Teacher Education and Professional Development in TESOL

Global Perspectives

JoAnn Crandall, MaryAnn Christison, JoAnn Crandall, MaryAnn Christison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317279488
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Langues et linguistique
• Subtopic: Langue anglaise

At the forefront of research on English language teacher education and professional development, this volume presents new empirical research situated in different contexts around the world, including Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Korea, Qatar, Sudan, and the U.S. It is framed by the volume editors' insightful overview and analyses of previous and ongoing work in a variety of related domains and an epilogue by David Nunan. The chapter studies are organized around three themes: teacher identity in ESL/EFL teacher education and professional development programs, second language teacher education programs for diverse contexts, and professional development for diverse contexts.

All chapters focus on the applied nature of the research and include a section on implications. To provide balance and a range of views, the volume includes both chapters reporting on empirical research funded by TIRF grant recipients and several from invited authors who are senior scholars in the field. This is the third volume in the Global Research on Teaching and Learning English Series, co-published by Routledge and TIRF.

I An Introduction to Teacher Education and Professional Development in TESOL

1 An Overview of Research in English Language Teacher Education and Professional Development

JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall and MaryAnn Christison

DOI: 10.4324/9781315641263-1

In the last 40 years, we have witnessed a tremendous growth in the body of research available in second language teacher education (SLTE) and professional development (PD). Much of the research has focused on English and has evolved from a reconceptualization of the knowledge base of English language teacher education (Freeman & Johnson, 1998)—what Johnson (2009, p. 1) refers to as “a professional self-definition”—and from a shift to a sociocultural perspective on second language teaching and SLTE (Johnson, 2006, 2009). Some of the earlier influences on this shift in perspective included a focus on teacher learning (Freeman & Richards, 1996) and teacher cognition (Woods, 1996) in second language theory, as well as from theories in the general education literature, such as the role of reflection (Schön, 1983, 1987; Zeichner, 1987; Zeichner & Liston, 1987, 1996), the inclusion of different knowledge bases—pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge (i.e., how to present and represent the knowledge of a discipline) (Shulman, 1986, 1987)—teacher professional knowledge (Furlong & Maynard, 1995), and personal and practical knowledge (Clandinin & Connelly, 1987; Connelly, Clandinin, & He, 1997; Elbaz, 1981). Within this sociocultural perspective, research also began to investigate the role of prior learning experiences in shaping teachers’ thinking (Lortie, 1975), teacher cognition (Clark & Peterson, 1986), and the social and interactional bases of learning in specific contexts in communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998).

Freeman and Johnson’s (1998) introductory article in the TESOL Quarterly special issue on English language teacher education called for a reconceptualization of the knowledge base of SLTE, moving it away from the emphasis on transmission of disciplinary, decontextualized knowledge (principally from applied linguistics) to a greater focus on teachers and teaching and the role of teachers as creators of knowledge. They identified three sources of that knowledge base: the teachers as learners of teaching (with prior knowledge and experiences as learners and as language learners); the influence of the social, professional, and political contexts in which teachers learn and teach; and the process of language teaching and learning. Freeman and Johnson summarize this as “Who teaches what to whom, where?” (p. 405). They recognized the importance of what later came to be termed the personal practical knowledge of teachers (Golombek, 1998) and were influential in bringing about the shift from a decontextualized presentation of theory and practice in English language teacher education to a sociocultural perspective (Johnson, 2006, 2009; Lantolf, 2000).

Prior to this time, the major approach to SLTE (as discussed in the 1985 Britten review of second language teacher education) involved the application of applied linguistic theory to practice (i.e., methodology and skill development) and focused on limited strategies and their effects on student learning. Britten’s article also noted the paucity of research in language teacher education at the time. In a review of language teacher education in 2000, Crandall observed the beginnings of a change, from a behaviorist transmission theory of teacher education to a constructivist theory of language teacher education, which recognized the teacher as one who creates knowledge by bringing prior learning and beliefs to the teacher education program that needed to be explored. Crandall also noted that language teacher education programs were reportedly not adequately preparing beginning teachers for the realities of the classroom, thereby motivating interest in a socio-cultural perspective in second language teaching and SLTE.

