Stories Of A Pre-Service English Teacher’s Commitment To Becoming An English Teacher
Abstract
Despite the growing number of research investigating initial teacher
education among EFL pre-service teachers, there has been limited discussion about
their commitment to becoming English teachers. This present study aims to
investigate EFL pre-service teachers’ commitment to becoming English teachers
and the factors constructing their commitment to becoming English teachers. This
study applied narrative inquiry as the research method. One pre-service English
teacher voluntarily participated in this research and has passed the Microteaching
course, and the PPL (Praktik Pengalaman Lapangan or School-based teaching
practicum). Interviews were used in this study to obtain the data. In analyzing the
data, the researcher used narrative data analysis methods which include:
transcribing the data, member-checking, and coding. Ela (pseudonym), the
preservice teacher in the 7th semester, is now a third-year student at one of the
private universities in Yogyakarta. She was chosen for being the participant
considering her incredible profile she grew up in a boarding school environment,
during the pandemic, she has taught at the elementary school in her pesantren and
now also teaches English at the elementary school. Until now, the environment of
her life is still within the scope of the pesantren which her father and mother have
pioneered for a long time. Several factors affected her teaching commitment. First,
personal characteristics that build Ela to have commitment to teaching because she
likes teaching and sharing her knowledge with the students. Second, environmental
determinants were the most influential factor because Ela's parents founded a
boarding school, which made Ela build a commitment to teaching to help her
parents build the education in their pesantren. Third, learning experience also led
her to this teaching commitment while after facing many more experiences to teach
since senior high school then microteaching and school-based practicum from the
university. This study suggests implications for the pre-service English teacher, and
stakeholders considering factors teaching commitments.