Language Teacher Recognition

Book excerpt: This book presents the career narratives of an under-researched group of teachers: immigrant Filipino teachers of English working mainly with young and very young learners in Japan. It provides a nuanced and revealing critique of poststructuralist views of identity and proposes recognition theories as an alternative perspective. It explores the role of the community found in language teacher associations in the formation and strengthening of language teacher identity and reveals new insights into morality and social justice in language teacher identity. The narratives of the teachers and the communities of which they are part demonstrate how prejudice affects these teachers' lives, and how speaking about and celebrating success can affirm individual and group identity.