Islam and Professional Identity; Exploring the Influence of Religion in Shaping the English Teacher Professional Identities in Indonesia and Thailand
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22219/englie.v7i1.42811Keywords:
islam, teacher, teacher's professional identity, Indonesia, ThailandAbstract
This study explores the influence of Islamic values on the professional identity of muslim english teachers in indonesia and thailand. while existing literature on teacher identity often emphasizes gender, race, and christian contexts, the role of islam remains underexamined. employing a narrative inquiry approach, this research draws on in-depth interviews and classroom observations of two english teachers—one from a pesantren in Indonesia and another from an islamic private school in southern Thailand. Thematic analysis reveals three key dimensions through which islam shapes teacher identity: as a motivational force in choosing the profession, as integrated content within english teaching materials, and as a guiding framework for upholding students’ religious values. The findings suggest that religious identity significantly informs pedagogical practices and teacher-student interactions. However, the prioritization of moral and religious instruction may at times overshadow the development of students’ English language proficiency. The study recommends that school stakeholders critically evaluate curriculum design to ensure a balanced integration of religious values and language competency.
Downloads
References
Almayez, M. (2022). Investigating the place of religion within the professional identity construction of two Muslim English language teachers in Saudi Arabia. Cogent Education, 9(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2091632
Andriani, Z. Z. D. (2024). Adjustment and adaptation: English curriculum development in pesantren. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 11(2), 249–266. https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v11i2.19862
Assalihee, M., & Boonsuk, Y. (2022). Factors obstructing English teaching effectiveness: teacher voices from Thailand’s deep south. IAFOR Journal of Education, 10(1), 155–172. https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.10.1.08
Azevedo, V., Carvalho, M., Fernandes-Costa, F., Mesquita, S., Soares, J., Teixeira, F., & Maia, Â. (2017). Interview transcription: Conceptual issues, practical guidelines, and challenges. Revista de Enfermagem Referência, 4(14), 159–167.https://doi.org/10.12707/RIV17018
Azhar, M. (2022). Attitude relation, online news, appraisal theory. Pendalas: Jurnal Penelitian Tindakan Kelas Dan Pengabdian Masyarakat, 2(2), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.47006/pendalas.v2i2.103
Ball, S. J., & Goodson, I. F. (1985). Understanding teachers: Concepts and contexts. Teachers’ Lives and Careers (1st ed.). Routledge.
Barkhuizen, G., & Mendieta, J. (2020). Teacher identity and good language teachers. In C. Griffiths & Z. Tajeddin (Eds.), Lessons from Good Language Teachers (pp. 3–15), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108774390.004
Baurain, B. (2013). Religious faith, teacher knowledge, and overseas Christian ESOL teachers. (Publication No. AAI3604617.) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln]. Digital Commons University of Nebraska-Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3604617.
Bolton, K. (2008). English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of proficiency. English Today, 24(2), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026607840800014X
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE Publication India.
Broadfoot, P., Osborn, M., Gilly, M., & Paillet, A. (1988). What professional responsibility means to teachers: National contexts and classroom constants. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 9(3), 265–287. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1392793
Butler, C. (2015). Making interview transcripts real: The reader’s response. Work, Employment and Society, 29(1), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017014523482
Ding, X., & De Costa, P. I. (2018). Faith-Based teacher emotional experiences: A case study of a veteran English lecturer in China. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 41(4), 532–551. https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2018-0037
Downey, C. A., & Clandinin, D. J. (2019). Narrative inquiry as reflective practice: Tensions and possibilities. In Journeys in Narrative Inquiry (1st ed.). Routledge.
