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Professional Development:Helping teachers teach and
students learn
Bruna CaltabianoCaltabiano IdiomasJanuary 17, 2014.
Discuss
What is professional development? In what areas is it important?
Going beyond...
“It has been said that teachers who have been teaching for twenty years may be divided into two categories: those with twenty years’ experience and those with one year’s experience repeated twenty times.”
(Ur 1996: 317)
In other wordsSheer time on the job does not ensure
experienceSuccessful teachers are those who continue
to develop throughout their professional lives – the completion of an initial qualification is just a beginning
(Ur, 1996)It is difficult to mantain a sense of
engagement when using the same old lesson routines or reading texts time after time
If we do not take steps towards development,
it is difficult to mantain the initial enthusiasm(Harmer, 2007)
The vital importance...
Have you ever feltas if you were doing the same thing again
and again?you have too many demands?boredom?very tired?like not taking risks because you’re safe?you have too many pressures?burned out?stressed?
(Scrivener, 2005)
BurnoutCaused by such things as teaching too many
contact hours, having too much homework to mark, other conditions at work, comutting, etc
The best route out of teacher burnout is to re-engage, with
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
(Harmer, 2012)
‘You can train me, you can educate me, but you can’t develop
me – I develop’
(Piai 2005:21, in Harmer, 2007)
LANGUAGE COURSES/CERTIFICATES
Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)University of Michigan: Examination for the
Certificate of Proficiency in English (ECPE)
TEACHING CERTIFICATES
TKT (Teacher Knowledge Test)CELTA (Certificate in English Language
Teaching to Adults)ICELT (In-service Certificate in English
Language Teaching)DELTA (Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults)
CerTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages)
DipTESOL (Diploma in Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages)
REFLECTIONWhat kind of teacher am I?What am I trying to achieve for myself and
my learners?What are my strengths and limitations as a
language teacher?How do my students and collegues view me?Why do I teach the way I do?How have I developed as a teacher since I
started teaching?What are the gaps in my knowledge?
(Richards, 2011)
DiscussHave you ever written down your thoughts
about lessons that you have taught or will teach?
If so, what were your impressions when rereading them? Did you find them interesting? Useful as reminders?Thought-provoking?
(Ur, 1991)
Ways of reflecting:- Keeping journals;- Joining a teacher support group;- Audio or video-recording a lesson;- Case reports;- Teaching portfolio;- Critical Incidents;- Action Research.
(Richards, 2005)
Discuss
Does your institution hold regular staff meetings? If so, are they only for decision-making or do they also include reflecting and sharing? How do you feel about them?
We can:Teach and teach or Teach and learnLearn teaching = desire to move foward, to keep learning from what happens. It involves feedback from others and from ourserlves, reflection, attempts to do in different way next time.
(Scrivener,2005)
Discuss
Have you ever been observed while teaching? If so, who observed you? How did you feel? Did the person give you any practical or expert advice?
CLASS OBSERVATIONPeer observation
Fellow teachers observe each other’s lesson. It helps:- The observer learn new things and reflect on
their own teaching- The observed have a chance to talk about
their lesson with an observer they trust(Harmer, 2012)
Formal ObservationPurposes:Training, develpment, assessment, data collectionIt provides perhaps the most useful help a learning teacher can get.An outside eye, who can help us see our particular habits, ways of working, ways of speaking, avoidances, etc.(Scrivener, 2005)
Discuss
What books have had most influence on your professional thinking or proved most useful for your teaching?
LITERATURE
Methodology booksJournalsMagazinesBooks in general – language improvement
DiscussDo you know any national or international
organization for English teachers?Have you attended at least one professional
conference? If so, how much do you feel the experience contributed to you as a professional? How?
(Ur, 2001)
Have you ever considered writing a paper and presenting in a conference?
(Scrivener, 2005)
TEACHER’S ASSOCIATIONSwww.braztesol.org.br www.iatefl.org
www.tesol.org
Conferences, regional conferences, courses, webinars, newsletters, SIGs
Conferences
They allow us to “hear about the latest developments in the field, take part in investigative workshops and enter into debates about current issues in theory and practice. We can ‘network’ with other members of the ELT community ...”
(Harmer, 2007: 423)
And“Submitting a paper or a workshop for a
teachers’ association meeting, whether regional, national or international, is one of the most powerful catalysts for reflecting upon our practice. When we try to work out exactly what we want to say and the best way of doing it, we are forcing ourselves to assess what we do. The challenge of a future audience sharpens our perceptions.”
(Harmer, 2007: 422)
THE VIRTUAL COMMUNITYJeremy Harmer, Higor
Cavalcante, Luiz Otávio Barros, Willy Cardoso
BRELT, English Teachers, IATEFL, Teachers of English, Facebook & Learning
To sum it up – Professional PrioritiesAttending ConferencesTaking coursesGetting a certificate, diploma or degreePeer observations/formal observationsLesson planning and reflectionReadingWritingGetting online
BIBLIOGRAPYHarmer, Jeremy. Essential English Knowledge. Essex: Pearson
Education Limited, 2012.Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Essex:
Pearson Education Limited, 2007.Richards, Jack.; Farrel, Thomas. Practice Teaching – A Reflective
Approach. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.Richards, Jack; Farrel, Thomas. Professional Development for
Language Teachers: strategies for teacher learning.New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Scrivener, Jim. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2005.
Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.