Actualization of the onion model of reflection in Turkish English Language instructors ’ practices : A case study * 1 EKİZER

Teachers spend so much time and energy focused on their students’ progress that they often forget to consider their own performances. Self-reflection here is a very valuable tool that helps make the teacher aware of how he/she is teaching, which in turn makes him/her a better teacher. Teaching without reflection is teaching blind-without any knowledge of effectiveness. Therefore, this study aimed at finding the relationship between professional identity and practice of English teachers by making use of ‘The Onion Model’ proposed by Korthagen (2004). This reflection model, as it includes different interrelated processing steps/layers (Environment, Behavior, Competencies, Beliefs, Identity and Mission) that could significantly affect professions, is important since it helps people to know each other and develop a healthy relationship with their environments. On the other hand, more importantly, it is directly associated with professional identity which is the main concern of the study, because it has 6 layers one of which is identity. This study is aimed at examining how these layers can be actualized in English teachers, if their self-report and actual practices are in accordance or not. As a result, the biggest differentiation between the reported and the performed was under the layer of behavior. Particularly, the interviewees’ sta tements about their behaviors towards positive and negative attitudes of the students in the class seemed to be different. The second top difference was competency. Here, the interviewees’ believed that they were good at doing something, however, it was monitored that they were actually not that successful. The third biggest difference between the said and the done came under identity. Most of the interviewees’ thought they were a certain kind of a teacher, yet they were scrutinized as not. Environment, belief and mission were layers that were not easy to monitor in the observation classes. However, as far as the researcher felt, the surveyed attitudes were put down. The grounds, the purpose, the application method and the results of the study together with the evaluations are discussed in detail in the following parts of this article.

of teachers in a country."As a result, each community needs teachers who are skilled, dedicated to the profession, equipped with the knowledge, skills and experiences required to perform his/her teaching work successfully.
Teaching is something considered very personal.Teachers teach from what they are.This is what makes each of them different.Teaching is not a role in a play or a mask we can put on every morning before we go to school; it is just us in the classroom.We have to learn who we are before we can stand comfortably in front of the room and teach our students.Teaching is a lot about soul searching, discovering who we are as a person and then being able to discover who we are as a teacher.
According to Mead (1934), an individual can arise only in a social setting where there is social communication; in communicating we learn to assume the roles of others and monitor our own actions accordingly.McCormick and Pressley (1997) opine that the concept of identity has different meanings in the literature.What these various meanings have in common is the idea that identity is not a fixed attribute of a person, but a related phenomenon.Identity development occurs in an inter subjective field and can be best explained as a continuing process, a process of interpreting oneself as a certain kind of person and being recognized as such in a given context (Gee, 2001).
In short, as the Onion Model includes different interrelated processing steps/layers (Environment, Behaviour, Competencies, Beliefs, Identity and Mission) that could significantly affect professions, it was expected to bring a different perspective to the study.It helps people to know themselves, develop a healthy relationship with their environments and by leaving some habits, renewing themselves towards new goals/ objectives.But more importantly, it is directly associated with the professional identity which was the main concern of the study.

Professional identity and reflection
As mentioned earlier, the term identity is defined in various ways in the more general literature.It can be clearly seen that the concept of professional identity is also used in different ways in the domain of teaching and teacher education.In some studies, the term professional identity was related to teachers" beliefs of self (Knowles, 1992;Nias, 1989).It was argued in these studies that the concepts or images of self or self-perception strongly specify the way teachers teach, the way they develop as teachers, and their attitudes/behaviours toward educational changes.In other studies of professional identity, teachers" roles were specifically highlighted Ekizer and Cephe 63 (Goodson and Cole, 1994;Volkmann and Anderson, 1998), as to whether or not they were in relationship with other concepts, or on concepts like reflection or selfevaluation that are important for the development of professional identity (Kompf, 1996;Kerby, 1991).Furthermore, with reference to Tickle (2000), professional identity refers not only to the influence of the conceptions and expectations of the community, including broadly accepted images in society about what a teacher should know and carry out, but also to what teachers themselves find significant in their professional work and lives based on both their experiences in practice and their personal backgrounds.
The two sides of professional identity seem to be strongly interwoven, but have been differently stressed by researchers.Knowles (1992), therefore, characterized professional identity as a vague concept in the sense of what, and to what extent, things are integrated in such an identity.