Farid, A., & Lamb, M. (2020). English for Da'wah? L2 motivation in Indonesian pesantren schools. System, 94, 102310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102310
Farid, A., Adara, R. A., & Ashar, S. (2023). The impacts of school on English learners’ motivation in Indonesian Islamic schools. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 10(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v10i2.14656
Forbes, M. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage Journals, 22(2), 132-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X211058251
Gee, J. P. (2000). Chapter 3: Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Sage Journals, 25(1), 99–125. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X0250010
Gracia, E. P., Rodríguez, R. S., & Pedrajas, A. P. (2022). Teachers’ professional identity construction: A review of the literature. Profesorado, Revista de Currículum y Formación Del Profesorado, 26(1), 371–393. https://doi.org/10.30827/profesorado.v26i1.13211
Hamid, M. O. (2023). English as a Southern language. Language in Society, 52(3), 409–432. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047404522000069
Han, H. (2018). Studying religion and language teaching and learning: Building a subfield. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 432–445. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12486
Irham, I. (2023). English language teaching in bilingual pesantren in Indonesia. In P. Chamness Iida, E., Mikulec, & M. F. Agnello (Eds.), English Language Education in Rural Contexts (pp. 203–219). Leiden: BRILL. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004549647_012
James, J. H., Schweber, S., Kunzman, R., Barton, K. C., & Logan, K. (2014). Religion in the classroom (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203507445
Jarvis, J. (2021). Teacher identity and religion education in life orientation. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 17(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v17i1.1076
Johnston, B., & Varghese, M. M. (2006). Neo-imperialism, evangelism, and ELT: Modernist missions and a postmodern profession. In J. Edge (ed), (Re-) locating TESOL in an age of empire. (195–207). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-0-230-50223-9_11
Juwariyah, S. (2021). World Englishes and the teaching of English as an international language: Indonesian teachers’ perspectives. and professional development experiences. [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Arizona] The University of Arizona ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/660783
Karimpour, S., Jafari, R., & Nazari, M. (2024). Exploring the role of religious ideology in English Language Teachers’ identity construction: A community of practice perspective. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 33(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-022-00710-0
Kim, H. J., & Uysal, H. (2025). Criticality, agency, and language teacher identities: research and praxis from global teacher education (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Knowles, J. G., Marlow, S. E., & Muchmore, J. A. (1992). From pedagogy to ideology: Origins and phases of home education in the United States, 1970-1990. American Journal of Education, 100(2), 195–235. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1085568
Kobayashi, Y. (2017). ASEAN English teachers as a model for international English learners: Modified teaching principles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 682–696. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12173
Lee, H., & Jang, G. (2023). Native English teachers’ construction and negotiation of professional identities in the context of Korea: An analysis of multilayered nature of identities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 122, 103981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103981
Mansour, N. (2008). The experiences and personal religious beliefs of Egyptian science teachers as a framework for understanding the shaping and reshaping of their beliefs and practices about science‐technology‐society (STS). International Journal of Science Education, 30(12), 1605–1634. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701463303
Markus, H. R. (2016). What moves people to action? Culture and motivation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 161–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.028
Miller, E. R., Morgan, B., & Medina, A. L. (2017). Exploring language teacher identity work as ethical self‐formation. The Modern Language Journal, 101(S1), 91–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12371
Muhalim, M. (2023). Negotiating religious discourses in English language teaching: Reorienting and reframing dominant English ideologies. Changing English, 30(3), 209–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2023.2217424
Nabukeera, O. P. (2020). The positioning of black esl educators in the United States: a narrative study on race, language and identity. The CATESOL Journal. https://doi.org/10.5070/b5.35906
National Institute of Educational Testing Service. (2017). National educational test reporting system (o-net). Bangkok: National Institute of Educational Testing Service.
Nazari, M. (2024). Ecological Intersections of Religious Ideology, Agency, and Identity: Voices of Iranian English Language Teachers. TESL-EJ, 28(1), 1994-2012. https://doi.org/10.55593/ej.28109s3
O’Leary, M. (2020). Classroom observation: A guide to the effective observation of teaching and learning (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315630243
Olshefski, C. A. (2021). Anti-racist, anti-gay: A white Evangelical English teacher’s negotiations of her faith and critical inquiry. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 20(1), 108–123. https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-10-2019-0124
Owen-Smith, A., & Coast, J. (2017). Understanding data collection: interviews, focus groups and observation. In J. Coast (Ed.), Qualitative methods for health economics (pp. 59-91). Rowman & Littlefield.
Pennycook, A., & Makoni, S. (2005). The modern mission: The language effects of Christianity. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 4(2), 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0402_5
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839950080103
Pramesti, D. (2018). The teaching of English at pondok pesantren Nurul Falah.[ Master Thesis, UIN Jakarta] Repository UIN Jakarta https://repository.uinjkt.ac.id/dspace/bitstream/123456789/37702/1/Dwi%20pramesti-FITK
Qoyyimah, U., Singh, P., Exley, B., Doherty, C., & Agustiawan, Y. (2023). Professional identity and imagined student identity of EIL teachers in islamic schools. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 22(2), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2020.1833726
Rohmah, Z. (2012). Incorporating Islamic messages in the English teaching in the Indonesian context. International J. Soc. Sci. & Education, 2(2), 157–165.
