teachers helping teachers · going as a teacher is the idea that the classroom is not only a place...

21

The English Connection Spring 2011 Volume 15, Issue 1

One of the things about teaching that keeps me going as a teacher is the idea that the classroom is not only a place where students learn but also

a place where teachers learn, too. Of course, I can try toreflect on my own learning while I teach, but I findworking with other colleagues the most beneficial wayfor me to develop. This article looks at three waysteachers can help each other reflect: mentorship, teamteaching, and peer coaching.

MentorshipResearch has indicated that beginning teachers whoare mentored are more effective teachers in their earlyyears and are more likely to remain in teaching, sincethey learn from guided practice rather than dependingupon trial-and-error alone. Teachers help each otherlearn when more-experienced or more-effectiveteachers serve as mentors for peers. The mentor-mentee relationship need not be one in which a gapexists between the two in terms of experience. Twoteachers at the same experience level and same rank inthe teaching hierarchy can form a critical friendship. Acritical friend acts as an observer who can talk aboutteaching in a collaborative undertaking and give adviceas a friend in order to develop the reflective abilities ofthe teacher who is conducting their own action research.

Team TeachingTeam teaching is a type of critical friendshiparrangement whereby two or more teachers cooperateas equals as they take responsibility for planning,teaching, and evaluating a class, a series of classes, or awhole course. Team-teaching arrangements that teamscan choose from, depending on what best meets theirneeds, can be any of the following: (a) Equal partners:Both teachers see themselves as having an equalexperiences and knowledge, and so, all decisions areshared equally for all stages of the lesson: planning,delivery, monitoring, and checking. (b) Leader andparticipant: One teacher is given or assumes aleadership role because they have more experiencethan the other with team teaching. (c)Native/Advanced speaker and less proficient speaker:In some situations (such as in Korea’s EPIK program),a native English-language speaker or an advancedspeaker of English may team teach with a lessproficient speaker.

Peer CoachingAlthough similar in many ways, peer coaching, anotherform of critical friendship, is actually different thanteam teaching because its main aim is for one teacherto help another improve their teaching. In a peer-coaching arrangement there is no evaluation, nosupervising, just a professional collaboration in whichone teacher wants another peer to observe their class in

order to obtain feedback on one specific aspect ofteaching or learning. The peer, acting as coach/friend(see above), offers suggestions to a colleague based onclassroom observations. Teachers make their owndecisions as to what changes, if any, to incorporate intotheir teaching. In other words, each teacher still has themain responsibility to develop and does not hand overc o n t r o l t o acolleague. Anexample of thisi s w h e n t h ecoach observest h e f e l l o wteacher andmakes a recordo f t h eobservation. Depending on the amount of detailrequired by the teacher and the focus of theobservation, which is decided by the teacher (not thecoach), both will reflect on practice. The classroomobservation may be assisted by the following datagathering instruments: audiotape, videotape,classroom transcriptions. Both parties may reflect onthe whole process by engaging in journal writing anddiscussions. Both participants should write down theirreflections of the process and what was achieved. Theyshould then meet and discuss what was written andwhat was achieved.

Teachers, like others outside of formal education, learnin a contextualized manner, and they learn best whenstudying areas important to their lives. Mentorship,team teaching, and peer coaching are three excellentmethods for teachers to use in helping each otherreflect on practice.

ReferenceFarrell, T.S.C. (2007). Reflective language teaching: From

research to practice. London: Continuum.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. The early partof Dr. Farrell’s teaching career was spentteaching in Seoul. Dr. Farrell was a speakerat the 2010 PAC-KOTESOL International

Conference in Seoul this October. Email: [email protected]

Teachers Helping Teachers

ProfessionalDevelopment

By Thomas S. C. Farrell

Critical friendships are critical for teacher development.

21

The English Connection Winter 2010 Volume 14, Issue 4

Ijust arrived back in Canada recently after a wonderful trip to Asia that included Singapore and Korea. While in both locations, I was reminded of

the vibrancy of Asia that I miss while living in NorthAmerica. This vibrancy was fully visible to me alsowhile I was at the Korea TESOL/PAC Conference onthe weekend of October 16-17 in Seoul.

At the conference, I was honored and delighted to beasked to give a plenary on Day 2 (Sunday) and wasimpressed by the turnout. My talk was on role identity:the roles we give ourselves or the roles others thrust onus. My reason for talking about this topic is that it is anarea of our work that many reflective teachers forget tolook at. Reflective teachers, for example, usually askthe what, why, where, and how questions, but wesometimes forget to ask the who question: who is theself that teaches? If we look at the acronyms TESOL or

TESL, the T comes first -- and that is the teacher.Teachers often act in the isolation of their classroomsfor so many hours of the day that they can lose sight ofwho they are, their integrity, and their identity, and thevarious roles they play or are asked to play. Many timesthey may feel that they are acting alone without muchsupport or collaboration because they spend so much

time alone in the classroom each day. Try thisreflection: think about how many hours you spentteaching in a class last week alone, without any otherteacher helping you, and compare this to how muchtime you spent talking to other teachers in the schooland during school time about your practice. I willwager that the former takes up much more of yourtime. So my plenary focused on the who question ofreflective practice.

Using some research I have nearly completed here inCanada with three experienced and wonderful ESLcollege teachers as a backdrop, I pointed out that 16roles emerged from their reflections, roles such asentertainer, social worker, learner. These divided intothree main clusters: the Teacher as Manager (rolesinside the classroom), the Teacher as Professional(roles within the teacher), and the Teacher asAcculturator (a term coined for roles outside theclassroom). I suggested that this latter cluster and rolemay be a distinguishing role for TESOL professionals.What I also mentioned was that our roles as TESOLprofessionals are often hidden and controversial if wedo not reflect consciously. We should be aware of theseroles because some administrators may be thrustingroles on us that we may not be fully comfortable with.Indeed, a main focus of my talk was a realization thatthe who question, who is the self that teaches, is a veryimportant one if we are not to reduce teaching to onlytechnique or method, because good teaching comesfrom who we are as teachers, our integrity, and our

identity. One reflective question that I regularlyconsider is In spite of moments of doubt aboutcontinuing as a teacher, I continue because.... I reflecton this question regularly because it has gotten methrough somes t r a n g ee x p e r i e n c e s ,such as mysurviving thecollapse of

S e o u l sS e o n g s uBridge, whichhappened at 7:40 a.m. on Friday, October 21, 1994,causing 32 poor souls to perish. I reflect on thatquestion regularly because I drove over that bridge at7:39 that same morning, just before it collapsed, on myway to observe a language teacher. I feel that I musthave been destined to perform my role as a languageteacher educator as I have done since that fatefulmorning all those years ago. This is also one of themany reasons I love returning to Korea and KoreaTESOL: to give back. Many thanks to all for your warmwelcome this year as well.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. The early part of

Dr. Farrell s teaching career was spentteaching in Seoul. Dr. Farrell was a speaker atthe 2010 PAC-KOTESOL International

Conference in Seoul this October. Email: [email protected]

Who Is the Self That Teaches?



A Quote to Ponder

“We cannot really teach alanguage; we can only createconditions under which it willdevelop in the mind in its own

way.”

Wilhelm von Humboldt, On Language(1836), paraphrased by Noam Chomskyand cited in B. Kumaravadivelu (2003, p.44), Beyond Methods: Macrostrategiesfor Language Teaching.

29

The English Connection Autumn 2010 Volume 14, Issue 3

Have you been evaluated recently? How did youfeel at the end of the evaluation process? Wereyou satisfied that your supervisor really knew

you as a teacher? Did you learn anything about yourselfas a teacher? The usual answer to the last question isthat teachers feel dissatisfied: that the supervisor reallydoes not know them as a teacher and that they do notget anything out of these evaluations. In this article, Ipropose that if teacher evaluations are conductedthrough reflective practice, everyone wins: the teacherslearn about themselves and their teaching, and the

supervisor learns about the teacher and the teacher sclass.

Teacher Evaluation and ReflectivePracticeCurrent teacher evaluation methods usually consist of

one or two walk-throughs and observations bysupervisors. They then make judgments, based on

these observations, about the teachers instructionalmaterials and teaching methods, and also the

students learning behaviors. Then, they providesuggestions on how a particular teacher can/shouldimprove teaching performance. Teachers who havebeen evaluated many times in such a manner, however,maintain that these evaluations are biased by the

supervisors subjectivity because the supervisors do not

know the teacher s particular class, their students, ortheir learning characteristics. Indeed, many teachers

have confessed to having a canned lesson ready foreach of the evaluations, a lesson that is designed todemonstrate all the behaviors on the checklist and onein which the students have been coached before theobservation. In addition, many supervisors andprincipals themselves privately say that they also feelthe burden of having to conduct teacher evaluationsbecause they have, in many cases, long left day-to-dayteaching and as such, may not be well-equipped toevaluate all teachers. So they too can sense a lack oftrust between the supervisor and the teachers. As aresult, nobody is happy with what actually transpires inthese evaluation sessions.

Both teachers and supervisors agree that they need touse a system that is aimed not only at evaluatingteachers but also at fostering the professionaldevelopment of the teachers. One way of accomplishingthis dual purpose (evaluation and professionaldevelopment) is to adopt a collaborative approach toteacher evaluation where the supervisor/principalinvites the teachers to engage in systematic reflectivepractice so that they can explain their teaching

environment and their students developmentalcharacteristics.

Reflective practice generally means that teachers

subject their beliefs and practices to a critical analysisby engaging in systematic reflections so that they cantake more responsibility for their actions (Farrell,2008). This collaborative approach to teacherevaluation empowers teachers with more autonomyand the opportunity to look for the things in theirteaching that are most important to them (as in self-r e f l e c t i o n )r a t h e r t h a nfollowing ac h e c k l i s tprepared byo t h e r s f o r ac l a s s r o o mo b s e r v a t i o n .Teachers arethus more motivated to engage in self-assessmentbecause they have more say in what is assessed, so thiscollaborative approach helps to lessen beliefs manyteachers have concerning the one-sidedness of theirevaluations. Teacher evaluation through reflectivepractice has a developmental, as well as an evaluative,focus because the teachers are given the autonomy todecide what they want to reflect on, and formulategoals and/or action plans to do so. All these can bepresented in a teacher portfolio and discussedcollaboratively with the supervisor and/or principal(see Farrell (2008) for more details on ReflectivePractice activities).

ConclusionWhen teachers engage in systematic reflective practice,they tend to revamp their practices, to lead to a higherquality of teaching that in turn can positively impactthe degree of student learning. The implications of acollaborative approach to teacher evaluation andteacher professional development highlight the needfor developing a school culture where reflectivepractice is encouraged and supported in the form ofprofessional learning communities that facilitatestudent learning.

ReferenceFarrell, T. S. C. (2008). Reflective language teaching: From

research to practice. London: Continuum Press.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. The early part

of Dr. Farrell s teaching career was spentteaching in Seoul. Dr. Farrell will be aspeaker at the 2010 PAC-KOTESOL

International Conference in Seoul this October. Email:

[email protected]

Language Teacher Evaluation



21

The English Connection Summer 2010 Volume 14, Issue 2

In the previous edition of TEC, I talked about extensive reading in terms of what it is and how one can consider using it in second language

classes. This article, Part II, outlines what we canconsider doing after reading extensively so that we canengage our students in interesting post-extensivereflective reading activities that do not test theircomprehension in the usual boring ten-question format.