Recent research and literature also emphasizes the importance of identity in teacher development (Day and Kington, 2008;Olsen, 2008)."One"s professional identity profoundly affects the "sense of purpose, self-efficacy, motivation, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness" of the teachers" (Day et al., 2006: 601).Research (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005;Korthagen, 2004) has also shown that teachers at different stages of their careers (pre-service, beginning or experienced) possess clear beliefs and identities about students, their teaching subjects, their teaching roles and responsibilities.They carry on to show that these identities influence teachers" reactions to teacher education and to their teaching practice.It is maintained that reflective practices will help teachers to consciously direct their own development with their personal identity, their inspiration, willingness and enthusiasm for their profession.Becoming a professional involves not only external realizations but also personal conceptualizations.Professional identity is a continuing procedure of interpretation and re-interpretation.It is not solitary, but consists of sub-identities that eventuate from the how teachers make sense of themselves as teachers, while developing professionally.Day and Kington (2008) list three dimensions of teacher identity that are important in understanding the dimensions of professional learning and the influence of the cultural milieu where their work is located.These dimensions and their analysis are useful in understanding how teachers are positioned.Shortly, the dimensions of teacher identity are: (1) Professional identity in which the professional dimension reflects social and policy expectations of what a good teacher is and the educational ideals of the teacher.It is open to the influence of policy and social trends as to what constitutes a good teacher.
(2) Situated located identity within a school or classroom is a dimension located in a specific school context and is affected by the surrounding environment.It is influenced by students, leadership support and feedback loops from teachers" immediate working surrounding and shapes the teachers" long-term identity.
(3) Personal identity is the third dimension which is located outside school and is linked to family and social roles.Feedback or expectations from family and friends often become sources of tension for the individual"s sense of identity (Day and Kington, 2008: 11).
On the other hand, reflection is a subject that receives great interest recently and is usually described by using a cyclical model.This model shows and promotes how a teacher functions in the classroom (Korthagen and Kessels, 1999;Korthagen et al., 2001).No matter how popular it is, there is no consensus on how to define reflection.
The most frequently cited definitions are those by Dewey (1933/1993) and Schon (1983/1991) which have been the starting points for other definitions.Dewey describes reflective thinking as an active and persistent process aiming to escape from the routine and impulsive thought.On the other hand, Schon sees reflective thinking as an artistic and intuitive procedure appearing at moments of "uncertainty, instability, uniqueness and value-conflict.
Based on a number of definitions in the literature, reflection can be defined as engaging both cognitively and affectively with practical experiences in such a way as to make sense of problematic classroom events beyond a common sense level with the view to learning and professional development (Brookfield, 1995;Osterman and Kottkamp, 2004;Zeichner and Liston, 1996).In most situations, more deeply engrained perspectives need to be touched.This deeper reflection is called Core Reflection by Korthagen and Vasalos (2005).They argue that when reflection stretches out to the deepest levels of one"s personality, it is core reflection that comes into act.

The onion model
It is an adaptation of Bateson"s model (Dilts, 1990).It shows that there are various levels in people that can be influenced.This model takes its name from its shape.There are circles within each circle from the center to the outside which looks just like an onion cut in half from the middle.It describes different levels on which reflection can take place.This model of reflection is associated with professional identity, because it has six layers one of which is identity.The layers of the onion model from the outside to the center are environment, behavior, competence, belief, identity and mission.
According to the model, only the outer levels (environment and behavior) can be directly observed by others.Each of the levels can be seen as different perspectives from which we can look at how teachers function.From each perspective, there is a different answer to the question of the essential qualities of a good teacher, while it is also possible to employ various perspectives parallel to the other.The outermost levels are environment (the class, the students, the school) and behavior.These are the levels that seem to attract student teachers most since they often focus on problems in their classes, and how to overcome these problems.Very effective to the level of behavior is the next inner level, the level of competencies (the latter including knowledge, for example subject matter knowledge).In order to make a clear distinction between the levels of behavior and of competencies, it is important to emphasize that competencies are usually perceived as an integrated body of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Stoof et al., 2000).They represent a potential for behavior, and not the behavior itself.It depends on the circumstances whether the competencies are actually put into practice, that is, expressed in behavior or not (Caprara and Cervone, 2003).An important assumption behind the model is namely that the outer levels can influence the inner levels: the environment can influence a teacher"s behavior (a difficult class may trigger very different reactions from the teacher than a friendly one) and through behavior, one can develop the competency also to use in other circumstances.An opposite influence, however, also exists, that is, from the inside to the outside.For example, one"s behavior may have an impact on the environment (a teacher who praises a child, may influence the child), and one"s competencies determine the behavior one is able to reveal.

Purpose of the study
It is commonly held that good teachers are enthusiastic and willing, strict but fair, inspiring, well organized, know what they are doing and pay attention to the welfare of their students.However, the question is how often do teachers reflect on the stated factors and try to selfperceive themselves.At what times in our career have we thought of what kind of a teacher we are and what we are doing in order to be better?How often have we asked ourselves the following questions?
