Ekspatriaattiopettajien identiteettikertomusten äärellä : kokemuksia Abu Dhabista ; Along with the identity reports of expatriate teachers: experience with Abu Dhabi

In my study I examine expatriate teachers' experiences of working abroad and the development of their professional identity. The starting point of my study is the idea that a person's identity is formed through interaction with other people and is a constantly changing process. My study is based on a narrative inquiry. This is because my intention has been to open up new perspectives to better understand the experiences of expatriate teachers, instead of trying to get measurable results. My research questions are: 1. What kind of image(s) do teachers give about expatriate teacher's work? 2. How do teachers reflect on their professional identities after their working period abroad? a) How do teachers experience the fact that they have been expatriate teachers? b) Have teachers' professional identities changed according to their stories? Four teachers who taught in Abu Dhabi as part of EduCluster Finland's education export program were interviewed. In my interviews I used the method of thematic interview which gave space for stories. In the data analysis I used the perspective of the different roles teachers held. This approach is based on Hermans' (2001) positioning theory according to which people have different roles depending on context and interaction with other people. In my first research question I used content analysis as a method to find out the different roles teachers held in their different social contexts. In my second research question I used Webster's and Mertova's (2007) critical event analysis to outline the conflicting roles from the data. In the end I focused more on the conflicting roles by using dialogical analysis based on Hermans' (2001) positioning theory. The results revealed that expatriate teachers have multiple roles many of which are in conflict with each other. From the roles of expatriate teachers were formed four different classes of conflicting roles through which the teachers reflected on their professional identity. As a result of their self reflecting process the teachers ...