What Should We Do After ReadingExtensively?The main purpose of extensive reading is to encourageour students to develop an interest in and a habit forreading on their own so that they can move fromlearning to read to reading to learn. In order toaccomplish this, we must be careful not to build inextra pressures of testing or grades. If extensivereading is to be for pleasure, then we must beware ofthe possibility of spoiling this enjoyment of reading forpleasure by not asking our students comprehensionquestions and not asking them to write mindlesssummaries of the books they have read: How wouldyou like to have to write a summary of the latest fictionbook you have read? Of course, if all the students arereading the same class book, then the teacher couldalso read it and this makes checking the impact of thatbook easier. But different groups can read differentbooks and engage in different class activities that canbe compared. Each student should keep a reading logof some sort about the material they are reading so thatthey can draw on that information when discussingaspects of the book they have read. Then each classmember can be asked to work individually or in pairsor groups to complete any of the following activities:

1) Write a reaction letter to the author of the book, askquestions about the book, and give comments aboutwhat you liked and did not like. 2) Make a movie. “TheMovie Version”(Farrell, 2004) is an activity wherestudents cast actors and draw a poster for a moviebased on a book they have read. “The Movie Version”is one alternative to the “boring book report,”as it isvery popular with students. 3) Students can also makea poster for the “movie-of-the-book”and/or redesignand make a new book cover. Rather than a movie,students could also consider making a radio play fromthe story.

Having Proceeded With CautionI will end this article with a caution for all becauseextensive reading has taken on somewhat of a

bandwagon call, with ELT reading circles as the cure-all for the difficulties students encounter when learningEnglish as a second language, where s o m e t h i n k i tcan and maybe should replace instruction. Yes,extensive reading can be a great way to promoteautonomous reading. However, it should augmente x i s t i n gi n t e n s i v er e a d i n ginstruction andnot replace it.S i m p l yproviding timefor students toread, a commonmisinterpretation of extensive reading, will notguarantee that students will develop their readingskills. Rather, an extensive reading program should becarefully designed so that students can put intopractice reading strategies they have been explicitlytaught in their intensive reading classes so that theycan become more autonomous readers.

Many of the problems learners face in learning to readin English are related to common instructionalmethods that often test, rather than teach, reading, andthereby, fail to foster a fondness for reading withinlearners. Additionally, many teaching methods fallshort of fully accounting for the differences betweenlearning to read in a first and second language.Extensive reading strategies offer ways in which teacherscan cultivate not only reading skills and textcomprehension, but also an interest in reading in English.

ReferencesFarrell, T. S. C. (2004). The movie version. In R. R. Day & J.

Bamford, Extensive reading activities for teachinglanguage. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Farrell, T. S. C. (2008). Teaching reading to Englishlanguage learners: A reflective approach. ThousandOaks, CA: Corwin Press.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. The early partof Dr. Farrell’s teaching career was spentteaching in Seoul. Dr. Farrell will be aspeaker at the 2010 PAC-KOTESOL

International Conference in Seoul this October. Email:[email protected]

ER: Proceed with Caution (Part II)


By Thomas S.C. Farrell

23

The English Connection Spring 2010 Volume 14, Issue 1

Recently I read an excellent discussion on the topic of extensive reading in the Korean context in The English Connection. In this column, I

would also like to add some of my reflections on howwe can further promote extensive reading. When Itaught in Korea (18 years) in the early part of mycareer, I attempted to introduce extensive reading, butit was a hard sell because many wondered about itsvalue and how to “control”it with assignments and thelike. There were misconceptions then, many of whichstill exist, about what extensive reading is and how itshould be conducted. I will revisit these issues as theyrelate to extensive reading and what we know fromcurrent research in two parts. I take much of this frommy recent book on reading (Farrell, 2008), should youwant to see more.

What is Extensive Reading?An obvious start to this discussion is to contrastextensive reading with intensive reading, where weteach reading explicitly and directly in the classroom toour students so that they can decode different types oftexts. Intensive reading calls for maximumintervention by the teacher in the class. In contrast,extensive reading calls for minimal intervention fromthe teacher because it usually involves having ourstudents read materials that interest them (forinformation and/or pleasure) with no great focus onthe language within the text itself. The idea of havingextensive reading in our English language educationprograms is that it can help improve our students’overall reading performance (especially beginningstudents) by enhancing incidental language learning insuch areas as spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and textstructure.

How Should We Conduct ExtensiveReading?Extensive reading can be conducted in class and/orafter class. When conducted in class, the studentsusually read silently (called Sustained Silent Reading[SSR] practice) and at their own pace. During this SSRtime, teachers can help select a book, answer questionsfrom learners, and observe learners’reactions toward

reading. However, the teacher-student conversationsshould not disturb the other students who are reading.So what should the teacher do during this time? In myopinion, while the students are reading extensively inclass, the reading teacher should also read in the class.When studentssee that theteacher isreading, theymay becomecurious aboutthe book he orshe is readingand may thusask questions about the material. Reading teachers canthen answer their students’questions, explain whatthey are reading and why they like this type of book,and explain that their reading interests may bedifferent than their students’interests.

Research has indicated that when extensive reading isused to build fluency, nearly all the words of the textthe students are reading should be known to them.When the purpose of extensive reading is for languagegrowth, then about 95 per cent of the words in the textthey are reading should be known. So, for extensivereading it is better that our students read lots of easytexts, which keep their language difficulty within thelearners’reading competence, rather than moredifficult ones, especially for those students who lackconfidence in reading. Of course, a controversial issueis: Who chooses the reading materials - teachers orstudents? It is best that students choose what theywant to read because our (teachers’) interests aredifferent than our students’interests. But what if theychoose materials we consider inappropriate? Whatwould you say if your students wanted to read comicbooks or an x-rated magazine because they said theywere interested in these materials?

This article has offered a few tips on conducting ER,but the discussion will continue in the Summer issue ofTEC, where I will address how teachers can proceedafter introducing an extensive reading program.

ReferenceFarrell, T. S. C. (2008). Teaching reading to English

language learners: A reflective guide. Thousand Oaks,CA: Corwin Press (Sage).

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. Email:[email protected]

ER: Proceed with Caution (Part I)



Extensive reading calls forminimal intervention from the teacher because itinvolves having ourstudents read materialsthat interest them.

21

The English Connection December 2009 Volume 13, Issue 4

In the last issue, I said I would focus on reflectivepractice regarding teaching the skill areas. The firstone I will talk about is teaching grammar. There is

no general agreement in linguistic circles about how todefine the term grammar. In fact, grammar’s exactrole in English lessons is still not commonly agreedupon: Those who say we should teach it don’t agree onhow to teach it, while others say we should never teachgrammar in class because children learning their firstlanguage never take grammar lessons from theircaregivers. Recently, there has been a movement insome countries to question the communicativeapproach and to call for a reintroduction of grammarinstruction because students still make grammarmistakes. This may be linked to a lack of explicitinstruction in grammar.

What Is Grammar?The grammar we see in books can differ from whatnative speakers of a language actually use. The rulesare often set by linguists or grammar experts andoutline what tradition dictates grammar should be.This is prescriptive grammar, whereas how nativespeakers of a language use it in real life is calleddescriptive grammar. This is an important distinctionfor teachers to consider because we must consider oneother type of grammar for our students: pedagogicalgrammar, the grammar we ask our students to learn.

Should We Teach Grammar?This is a tricky question to answer. Teaching grammaris usually done in reaction to student errors, with thebelief that if you teach grammar overtly, then thestudents will make fewer mistakes. However, teachingstudents rules and correcting their every error does nothelp language learners avoid these errors. It can evenimpede language production by making the studentfocus on form at the expense of communication. So,what are English teachers to do? Some teachers teachgrammar because it is easy to teach and easier to testthan, say, speaking or writing. Other teachers say themost common reason for teaching grammar is that itgives a system for analyzing and labeling sentences. Fordecades, however, research has demonstrated thatteaching grammar rarely accomplishes such practicalgoals because few students learn the rules of grammarwell. Even if they do manage to learn these, many stillfail to transfer the grammar they have learned toimprove their speaking or edit their writing.

Ways of Teaching GrammarGrammar can be taught inductively or deductively. Aninductive approach to teaching grammar is seen as amethod in which the students’ attention is focused onexamples of actual usage and the students are requiredto discover for themselves the underlying structure,

while a deductive approach to teaching grammar is onewhere students are shown the rules of the grammaticalform before they are given examples in actual usage.So, which approach should we use? Should weencourage our students to try to infer grammar rulesfrom examples,o r t e l l t h e mexplicitly whatthe rules are? Iwould say thateach teacher ineach context,b e c a u s e h e o rshe knows thestudents’ language needs best, should design activitiesfor lessons of English grammar that best suit thoseneeds. The following guidelines may be useful toremember when preparing lessons for a grammar class:(a) Know what type of grammar you want to teach inthe lesson; (b) Time and plan your grammar lessons;(c) Decide how much grammar metalanguage you wantto introduce in each lesson; and (d) Let the studentshelp with the construction of the grammar lessons.

ConclusionGrammar is sometimes considered a dirty word inlanguage teaching because of the huge swings inteaching methodology in the past from an emphasis onteaching grammar as the language lesson to morecommunicative lessons where grammar is not evendiscussed. It may be a good idea for all teachers toknow the grammar rules so that they are able to usethese as a metalanguage to talk to students, regardlessof whether they teach it inductively or deductively. Formore ideas on teaching grammar see chapter 4, Farrell(2006).

ReferenceFarrell, T. S. C. (2006). Succeeding with English

language learners: A guide for beginning teachers.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at BrockUniversity, Canada. His professionalinterests include Reflective Practice,and Language Teacher Education andDevelopment. Dr. Farrell's recentb o o k s a r e R e f l e c t i v e L a n g u a g e

Teaching: From Research to Practice (2008,Continuum Press, London) and Teaching Reading toEnglish Language Learners: A Reflective Guide (2009,Corwin Press, Sage Publications). Web page:http://www.brocku.ca/appliedlinguistics/viewpeople.php?id=1&view=all). Email: [email protected]

Reflecting on Teaching Grammar



’

25

The English Connection September 2009 Volume 13, Issue 3

Iread in recent press articles in Korea that English teachers have actually been called “Vampires”! I also read that they have been called many other

titles, as it seems that many Koreans still think Englishteachers (native English speakers) are not professionaland are only here to make money. I spent 18 years inKorea and, when I left for Singapore in 1997, similarsentiments were expressed by Koreans in thenewspapers. It seems that things have not changedmuch. So, in this article, I would like to get to the basicsof what an English teacher is: because one cannotdevelop as an ESL teacher if one does not know whatan ESL teacher really is. I am treating the term“English teacher”as someone who is untrained

because, like it or not, many so-called ‘native Englishspeakers’come to Korea and become instant Englishteachers and this is where I start real professionaldevelopment discussions.

Some employers in Korea and elsewhere think, “If youspeak English, you can teach it.”Is this true? If it istrue, then we can also say that all 50 million plusKorean nationals are automatically Korean languageteachers from childhood, with more than one billionteachers of the Chinese language across the watersfrom Korea, and so on.

