English Teachers’ Storied Resistance and Agency vis-a-vis Neoliberal Agendas in Colombian Language Policies

Abstract This article reports a narrative study on the reflexive and transformative perspectives that two English language teachers take on when they story themselves as ELT professionals. The research examines their experiences in the light of public policies that influence their daily teaching praxis. Using a narrative methodology, the study investigates how teachers reconstruct and give meaning to their professional experiences within the context of these policies. In this respect, participants make sense of themselves as English language professionals by reflecting on their past (retrospection), present (introspection), and future (prospection). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed under a narrative framework. The findings revealed that teachers’ postgraduate education serves as a community of practice, providing them with a platform to problematize their prior experiences with Colombian language policies. As a result, this critical approach allows them to exert their agency by implementing classroom micro-practices that lead them to resist oppressive education language policies. Furthermore, these micro-practices contribute to shaping teachers’ envisioned futures and their identities as agents of change.