From a sociocultural perspective, human learning is defined “as a dynamic social activity that is situated in physical and social contexts and is distributed across persons, tools, and activities” (Johnson, 2009, p. 1). It has its origins in the work of Vygotsky (1978, 1986) and in the work of his students Leont’ev (1981) and Luria (1982), as well as the work of Lantolf (2000, 2006), Wells (1999), and Wertsch (1991). It also reflects the work of Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998), in which teacher learning is situated within communities of practice, where teachers and teacher educators interact to “trace the inherent complexities that make up the sum of L2 teachers’ learning and teaching experiences, and make visible what those experiences ultimately lead to” in a “transformative process” (Johnson, 2009, p. x)

A sociocultural perspective encourages teachers to become “active users and producers of theory in their own right, for their own means, and as appropriate for their instructional contexts” (Johnson, 2006, p. 240), with opportunities for pre-service or candidate teachers to test and develop their theories of teaching in their SLTE programs and in-service or practicing teachers to become engaged in professional development that is situated in their own teaching contexts (Johnson & Golombek, 2011).

This shift in perspective on teachers, teaching, and their sociocultural and political contexts (Freeman & Johnson, 1998; Schön, 1983, 1987) has had a major impact on language teacher education and professional development, in local programs and larger, even global, contexts, made more possible through multiple uses of technology (e.g., networked communities, discussion boards, blogs, online chats, and webinars). This change has also been reflected in the growing focus on communities of practice (CoPs) (Wenger, 1998), professional learning communities (DuFour, 2004), and collaboration in language teacher education and professional development. Such collaboration has occurred among English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, between English and content/mainstream teachers, between researchers and teachers, and among partnerships between universities and schools, which can be carried out through face-to-face or online courses and discussion.

The 1998 article by Freeman and Johnson also reported on the paucity of research articles on teacher preparation in TESOL Quarterly (about 9% of the total number of articles between 1980 and 1987) and created “a heightened awareness of the need for research on learning-to-teach, teaching, and learning in classrooms” (Wright, 2010, p. 266). In the past two decades, a growing body of research has also emerged that focused on teacher cognition, teacher learning, teacher development, and teacher identity, as well as the roles of reflection, research, and collaboration in professional learning. The growth of English as a global lingua franca and its importance in science, business, and communication have brought about an increase in the need for EFL teachers at all levels of education and for faculty who can teach academic content through the medium of English in universities in Europe and Asia. These societal trends have also created the need for a body of research, with a special focus on non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), who comprise the majority of English language teachers worldwide, concerning their participation in graduate TESOL programs in English-dominant countries, as well as the impact their experiences in such programs have when they return to their home countries. To the NNEST research, we must add the substantial research that is now being done on English language teacher education for immigrants and international students in ESL contexts and for content or subject matter teachers who teach content through the medium of English to English learners (ELs).

Just as teacher education has been shifting from a top-down approach, with expert knowledge and skills “taught” to prospective teachers, to a more bottom-up approach that recognizes the value of teachers’ experiences and ways of knowing and brings these into the teacher education program, so has PD for in-service or practicing teachers been shifting from short workshops or seminars designed for teachers by others to a range of professional development activities that teachers initiate and design. Increasingly, TESOL professional development is embedded in the practice of teaching, with questions and concerns about teaching arising from the teachers themselves. Teachers reflect on their experiences and collaborate and engage in conversations with colleagues (either face to face or virtually) in professional learning communities. (See Crandall & Finn Miller, 2014; James, 2001; and Richards & Farrell, 2005, for the range of these professional development practices.)

Online technologies have made it possible for teachers over long distances (Kamhi-Stein, 2000) to learn from one another and engage in asynchronous discussions about their practice. In addition, what was once referred to as “teacher training” has now come to be known as “teacher development.” This change in terminology recognizes that learning to teach is a lifelong process, “a process of continual intellectual, experiential, and attitudinal growth of teachers” (Lange, 1990, p. 250) and not just the transfer of knowledge and skills (Mann, 2005).

Since the 1990s, then, research in SLTE has focused increasingly on language teachers, language teaching, and how language teachers learn to teach. The sections that follow in this chapter will highlight the areas of research in English language teacher education and PD as follows:

• Language teacher cognition, teacher expertise, and novice teacher development
• Teacher identity, globalization, and non-native English-speaking t...