(1) How do I see myself as a teacher?
(2) How do others see me as a teacher?
(3) What impacts will this have on those I teach?

Research questions
One purpose of the study is to try and find answers to the following research questions: (1) How do teachers of preparatory classes view themselves as English teachers?
(2) What are the pedagogical competencies of teachers in preparatory schools in terms of classroom practices?
(3) What is the nature of the relationship between selfreported professional identities and actual practices of English teachers?

METHODOL OGY
This study w as carried out w ith 54 voluntary English instructors w orking at different preparatory programs in Turkey.The programs included both state and private institutions.It w as a 3-month case study carried out in the second semester of the 2014/2015 academic year.The tools used for the research w ere classroom observation and semi-structured interview .
The study specifically has the purpose of finding the relationship betw een professional identity and practice of English teachers by making use of "The Onion Model" proposed by Korthagen (2004).This model takes its name from its shape.There are circles w ithin each circle from the center to the outside w hich looks just like an onion cut in half from the middle.It describes different levels on w hich reflection can take place.This model of reflection is associated w ith professional identity.The layers of the onion model from the outside to the center are environment, behavior, competencies, beliefs, identity and mission as show n in Figure 1.
This study aims at examining how these layers are actualized in English teachers, if their self -report and actual practices are in accordance or not.

Population and sam pling
The population of the study consists of 54 English instructors teaching at different preparatory programs in Konya and Ankara.

Ekizer and Cephe 65
These preparatory institutions include Selcuk, Mevlana, Necmettin Erbakan, Karatay and Gazi Universities.Convenience sampling, in w hich members of the population are chosen based on their relative ease of access, w as used in this study (Wiederman, 1999).The 54 instructors w ere told in advance about the research being carried out and the purpose of the interview and they volunteered to participate in the study.An appointment w as given to the researcher by each participant for the oral interview .The interview included questions prepared w ith the aim of measuring how the layers of reflection (Environment, Behavior, Competency, Belief, Identity and Mission) proposed by Korthagen (2004) can be actualized in English teachers.

Data collection
In this study, tw o different data collection instruments w ere employed.These are semi-structured interview and classroom observation.Here, the preferred interview type is semi-structured in w hich the interview ees are asked open-ended questions.Within this context, tw enty pre-prepared guiding questions w ere posed to the instructors from five different preparatory programs and their responses w ere recorded and transcribed by the researcher.The biggest strength of observational data is that it allow s researchers to directly see w hat people do instead of having to rely on w hat they say they do.Therefore, this kind of data can provide a much more objective account of behaviors and events than the self -reported data.Follow ing the oral interview s, 20 instructors out of 54 w ere voluntary for their lessons to be observed.A classroom observation form w as prepared for approximately 30% of the total participants.The form w as in a checklist format prepared as yes/no questions.
The questions w ere in accordance w ith the interview questions so as to check the relationship betw een self -reported and observed data.
At the beginning of the second semester, informal interview s w ere conducted w ith instructors w ho w ere voluntary to participate in the study.Short meetings w ere carried out in small groups w ith their thoughts and feelings collected for further usage.These discussions w ere done on purpose in order to prepare the interview questions and the classroom observation form.These pre-meetings and tw o expert counseling from the field helped in the arrangement of the questions.Next, the 54 voluntary instructors of different preparatory programs w ere asked to give an appointment for the interview s.On the w hole, it took six w eeks to fulfill them.Each interview lasted 10 minutes on average, ranging from 7 to 20 minutes.The interview s w ere documented w ith a voice recorder.The recorded data took a w eek to be transcribed.
The follow ing step w as to observe an adequate number of instructors during their practices.Many of them w ere reluctant to be observed w hile teaching, how ever, sufficient number accepted to participate in the study.An appropriate day and hour w as arranged w ith 20 instructors in order to find out different angles and formations of the reality (triangulation).The second part of the research continued for five w eeks, altogether making it a 3-month case study.
