Who are we when we teach? Why ESOL educators need space to explore identity

When we talk about effective teaching, the focus is often on curriculum design, classroom materials and assessment. Much less attention is paid to the role of teaching identity – who we are in the classroom and how that shapes our practice. Yet for educators working in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), identity can be central to creating inclusive, engaging learning environments.

This was the focus of a workshop I delivered to ESOL practitioners at the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults (NATECLA) Scotland 2025 conference. The aim was to provide a space for practitioners to reflect on their own identities, understand how these currently influence their teaching and explore practical ways that identity-aware reflection can inform language education more broadly. Here, I’ll explore why identity matters in language education and how creating space for reflection can lead to more inclusive, engaging classrooms.

Why identity matters in language education

Our identities are shaped by many factors, including our personal characteristics, our interests, our job and background. They shape how we interact with each other and how people perceive us. Identities are constantly evolving depending on context and experiences. 

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In language teaching, our identity is closely linked to our teaching “persona” and to the ways we interact with students, colleagues and the broader institution. This matters particularly in ESOL, where learners vary in terms of education level, background and learning goals, and where classes are multilingual in nature. It’s important to understand the ways in which our identities are similar or different to the students’, and which parts of ourselves are worth highlighting to support learning and inclusion.

How ESOL practitioners see themselves

I started the workshop by asking participants to describe themselves as ESOL practitioners in three words and to share it on a Padlet board. This warm-up encouraged immediate reflection on valued aspects of their teaching identities. 

Many participants used terms like “social worker”, “guide”, “coach” and “mentor”, indicating that ESOL practitioners see their role as extending beyond language teaching. Others expressed their “frustration and tiredness", with responses such as “exhausted”, “jaded” and “hobbled”, showing how institutional demands shaped their professional identities. 

In contrast, others saw themselves more positively, using adjectives such as “empowering”, “inspiring”, “nice and friendly”, “relatable” and “curious”. Together, these responses showed the diversity of identities in the room and opened up discussion about how context can influence how teachers see themselves.

Understanding language teacher identity

I continued with an explanation of what language teacher identity is and why it is significant in ESOL. Teachers with a strong sense of identity are more sensitive to diversity and inclusion, creating welcoming environments that boost confidence and language development. 

This is particularly relevant in ESOL, where students and teachers don’t often have a common background or language. ESOL practitioners can often be seen as role models, meaning that the way they perform their identities in the classroom can influence how learners perceive them. Having a more comprehensive understanding of language teacher identity can foster better communication practices and help teachers address diverse identities in the classroom. 

From reflection to practice

To make this concrete, I shared practical examples of how identity can inform teaching practice. A multilingual teacher can understand the mental effort of switching languages and clarify meaning using different languages. They can promote a classroom culture that values students’ home languages as assets, rather than barriers, by encouraging students to use their full linguistic repertoire in the classroom, rather than just English.

Similarly, teachers from minority groups often have a deeper understanding of the importance of representation and inclusion. This can influence choices about lesson content and classroom discussion and anticipate challenges faced by minority students. This doesn’t mean, of course, that only certain teachers can adopt inclusive practices but it can make educators more intentional and effective in doing so.

Making space for deeper reflection

Participants were then invited to draw their teacher identity, focusing on the different roles they play for students, their language backgrounds and experiences, as well as other identity characteristics. This sparked discussion on how teachers reveal different aspects of identity depending on their students. 

Some participants shared that not speaking English as a first language allowed them to connect more with students as they were seen as someone with similar language learning experiences. Others discussed how their sense of identity had shifted due to institutional pressures and saw themselves as someone who was simply delivering content, with limited freedom to adapt the curriculum to their learners. 

Participants also shared how they were overworked and stressed, which meant that they found it difficult to bring their creative self into the classroom. 

What ESOL educators need next

Following this discussion, participants considered how identity reflection could be integrated into ESOL. Their varied and interesting responses were mostly related to building a connection with students and bringing their own experiences to the classroom. But some added that they would find identity discussions helpful to improve their relationship with colleagues, and felt that it was important to have time at work to do this. 

To close the session, participants shared on Padlet one takeaway from the session. Many described the workshop as “empowering” and noted that it helped them think more critically about their position within ESOL, the identities they carry and how to negotiate learner resistance to certain aspects of those identities.

Creating reflective spaces in ESOL

These reflections highlight the need for spaces in ESOL and in other educational contexts to reflect on our identities as teachers and how it influences our practice. Supporting educators to reflect on who they are in the classroom is not just an exercise. It’s a step towards more inclusive classrooms and more responsive educational institutions. 

Paula Barrowcliffe is lecturer in English for academic purposes at the University of the West of Scotland.