Okay, now let us look at an ESL teacher from theperspective of the so-called native speaker ESL teacher.A native speaker of English walks into a room full ofstudents and becomes an instant English “teacher.”The class begins, and we assume language learningtakes place. In fact, some Korean employers (and theteachers themselves) think that all the teachers mustdo from this point on (as I have heard recently) is to“just talk and keep the students happy.”While I agree

that some teachers may actually play this game, I knowmany in Korea that do more: They actually think abouttheir function and role as a teacher of English in Korea.They see teaching as a highly complex process whichrequires different challenges in each class. Even peoplewho enter the classroom for the first time (be theymotor mechanics or the like in a previous life) andbecome instant “English teachers”soon realize that“just talking”wears thin and wears them down fast.

These “teachers”begin to see how complex teachingreally is, and may come up with questions such as: Howmuch do I talk, and is this good? How many questions

do I ask? What kinds of questions do I ask? Do I knowthe answer or not, and should I ask more or less knownquestions or unknown questions? What kind of seatingarrangements do I use? Should I change them, andhave I changedthem recently?W h a t k i n d o fl a n g u a g e d o Iu s e ? I s i tcomprehensible?Should I teachgrammar? If not,why not? If yes,do I teach the past tense first, then the present, andthen the future; and will they learn in this order? Thisis, in fact, the beginning of their professionaldevelopment and, in order to answer them, the“teachers”must read in such subject areas as Second

Language Acquisition Theory, Teaching Methodology,Learning Strategies, Applied Linguistics, MotivationalTheories, Sociolinguistics, and various PsychologicalTheories, while becoming aware of all the cross-cultural issues involved in teaching English as a secondlanguage in Korea. Now these “teachers”begin to seethat there is a lot more involved that just going into aclassroom and talking. They soon realize that ESLteachers have many possible functions/roles in Koreasuch as: cross-cultural expert, counselor, discussionleader, grammarian, curriculum planner, oralinterviewer, language authority, language model,disciplinarian, needs assessor, language tester, andmany more.

I think that, whether trained or untrained, Englishlanguage teachers, and even Korean administrators,will agree that there is a lot more to teaching English asa second or foreign language than just going into aclass and talking because one is a native speaker of thelanguage. In future columns, I will explore howteachers can develop in specific skill areas of teachingEnglish, such as speaking, reading, writing, andlistening.

The AuthorThomas S. C. Farrell is Professor ofApplied Linguistics at Brock University,Canada. His professional interests includeReflective Practice, and Language TeacherEducation and Development. Dr. Farrell’srecent books are Reflective LanguageTeaching: From Research to Practice(2008, Continuum Press, London) and

Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: AReflective Guide (2009, Corwin Press, Sage Publications;Web page: http://www.brocku.ca/appliedlinguistics/viewpeople.php?id=1&view=all). Email: [email protected]

Korean ELT: What Does it Mean?



’

ESL teachers have manypossible functions and rolesin Korea.

16

The English Connection June 2009 Volume 13, Issue 2

In this article I would like to recommend to teachers in Korea how they can make use of an outlet within the main TESOL organization to publish their

reflections on their own teaching. I emphasize theword own because, more often than not, professionaldevelopment for many teachers has often consisted ofdistrict, school/institution, or administrationmandated courses and/or one-stop workshopsconducted in a top-down approach (usually by outside“experts”) which teachers are subsequently expected

(regardless of context) to translate into action in orderto improve perceived weaknesses in their practice. Inother words, teachers have been researched bysomeone outside their classroom and “diagnosed”withideas for improving their practice.

I have had the privilege of being Series Editor forTESOL’s Language Teacher Research (LTR) Series, asix-volume series that included studies of LTR in suchdiverse regions as Africa, Americas, Asia,Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and the Middle East(see TESOL’s publications for more details). The serieswas developed so that language teachers and languageteacher educators at all levels of expertise around theworld could have a forum to carry out and shareresearch on their own practices in their own context.Now a “new”(actually an old one that has beenrevived) journal has been started by TESOL, calledTESOL Journal (TJ), and within this journal, I amediting a subsection called “Language TeacherResearch.”

Language Teacher Research as it is envisioned in TJincludes inquiries that are systematic (see guidelines

below) and intentional, and features accounts ofteachers at all levels researching their own practice(not other teachers’practice). This Language TeacherResearch section aims to continue to provide such astructured forum for language teachers and languageteacher educators in all regions of the world. So thatthe research accounts are readable and accessible to alll a n g u a g et e a c h e r s t h et e m p l a t eguidelines in thebox below, whichare similar to theo r i g i n a l L T Rseries, must befollowed by allcontributors.

I look forward to reviewing as many articles as possiblefrom teachers in Korea reflecting on their own practice.


Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: AReflective Guide (2009, Corwin Press, Sage Publications;Web page: http://www.brocku.ca/appliedlinguistics/viewpeople.php?id=1&view=all). Email: [email protected]

Looking At Your Own Classroom



Submission Guidelines

Research Issue: The statement of the issue includes a brief description of the context and the participants. It answersthe question “Why is this issue important to you?”Issues do not have to be framed as problems. You are encouraged toidentify and express what you see as important to the situated nature of your work.

Background Literature: This brief review of the literature asks you to write only about the background literaturerelating to the issue you have researched above.

Procedures: You then document the exact procedures you fashioned or responses you made to the research issuediscussed above. What was the procedure or response taken; why did you take this procedure or response; and where didit come from? How did you implement it? Give as many details as possible here because other teachers may want toreplicate your research in different contexts.

Result: What are the results of the issue you researched? In this section, you discuss the outcomes and results in detail.

Reflection: What have you learned as a result of the whole process? For example, what have you learned about yourpractice? What have you learned about doing research? Also, at this point, the issue of the situated nature of the workshould be revisited: Why do you think the issue is specific to your context?

Length: Each submission should be 4,000 to 5,000 words.

For further details: http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document .asp?CID=1997&DID=12309

15

The English Connection March 2009 Volume 13, Issue 1

Iam delighted to have been asked to write this regular column for TEC on professional development. In this column, I hope to explore

many issues related to professional development. Ialso hope that you, as readers, can provide somefeedback along the way about what you have read andabout what you would like to see in this column in thefuture.

My interest in professional development and in thedefinition of what it means to be an EFL teacher, stemsfrom the concern I felt while teaching in Seoul over thequalifications of the huge influx of non-Koreantravelers into Korea in the 1990s to teach English. I amsure there are teachers in Korea now that are interestedin their professional development regardless of theirinitial qualifications, and so, this column is for all whoare teaching English in Korea.

I would like to start this column by encouraging you,the teacher, to look at your current practices todetermine what theories or assumptions aboutteaching and learning you may be working from, eitherconsciously or subconsciously, by trying to situateyourself and your teaching into one of three umbrellaconceptions of teaching: (a) Science/Research, (b)Theory/Philosophy, and (c) Art/Craft (Freeman &Richards, 1993). All three take a different stance to theteaching of EFL and go beyond the narrow thinking ofteaching as the execution of techniques in theclassroom by a teacher.

The Science/Research conception of teaching sees EFLteaching as guided by research supported byexperiments in psychology, from where learningprinciples are established, and learning strategies areinvestigated and developed. Task-based instruction isderived from SLA research.

The Theory/Philosophy conception sees teaching EFLas based on what ought to work (theory) and what ismorally right (values-based teaching). The much-touted communicative method (CLT) is included in thiscategory because it was developed by systematic andprincipled thinking rather than empirical investigation.Humanistic teaching and learner-centered teachingalso come under this conception, and here teachingeffectiveness is seen more in terms of belief about whatshould work rather than any successful application.

In contrast to the first two conceptions, the Art/Craftconception of teaching depends on the individualteacher’s skill and personality to teach EFL becauseteachers are allowed to be themselves and act on theirown best understanding of what is happening in theclassroom with their particular students. A good EFLteacher willdescribe (innonjudgmentallanguage) andanalyze his orher class andrealize that arange of optionsare available tochoose from, depending on the needs of the students.This conception, of course, depends on the teacher andnot on the form of teaching.

In summary then, Science/Research conceptions offerready-made, specific solutions to language teaching,Theory/Philosophy conceptions offer ready-madegeneral solutions to language teaching, and Art/Craftconceptions offer custom-made and self-madesolutions to language teaching. Now, do a self-assessment of these three conceptions by ratingyourself from 1 (low amount) to 5 (high) on each.

It may be a good idea to share your conception withyour colleagues as this may start an interesting processof collegial reflections on your practices. I will be inKorea at the National Conference in May, and I hope tomeet some of you while I am there, so we can furtherdiscuss professional development. I will be giving akeynote on “Professional Development ThroughReflective Practice,”if you are interested in coming.

Your comments are welcomed.

ReferencesFreeman, D., & Richards, J. C. (1993). Conceptions of

teaching and the education of second language teachers.TESOL Quarterly, 27, 193-216.


Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: AReflective Guide (2009, Corwin Press, Sage Publications; Webpage: http://www.brocku.ca/appliedlinguistics/viewpeople.php?id=1&view=all). Email: [email protected]

Teaching Conceptions



Examining teachingpractices and assumptions about learning

One of my favorite singers, Sam Phillips, has a song whose chorus is simply, “Our ideas of perfect are so imperfect.”And we all know the

old saying: “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”So itis with professional development. It may seem odd butwhen the goal of professional development becomesmaking some part of your teaching perfect, it can get inthe way of actually doing well and may actually preventprogress from happening.

I know this because I am describing myself. When Iface some task, even one I want to do, I imagine whatthe perfect outcome would be. And then I realize thatbecause I am doing the task for the first time or amsimply human, I cannot do it that well. Usually, itcomes out okay, but never perfect, and probably not aswell as it might have if I had accepted my limitations.

Perfectionism is actually the enemy of goodprofessional development. Stephen Brookfield, in hisbook The Skillful Teacher (2006), points to theimportance of learning how our students perceive theirlearning in order to better understand our teaching.One instrument he uses to learn about his students’perceptions is the Critical Incident Questionnaire(CIQ). This tool is given to students at the end of eachweek, and it asks them to indicate at what time in theclass they felt most engaged, distanced, puzzled, andsurprised, and what action by a teacher or anotherstudent they found most helpful or affirming. Hepoints to a number of benefits he gains from using theCIQ in terms of understanding his students and creditsit with improving his teaching.

Yet he also points to the danger of what he calls“perfect-ten syndrome.”“The perfect-ten syndrome

describes the unreasonable desire to want to collect abatch of critical incident forms at the end of every classthat contain no negative comments and a surfeit ofcompliments”(p. 53). And that this never happensnever fails to frustrate him and makes him “die ahundred deaths”(p. 54) at first when he reads theforms each week. He persists because of the value hegets, and warns others considering using this tool that the

goal cannot be:

to score aperfect tenof studentsatisfactionweek afterweek. Thepoint is tosituate your teaching in an understanding of theemotional, cognitive, and political ebbs and flowsof group learning that help you realize whyachieving such a score is impossible. (p. 54)

Happy are those who can do this. I struggle with it. ButI know that I have to get better at it. One part of gettingbetter at being imperfect that I am learning is to setmore reasonable goals for myself. Rather than havingto write this whole column perfectly (as I am trying butfailing to do now), a simpler goal of writing 30 minuteson it per day and trying to improve it until the deadlinewould be more effective. Writing for thirty minutes isan achievable goal, and, done consistently, willeventually produce a finished product, probably abetter one than the last minute rush does. Moving fromknowing this abstractly to acting on it is the trick.

