Battling with Habitus in Identity Negotiation: An Investigation of Fulbright Exchange Teacher Alumni in Tanzania

Drawing from Bourdieusian constructs of habitus, field, and capital, and teacher identities’ studies, this paper investigated how Tanzanian language teachers who attended the Fulbright exchange program in the United States negotiated their professional identities after returning to their country. Data obtained through semi-structured surveys, semi-structured interviews, and documents and recursively analyzed demonstrate layers of habitus conflict among these teachers and resistance from their local context, which caused them to give up their transformative initiatives in their local communities in favor of alternative spaces. By moving to the alternative spaces, these teachers were able to reclaim their desired identities but also use the space to resist the identity devaluation from their local field. By exploring experiences these teachers encounter in negotiating their professional identities after the Fulbright program, this study contributes to the field investigation of the underrepresented population of language teachers in peripheral countries who attend professional development programs in developed nations.