Stake (1995) defines analysis as a "matter of giving meaning to first impressions as w ell as to final compilations", and making sense of our first impressions.In this study, strategies in qualitative data analysis like categorizing, coding, and interpreting w ere used.Coding is the process in w hich the researcher separates the gathered data into meaningful chunks after examining it in detail and tries to find out w hat it w ould mean conceptually.These parts can sometimes be a w ord, a sentence, a paragraph or even a w hole page of data (Yıldırım and Simsek, 2013).Since the study w as based on a model called The Onion Model (Korthagen, 2004), the first of the 3 coding styles proposed by Strauss and Corbin The transcribed data w ere categorized and coded according to the aforementioned themes determined beforehand.It is also referred to as selective coding.Selective coding is the process in w hich all categories are unified around a "core" category , w hile categories that need more explicitness are filled w ith descriptive data.Since the study w as based on the Onion Model and its layers, the themes determined in advance w ere environment, behavior, competency, belief, identity and mission.Single researchers should find other people w ho can cross-check their codes for w hat is called inter-coder agreement (or cross-checking) (Cresw ell, 2013).Such an agreement might be based on w hether tw o or more coders agree on codes used for the same passages in the text.It is not that they code the same passage of text but w hether another coder w ould code it w ith the same or a similar code.In this study, an independent colleague w as consulted to help code the question and answ ers.The consistency of the coding w as approximately 90%.Miles and Huberman (1994) recommended that the consistency of the coding be in agreement at least 80% of the time for good qualitative reliability.As a result, the questions prepared for the interview in accordance w ith these themes w ere coded w ith the given answ ers as open codes.The themes w ere coded as in Table 1.
The classroom observation sheets, prepared in accordance w ith the interview questions w ere analyzed and each question w as rated as YES or NO in compliance w ith the teachers" classroom practices.Finally, the relationship betw een w hat the teachers say they do and w hat they actually do w as examined by comparing their self-reports and their classroom practices.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
According to Dörnyei (2007), content analysis has recently become associated with qualitative research as it concerns a second-level, interpretive analysis of the underlying deeper meaning of the data.As a result of a content analysis carried out through a very long process with in-depth attention, the results found were interpreted for each participant.The semi-structured interview and the teacher observation forms were analyzed and using the six layers of the Onion Model.Subsequently, an example for the Teacher 1 is given.

Teacher 1 (Competency)
The third layer of the Onion Model is competency where the teacher in name was supposed to answer 4 questions about her can and cannot in class.Teacher 1 seemed to be a rather classical teacher of English in Turkey having concerns about pronunciation, however, quite self-confident in teaching grammar, reading, etc.
The first question of the third layer was coded as teachers" capabilities in-class ("TCIC").
"I believe I am highly good at presenting new vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing sk ills.I mostly use mimes, gestures and I love role playing activities." Teacher 1 was a middle-aged teacher with a teaching experience of over 15 years.She seemed to be enthusiastic and energetic in classes, sparing time for each skill in language learning.Her answer to the 7th question was sub-coded as Teaching English (TE) and Role Playing (RP).Although, she did not use the term "Teaching English", it can be inferred from her words that she thought she was capable of teaching English quite well.

'Of course, because of not being a native speak er, I sometimes have to check pronunciation of the vocabulary that I rarely meet'.
The second question of the third layer was coded as teachers" incapabilities in-class ("TIIC").The intention of this question was to try and learn either what kind of things the teacher found difficult (did not have the ability) or did not have the appropriate circumstances to act out during classes.Without hesitation, Teacher 1 gave the aforementioned answer.As is for most of the English teachers in Turkey, Teacher 1 mentioned having pronunciation problems from time to time.For this question, the answer of Teacher 1 was not sub-coded as it was not a repeating answer.
The third question of the third layer was coded as teachers" incapability reasons ("TIR").The third question of the third layer was in connection with the previous question, asking reasons for the teacher"s incapability in class.Teacher 1 laughed and said: "I think I have classical answers to this question.Not being a native speak er, not using the target language in my daily life, or even not having the chance of hearing the word or the words from a native speak er are among these reasons'.
Her answer was sub-coded as Lack of Environment (LE).
The fourth and the last question of the third layer were coded as teachers" realization time ("TRT").The answer Teacher 1 gave was: 'While getting prepared for the lesson'.
The teacher had said previously that she sometimes had pronunciation problems with some words and now she expressed that she usually faced this problem before lessons while preparing for her classes.She is a Ekizer and Cephe 67 hardworking teacher and decreases the level of her pronunciation problem by checking the words out before attending her classes.Again, her answer was a unique one, so it could not be sub-coded.
In order to get an answer to the first research question, a semi-structured interview was conducted for teachers of English at preparatory programs in Konya and Ankara.54 voluntary teachers participated in the study.The purpose of the interview was to collect information about how teachers view themselves as English teachers in terms of the Onion Model (Korthagen, 2004) layers, which is a model of reflection showing various levels that can influence the way a teacher functions.The interviewees were asked a total number of 20 questions and were recorded.These interviews were later transcribed to help examine them in details.Each layer was elaborated with 3 or 4 questions.The first two and the last two layers had 3 questions, while the two layers in the middle had 4 questions.Each question under the pre-determined themes were coded and sub-coded.
