Teacher Development Research Summary

Notes:

Native speaker = NS
Non-native speaker = NNS
Non-native English speaker = NNES
Target Language = TL
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages = TESOL
Second Language = L2

Teacher Development

Ur (2006): Are teachers born or made?

Teachers with different methodology can be equally effective. Experience and training are important, but not all people who get experience and training become good teachers. It is suggested personality qualities exist that facilitate teachers gaining from experience and training such that they become excellent teachers. Some of these are general qualities that overlap with those that make people good doctors or counselors. For example, rational and creative thinking, strong inter-personal relationship ability, responsibility for the growth and progress of others. In addition, qualities specific to teachers are suggested:

sensing the stage of learning in which learners are situated
presenting knowledge such that it is accessible to learners
preparing and implementing activities that promote learning
instinctively sensing when learning occurs through observing learner behaviour
feeling a sense of reward when learners succeed

These qualities specific to teachers are intrinsic and cannot be taught. Ur refers to them as the “t-factor”. Even for teachers who posses the t-factor, training is still required, but not all teachers who receive training and have experience are good teachers.

Faez & Valeo (2012): TESOL teacher education: novice teacher’s perceptions of their preparedness and efficacy in the classroom.

Investigates novice teacher’s sense of preparedness and self-efficacy upon completing TESOL program, and what aspects and content of the program are perceived as useful. Experience generally increases teachers’ sense of preparedness through:

gaining real experience
getting comfortable in the classroom
receiving positive feedback
finding resources and planning, handling issues in class
knowing not everything works all the time

The skills teachers need vary greatly with the context within which they are teaching. The teaching context determines teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is perceived when teachers feel they manage the classroom, select appropriate material and design effective lesson plans. The practicum experience is perceived as the most useful part of TESOL program. Teachers are most able to adjust to the classroom when practicum and real classroom experience are matched. Highlights the importance of preparing novice teachers to join the professional community, i.e., increasing awareness of the realities of employment and teaching contexts, and connecting theory with the practicum experience.

Farrell (2009): The novice teacher experience. Discusses the challenges novice teachers face and suggests solutions to address these issues. Factors that mediate novice teacher experience in their first year include: 1) previous schooling experiences, 2) nature of the education program graduated from and 3) socialization experience and mentoring. The development stages of a novice teacher are considered:

Survival and mastery: the teacher is concerned with own survival, classroom management and content of instruction
Resistance to change or open to adaption and change: the teacher is concerned with student learning, the impact of their teaching and frustrations with context limitations.

Mentored novice teachers are considered more likely to be effective teachers in later years. Mentor roles include being models, acculturators, sponsors, supporters and educators. Current teacher training programs do not adequately address navigating unknown or new teaching contexts, nor challenges and anxieties faced in the beginning years of teaching. This leads teachers to feel isolated and/or inadequate. Important questions to consider in preparing novice teachers for the transition to preservice first year teachers: What information/theory is retained from training programs? What do first year teachers value and consider useful from their training programs? Can or should first year novice teachers continue learning? If so, what should the content of instruction be?

Hawkins & Norton (2009): Critical language teacher education.

Explores the meaning of critical in L2 teaching and L2 teacher education. A critical component of critical incident analysis is being critical: recognizing that neutrality and objectivity are impossible given interaction and language are always situated in a context in which “inequitable relationships of power” (p. 31) exist. Language shapes and reproduces power relations in society. Dominant ideologies exist representing a construction and understanding of the world that privileges some and disadvantages others. Critical pedagogy proposes social action and change in education to challenge oppression. Critical language teachers are “social activists” (p. 33) who are positioned to bring about change by highlighting oppressive power relations, talking about minority groups, and mitigating loss of heritage languages in favour of majority TLs. Social justice teacher education (should) involve(s) the following critical practices:

Critical awareness: student-teachers learn about power relations shaped by historical, social and political practices
Critical self reflection: student-teachers explore boundaries of social change and reflect on their position within the larger context of social change and oppression
Critical pedagogical relations: promote equitable relations; reconceptualize and redistribute power in education contexts

Key principles to be discussed and critiqued in critical language teacher education are suggested:

The situated nature of programs and practices: the importance of having knowledge of the context in which education takes place
Responsiveness to learners: acknowledging language culture, background and stories of learners
Dialogic engagement: engaging in collaborative dialogue between educators and learners
Reflexivity: teacher educators reflecting on their educational practices
Praxis (Freire, 1973, 1974): integrating theory and practice to bring about social change in education

Kanakri (2017): Second language teacher education: Preparing teachers for the needs of second language learners.

Reviews how second language teaching is learned and changes in practice in second language teacher education.

Behaviorist approach: Describes personal qualities and professional competencies with a focus on measuring teacher behaviour based on course results and requirements. The assumption is that teaching behaviours can be learned passively by observation and are applicable in any teaching context.
Communicative language teaching: Emphasis on student communicative competencies with little or no focus on grammar. The main technique involves presenting, practicing and production (PPP).
Focus on teacher cognition: The teacher and the learner are at the center of education. The teacher is an active learner able to develop theory and critically evaluate their own practice. The teachers, beliefs and practical and personal knowledge are valued. This cognitive approach to teacher education involves analytic and intuitive elements in the teaching practice. Applied linguistics is acknowledged as an independent field of education.
Sociocultural approach to second language education: Second language teacher education incorporates classroom observation, action research and mentoring practices. The teachers thoughts on their teaching practice are considered important and influenced by their personal and practical knowledge, past experiences, beliefs and values. Acknowledges the relevance of teacher identity, the learning context in teacher training, collaboration among teachers, and teacher reflection on teaching practice.

Kamhi-Stein (2009): Teacher preparation and non-native English-speaking educators.

Chapter 9 of The Cambridge guide to Second Language Teacher Education (Burns, A. & Richards, J. C. Eds.)

Explores issues related to NNES teacher training. Teachers’ confidence is related to TL ability. Issues related to NNES not belonging to “inner circle” of NS even in training programs – preconceptions of NNES educators are challenged. Teacher preparation should involve training on two critical elements on a continuum: language proficiency and professional preparation. The goal of teacher training should be to successfully facilitate achievement of high TL proficiency and professional preparation. NNES vs NS training may require different approaches. E.g., NS teacher training benefits from emphasis on grammar instruction training. NNES training benefits from a focus on pragmatics, cultural insights and fluency.

Tsui (2009): Teaching expertise: approaches, perspectives and characterizations. Reviews teaching expertise and proposes approaches, perspectives and characterizations of expert teachers. Expertise has been studied empirically both as a state with characteristics associated to it or as a process of teacher’s participation in practice. Expert as a state: compares novice to expert teachers at planning and in-class stage and commonalities of expert teachers regardless of field/subject disciplines. Expert as a process: Experience vs expertise. High quality (expert) teaching is achieved by e.g., monitoring curriculum (identify what works and what does not), understanding aspects of content knowledge that are hard to grasp and having the ability to present it in a variety of comprehensible ways (i.e., clear and structured) to ensure learners understand. What experts have or do that novices do not:

a knowledge base that is rich, integrated and organized
established and mastered routines – which allows focus on higher order tasks and challenges
integrated information – a basis for problem-solving and experimenting with different/new approaches