In pursuit of excellence in teaching: An ESL educator's narrative

This is an educator's story about the pursuit of excellence in teaching. The narrative of an ESL teacher is examined using the analysis tool, Burke's Pentad (Burke 1945). This qualitative examination considers contributing factors of teacher self-efficacy and agency connected with the development, implementation, and sustenance of exemplary professional practice targeted at meeting the needs of each student. Application is made from the analysis of the narrative considering educators' self-perceptions, self-reflections, self-efficacy, and agency in their pursuit of excellence in teaching. The questions of how and why the professional practices of working ESL teachers are impacted relative to the dialogical and dynamic encounters within the teaching, working, and learning contexts are addressed.