The biggest out of class problem for the teachers was "personal problems".These problems were anything from family to health problems.The second biggest problem was 'workload".Their workload such as material development or checking assignments influences the way they function in class.Few teachers said that "nothing" from the outside could affect their in-class performances.The next problem was "school environment".Most of the teachers expressed that having partners may cause problems which could affect them negatively, while some admitted that changing regulations would be of great influence on them.Lastly, some teachers from other part of the world acknowledged that the Turkish language is a very big problem for them.The top response for the second question "what kind of things outside the class influences you?" was personal problems.Many interviewees expressed that if they were having a specific personal problem at the time, this would definitely affect their classroom performances.Following the personal problems was the answer partners" attitude.Any conflict with a partner, lazy partners or continuous complaints from partners would affect them.On the other hand, a native teacher mentioned that she was very happy with the approach and manners of other teachers which shows that this question was not perceived as a negative one.The school environment came third.Teachers said that office environment or whatever that happens within the school really influence their performances.The next 3 answers were the same.Just a few talked about time limitation, negative feelings about English and that nothing could affect their in-class performances.
For the third and the last question on environment, the teachers were asked to give a specific example of something negative happening out of class.Most of them said that they had not experienced anything negative "no negative thing" until date, so everything was well.Some of them expressed again that personal problems such as extra conferences, meetings or exams that they have to take would affect their practices.Administrative problems came third, teachers expressed that they did not have any day off during the week, so they could not deal with their personal matters and they always need to get permission from the administration.The last negative experience to be mentioned was traffic.Terrible drivers or traffic jams when getting to work could make them miserable.
The first question of the second layer was linked to the previous question about environment.It asked the teachers how they survived the negative situation they mentioned earlier.Many teachers expressed that they preferred talking to the respondent either personally or in general.Think positively came second for this question.A lot of the participants said that they would try to make up their moods and play Pollyanna when they feel down.Some said there was nothing they could do either because they did not experience anything negative or because they did not have the power to do something.Some teachers talked about managing time better.Last of all, a few teachers said that they tried to do their best to overcome a negative thing that was to happen out of class.
At this point, the teachers were asked how they behaved towards something positive done in the class.Approximately half of them admitted that they would praise the student either verbally or with gestures.Most of them said they would encourage and some said they would appreciate it in one way or another.Many teachers gave something (this could be extra points or a small gift like chocolate) and some teachers gave positive feedback, they tended to talk and let the students know that they have done something good.Finally, a few teachers said they would only get happy and show this.It could be understood from these answers that teachers tend to show reaction to anything positive carried out by students in the class.
The last question under the layer of behavior was just the opposite of the previous question.The teachers were asked how they would behave towards a negative situation.Many answers came to this question, but the top answer was talking to the student(s) personally.Most teachers said they would try dealing with the matter by talking about it, while some of them said they would just ignore the negative thing and they would carry on as if nothing happened.Some teachers said they would warn the student(s) and a few of them said that they would take care of it later; they would not give immediate reaction.The remaining teachers said they would be patient and tolerant while a few of them believed they would try to eliminate the problem politely.
Very few teachers said they would put themselves in their shoes, try to think like them; thus understand them and negotiate with them.Only 2 teachers admitted that they would not be able to prevent themselves from shouting in the class if something negative should ever happen.
The first question of the third layer asked what kind of things the teachers were able to do in the class.Many answers came to this question, the most popular of which was holding a positive atmosphere.Most teachers claimed that their greatest capability was keeping the class positive.Some teachers said they were quite good at classroom management, that they had no authority problem in class.Following classroom management was technology; teachers claimed that they were capable of using technology thoroughly during lessons.Some teachers said that they tried to do their best in class; this was all they could do while others surprisingly claimed that they were capable of doing everything in the class, and there was nothing they could not do.Again a few teachers mentioned teaching English, the only thing they were capable of doing was teaching English which was the only thing they were required to do.Some teachers expressed that they were very good at motivating students which was a very big problem in language teaching.Lastly, 3 teachers talked about being good at role playing which is an important feature for a language teacher.This time, the teachers were asked what they could not do in class and the most popular answer was making the students speak.Most teachers told the interviewer that they were having problems in making students speak.This was a general problem, not only in the School of Foreign Languages but also all institutions teaching English.Some teachers expressed that there was nothing they could not do; they could do everything they were required to do while others admitted that they were having difficulty motivating the students; they said that the students were still not aware of the significance of language learning.Only 2 teachers expressed that they could not deal with each student separately because of time limitation.
