Identity as a Concept for Professional Knowledge of Teachers in Content and Language Integrated Learning

The CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) classroom is a complex and challenging field, not only for learners, but also for teachers. In order to understand teachers' decision-making, it is important to look at both their explicit and implicit knowledge and to understand how this knowledge interacts with their professional biography and contextual influences. The concept identity is suited to capture relevant aspects of CLIL teacher knowledge. Then again, there are terminological shallows to be navigated, and other concepts need to be considered as well. This chapter begins with some clarifications of teacher knowledge terminology. It will then provide an overview of the particular challenges that CLIL teachers face and how these challenges interact with their professional knowledge. We will conclude with some reflections on future CLIL teacher knowledge research and CLIL teacher education.