Abstract
This chapter examines issues arising from constructions of identity and difference in relation to teacher formation in the context of a new Bachelor of Education program, designed to prepare United Arab Emirates (UAE) female nationals for English teaching positions, working alongside non-UAE nationals, in UAE government schools. The juxtapositions of modernity and tradition, the global and the local, extreme wealth and poverty, which comprise the UAE offers a vivid example of the notion that identity relies on difference. Identity is indispensable for its role in self-definition; and yet at the same time, a full or pure identity is made impossible by its reliance on that which exceeds its scope. Identity is an indispensable resource for teachers in thinking about what they believe, what they stand for and what they do: in short how they define who they are. The evolving community of practice that the UAE pre-service teachers established was one of hegemonic 'progressive' teacher identities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | World Yearbook of Education 2010 |
| Subtitle of host publication | Education and the Arab world: Political projects, struggles and geometries of power |
| Editors | Ronald Sultana, Andre Mazawi |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Pages | 145 |
| Number of pages | 162 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0415800341 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Jul 2010 |