What is Ideal Language Teacher Self

Due to increasing numbers of pupils with a mother tongue different from Czech, teachers of the Czech language are facing unprecedented challenges. This chapter opens the discussion on Czech language teacher identity through the theory of possible selves. First, the chapter introduces the possible teacher selves theory in language teacher research. Next, it describes the situation of teachers and pupils with a different mother tongue (DMT) in the current Czech educational system. Data from a small-scale empirical study on four participants of Czech as a second language teacher development course demonstrate the Czech language teacher possible selves. Two sets of interviews were taken to explore the ideal, ought-to, and feared language teacher selves. Finally, factors underlying potential fluctuations in motivation are discussed.