Exploring Teacher Idealism: The Concentric Model, Narrative Identity, and Agency in English Language Teaching in Türkiye

Abstract

Teacher idealism, the ethical, aspirational, and future‐oriented dimension of professional identity, remains under‐theorized in second language teacher education (SLTE) despite its central role in sustaining pedagogical agency and professional resilience. Drawing on the Concentric Model of Teacher Idealism (Özmen & Harmandaoğlu Baz, 2026), this narrative inquiry examines how three in‐service English language teachers in Türkiye narrate, sustain, and enact teacher idealism amid intensifying systemic demands. Through reflective written testimonials and semi‐structured interviews, the study offers a narrative elaboration of the model's six identity layers: Ethos, Ideal‐Self Schema, Enacted Identity, Professional Cognition, Disciplinary Knowledge, and Axiomatic Frame, as they are shaped by institutional, sociocultural, and macro‐temporal forces. Findings reveal that teacher idealism functions as an enduring, ethically grounded stance rather than a naïve or early‐career disposition, enabling moral agency, pedagogical integrity, and professional resilience under conditions of policy pressure, performativity, and cultural erosion. The analysis identified three contextual fields, institutional, sociocultural, and macro‐temporal/global, illustrating that idealism is not an internal trait but a contextually mediated and discursively negotiated dimension of professional identity. Implications are drawn for SLTE programs, advocating for narrative reflection, ethical inquiry, and contextually responsive pedagogical environments that nurture teacher idealism as a critical professional resource.