Creating Space for Identity Work: Five Arts-Based Activities for Language and Language Teacher Education
By: Mimi Masson and Shawna M. Carroll
As teacher educators working in both Canadian and Japanese contexts, we have observed a persistent challenge: how do we help future teachers develop a deep understanding of their own linguistic and cultural identities while preparing them to support diverse learners? Drawing on arts-based multiliteracies (Peters & Mongeon-Ferré, 2023) and a rich history of arts-based research, we have developed approaches that facilitate student-centered learning while engaging learners in transformative, creative experiences that honor the meaning-making process (Uhrmacher, 2009). For more details, read Masson and Cote (2024a).
The Canvas We Work On
Our work is grounded in several key theoretical perspectives that inform both our research and practice. We approach language teacher education through an intersectional lens to investigate power relationships (Carroll, 2023), while simultaneously introducing future teachers to key concepts in language pedagogy such as plurilingualism and translanguaging. This approach allows us to access knowledge that is not readily available through traditional written or oral activities (Busch, 2006; Kress, 2004), while helping pre-service teachers explicitly identify their beliefs about language and language learning through critical reflection (Leitch, 2006; Rosenberg, 2010).
Building on the concept of identity-as-pedagogy (Motha et al., 2012), we developed activities that allow future teachers and language learners to:
- Examine their beliefs about languages and the language of instruction
- Explore their relationship with languages and cultures
- Challenge their assumptions about what makes a “good” language teacher and learner
- Address their fears and hopes about their future practice
Our Toolkit: Five Arts-Based Activities for Identity Development
We use the following activities with student-teachers in our Faculty of Education programs, but these activities can also be adapted to be used with English language learners (ELLs) more broadly to develop self-reflection of identities and develop linguistic competencies holistically, including speaking and listening (by presenting and asking questions about the artwork), and reading and writing (by writing summaries and reading the curatorial statements about the artwork).
1. Linguistic Repertoire Through Venn Diagrams
This activity, inspired by Shakina Rajendram at the University of Toronto, builds on research showing how visual representations can help learners articulate complex linguistic relationships while challenging monolingual ideologies (Prasad, 2018b).
We asked students to represent the different languages they know and how they learned these languages, in what contexts, with whom, through what activities, etc. In the images below, students showed the overlap between the different languages they learned (such as, Japanese, French, English, Mandarin, Thai, Spanish) in the different contexts in their lives (for instance at home, at school, with family members, for work) and the different ways that they learned these languages (for example, through study abroad experiences, by studying grammar, listening to podcasts, through social media, by singing karaoke, etc.) This is a great way to introduce theories of learning and additional language acquisition (i.e., learning a second or foreign language) to novice teachers, working from their life experience. In ELL classrooms, it can help students visualise the diversity within the classroom and start conversations about diverse motivations and approaches for learning additional languages. It also served to demonstrate that we don’t all achieve perfect mastery in equal ways in the different languages we speak: a foundational principle of the plurilingual approach to viewing language learning.
2. Plurilingual Poetry: Beyond Grammar Rules
This activity exemplifies what Busch (2006) describes as the need to create spaces for multilingual expression in educational settings. By encouraging pre-service teachers or ELLs to use their full linguistic repertoire, we create opportunities for what Kress (2004) terms “multimodal meaning-making.”
We ask students to write a poem; in this case, we were inspired by Burton et al. (2020) to use the I AM FROM poem below. Not only did this allow us to get to know our students better, it gave them the opportunity to experience first-hand the concepts of plurilingualism and translanguaging in practice. It also allowed students to play with language, without strict grammatical rules and learn more about themselves and their cultures as they embark on their journeys as young adults, many of whom will leave or who have left their family homes.
