Authors: Chunlin Yao and Jie Yang
Tianjin Chengjian University

Edition: Volume 63, Number 3, November 2023

Introduction: The study explores the effects of working practice in cultivating Chinese university teachers’ professional identities. It collects data from questions delivered in a presentation forum and individual interviews. After analysing the data, the study gets the following findings. Firstly, the reasons for participants choosing to be university teachers include personal interests and job satisfaction. Secondly, after working for some years, participants’ professional identities change significantly. They understand their position deeply, becoming more interested in their jobs, setting up more apparent professional goals or missions, and highlighting their moral levels and working ethics. Thirdly, working practice helps participants build clear professional plans. They expect to promote their teaching capabilities, communication abilities, and moral levels. Fourthly, working practice helps participants set up a strong sense of belongingness as university teachers. They care about other’s opinions of their group. The findings illustrate that working practice can improve Chinese university teachers’ professional identity, which can be explained by the collectivism of Chinese culture.

Keywords: Chinese, professional identity, university teacher, working practice

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 63:3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.