Another thing I am learning is to cut back on my totalcommitments so that I can focus on fewer and do thembetter. This will, I believe, make me a better teacher.With that in mind, this will be my last ProfessionalDevelopment column for The English Connection.Writing each one has made me think and learn moreabout teaching, and I value the experience. I hope thatyou have gained as much from reading them as I havein writing them. I wish all the readers who have stuckwith me so far the best of luck in your own imperfectprofessional development.

ReferenceBrookfield, S. D. (2006). The skillful teacher (2nd ed.). San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The AuthorBill Snyder, TESOL/Applied LinguisticsProgram, Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity. Dr. Snyder’s research interestsinclude learner and teacher motivation,and non-native speaker teacher issues inTESOL. He is also Editor-in-Chief of theKorea TESOL Journal. Email: [email protected].

15


Striving for Imperfection


By Bill Synder

Perfectionism is actually theenemy of good professionaldevelopment.

15


While I was at the AAAL conference in March, I picked up a copy of a new book called Teacher and Learner Autonomy: Concepts,

Realities, and Responses (Lamb & Reinders, 2008). Iwas interested in it because my work on teachermotivation has touched on issues of teacher autonomy,and I wanted to know more. Teacher autonomy doesnot get as much press as learner autonomy, but it hasbeen argued that the development of teacher autonomyis necessary as a foundation for developing learnerautonomy. Teacher autonomy involves two concepts:the freedom of teachers to present the curriculum indifferent ways and the capacity of teachers to directtheir own professional development (Benson, 2001).

An article by Jonathon Shaw (2008) in the Lamb andReinders book challenges the idea of a relationshipbetween teacher and learner autonomy, and in doingso, points to the need for more serious thought abouthow teacher autonomy, instructional freedom, andprofessional development are interrelated. Whatinterested me in particular was Shaw’s argument thatcollaboration in professional development may benecessary for developing teacher autonomy.

Shaw is looking at these ideas in terms of his teachingcontext, a university language center in Thailand. Hemakes a case that the time constraints on learning theEnglish they need make his students less interested inactivities that promote learner autonomy and moreinterested in direct instruction on the language thatthey need. As he puts it:

I expect that my students will sooner or later startto work out for themselves the solutions that workfor the particular problems they face in attemptingto get a masters degree using the English language.My students will become autonomous users ofEnglish, because they have to, but autonomouslanguage learners? Students here don’t have timefor that. (p. 201)

Shaw then further suggests that dogmatic emphasis onpromoting learner autonomy has actually had anegative impact on teacher autonomy. Teachers havebecome so beholden to the idea that they shouldpromote learner autonomy, he argues, that they do notconsider whether doing so interferes with truly meetingthe language learning needs of students. And it is thoselanguage learning needs that should take priority ininstruction.

I enjoyed Shaw’s article for a number of reasons. First,his emphasis on the importance of meeting learnerneeds matches a point I try to make to my students allthe time. My teacher education students often focus on

the distinction between lesson plans that are student-centered or teacher-centered, with the former beinggood and the latter, bad. But I try to make a case tothem that it is more important that any lesson they givebe learning-centered, directed towards helping learnersacquire thelanguage theyneed. As Shaws u g g e s t s ,sometimes thismay requireteachers to bedirective ratherthan turning thelesson into a discovery process for students.

Next, his point that we are sometimes trapped by ourideas about what we should be teaching rang homewith me in terms of the research methods class I’vebeen teaching over the last three cycles. It has neverworked the way that I had intended. And now, I amforced to concede that the focus on action researchprojects may not have been the right one for what mystudents need and that a more traditional approach tomethods may have been better at providingunderstanding of research in the field.

But most importantly, I appreciate Shaw’s point aboutthe value of collaboration with colleagues as a way ofdeveloping the insight we need to be able to makedecisions about how we want to teach our students:“Dialogue therefore is needed, with teachers as critical

peers, willing to question each other’s assumptions andexplore new avenues for questioning...”(p. 200). It iswhen we work together that we have the best chance ofbecoming autonomous.

ReferencesBenson, P. (2001). Teaching and researching autonomy in

language learning. Seoul, South Korea: Longman.Shaw, J. (2008). Teachers working together: What do we talk

about when we talk about autonomy? In T. Lamb & H.Reinders (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy:Concepts, realities, and responses (pp. 187-203).Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the Hanyang-Oregon Joint TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder’s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. He is also KOTESOL’sPublications Committee Chair. Email:[email protected]

Teacher Autonomy


By Bill Synder

17


Teaching is often portrayed as an isolating profession, with the school as an egg carton in which each teacher works in their own classroom

(Lortie, 1975). There is some truth to this. I worked fora couple of years in a program for recent immigrants inChicago, and I remember noticing when people theremoved on to other jobs how little I knew some of mycolleagues despite working with them four nights aweek. We saw each other every day before class as wefinished our preparations. But then the bell would ring,and we would disappear into our compartments in the

carton , teach, and then wave good-bye as we left atthe end of the night. I learned a lot about teaching fromthat experience, but not as much as I might have if mycolleagues and I had interacted more.

Professional development should be about breakingdown the walls that separate teachers from each otherand creating opportunities to share. As Julian Edge haspointed out, Self-development needs other people:colleagues and students. By cooperating with others,we can come to understand better our own experiencesand opinions (cited in Bailey, Curtis, & Nunan, 2001,p. 240). Professional development activities often failwhen they are seen as intrusive or evaluative. Activitiesthat bring teachers together voluntarily to collaboratemay be a more effective way to start professionaldevelopment.

Bailey et al. (2001) suggest that while someprofessional development activities, l ike peerobservation, are collaborative by nature, anyprofessional development activity can be madecollaborative. In the rest of this column, I would like tolook at one professional development activity that isordinarily solitary, teaching journals, and show what Igained from making it collaborative.

A teaching journal is a diary of how one experienceswhat one is teaching. Like any diary, it can be a privatedocument, used just as a basis for personal reflection orself-observation. This can be a valuable form ofreflection, but there is the possibility that the projectwill be abandoned. One way to ensure that the journalis not abandoned is to share it with someone else on aregular basis.

My colleagues and I are teaching a course forprofessors at my university on how to teach theirclasses in English effectively. This past term, after thefirst week of the course, I suggested to my colleaguethat we each keep a journal of what happened in eachof the sections we taught and use that as a basis for

exploring the success of what we had designed and fortalking about how we could continue to improve thecourse. We agreed to write the journals as soon aspossible after each class and exchange themimmediately, so that we could keep up with what eachother was doing,compare noteson our classes,and help eachother make plansfor coming classes.

I have neversuccessfully kepta diary, and I imagine that without the obligation toshare with my colleague, I would not have maintainedthis one. Knowing that I had an obligation to someoneelse is what made me write each day after class.Knowing I would make a record of the class made memore attentive in class. When things happened, I tooknote of them more carefully, to remember them betterlater. The next time we met, my colleague wouldmention what had stood out to her, and we could talkabout what we felt was going on and what itsimplication might be. These exchanges pushed both ofus to search for more materials, to revise cominglessons, and work harder at being better teachers.

All over Korea, teachers teach the same or similarclasses next to each other all the time. Sharing teachingjournals on a regular basis can be a path to professionaldevelopment because the process of writing thempromotes attention in class and reflection after it.Sharing them provides a basis for discussing what wedo and refining our understanding of it. I know that Iwill continue to use this method in the future, and hopethat some of you will find it interesting enough to try out.

ReferencesBailey, K. M., Curtis, A., & Nunan, D. (2001). Pursuing

professional development: The self as source. Singapore:Heinle & Heinle.

Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. He is also the KOTESOL sPublications Committee Chair. Email:[email protected]

Breaking Out of the Egg Carton


By Bill Synder

25


Reflection, Randomness, and Research

My students want to know why, as teachers, they should do research. I always reply that they need to do it because classrooms are

messy places. Teachers and students enter in differentcombinations, different moods, and different directionsevery day. Odd things happen and well-made lessonplans are diverted into things unexpected. Theclassroom is not always an easy place for teachers todeal with situations. I promote reflective teachingpractices, “the process of critical examination ofexperiences, a process that can lead to a betterunderstanding of one’s teaching practices androutines” (Richards & Farrell, 2005, p. 7) in my classesbecause I believe such reflection can help teachers seetheir work more clearly. However, reflection is alsolimited by our own biases in seeing the world.Reflection extended over time and sharpened in focusinto research helps overcome the problems ofmessiness and our own tendencies to see things as theymay not be.

I recently finished reading Fooled by Randomness(Taleb, 2004), a book on economics, which at firstglance would seem to have nothing to do with teaching.But Taleb’s argument about how people can be fooledby their own thought processes into drawing incorrectconclusions from things which are random, likefluctuations of the stock market, does apply to teachinglanguages. He makes the case that the same problemswill arise in other fields that are prone to randomness.In addition, I would argue that language teaching isprone to randomness in both the short term and thelong term.

In the short term, at the level of the lesson, we simplycannot say who will learn what from anything we teach.The transfer model of “we teach it, they learn-it” doesnot hold. In a reading lesson, some students will getyour point about using strategies, others may noticenew vocabulary or grammar, and (hopefully) just a fewwill spend time daydreaming. On any given day, wecannot know which students will be doing which.

In the long term, looking at students at the beginning,or even in the middle of the process of learning alanguage, we cannot say which ones will ultimately besuccessful, high-level learners. Too many variablesintervene to make such predictions with accuracy. Weteachers face a situation where we cannot clearly knowthe outcomes of our work.

To this messy situation, we bring the processes ofreflection in order to create some sense for us and tohelp us do the job better. Yet, we are often fooled byour biases for “the visible, the embedded, the personal,the narrated, and the tangible” over “the abstract”(Taleb, 2004, p. 262). In particular, we tend to see

causal relations where none really exist. For example,we may try out a new activity in class or a new groupingarrangement for students and, in a reflective mode,notice that there are fewer management problems andmore students seem to be paying attention.Nevertheless, we cannot assume that these two thingsare related. The management problems of other daysmay have hadnothing to dowith theactivities org r o u p i n garrangementsused on them.Perhaps theweather outsidewas nice or the student who is the root of managementtrouble was absent that day.

This message of not jumping to conclusions seemsobvious, but Taleb argues that we are naturally inclinedto it, for good reasons. Thus, we must be wary of it,wary of our tendency to believe that we have found thesolution to our teaching problems. I do not think themessage should be one of rejecting reflection because ofour natural tendencies to misinterpret. Rather, we needto understand reflection in the long term, as a process ofgathering information, evaluating, understanding, andalways being open to new information and newunderstandings as we reflect more.

This extended process of reflection is what we can callresearch, especially as it becomes more focused. Thisresearch built out of reflection is the basis for teachersimproving both their knowledge and their practice ofthe field (van Lier, 1996) and for dealing with therandomness of the language learning process.

ReferencesRichards, J.C., & Farrell, T.S.C. (2005). Professional

development for language teachers: Strategies forteacher learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Taleb, N.N. (2004). Fooled by randomness: The hidden roleof chance in life and in the markets (2nd ed.). New York:Random House.

van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum:Awareness, autonomy, and authenticity. London:Longman.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder’s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. He is also the KOTESOL’sPublications Committee Chair. Email:[email protected]


By Bill Synder

22


Professional Development in UnexpectedPlaces

In the beginning of his book on professional development with Kathleen Bailey and Andy Curtis (Bailey, Curtis, & Nunan, 2001), David Nunan relates a conversation he had with Bailey

about how she learns as a teacher. She spoke with himabout finding opportunities to learn in teaching a newcourse, to a type of students she had never had before, on atopic she knew little about. When I first read that passage acouple of years back, I thought, Tough situation. I don tknow how much I d get out of something like that.