The ninth question was prepared to get the reasons underlying teachers" in-capabilities.Some of the reasons are lack of self-confidence and feeling shy.The teachers said that their in-capabilities were not because of their inefficiencies, but because of the students" lack of selfconfidence and feeling shy in front of the class.The second popular answers were previous exposure and the curriculum.Some teachers claimed that the students" previous experiences with English and being limited to the curriculum led the way to the result.Some teachers expressed that a very crowded curriculum also did not allow them to spare time for other activities.A few teachers talked about crowded classes and lack of favorable environment.The teachers in question said that they could not do whatever they want in class or deal with each student separately due to the number of students.The other 3 talked about students" not having any English speaking environment to practice what they have learnt in school.
The last question of the third layer, competency, was when they realized they could not do whatever it was that they wanted in the class.Nearly a quarter of the teachers said that they realized it in their first years, some teachers said they had always been aware of the fact that they cannot always do whatever they want.A few teachers admitted that at first they were not aware but as the years passed they gradually came to understand and lastly, 3 teachers said it was not something new, they knew it from their childhood.
The first question of the fourth layer, belief, was aimed at finding out the language teaching choices of teachers.
They were asked why they chose to be English teachers.Most teachers said they had good role models that they admired and this was the reason they chose the profession.Some teachers said they only chose language teaching because they were good at English.The others believed it was their ideal since childhood.They always wanted to be an English teacher.A few teachers chose the profession since they liked working with people; this was the only reason why they chose teaching while others admitted that they had no other choice so it was in a way, an obligation for them.Again just a few teachers talked about coincidence.They just found themselves within the occupation, although they had no intention of the kind.
The next question was to find out about teacher beliefs before becoming an English teacher.Most teachers said that they only had positive feelings about the profession and that was all, they did not have any specific feeling.Some teachers said they thought it was an easy and enjoyable job to do.A few teachers thought those days that teaching would be rewarding and satisfying and that the feeling of achievement would make them content.Some of them talked about respect and honor.Those days they thought being a teacher would make them honorable and they would be respected by students.Just a few teachers believed that teaching was a demanding occupation; it was very difficult to teach someone an entire new language.Only 2 teachers believed teaching required quite a lot of commitment, devotion and patience.Lastly, 2 teachers thought that they could teach everyone everything.However, life taught them that this was impossible.
Shortly, this question asked the reasons for the teachers" beliefs.Equal number of teachers said they had no specific reason for feeling this way, it was just so.The other side said they felt the way they did because they had good role models.Again, an equal number told that they had the opportunity of observing the teaching profession and their experiences as students paved the way for their beliefs.Some teachers admitted that they loved their job and a few teachers mentioned the difference between theory and practice.They said Ekizer and Cephe 69 practicing and experiencing the real event were totally different from the things told in books.
The last question of the fourth layer was to what extent does the belief of teachers change after teaching for some time.More than half of them said that nothing had changed; they still have same opinion.Some teachers (more than a quarter) admitted that they were more positive now while others confessed that there was a negative change in their beliefs.They expressed that they were much more willing and enthusiastic before. 2 teachers said that they now realized that they were living in a eutopia before teaching, now they were much more aware of the reality after some time of teaching experience.
The first question of the fifth layer, identity, was about teacher roles.It asked how they saw themselves as teachers and what kind of role they associate themselves.The most popular answer was a guide followed by a facilitator and English instructor.Some teachers claimed that they were good role models, a good motivator and the authority in class.While others accepted themselves as a friendly mother.Only 2 of them said they only thought they were native speakers (they actually were) and students want to practice language with them, which was all.
The following question was about how teachers felt themselves about the roles they previously mentioned.The top answer was good/happy.They told the interviewer that their role made them feel happy.Some teachers said it made them feel privileged and comfortable.This role did not put a lot of responsibility on them and so they were quite comfortable.Three different groups of teachers talked about their feelings as satisfied, awesome and important.These were the words they used to describe their feelings.Lastly, however, 2 teachers gave negative answers.They said they felt unimportant and useless.
The last question of the fifth layer, identity, was to find out if the teachers had any other work experiences other than teaching that may have affected their teaching styles/philosophies.A very high number of teachers (nearly two third) said that they had not done any other job aside teaching.They only had experiences as teachers.A few teachers said they had done translation which contributed a lot in their vocabulary teaching.Two different groups of teachers said they had worked as vice director and as company manager which helped them in gaining the authority and leadership they needed in class.Lastly, 2 teachers had worked as tourist guides which, they admitted, helped them in their social interaction with students.
