PROJECT-BASED PEDAGOGY AND TEACHER IDENTITY IN THE ESCUELAS POPULARES DE INGLÉS CASE

Abstract

This study analyzes how pre-service language teachers construct and negotiate professional identity through sustained community-based project pedagogy in initial teacher education. Although teacher identity has been widely examined from sociocultural perspectives, less attention has been paid to the formative role of institutional outreach projects in Latin American contexts. A qualitative multi-site design was adopted, based on a two-year systematization of pedagogical experiences in selected universities from Cuba, Ecuador, and Peru. The sample comprised 140 pre-service language teachers, including 45 Ecuadorian participants linked to the Escuelas Populares de Inglés project at Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi. Data sources included reflective writings, pedagogical artifacts, field notes, institutional documents, and analytic memos. Thematic analysis showed that project-based environments mediated identity formation through professional positioning, pedagogical agency, multilingual resource use, reflective practice, and situated participation. The Ecuadorian case showed that community engagement strengthened identity construction by connecting English teaching with local educational needs, collaborative planning, didactic resource design, and social responsibility. The study concludes that community-based project pedagogy can support teacher education when it integrates methodological preparation, reflection, and socially meaningful pedagogical action.