Now I know better. The university I work at, like somany others in Korea, is striving to become moreinternational. Part of that process is offering classes inEnglish so that Korean students can be better preparedfor work and so that students from other countries maybe more attracted to the university. My colleagues and Iwere asked to design some courses to help theprofessors in other departments prepare to teach theircourses in English.

We were not exactly thrilled about the idea of teachingcourses on subject matter that was not really ours, tostudents (the professors) whose needs we did not reallyknow, especially given very short notice to preparematerial and plan lessons. We decided to focus onbuilding confidence by providing lots of microteachingopportunities and helping the professors work on waysto engage their students more effectively before,during, and after classroom hours. We compiled acourse book and got ready for the first class. I did notexpect to be learning much as I taught this material.

One way in which we learn about our practice isthrough using self-monitoring as a basis for reflection.

Reflection is viewed as the process of criticalevaluation of experiences, a process that can lead to abetter understanding of one s teaching practices androutines (Richards & Farrell, 2005, p. 7). Thinkingabout your teaching can get to be a habit, and I foundmyself doing it, even in this class that I did not want.Moreover, I have been pleasantly surprised at howuseful the process has been for me, especially forfiguring out how to better teach the language teachereducation classes that are my bread-and-butter.

When my physics, chemistry, media law, medicine, andengineering professors talk about the issues theyconfront in teaching their students, I find myselfmaking connections to my own classes. When theyshow the strategies and solutions that they havedeveloped, I find myself wondering whether these ideascan have relevance to my situation, and more oftenthan not, find myself saying yes. I think I am helpingthem with their problems, but I know that they arehelping me think about mine.

Sometimes, the revelations can be quite sudden. One ofthe chemists once spoke about his students not beingable to present effectively in class because of thedifficulty of the material. As I tried to suggest waysaround this problem, I thought of how I used to dealwith such a problem in a testing class in Turkey. I alsorealized at the same time that I could organize myA p p l i e dPhonetics andPhonology classhere in thesame way anddoing so wouldlikely improvethe quality ofs t u d e n tpresentations in it. I have already begun the revision ofmy syllabus for next term to make this adjustment.

I ve also been challenged and changed in mythinking about using technology in the classroom byseeing how the professors make use of differentprograms to organize and enliven their material,provide support for their students (who, like mine, arenon-native speakers), as well as support andstrengthen their own presentation skills. I do not thinkI am going to plunge into using PowerPoint for everyclass, but I know that I am going to explore more ofhow I can use it, in addition to the web-based storagethat the university makes available, to help my studentslearn more effectively and independently.

Sometimes we have to teach things we do not want to.However, when we see those classes, too, asopportunities for reflection, we may be surprised atwhat we can learn. I can feel now that these classeshave turned out to be an advantage to me, helping meimprove in myself as a teacher. Lesson learned.

ReferencesBailey, K.M., Curtis, A., & Nunan, D. (2001). Pursuing

professional development: The self as source. Singapore:Heinle & Heinle.

Richards, J.C., & Farrell, T.S.C. (2005). Professionaldevelopment for language teachers: Strategies for teacherlearning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. He is also KOTESOL sPublications Committee Chair and Journaleditor. Email: [email protected]


By Bill Synder

23


From “Noticing to Learn” to “Noticing Learning”

When I was a classroom teacher, I had a never-fail speaking task that I would use with my low-intermediate students, an adaptation of an activity from one of

Christopher Sion’s books called “When Was the LastTime?” Whenever I used it, students would happily andnoisily chatter away until the end of class, ignoring me.I would stand in their midst, listening in for tidbits thatI could use in later lessons - grammar points to go overor useful phrases they might need. Before I would letthem go from the class, I would always ask them tothink about the fact that they had spent the last 30minutes or so just talking in English and what thismeant about their abilities in English.

Now, when I teach my course in Second LanguageAcquisition, I spend some time talking about RichardSchmidt’s (1990) Noticing Hypothesis, which arguesfor the importance of awareness and attention inlanguage learning. The hypothesis claims that it is whatlearners notice in input that has the potential for intakeas knowledge. I use this idea to make the argumentthat a primary job of the teacher is to present learnerswith tasks that help them notice things in the languagein order to learn it.

While Schmidt is talking just about noticing in order tobuild linguistic knowledge, I think that the idea of theimportance of noticing for learning has widerimplications. The activity I mention above wasintended to help students build fluency in using past-tense forms, and it may be that the repetitive use ofthose forms in the activity did help some studentsnotice them and make their use more automatic. Butasking students to reflect on the fact that they had justtalked for a half hour in English was because I wantedthem to notice not something about English, but aboutthemselves and what they could do in English. I wantedthem to be conscious of being able to speak in Englishrather than walking out of class without being aware it.

Some research a colleague and I did a few years ago(Tardy & Snyder, 2004) looked at when teachers feltbest about their work. One of the results was that thisoptimal feeling occurred when teachers noticed theirstudents learning. One of the teachers we interviewedtalked about her positive feeling in teaching a grammaractivity in which she felt she could see how herstudents “realized the rules for the first time” (p. 123).We argued in the article that part of teacher educationand professional development should be helpingteachers notice these moments and through themdevelop what Prabhu (1990) has called a “sense ofplausibility” about what works in the classroom. Thissense of plausibility is the teacher’s own

understanding, then, about how teaching relates tolearning (and vice-versa).

In short, for teachers’ professional development, weneed our own version of the Noticing Hypothesis. Ourinput is our daily practice, but the intake that changesand advances our knowledge of that practice dependson what we notice in it. I think we especially need tonotice and payattention towhen we thinklearning istaking placeb e c a u s ep r o m o t i n glearning is ourultimate goal.This kind ofnoticing will help us make more informed decisions inthe future, with the aim of promoting learning evenmore effectively.

Returning to students, perhaps we should considerpromoting a similar sense of plausibility in them.Getting them to notice not only in order to learn, butalso to notice their own learning would help themcultivate the strategies that can help them becomemore effective and autonomous learners. And a simpleway to do this is to ask them to think about what theyhave learned each day and how they did it. Thelearning may be a grammar rule or some vocabulary,but can include the recognition of what they arecapable of in using the language, which is what I wasaiming for at the end of my never-fail speaking activity.If we both develop our senses of how teaching andlearning go together, we can make the classroom workfor all of us.

ReferencesPrabhu, N.S. (1990). There is no best method - hy?

TESOL Quarterly, 24, 161-176.Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second

language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11, 17-46. Tardy, C.M., & Snyder, B. (2004). “That’s why I do it”:

Flow and EFL teachers’ practices. ELT Journal, 58, 118-128.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder’s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL He is also the currentKOTESOL’s Publications Committee Chair.Email: [email protected]


By Bill Synder

22


The Mindset of ProfessionalDevelopment

Iwork in a teacher education program in which over 90% of my students are Korean. They come to the program with different backgrounds: Some are already teachers, either in the public schools

or private institutes (i.e., hagwons); some are juststarting out in teaching. What they share is a desire tobe better teachers after going through the program.Indeed, to even enter the program, they must havebelieved that taking it would help them improve asteachers.

This belief is an example of what psychologist CarolDweck (2006) calls the growth mindset. People with agrowth mindset believe that their talents are not fixed,but can be developed through effort. These peoplethrive on challenge and see difficulties not asdestructive, but as opportunities to learn more. In asense, this is the mindset of professional development.I assume that you wouldn’t be reading this column ifyou didn’t see an opportunity to learn from it.

Dweck contrasts this with what she calls the fixedmindset , which believes that abilities are pre-determined and unchangeable. People with thismindset tend to give up easily when they firstencounter difficulties because they see them as a signthat they don’t have the ability to succeed. Often, theywon’t even try new experiences for fear of notsucceeding or being the best on the first attempt.

People with both mindsets can be successful in theirendeavors (Dweck contrasts Michael Jordan’s growthmindset with John McEnroe’s fixed mindset), but theyattribute their success to different things. And it seemslike people with the growth mindset enjoy their successmore, mostly because they are focused on the challengeand not the outcome. For fixed mindset people, successmust be eternally reproduced because any failure is asign of their personal lacks.

I say that my students are growth-oriented, but I reallyneed to qualify this. When they come to my class onteaching pronunciation, many of them switch to a fixedmindset. They reject the idea that they could ever teachspeaking; that is the purview of native-speakerteachers, who are born with the ability to do it. Not allmy students believe this, but just having some studentswho do makes this class a special challenge to teach. Ineed not only to provide them with the fundamentalsof teaching pronunciation, but also to change theirmindset regarding their ability to use this knowledge.

I work on helping them see, first, that the knowledgeimparted in the class makes it possible for them todesign pronunciation lessons that they can manageeffectively. I also talk with them about appropriategoals for pronunciation instruction. I want them to seethat comprehensibility is the goal, not nativeness, andthat they can help students improve in this direction.With some of my students, it is also important to talkabout how improvement is gradual and that theys h o u l d n o texpect learnersto master whatthey teach onthe first try.

Teaching thisclass has alsobeen anexperience of applying a growth mindset for me. I feltl ike I didn’t know enough about teachingpronunciation when I was assigned to teach the course.I have spent two terms now preparing and learning andgetting better with each class. What I have done isokay, but I always think I could improve the class bylearning more about pronunciation and about how Icould teach the material better.

For our professional development to continue, each ofus needs to maintain a growth mindset where we haveone already in our practice. We also need to rethink ourfixed mindset and see potential for growth when askedto do things we don’t believe we can in our practice.Furthermore, we need to make our teaching help ourstudents move towards growth mindsets. Being lessjudgmental about their performances, creatingenvironments that help them see a connection betweeneffort and progress in learning, and the challenge forgrowth in tasks that are unfamiliar and difficult will domuch to produce long-term positive outcomes inlanguage learning in Korea. I see this in my ownprofessional development and in that of my students,and hope that it is true for you as well.

ReferenceDweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of

success. New York: Random House.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder’s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. Email: [email protected]


By Bill Synder

The fixed mind-set vs.the growth mind-set.

25


Teacher Autonomy and the Morality of Teaching

Teacher autonomy refers to the freedom of teachers to make decisions regarding the implementation of the curriculum (Little, cited in Benson, 2001). It is through these decisions,

J. D. Brown (1995) argues, that teachers modify thecurriculum to best meet the unique needs of theirlearners in each classroom and promote learning.David Little has further claimed that these teacherdecisions shape the potential development of learnerautonomy in each student. In short, teacher autonomyis a precondition for learner autonomy.

Bill Johnston (2003) argues that many teachingdecisions are inherently moral, that is, derived fromthe teacher’s evaluative beliefs about what is good orbad, right or wrong. He points to a number of areas inwhich teachers make evaluative decisions in relation tostudents, including the teaching of pronunciation, theestablishment of classroom rules, the assessment ofstudents and assignment of grades, and the expressionof self in classroom interaction by teachers. He alsonotes that there is very little discussion in the ELTliterature of the moral aspect of teaching, which isproblematic because of its pervasiveness andcomplexity. One of the purposes of professionaldevelopment should be to raise the morality of teachingto consciousness and help teachers explore the ways inwhich their values influence their practices. It is only inthis way that teachers can examine, alter, and justifythose beliefs.