The first question of the last layer, mission, asked the teachers why they chose to work at the institution they were working at that moment.Half of them, on average, said because they liked teaching university students.They were not very good with children, as they claimed.Some of the teachers said they had personal reasons for choosing that university such as income or logistical considerations like family, hometown.A few teachers expressed that teaching adults was easier than teaching children or teenagers and they chose the easy way while some said that teaching at a university was their ideal; they had always wanted to teach in a university.Again, a few teachers talked about academic field.They chose to be at a university in order not to be far away from academic life.Only 2 teachers said that it was just a coincidence.They had no specific reason for being there.
The teachers were also questioned on their teachers" profession commitment rates.They were asked to what extent they were committed to their jobs.Some teachers did not give any answer to this question; they talked about what commitment meant and the emotional connotations of it.However, approximately half of the teachers admitted being fully committed to their jobs.They said they felt themselves totally committed.Some teachers said they were committed to a great extent.This great extent varied from 70 to 90%, while others said they were not committed much.Some explained that at first everything was ok, but gradually they felt burnout and lacked committed.
The last question of both the sixth layer and the whole interview, the teachers were asked reasons for being committed to their jobs.More than a quarter said they were committed because they believed they were doing the right job.Some teachers said they were trying their best and so they felt committed totally.A few teachers talked about responsibility.It was their job, their responsibility as they expressed while few teachers were the ones who did not feel much committed and their reasons were because of the bad working conditions.
According to Wragg (1999), the biggest strength of observational data is that it allows researchers to see directly what people do instead of having to rely on what they normally say they do.Therefore, in order to get a response to the second research question of the study, a Teacher Observation Form was prepared.The prompts were written in accordance with the interview questions.For each of the interview question, a YES/NO prompt was given.The total participant number of the study was 54, however, not all the interviewees accepted that their lessons be observed.So, with a view to the literature and expert counseling, 30% of the total was regarded as an adequate number.Thus, 20 interviewees were observed in their classroom practices.The aim of this practice was to be able to monitor the teachers in their real atmospheres and try to come to a conclusion from the data collected as to what extent the interviewees selfreports and their actual practices went hand in hand (Research question 3).
As a result of the observations conducted in twenty different classrooms, what was interesting and had focused attention that could be considered meaningful was that some items of the form showed a very big gap between yes/no.The fifth item being observed was "The teacher praises positive attitude."Most of the teachers did not praise positive attitude in class.Only a few teachers were observed to praise the positive attitude of students."The teacher ignores negative attitude" was the seventh item which sought after.Many teachers seemed to give immediate reaction to anything negative happening in class.They were not tolerant and gave reaction in one way or another.The eighth item was "The teacher gives immediate reaction to positive attitude".Again, many teachers either delayed or did not give any reaction to positive attitude in class.
Sentence number 12 was "The teacher is not patient with the students in class."This sentence was written so as to observe the teacher"s patience and tolerance in class.As a result, just a few teachers were patient with the students and tolerated adverse things going on in classes.However, a great number of the teachers were considerably impatient.Item 16 was "The teacher is a guide-helper in class" which reflected a very important point of the observation.Less than a quarter of the teachers was helpful and tried to show students the way.On the other hand, most of them were unwilling to help and only gave the necessary information for the day.
In order to find an answer to the third and final research question of the study, a very careful examination and analysis was carried out of the interviews and the observation forms.This comparative analysis held the utmost significance, as it gave the eventual structure of the study.First of all, the teachers who were observed in their classes were found and marked within the total transcribed interviews.When all 20 teachers were pointed out, the second step was to divide the question and answers into the six layers of the reflection model (Onion Model).The first 2 layers, environment and behavior, had 3 questions, competency and belief had 4 questions and the last 2 layers in the middle had again 3 questions to be analyzed.A careful examination of the teachers" self-reports in the interviews and their actual practices on the observation forms presented a thorough comparison and the following data was inferred from them.
Consequently, the biggest differentiation between the reported and the performed was under the layer, behavior.The interviewees" statements about their behaviors toward positive and negative attitudes of the students in the class seemed to show difference.Most of the teachers talked about praising or appreciating a positive behavior in class immediately, however, it was observed that no verbal compliment or encouragement was acted out.On the other hand, negative behaviors was surveyed to be given immediate reaction most of the time, despite "talking to the respondent personally" being the top answer in the interview.
The second top difference was under competency.
Here, the interviewees" believed that they were good at doing something, however, it was monitored that they were actually not that successful.Most frequently teachers mentioned about being very good at classroom management, using the technology efficiently and motivating the students in class.However, observations showed that many teachers lacked classroom management, did not use anything technological and the students were not so eager to learn anything in class.
