Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword by Donald Freeman -- Introduction -- Learning to Teach within an Evolving Community of Practice -- Learning to Teach: A Brief Review -- Learning to Teach and Identity -- 1 Discourse, Identity and Community -- Exploring Discourse -- Exploring Identity -- Culturalism and cultural identities -- Discourse and positional identities -- Figured worlds and figurative identities -- Improvisation and authored identities -- Agency within structure -- Exploring Communities of Practice -- Dimensions of a community of practice -- Locality -- Boundaries and border practices -- Dimensions of Identity and Modes of Belonging -- Co-constructing Identity, Discourse and Community -- Conclusion -- 2 The Discursive Context -- Discourse and the Formation of the UAE -- The Islamic period -- The transformational period -- The colonial period -- The contemporary period -- Discourses of Contemporary Collective Identity in the UAE -- Discourses of UAE Education -- Discourses of globalization and nationalism in UAE education -- Discourses of gender in UAE education -- Discourse and Teacher Education -- Student Teachers as Agents of Change -- A change in pedagogy -- A change in the nature of the content and focus of English lessons -- A change in the breadth of teacher knowledge -- A change in mode of learning -- Foundational-Overarching Principles: Vygotsky, Dewey and Bakhtin in UAE Teacher Education -- Assisted performance -- Situated learning -- Social thinking -- Reflective dialogue -- Researching Language Teacher Identities -- Research participants -- Reflexivity -- Epistemology -- Data Collection -- Focus groups -- Online discussions -- Discourse and Material Practice -- Data Analysis -- Critique of discourse analysis -- Discourse analysis and social practice.

Discourse analysis and textualization -- Conclusion -- 3 The Formation of a Community of Practice -- Choosing Teaching as an Act of Belonging -- Family connections -- Discourses of gender -- Teachers as role models -- Surpassing past teachers -- Choosing English -- Belonging and Engagement -- Evolving forms of mutual engagement -- Developing a common understanding of the joint enterprise -- Developing a shared discourse repertoire -- Belonging and Alignment -- Locality -- Boundaries and border practices -- Belonging and Imagination -- Self-consciousness and reflection -- Creation -- Conclusion -- 4 The Discursive Construction of Systems of Knowledge and Belief -- Constructing the 'New' Teachers of the Present/Future Against the 'Traditional' Teachers of the Past -- 'Sensitivity' versus 'insensitivity' -- Learners as homogenous 'empty vessels' versus heterogeneous 'geniuses' -- 'Student-centred' versus 'teacher-centred' teaching -- 'Passive' versus 'active' learning -- 'Low' motivation and self-esteem versus 'high' motivation and self-esteem -- 'Hierarchy' versus 'equality' -- Teacher as 'transmitter' versus 'facilitator' -- Teaching as 'easy' versus 'complex' -- Discourses of Language and Culture in the Classroom -- Discourses of Gender in Education -- Conclusion -- 5 The Discursive Construction of Interpersonal Relations -- Interpersonal Address -- Maintaining and Monitoring the Community Beliefs -- Legitimation -- Embracing a struggling soul -- Setting the Agenda for the Future -- Tempering the Mission -- Conclusion -- 6 The Discursive Construction of Intrapersonal Identity -- Commitments to Truth: What I Believe -- Belief and modality -- Belief and evaluation -- Commitments to Necessity: What Has to Be Done -- Moral Commitments: What Is Right -- 'Rights' and 'wrongs' in the classroom -- 'Rights' and 'wrongs' in the school system.

Summing Up and Looking Ahead -- Conclusion -- 7 Summary of Findings and Future Directions -- Revisiting the Research Issues -- Discourse and Differentiation -- Interpreting the Research Findings -- Looking to the Future -- Discursive hegemony and antagonism -- From antagonism to agonism -- Future directions -- Conclusion -- References -- Index.