Barring a situation where a teacher has to read from ascript and follow instructions exactly, all teachers areautonomous to some degree and most make all kinds ofdecisions about implementing the curriculum. Some ofthese may seem mundane, such as deciding on theorder for doing two activities or deciding whether atask should be done individually or in groups, but ineach case, the decision is made because the teacherbelieves that doing things that way will be best for thelearners. Other decisions may be more weighty, likewhether or not to have a pop quiz or how much value acertain assignment should receive in evaluatingstudents. Again, the choice is a matter of what we feel isright.

Still other decisions bring us into the realm of moraldilemmas, where two relative goods may conflict withone another. For example, should we pass theborderline student or not? Passing the student mayreflect the effort we feel that student put in and supportcontinued motivation, but it may also move the studentto a level that they aren’t fully prepared for and create aproblem for another teacher. Failing the student may

discourage them and prevent them from achievingtheir full potential. There is not a clear right answerand yet, we must make a choice. As Johnston notes,research may inform us about what to do, but notcompletely. And in the end, the decision may be moreinformed by our relationship with the student and whatour understanding of the context tells us.

Teachers are urged these days to reflect on theirpractice as partof theirp r o f e s s i o n a ldevelopment.J o h n s t o n ’ swork suggestsa n o t h e r ,p o t e n t i a l l yimportant areafor reflection. We should examine the decisions wemake in teaching to find the values that underlie them.This may be especially important when the decisionshave high stakes for our students and when we feelconflicted in the process. The decisions also need to beexplored in relation to the context of our work to seewhat role that has played in shaping our decisions.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we need to lookat our decisions in terms of how we relate to ourstudents as teachers and as people because the conflictbetween role (teacher) and self may be the mostsignificant of all.

The exploration of the moral basis of our decisions willhelp us better understand ourselves as teachers. Itshould also help us make the best use of our autonomyto help our students learn. And in the process, it mayalso provide the basis for thinking about how we mightcreate greater opportunities for autonomy for ourstudents.

ReferencesBenson, P. (2001). Teaching and researching autonomy in

language learning. London: Longman.Brown, J. D. (1995). The elements of language curriculum.

Boston: Heinle & Heinle.Johnston, B. (2003). Values in English language teaching.

London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

The AuthorBill Snyder teaches in the joint Hanyang-Oregon TESOL certificate program atHanyang University. Dr. Snyder’s researchinterests include learner and teachermotivation, and non-native speaker teacherissues in TESOL. Email: [email protected]


By Bill Synder

30


Teacher ExpertiseBy Glenn Hadikin

What makes an expert teacher? What does expertise even mean? Do experts in different fields share certain traits? I don’t claim to have definite answers to these

questions, but I feel that asking them can be a usefultask, not least because it lets us explicitly lay out whatwe believe makes a great teacher and perhaps begin tosee how well we measure up. For the last forty years,researchers have looked at expertise in various fields,from chess players to dancers, from military experts tonuclear power plant experts. A number of theories havebeen proposed, from expertise as a stage that can bereached and maintained to ideas that expertise is aprocess that needs to be continually evaluated.

Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) point out that humanbeings have an advantage over artificial intelligence.After attaining a certain amount of experience, we havean uncanny knack at zeroing in on the most promisingset of options without having to consciously thinkabout every possible one. Computers can’t work oninstincts. The study proposes a five stage model of theacquisition of skills from novice to expert, which I havesummarized here (based on a summary by Tsui, 2003):

Novice: Novices are guided by explicitly stated ruleswith little thought for the current conditions.

Advanced Beginner: Advanced beginners have moreexperience than the novice and can recognizesituational elements that need to be taken intoaccount. An advanced beginner driver, for example,will begin to use the sound of the engine as well assimply changing gears at a given speed.

Competent: This stage is marked by goal-directedplanning and an emotional investment into theoutcomes. The competent actor uses a blend ofcontext-free rules and situational elements to testout what can be achieved and make consciousdecisions about what will work.

Proficient: At the proficient stage, actors begin to useintuition. Simple tasks can be completed with littlethought and our higher brain functions can focus ongreater challenges.

Expert: The expert stage is marked by effortlessperformance that requires little conscious reasoning.Only new or critical situations require deliberatethought before action is taken.

It should be noted that Dreyfus and Dreyfus’ model isbased on various fields, and we should ask ourselveswhat differences there may be between an expert

teacher and an expert driver. Can one really teach aclass with effortless performance, and should we bestriving for the ability to do so without thinking aboutour actions? Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993) proposethat expertise is more of a process than a stage. Theyargue that writers often become fluent bad writers nomatter how much experience they have. Drivers canbegin to automate their operation of the car withoutactually being particularly good drivers. It can be moremeaningful to consider differences between expertsand experienced non-experts than comparing expertsto novices. Bereiter and Scardamalia found that it wasthe way expertschose to see at a s k t h a tdist inguishedthem from non-experts. Expertssee a task as ap o s i t i v echallenge. Theywant to work at the edge of their competence and pushtheir abilities whereas non-experts just try to get thingsover with.

Sometimes I feel that as teachers we can fall into thetrap of thinking X amount of years experience equalsexpertise. Collecting degrees and diplomas and havingcolleagues ask for advice is comforting, but are wereally working at the edge of our abilities this week? Itis interesting to look at Dreyfus and Dreyfus’ modeland see how far we have come, but let’s not getcomplacent. We need to keep looking at our classes aspositive challenges and think how we can make thembetter. What that means in practice depends on youand your class.

ReferencesBereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing

ourselves: An inquiry into the nature andimplications of expertise. La Salle, IL: Open Court.

Dreyfus, H. L., & Dreyfus, S. E. (1986). Mind over machine. New York: Free Press.

Tsui, A. B. M. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The AuthorGlenn Hadikin is a Professor ofEnglish at Daegu Catholic University.He is originally from St. Helens inMerseyside, England, and has been inKorea for the last six years. He is doinghis MA TESOL at the University ofLondon’s Institute of Education. Email:

[email protected]


What makes an expertteacher?

30


Understanding Korean LearnersBy Kevin Landry

Teaching in Korea can be a dream come true. Considering how motivated our students are, we are comparatively lucky by international standards. Our students strive for high grades

and scores. In general, they are well behaved. Intraditional Confucian teachings, students areinstructed to obey their teachers. There is even thecommon Korean saying “Respect your teacher as youdo your father.”

But with all these positive aspects, your teachingexperience may still not be so rosy. “Classroom cultureshock,”or at least “cultural misunderstanding,”maybe a problem. To avoid this, it would help to learn moreabout your students and the Korean classroom context.Getting to know your students - their lives, theirculture, and their language - can be a source ofprofessional development and personal satisfaction.

Growing up in an English-speaking country may notprepare one for teaching in a Korean context. Yes,students are still disciplined, sometimes throughcorporal punishment, and privacy rights are oftenoverlooked. However, if you can see your students andco-workers as part of an extended family, teaching inthe Korean context begins to make sense.

In Korea, people address each other by theirrelationship rather than by name. Are you familiar withthe concepts of “older brother”or “younger sister?”Naming terms even change by gender. For example,males wanting the attention of an older female use oneterm of address; females addressing an older femaleuse another. As you might expect, certain behaviorpatterns grow from this; e.g., older peers have aresponsibility to shepherd younger people who showthem respect. Considering peer relationships can offersome insight into why certain things are done as theyare in Korea, including their impact on CLT classroomprocedure.

What I really like doing in my classes is expandingbasic coursebook lessons. One way to exploit the text isto find out what interests your students. To give anexample, while teaching middle school learners at awinter camp, we were following a textbook that wasvery grammar-centric and contained many dry, fill-in-the-blank exercises. Rather than only do what wasprescribed in the teacher’s guide, I tried many differentactivities related to what we were studying that proved

more interesting to my students.

When we began a unit focusing on did, I had themwrite their own questions on a piece of blank scrappaper. They worked with a partner and came up withtheir own questions to ask their classmates. Once theymade three or four questions, I split them up and hadthem move around the class asking their questions toothers. The moving around got them out of theirroutine and into the lesson.

To expand on the simple yes/no question material inthe coursebook,I incorporatedf o l l o w - u pquestions forthem, andd e v e l o p e dmenu-makingg r o u p - w o r kactivities andrestaurant-ordering role plays. These extensions give agreater sense of authenticity to the textbook materials.

The final idea I used was taking a comic strip from theback of the book and having the students make theirown stories with a partner. I encouraged them to usecharacters they knew, with each team completing oneof the three panels. Finally, the finished product wasdisplayed on the classroom wall. These activities weredesigned with students’interests in mind.

I have been really interested in language learnersexpressing themselves through art, and I alwaysencourage speech bubbles and narration boxes. Someof the students are great artists and others come upwith good ideas. Seeing them navigating the classroom,reading each other’s work, is gratifying. They alwaysenjoy what others have to say, and time seems to fly.You can find some examples that I have scanned andposted online at http://www.edactive.com/comicsforeducation/index.htm

Getting to know my students interests and abilities hashelped me prepare better, more successful lessons, andhas contributed to my personal development

The AuthorKevin Landry lectures at HongikUniversity. He holds an MA inLinguistics (TESOL) from the Universityof Surrey and a TES/FL Certificate fromSaint Mary’s University. His currentKOTESOL positions include TeacherEducation and Development Special

Interest Group Facilitator and National Nominationsand Elections Committee Chair.


Edited by Jake Kimball

Getting to know yourstudents can be a source ofprofessional development

15


Teacher MaximsBy Glenn Hadikin

The twentieth century scientist-turned-philosopher Polanyi once said, “We know more than we can tell. Sometimes our actions

are guided by values and attitudes without useven knowing, and this is particularly true for EAL(English as an Additional Language) teachers. I shareGebhard and Oprandy’s (1999) stance that we shouldnot be too judgemental of ourselves in terms of whatwe consider good or bad teaching; we should just try tosee our teaching for what it actually is.

Jack Richards (1996) proposed “teacher maxims” as auseful tool that allows us to stop and think about whatintrinsic values guide us in the classroom. Richardssuggested teacher maxims as a practical way ofthinking about one’s teacher knowledge. He points outrecent references to teachers’ images, thoughts, andbeliefs, and how they can provide an explicit summaryof what guides us, often implicitly, as teachers. Imagesand metaphors such as “the teacher as a friend” or “theteacher as a policeman,” or the belief that one mustalways supplement textbooks are just a few examples ofideas that can guide us without us even knowing it.Richards considers maxims to be “images that havebeen transformed into models for practical action” andoffers teachers these two maxims as examples:

■ The Maxim of Involvement: Follow the learners’interests to maintain students involvement.

■ The Maxim of Planning: Plan your teaching andtry to follow your plan.

I nominated myself as a guinea pig to test out some ofhis ideas by selecting five of my own maxims toexplore:

■ The Maxim of Relaxation : Keep everyonecomfortable and relaxed in class.

■ The Maxim of Professionalism: Be professionalat all times.

■ The Maxim of Exploration: Encourage studentsto take more responsibility for their learning andexplore some of their own ideas.

■ The Maxim of Conversation: Keep studentsconversing in English at all times.