The third biggest difference between the said and the done was under identity which is considered as a major finding.Most of the interviewees" thought they were a certain kind of teacher, yet when they were monitored they were not.Here, some teachers thought they were a guide to the students and that they did not see themselves as leader.Yet, during the observations, they were seen to be quite authoritative and as dominant characters in the class.Others said that they were the authority and the center of the lesson; however, in contrast to what they thought about their role, they seemed to have an authority problem in their actual practices.
The study also found that teachers may see themselves as adopting more than one role as a teacher or view themselves as everything and that nothing can continue without them.Environment, belief and mission were layers not very easy to monitor in the observation classes.However, as far as the researcher felt, the surveyed attitudes were put down.
The literature supports the view that beliefs are resistant to change and that change in beliefs occurs slowly.The results of this study also proved and supported this view.Under the layer Belief, most teachers talked about still having the same beliefs about their professions.The ones that had a change in their beliefs however, admitted it to be a gradual process.As years passed, they found themselves to be thinking differently from years ago.
Furthermore, Drake et al. (2001) found out in their exploratory study with 10 urban elementary school teachers that teachers exhibited consistency between their self-descriptions and their instructional practices.Albeit, in this study, according to Korthagen"s model of reflection, 3 layers seemed not to go hand in hand with the teachers" words and the classroom performances.These layers were behavior, competency and identity.
The problem determined just at the beginning was that most English instructors are not aware of their strengths and weaknesses, thus their core qualities (Tickle, 1999).This study found its way through the gap between practice and theory in professional identity.As the undoubtedly vital qualities like creativity, courage, perseverance, kindness, fairness, etc., are given inadequate significance in the literature and seldom appear on official lists of important basic competencies of teachers; this study aimed to find out the actualization of Ekizer and Cephe 71 core qualities in English Language Instructors.Thus, most of the teachers participating in the study admitted not having given a single thought on the questions they were directed throughout their professional lives.Especially, the layers identity and mission, on which they had to think more, made them discover the difference between who they think they are and who they really are.They were greatly pleased to talk about themselves (reflect upon) and to reveal who they actually were inside and outside the classroom as well as what they felt deep inside.Therefore, the findings of this study support making deliberate efforts to set up reciprocal collegial conversations as part of the professional culture, and the "core reflection" process as a valuable tool to do so.As Korthagen and Vasalos (2005) argued, identification of a person"s core qualities or "character strengths" function as a link between the individual and their learning context or environment, and promotes a sense of "this is who I am" (Korthagen and Vasalos, 2005: 5).

Conclusion
In this study, teachers" classroom observation forms and the semi-structured interviews were used to trace the relationship between the English instructors self-reports about themselves as teachers and their actual performances in class.The findings were not shared with the teachers during the data collection process.However, at the end of the study they were informed about the differences observed.It is also worth mentioning that the observations were intended to be neither judgmental nor evaluative.
Following the semi-structured interviews, a remarkable number of teachers were observed in their real classroom atmospheres.The focus of the observation was purposefully on the layers of the Onion Model which was of course in accordance with the questions of the interview.Thus, classroom management, teacher attitude, creativity, interaction between teacher and students (T-Sts), classroom atmosphere, students" involvement and use of activities/tasks, were the main areas intended to gather ample data in order to understand and describe teachers" actual practices, and assess whether any difference between the said and the done occur.The interviews were used to compare and contrast the 54 teachers" words and the surveyed data.
As a result, the biggest differentiation between the reported and the performed was under the layer of behavior.Particularly, the interviewees" statements about their behaviors towards positive and negative attitudes of the students in the class seemed to have difference.The second top difference was in competency.Here, the interviewees" believed that they were good at doing something, however, it was monitored that they were actually not that successful.The third biggest difference between the said and the done was under identity.The difference in this layer was significant and considered as a major finding as Identity lies in the core reflection.According to Peterson and Seligman (2003), the strengths of an individual in character can be valued morally since they fulfill an individual and these strengths can be situated on the levels of Identity and Mission.The findings of the layers behaviour and competency are competencies acquired from the outside, whereas, Identity is a quality from the inside.Most of the interviewees" thought they were a certain kind of teacher, yet they were monitored as different.The belief layer was not easy to monitor in the observation classes.However, as far as the researcher felt, the surveyed attitudes were put down.The study also found that teachers may see themselves as adopting more than one role as a teacher or view themselves as everything that nothing can continue without them.
The study also found that teachers may see themselves as adopting more than one role as a teacher or view themselves as everything and that nothing can continue without them.Environment, belief and mission were layers not very easy to monitor in the observation classes.However, as far as the researcher felt, the surveyed attitudes were put down.

Table 1 .
Codes of interview questions.
Cresw ell (2013).This coding is carried out according to predetermined themes.The steps recommended byCresw ell (2013)w ere used during the analysis and interpretation part of the study.