3. The “Ideal Teacher” Collage
Drawing on Prasad’s (2018b) work on visual representations of plurilingualism through collage, we asked students to create a collage of their ideal teacher selves. This activity helps future teachers examine their assumptions about teaching while addressing issues of inclusion and equity. The collage format allows for rich representation of cultural elements and teaching ideals while facilitating discussions about power relations in the classroom. In the collage below, the teacher candidate represented student participation with images of a mouth and a newspaper. She also expresses questions about what counts as knowledge with the images of brains, a doctor and a woman reading books, how to bring heart into classroom interactions with the slogan “Le coeur, parce qu’il est vital, on en prend soin” (which translates to the heart, because it is vital, we take care of it), how to encourage student participation with the images of “My Own Story” reversed, “Hands up”/ “Who’s in” and visual references to “La parole” (the spoken word, in French). This activity could be easily adapted in ELL classrooms, where students could focus on their identities as a language learner and student.
4. Plurilingual Portraits: Embodying Language Experience
Our approach to plurilingual portraits builds on a long tradition of using portraiture with young language learners (Prasad, 2018a) and more recently with teacher candidates (Melo-Pfeifer, 2021; Oniță et al., 2021). In our recent research, we used this work with teacher candidates (Masson & Cote, 2024b) and ELLs to examine how language and culture are embodied in teaching and learning experiences. This activity helps pre-service teachers and English language learners to understand how language shapes identity and to express cultural connections through the use of visual metaphor. As you can see in the plurilingual portrait below, the teacher candidate shows how deeply interconnected language and culture are and how she imagines this relationship in a deeply reflective and creative way. For example, the national flags are purposefully placed according to her feeling of proficiency and closeness to the language. The Japanese flag is on her head, representing that she thinks in Japanese, while the British and American flags are not part of her body “yet,” and are represented on the book’s cover as the kinds of Englishes she studies. Her green arm and tree with 4 colors representing the 4 seasons shows the way that nature is deeply embedded in the Japanese language and her experience. Students reflected on these plurilingual portraits, sharing how important this process was in thinking about their individual identities as future teachers and plurilingual students.
5. Identity Texts: Voicing Teacher Concerns
This activity directly addresses what Leitch (2006) identifies as the limitations of traditional language-based approaches in exploring teacher identities. We asked teacher candidates to create identity-texts (Cummins & Early, 2011) that express how they feel about getting ready to teach. For example, in the identity text the teacher candidate created below, she expresses a strong focus on grammar and vocabulary as foundational aspects of the language curriculum. She also expresses a socio-constructivist approach to teaching by talking about building knowledge “ensemble” (together) with students. The text was also a way for her to identify her strengths (creativity, a passion for music and the arts) and weaknesses (worries about teaching grammar and vocabulary). From this work, in class, we were able to engage in deeper discussions about what it means to teach language in a way that goes beyond mastery of a linguistic code governed by grammatical and lexical rules. By creating identity texts, pre-service teachers can express their fears, doubts, and hopes about their future practice in ways that might remain hidden in conventional discussions. It opened up possibilities for vulnerable and honest conversations with teacher candidates. This activity could be easily adapted for the ELL classroom, where English language learners share insights about their identities and insights as ELLs.
Identity text created by a French as a second language teacher candidate in Canada.
Transcribed text
Texte identitaire
Mes espoirs : J’espère que je serai une enseignante empathique et patiente.
Mes doutes et mes inquiétudes : J’ai des doutes de pouvoir accomplir tout le matériel du curriculum.
J’ai hâte de pouvoir découvrir le monde de la francophonie avec les étudiants.
Mes sources : la musique, les arts, les activités orales.
Et mes faiblesses : je travaille encore la grammaire et l’orthographe.
Ensemble, on va apprendre !!!
Translated text
Identity Text
My hopes: I hope that I will be an empathetic and patient teacher.
My doubts and concerns: I have doubts about being able to complete all the material in the curriculum.
I’m excited to discover the Francophone world together with the students.
My strengths: Music, the arts, and oral activities.