■ The Maxim of Togetherness: Try to keep theclass feeling like a team of equals; avoid lecturing.

The very act of choosing five rules that guide yourteaching can be quite an eye-opener. Colleagues ofmine agreed when they explored their own maxims. Itcan also be revealing to consider where these ideas mayhave come from. What experiences in your past, bothas teacher and learner, are likely to have contributed?How can these maxims be beneficial to students? Canthey be detrimental to learning, and does your teaching

- in practice - actually reflect them?

If I consider my own maxims, for example, I couldargue that the first one helps motivate students andperhaps camefrom my owne x p e r i e n c e strying to learnFrench andKorean. MyMaxim ofProfessionalismwas likelyinfluenced by teacher training college in the UK, andmy Maxim of Exploration was probably influenced bydiscussions I have been involved in during my currentMA TESOL course. My Maxim of Conversation,however, was partially influenced by Grammar-Translation-style teaching at my first language schooland could usefully be reconsidered in the light of newresearch. Your maxims can also serve as a useful basisfor classroom observation by colleagues - do youactually follow your own maxims from anotherteacher’s perspective?

I invite all of you to note down five of your own teachermaxims and ask yourselves similar questions. Ofcourse, our maxims should not go unchallenged, andwe need to remember that they are far from objective.At best, even a perfect picture of what guides us asteachers is a relatively small factor in the complexmatrix of personal interactions that we call a class.Teacher maxims are just the beginning.

ReferencesGebhard J.G., & Oprandy, R. (1999). Language

teaching awareness . Cambridge: CambridgeLanguage Education.

Polanyi, M. (1983). The tacit dimension. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday. (Original work published 1966)

Richards, J. (1996). Teachers' maxims in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 30(2), 281-296.

The AuthorGlenn Hadikin is a Professor ofEnglish at Daegu Catholic University,South Korea. He is originally from St.Helens in Merseyside, England, and hasbeen in Korea for the last six years. Heis doing his MA TESOL at the University ofLondon’s Institute of Education. Email:[email protected]


Our actions are guided by values and attitudes.

15


Specialization

Like most in professions, in teaching, the basic qualification prepares teachers to handle the most general of issues. While there is of course no shame in being a generalist, one who can

handle a wide variety of courses to some extent, it isgenerally expected that as teachers become more seniorthey will develop advanced skills in one or a few topicareas, to serve as a resource to colleagues and to handlecertain courses on a regular basis.

Though most MATESOL programs offer advancedcourses in specific fields, few teachers would claim tobe specialists based solely on a master’s degree. Yetdoctoral studies are not the way ahead for mostteachers.

Specialization is a frequent focus of professionaldevelopment. As Richards and Farrell (2005) observe,staff development programs in schools are often abalance between school needs and teacher aims, andthe loss of a senior teacher specializing in a particulararea (e.g., listening or CALL) generally creates anopportunity for another teacher to grow into thatvacancy. Other teachers grow into their specialization

through their own interests, whereas still others seemto fall into a specialty without much thought on thematter.

Specialization in English language teaching (ELT) isdifferent than in many other teaching contexts in thatEnglish as a foreign/second language has already beenclearly subdivided to a much greater extent than, say,mathematics or science. We have the four basic “skills”:Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing; a numberof “language sciences,” and the history of the Englishlanguage; Literature, and Technology-EnhancedLanguage Learning. And we’ve got still more skills andtypes, including Business English, Vocation-SpecificEnglish, Public Speaking, and Interpretation andTranslation.

Paths Towards SpecializationAs with most forms of professional development, theroute to specialization can take many forms, and veryoften a combination of these: formal studies,workshops, professional and academic reading,discussions with colleagues, and experimentation

(sometimes also known as “sink or swim”). The majorELT publishers all have book series for teachereducation and training on speciality areas, and thesecan range from collections of simple techniques andphotocopiables to light subject area introductions tom a s s i v es c h o l a r l ytomes. Most ofthe largerE n g l i s ht e a c h i n gc o n f e r e n c e sdesign “tracks”for theirconference presentations where attendees can quicklyascertain which sessions fit which specializations. Toooften overlooked, however, are the various Internetchatboards and email discussion lists, along withIATEFL and TESOL SIGs, that focus on teachingspecialties. Action research, or even reflection, too, canbe important aspects in developing specialization.

Avoiding “Getting into a Rut”Unlike some professions, teaching does not requirethat a specialist abandon other fields. Many teacherspurposefully maintain one or more courses outsidetheir specialization. Some institutions require teachersto teach a certain number of “general” courses, eitherto share the load, or to stay aware of issues outsidetheir special field. While this is an obvious way todiversify, there are teachers in general assignmentsthat find themselves doing the same things in the sameways. The Korean “eum and yang” symbol provides ahelpful reminder, there should be balance. Even whiledeveloping expertise in a specialty area, one shouldalso explore new fields. These explorations might benew teaching areas, or simply new ways of doing thingswithin your specialty. I will also encourage teaching inother venues (lawfully, of course!), such as summercamps, weekend intensive programs, and teacherEnglish training projects, perhaps even in othercountries.

Many of us teaching English in Korea were originallyeducated in some field other than English teaching,and furthermore, each of us is unique. Specializationshould include bringing the best of our individualnatures to our teaching and sharing our ownperspectives with our colleagues.

ReferenceRichards, J.C., & Farrell, T.S.C. (2005). Professional

development for language teachers. New York: Cambridge University Press.


By Robert J. Dickey

Few teachers would claim to be specialists based solely on a master’s degree.

14


Finding Your Whole Self

Korea’s current “well-being” craze hasn’t yet found theEnglish classroom.

In contrast to the previous five columns, where we havebeen examining issues in areas traditionally alignedwith education and instruction (however tenuously),this time we consider elements that are clearly outsidethe box. And unlike previous columns, there is littleeffort to ground the arguments here through thereceived wisdom of academia. It’s obvious: your healthis fundamental to your ability to teach.

Alan Maley (2000) discussed the need to manage andmaintain a teacher’s voice. Sounding more like one’sgrandmother than a teacher trainer, he reminds us torest the voice when we can, not strain it, avoid dust andthe sniffles, and so forth. Actually, in design andcontents, this little book reminds one of a musician’spractice book: it is filled with short exercises one cando to protect, strengthen, extend, and maintain thevoice - that so useful tool in a classroom. Still, onecould argue that the voice is a rather obvious concernfor teachers. Why did it take an established mavericklike Maley to make it marketable in ELT?

Obviously the same arguments can be made for mostaspects of the human anatomy _ comfortable shoesprotect the long-standing teacher, caution fortemperature and chalk dust, avoidance of overwork,

and so forth. Unfortunately, school administratorsoften don’t see eye-to-eye on how much is too much.Issues of teachers’ emotional health are discussed farless often, if indeed at all . Yet as a developingprofessional, we have a duty to maintain and improveour ability to teach, and to help others to do the same.So why is it that among educated professions such asteaching, nursing, and law, the burnout rate is so high?Why are nearly 50% of new graduates leaving theirchosen profession within the first five years of entry?

The methods craze of the 1970s and 1980s brought“psycho-social” concerns to the forefront of languageteaching, yet the focus was on the learner. Relaxation,comfort, sense of acceptance, supportive (non-critical)guidance from class facilitators, even improvedfurniture and surroundings failed to address theteacher’s own situation, and the post-90s demand fordocumented learning growth, even assessing teachingbased on learner’s test scores, has turned up the heatfor teachers in North America and here in Korea.Korean students are literally killing themselves inuniversity entrance competitions; it’s simply a matterof time before we hear of Korean secondary school

teachers doing likewise.

Fifteen years ago, a teacher in Korea had a life of greatprestige, even if the salary wasn’t much. Students darednot “step on the shadow” of the teacher. Parents bowedin respect. University professors taught ten hours perweek in thep r o v i n c e s ,r e s e a r c h e dlittle, publishedlittle, and after afew years, couldteach throughr e c y c l e dlessons, hencethey needed little preparation for many classes. Therewas time for contemplation and rejuvenation: in termsof work-related stress, life was good. Most of thoseprofessors have now retired, or have seen their work-environment change dramatically. They are teachingmore, required to research and publish more, anddealing with less-respectful students who were lesssuccessful in high school than their predecessors.

Expectations are climbing. Teachers at secondary andtertiary levels are concerned about the employability oftheir students, which can affect both bonuses and eventhe continuing vitality of their schools. Employersdemand more work-related skills of graduates. Parentsare demanding more of teachers too, and at manycolleges and universities, student recruitmentobligations can devour dozens of hours per month.There seems no escape from ever-climbingresponsibilities, and rarely a chance to relax. Job anduniversity entrance competition seeps all the way tokindergartens, as well as the private academies, andteachers are held accountable for their students’success. Job-stress is pervasive. Although pay is nowcompetitive with the business community and theremany unemployed PhD holders, tenured professorsand highly experienced teachers are walking away fromtheir classrooms in search of a better life.

Even while vacations shorten and overtime extends,teachers must find their own seas of serenity during theschool term, whether through hobbies, computer,novel, or movie escapes, yoga and transcendentalmysticism, or whatever works for them. The “end-of-semester” vacation is too remote, classroomfrustrations too immediate. A ten-minute break can beinvaluable. That which was scorned twenty years ago isnow high on the “recommended reading” lists of manyteachers.

ReferenceMaley, A. (2000). The language teacher’s voice.Oxford: Macmillan.


By Robert J. Dickey

Job-stress is pervasive.

We need to validate more opportunities for teachers todevelop themselves through learning about teaching asthey teach. After all, “learn by doing” is a well-acceptedapproach. There is no question about it, many teachersare simply too busy to set time aside for formalresearch projects. In the previous column (DoingResearch), I observed that action research, too, canhave a rather narrow definition. But learning fromourselves is not limited to action research. Modifyingterminology from Allwright and Bailey (1991), I wouldlike to offer the theme of “Classroom Explorations”foran area where teachers can learn from their ownclassrooms without the constrictions of the researchparadigm. I include “reflective practice” under thisconcept. Let’s investigate some possibilities.

Thomas S.C. Farrell, a long-time KOTESOL member,recently authored Reflective Practice in Action, whichrecognizes the awareness of “that was a good class” asan initial step in professional development. The 80“reflection breaks” in his book run from musingsduring a quick cup of coffee to intensive teachingjournal entries that may be shared with “criticalfriends.” Unlike the traditional research paradigms, inreflective practice there is no need to publish findingsthrough journals or conference presentations, alldiscoveries (both positive and less-flattering) canremain private. In reflection, the exploration of theclassroom takes place within the mind of the teacher;there need not be “experimentation” in the classroom.

While peer evaluation has long been recognized as botha means for collegial development as well as

professional assessment, many of the techniquesoffered there also can be used in personal classroomexplorations. Video or audio recording can be used, aswell as checklists that are marked either as part of aquiet reflection time immediately after the class orduring a teacher’s pause in class. One of my owndiscoveries in watching a class recording was that Iroamed across the front of the classroom excessively.As I used a video-cam in those classes frequently thatsemester, students seemed little influenced by cameras.

