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• Edited by Anne Burns , Jack C. Richards

• Online ISBN: 9781139042710
• Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139042710

44 results in Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education

Introduction: Second Language Teacher Education

• By Anne Burns , Jack C. Richards

Summary

One of the simple facts of life in the present time is that the English language skills of a good proportion of its citizenry are seen as vital if a country is to participate actively in the global economy and to have access to the information and knowledge that provide the basis for both social and economic development. Central to this enterprise are English teaching and English language teachers. There is consequently increasing demand worldwide for competent English teachers and for more effective approaches to their preparation and professional development. This book brings together key issues and debates in teacher education for language teachers. To provide an orientation to and overview of the book in this section, we will examine the major trends in second language teacher education today and identify some of the key issues that are shaping the way second language teacher education (SLTE) is currently conceptualized and realized. The field of SLTE has been shaped in its development by its response to two issues. One might be called internally initiated change, that is, the teaching profession gradually evolving a changed understanding of its own essential knowledge base and associated instructional practices through the efforts of applied linguists and specialists in the field of second language teaching and teacher education. Much of the debate and discussion featured in the professional literature in recent years and in this volume, for example, is an entirely internal debate, unlikely to interest those outside the walls of academic institutions. The emergence of such issues as reflective practice (Chapter 30, Burton), critical pedagogy (Chapter 3, Hawkins and Norton), knowledge about language (Chapter 12, Bartels) and teacher identity (Chapter 17, Miller), for example, arose from within the profession largely as a result of self-imposed initiatives. At the same time, the development of SLTE has also been impacted by external pressures, for example, by globalization and the need for English as a language of international trade and communication, which has brought with it the demand by national educational authorities for new language teaching policies, for greater central control over teaching and teacher education, and for standards and other forms of accountability (see Sections 1 and 2).

Chapter 5 - Second Language Teacher Professionalism

Summary

INTRODUCTION In general usage, a “professional” is a trained and qualified specialist who displays a high standard of competent conduct in their practice, for example, “We’re very proud of the professional manner in which our teachers have implemented the curriculum reforms.” The term professionalism is regularly used in a constitutive sense to refer to practitioners’ knowledge, skills, and conduct. In discussions on teacher education, professionalism issues are often addressed through questions such as What should teachers know? and How should teachers go about their business? Other chapters in this volume are good examples of such discussions. Over time and in different educational environments though, the what and the how questions can, and often do, lead to different answers in different contexts. SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS This protean nature of the conceptualization of teacher professionalism is the main concern of this chapter. I will first look at some examples of how teacher professionalism in general, and second language teacher professionalism in particular, can be characterized and defined differently at different times and in different places by professional and / or political authorities; sometimes different and incompatible definitions can coexist without mutual reference in the same place. I will refer to all such instances of institutionally endorsed and publicly heralded definitions as sponsored professionalism . Sponsored professionalism is usually proclaimed on behalf of teachers as a collectivity; therefore, it does not necessarily coincide with individual teachers’ views on professionalism, as often as not because it is promoted by regulatory bodies to introduce reform and / or by professional associations to advocate change. After that I will examine the need for individual teachers to develop socially and politically sensitive views of professionalism; this is a particularly important issue for second language teachers working in the diverse field of English language teaching (ELT) in different world contexts (see also Hawkins and Norton, Chapter 3). I will refer to this more individually oriented notion of professionalism as independent professionalism . In the final section I will discuss two examples of the kind of issues that independent professionalism can address.

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  Section 7 - Second Language Teacher Development Through Research and Practice

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    Summary

    In this last section the focus is on strategies teachers can use to explore their own teaching practices as well as develop their own understandings of teaching as part of their long term professional development. In the first discussion (Chapter 28), McKay begins with a broad focus on classroom inquiry. She surveys the nature of classroom research in teacher education and its potential for language teachers. She offers a useful overview of the different assumptions and procedures used in quantitative and qualitative approaches to classroom research and raises some of the issues that can usefully be explored in relation to second language teaching and learning. She also highlights some of the challenges teacher educators sometimes face when introducing classroom research to novice teachers. In the Chapter 29, Burns examines one widely advocated strategy for reflective practice – action research – comparing it with other inquiry-based approaches. What distinguishes action research from some other approaches is its emphasis on intervention (the action in action research) as a way of trying to bring about improvement or change. Such intervention often takes the form of collaboration between researchers and classroom teachers. However, Burns points out that successful implementation of action research is often dependent upon training in the procedures it makes use of (e.g., classroom observation, discourse analysis, research writing) as well as institutional support. She sees earlier models of action research, that were typically focussed on problem-solving, giving way to action research viewed as membership of a “community of inquiry,” one that provides an opportunity for teachers and researchers to collaborate in the shared exploration and understanding of teaching and learning. In the final overview in the book (Chapter 30), Burton explores the concept of reflective practice as one approach to investigating teaching, and which, like other strategies described in this section, seeks to find ways of linking theory and practice through an exploration of classroom processes. She shows how teacher educators have developed the notion of reflective practice, beyond Dewey and Schön’s earlier conceptualizations of it, and isolates three central questions that reflective practices seek to answer, namely: What do I do? How do I do it? and What does this mean for me and those I work with and for? Burton discusses a number of reflective practices such as collaborative inquiry groups, stimulated recall, written narratives, journal writing, and action research.