Sari, D. M. (2023). English language teaching in pesantren: Challenges and strategies. At Turots: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 5(1), 110–123. https://doi.org/10.51468/jpi.v5i2.174
Sarwari, K., Pishghadam, R., & Shayesteh, S. (2024). Examining the roles of spiritual motivation, religiosity, and L2 WTC in English. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 9(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-024-00285-x
Sharma, V. (2024). Ethical Education: Integrating Buddhist Ethics into Pedagogical Practices. The Academy of International Mutidiscipliry Research. 2(12), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14713398
Srisueb, P., & Wasanasomsithi, P. (2010). A needs analysis of secondary school students learning English as a third language in Islamic religious schools in Narathiwat province. Princess of Naradhiwas University Journal, 2(3), 84–98. https://doi.org/10.58837/CHULA.THE.2009.2182
Stirling, K. C. (2025). 5 facts about Muslims and Christians in Indonesia. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/28/5-facts-about-muslims-and-christians-in-indonesia/
Tajeddin, Z., & Yazan, B. (2024). Language teacher identity tensions: Nexus of agency, emotion, and investment (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003402411
Terry, G., Hayfield, N., Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2(17–37), 25. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526405555
Trakulkasemsuk, W. (2018). English in Thailand: Looking back to the past, at the present and towards the future. Asian Englishes, 20(2), 96–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2017.1421602
Tripp, D. (1994). Teachers’ lives, critical incidents, and professional practice. Qualitative Studies in Education, 7(1), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839940070105
Umam, C. (2014). Maintaining Islamic values in English language teaching in Indonesian pesantrens. DIDAKTIKA Religia: Journal of Islamic Education, 2(1), 227–242. https://doi.org/10.30762/didaktika.v2i1.139
Vaccino-Salvadore, S. (2024). “My religion guides me, even as a teacher”: Examining religious identities of English language teachers in Kuwait. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 23(1), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.1955685
Verkuyten, M., & De Wolf, A. (2002). Ethnic minority identity and group context: Self‐descriptions, acculturation attitudes and group evaluations in an intra‐and intergroup situation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32(6), 781–800. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.121
Vitanova, G. (2018). “Just treat me as a teacher!” Mapping language teacher agency through gender, race, and professional discourses. 79, 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.05.013
Vu, N. T. (2023). Student engagement in intercultural competence: A study at Vietnamese colleges. MEXTESOL Journal, 47(4), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.61871/mj.v47n4-4
Wahyudi, R. (2026). Criticality, agency, investment, tension, and vulnerability in my Global South teacher–scholar multiple identities: A critical auto-ethnographic account. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2026.2613125
White, K. R. (2009). Connecting religion and teacher identity: The unexplored relationship between teachers and religion in public schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(6), 857–866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.01.004
Wong, M. S. (2014). The history, nature and future of faith-informed research in English language teaching. International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching, 1(1), 6-23 https://jstor.org/stable/community.38865393
Wong, M. S., & Mahboob, A. (2018). Spirituality and English language teaching: Religious explorations of teacher identity, pedagogy and context. Multilingual Matters.
Yazan, B. (2022). Language teacher identity in TESOL. Teacher education and practice as identity work (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429342875
Zailany, R. M. (2024). Pemahaman hadis tentang ridho allah pada ridho orang tua (studi ma’nil hadis). [Undergraduate Thesis, Uin Sunan Kalijogo] Digilib UIN Sunan Kalijogo http://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/id/eprint/68324
Zein, S., Sukyadi, D., Hamied, F. A., & Lengkanawati, N. S. (2020). English language education in Indonesia: A review of research (2011–2019). Language Teaching, 53(4), 491–523. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000208
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Andriani et al
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with English Learning Innovation (englie) agree to the following terms:
- For all articles published in English Learning Innovation (englie), copyright is retained by the authors. Authors give permission to the publisher to announce the work with conditions. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the publishing right to the publisher.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
