher educators and creating strategies to manage their emotions during identity transition.