Unpacking My Experience as an English Teacher in Turkey: An Autoethnographic Perspective

Identity studies have gained ground in applied linguistics and many conventional research areas are explored under the more inclusive term of identity. Due to the fluidity of identity, important life events including immigration play a major role in (re)construction of the identity of teachers. In this autoethnographic research, my identity positions as an Iranian English teacher in Turkey are recounted. Employing autoethnography research, I use my reflection, diary, and records of my social media communication to recount the related events. While having my professional identity at the focal point, I will recount social, cultural, and even political narratives which might have affected the reconstruction of my identity. The reflection mainly includes narration of happenings at the school I used to work at, which was managed in a more strict way than other schools. There are also explanations about areas where I needed to show openness to adapt myself to the new roles in the school, while at some points I was more comfortable with being a foreigner than making efforts to blend into the new context. It also includes cultural and social differences from those in my hometown ranging from simple greetings to major behavior of the society toward a crisis that made the process of full integration not easily achievable. Finally, there is a reflection on some distinctive features that I observed over the period of my stay in Turkey. Encouraging teachers to keep a diary journal can be the main implication for classroom practice.