And my weaknesses: I’m still working on grammar and spelling.
Together, we’ll learn!!!
Creating Safe Spaces for Exploration
Following Peters and Mongeon-Ferré’s (2023) pedagogy of arts and multiliteracies, we structure these activities to:
- Establish clear guidelines for sharing and discussion
- Model vulnerability and openness
- Provide options for private reflection alongside group sharing
Assessment Approaches
While these activities emphasize creative expression and personal reflection, we ground our assessment practices in Uhrmacher’s (2009) theory of aesthetic learning experiences, focusing on:
- Depth of reflection
- Evidence of critical thinking about language and identity
- Connection to teaching practice (in the case of pre-service teacher candidates)
It’s important not to assess the artwork per se, giving space for learners to play and explore their creativity for the purpose of reflection.
Looking Forward: Adapting These Activities
Recent research (Masson & Cote, 2024b) suggests that arts-based approaches can be particularly effective in addressing issues of belonging and legitimacy for language teachers, which we find also to be pertinent for English language learners. We encourage teacher educators and English language teachers to adapt these activities while maintaining their theoretical foundations in:
- Plurilingual pedagogy
- Critical reflection on teaching practice
- Multimodal meaning-making
- Identity exploration
Conclusion
Through our work with pre-service teachers and English (Japan) and French (Canada) language learners, we’ve found that these arts-based activities create what Uhrmacher (2009) describes as transformative learning experiences. By integrating creative expression with critical reflection, we help future teachers develop both their professional identity and their capacity to support diverse learners. Ultimately, this sort of activity is more than just fun. It can have deep long-lasting impacts on teenage and young adult students who are still reflecting on who they are, who they want to become and affirming their personal and professional identity during key developmental years in their life.
References
Burton, J., Wong, W., & Rajendram, S. (2020). Creative multimodal poetry and spoken word activities: Supporting multilingual English language learners in K-12 classrooms. In H. Elsherief, & M. Masson (Eds.), Every teacher is a language teacher (Vol. 1, pp. 5–25). University of Ottawa Second Language Education Cohort. http://www.cl2cuottawa.ca/publications/
Busch, B. (2006). Language biographies – approaches to multilingualism in education and linguistic research. In B. Busch, A. Jardine, & A. Tjoutuku (Eds.), Language biographies for multilingual learning (pp. 5–18). PRAESA. https://www.praesa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Paper24.pdf
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Cummins, J., & Early, M. (Eds.). (2011). Identity texts: The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools. Trentham Books.
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Leitch, R. (2006). Limitations of language: Developing arts‐based creative narrative in stories of teachers’ identities. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(5), 549-569. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600600832270
Masson, M., & Cote, S. E. (2024a). An arts-based multiliteracies approach to elicit meaning-making in language teacher identity work. In B. Peters (Ed.), Arts-Based Multiliteracies for Teaching and Learning (pp. 327-363). IGI Global.
Masson, M., & Côté, S. (2024b). Belonging and legitimacy for French language teachers: A visual analysis of raciolinguistic discourses. In X. Huo & C. Smith (Eds.), Interrogating race and racism in postsecondary language classrooms (pp. 116-149). IGI Global.
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Uhrmacher, P. B. (2009). Toward a theory of aesthetic learning experiences. Curriculum Inquiry, 39(5), 613-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2009.00462.x
Dr. Mimi Masson is an Assistant Professor at the Université de Sherbrooke’s Faculty of Education, specializing in additional language education. With over 15 years of experience teaching French and English in Canada and Japan, she employs arts-based methodologies to study teacher identity and professional development, focusing on antiracist and inclusive education practices.
Dr. Shawna M. Carroll is a full-time faculty member in Capilano University’s School of Education and Childhood Studies. Shawna has worked in teacher education for more than 10 years in Canada and Japan, focusing on anti-oppressive and anti-colonial pedagogies in language education and (language) teacher education.