We can also consider little activities that might becalled “mini-studies”: things a teacher might attemptduring a single class period, perhaps based on suddeninspiration or a student comment. I call this “Whathappens if...?” For this next semester, I’m consideringsimply not talking for one day. What if the “languagemodel” doesn’t model? This isn’t Gattegno’s “Silent

Way” - we aren’t introducing all the tools and preceptsof that method - but instead challenging students’belief that they need a live native-speaker model in the classroom. My discoveries might include:

* how the students react.* how they accommodate, once they realize the

teacher won’t speak.* how they evaluate the lesson (in a subsequent class

session).

Another exploration could be “What if I handed adictionary or grammar guide

to each student who asked a question of that nature?” - would studentslearn to begin to look for answers in their ownmaterials, or simply stop asking questions?

I have done the second exploration, as well as one ofwriting the question on the board, without answer, andobserved how students reacted for the remainder of thehour. (Some students tried to find answers while theywere supposed to be doing other things.) At the end ofthe class, I asked if students could help their classmatesby answering any of the questions. In almost everycase, the answers were available among classmates.Several years later, I am still trying to understand allthe ramifications of that “discovery.”

It is important to consider that in classroomexplorations, no literature review is necessary prior tobeginning (though it won’t hurt!), and no formalhypothesis is expected. And, as with my questions onthe chalkboard exploration, the answers might justcreate more questions!

While I could certainly offer more examples, both fromprofessional and academic literature as well as theexperiences of myself and others, the point ofclassroom explorations is to not set boundaries, to askthe questions that are interesting to you, and to findanswers. Every teacher is different, and everyclassroom is different, so while we have much to share,we are also individuals. Professional development isalways personal.

ReferencesAllwright, D., & Bailey, K. (1991). Focus on the

classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Dickey, R.J. (2004, September). Doing research

[Professional Development]. The English Connection, 8(4), 26-27.

Farrell, T.S.C. (2004). Reflective practice in action: 80 reflection breaks for busy teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA (USA): Corwin Press.

A n o t h e re x p l o r a t i o ncould be “Whatif I handed adictionary orgrammar guideto each student


14


By Robert J. Dickey

Professional developmentis always personal.

Explorations in the Classroom

Many teachers advocate "associations" and a broad andmulti-faceted approach to development. However, it maybe time for a reality check. The fact is that many others lookat professional development with an eye towardspromotions, pay-raises, and new job opportunities. Andparticularly in Korea, many employers are quiteconservative in their perspectives on what constitutesevidence of growth as a teacher. These conservativeindividuals typically want to see evidence of researchalongside certificates, degrees, and teaching experience.Many of you likely thought that your research projectsended when you finished your last formal studies program.Don't gasp or fret at the thought of more research. Itdoesn't have to be that bad! There are lots of varieties ofresearch. This column will discuss some of them, andissues around teachers doing research in general.Classic research, often called "quantitative" study becauseof its heavy reliance on numeric data, isn't really part ofmost teachers' approach to research. Most of us aren'tequipped with statistical analysis training and tools, andaren't interested in learning. While not ruling this type ofresearch out, let's look a bit further."Qualitative research" suggests that, rather than looking atnumbers, there are other factors that can be evaluatedcarefully and relatively accurately. Not necessarily an exactopposite of quantitative, it is enough to recognize that mostclassroom teachers who do research are more interested instudies that don't reduce all factors to "yes"/"no" or purelynumeric calculations.

Classroom-based research, case-studies, and actionresearch are the areas that most teachers are more able andwilling to consider. There are countless definitions for eachof these. Let me summarize by observing that classroom-based research seems pretty self-descriptive, but note thatthe researcher may not be a teacher, or might be a teacheroperating under the direction of an outsider. Case studiescan be done by anyone. The case might be an individual, afew individuals, a class, all classes taught by an individual,all classes taught by a group of teachers, or any number ofteachers attempting to jointly test a certain strategy. Action

research is designed by a teacher in reaction to an event orevents occurring in that teacher's own classroom.

Action research comes in different varieties. Some of thebest-known scholars in ELT can't agree on an idealapproach, so I'd like to direct those interested to a reviewessay comparing the designs from three of the better-known teacher-research books. It is published in the PACJournal and available online (Dickey, 2001a).In terms of satisfying those conservative employers, it's notenough to just do the research study; it has to be published.Publishing, and how to publish, is one of the areas ofdisagreement identified in the review essay. But as I havenoted in another organization's newsletter a few years ago(Dickey, 2001b), for many people, if the "study" doesn'tconform to some traditional concerns for "scholarly rigor"and publication, it may not be treated as "research." Andthus, you won't get the credit you seek. However,publication need not be defined as "in a journal."In Korea, most employers grant some level of recognitionto conference presentations so long as an abstract appearsin a program book. An "extended summary" of two to sixpages receives additional credit. A "full-length paper"(2,000-9,000 words) appearing in a teachers' newsletter orbound conference proceedings is awarded still more credit,and publication in a book or journal more still. Note thatfor many Korean employers, an "Internet journal" (wherethere are no hardcopies published) may not be recognizedas a bona-fide journal, though this thinking is beginning tochange. This issue may affect your decision on where tosubmit a paper, as might the relative "ranking" awarded ajournal. Simply posting your paper on your own websitemight serve some purposes as well.Korea TESOL has its own journal (Korea TESOL Journal),which is actively encouraging more research papers aboutKorean learners, written by teachers in Korea. KOTESOLConference Proceedings and this newsletter, The EnglishConnection, also seek submissions.Dr. Andrew Finch wrote a humorous, yet telling little dialogabout doing action research in the January 2002 issue ofthis newsletter (Finch, 2002a), which points out howimportant and relatively painless action research can be.(Also see his Action Research article in this issue.)Furthermore, KOTESOL has a research committee, andresearch grants, which can support teachers in theirinvestigations. You can take a look at other articles inprevious issues (see Jung, 2002, and Finch, 2002b) and

ProfessionalDevelopmentBy Robert J. Dickey

26

r e s e a r c h i sdesigned by ateacher in reactionto an event orevents occurringin that teacher'sown classroom.

"many employers arequite conservative intheir perspectives on what constitutes evidence of growth asa teacher."

Doing ResearchThe English Connection December 2004 Volume 8, Issue 4

27


browse further yourself.More than anything else, if you want to "do research" interms of meeting the standards for publication and in orderto satisfy those traditional professional growthassessments, may I make some suggestions. Make aresearch plan (yes, even for dynamic action research),share it with some others who have publishing experience,and start a literature review of the relevant issue beforestarting the research. Even just three to four hours in thelibrary can help you refine your experiment and give youconfidence that what you intend to do will be attractive tosome journal or conference committee.There are also a myriad of articles on the Internet aboutpublishing. Check our own KOTESOL publications page fora few pointers: http://www.kotesol.org/pubs.Within KOTESOL, individuals willing to give advice onyour research include:

Dr. Joo-Kyung Park, Research Committee ChairDr. Dongil Shin, Korea TESOL Journal Editor-in-ChiefAnd myself, Dr. Robert Dickey.

ReferencesDickey, R. (2001a). Perspectives on action research

[Review Essay]. PAC Journal, 1(1), 175-183. RetrievedNovember 1, 2004, from http://www.pac-teach.org/jrnl-v1/

Dickey, R. (2001b). Is it research? KATE Forum, 25(2), 6-8. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from http://www.kate.or.kr/main/forum/2001_25_2.doc

Finch, A. (2002a). Action research? You must be joking![Research Acts]. The English Connection, 6(1), 12-13. Retrieved November 1, 2004, fromhttp://www.kotesol.org/pubs/tec/tec_pdf/tec_0201.pdf

Finch, A. (2002b). (No title) [Research Acts]. The English Connection, 6(4), 11.

Jung, H-J. (2002). Preparing to publish. The EnglishConnection, 6(6), 1, 6-7, 20.

TES L

The 39th Annual TESOL Convention and Exhibit

Teaching Learning, Learning Teaching: A Nexus in TexasSan Antonio, Texas, USAMarch 30-April 2, 2005For more information go to

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/index.asp

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

A global education association

In the previous column (More than Degrees, TEC 8[2]), Isuggested that continuing professional development forlanguage teachers should reach considerably beyondtraditional academic studies. And while there is anemerging recognition of portfolios for professionalassessment and employment, it cannot be denied that mostemployers still hold highest regard for various forms ofprofessional and academic certification.

Unfortunately, in the field of ELT, particularly in EFLsettings, there is little agreement or standardization onwhat constitutes a meaningful certificate. A few examplesare fitting.

Certificate of Attendance at a half-day workshopCertificate of Completion of a six-hour training programContinuing Education Units (CEUs) offered by an accredited post-graduate teacher education universityTESOL CertificateTESOL DiplomaMATESOL

Even within these types there are an endless number ofsubtypes and varieties.

In the past 25 years, two very similar models have come outof western Europe with a standard that is recognizedthroughout most of the ELT world, though these have onlyrecently become accepted by many employers in Korea:The Cambridge/UCLES/RSA program's CELTA/DELTAand the Trinity Certificate/Diploma. It should be noted thatthese are EFL teacher training programs which do notcertify teachers to work in state schools. Furthermore,these programs have evolved considerably over the past 20years, no longer emphasizing old P-P-P designs. The

certificates in these programs, along with numerous otherprograms with similar approaches, require 100-120 hoursof training, a substantial portion of which includes a tutor-observed teaching practicum and the trainee's criticalobservation of others' practicum lessons. These generallyinvolve little theory beyond awareness of the types oflanguage and issues one might encounter if the noviceteacher decides to begin reading more on the subject. Thediploma-level programs involve more readings on theoryand reflective analysis of one's own teaching. Suchprograms require current teaching and often stretch oversix months or more. There are now different certificates forthe teaching of adults and young learners, e.g.,CELTA/CELTYL.

On the other hand, there are “TESOL certificates” and


B Robert J. Dickey

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“diplomas” thatcan be doneentirely online orthrough otherdistance modes(hence, no tutoro b s e r v a t i o n ) ,there are qualitycertificates with orientations somewhat different from theRSA/Trinity concept, and there are diplomas that arebased on one or two terms of work towards amaster’s degree(also no classroom observations).

David Engl ish House in Japan i s one ofmanyorganizations in Japan offering a one-day/two-daycertificate program for teaching children, requiring a reportfollowing the training day. These types of certificateshopefully mean more than the mere attendance receiptsthat are often handed out with no regard to whether or notthe “attendees” were physically present in the trainingrooms, or whether they were sleeping during training. Ineither case, the value of these certificates is probablynegligible, unless your employer requires you do get somenumber of training hours every so often. It should berecognized, however, that many of the CEUs coursesrequired for licensure for teachers in state schools are notaltogether different from those “certificates of registration.”The training offered at such programs can be top - notch -we must distinguish between the value of the training andthe perceived value of the certification offered uponcompletion.

And what of the MATESOL (and similar) degrees? Theytoo vary from the deeply theoretical preparations for PhDto highly “hands-on in the classroom” to “self-assessingspiritual guide” to... Some countries have attempted to setstandards for various teacher preparation programsthrough nationally (or regionally) recognized teacherassociations, others through legislation. These standardshave not been very effective yet. Those schools with highlevels of recognition don't need the endorsement of suchstandards, and some other institutions determine that theybetter meet their own program needs by avoiding thosestandards.

Ultimately, we find that we are hardly farther along thanwhen we started - the certification of teachers is only asgood as the name recognition of the certificator. As moreand more employers in Korea require certification, theywill, as individuals, learn to recognize which certifyingprograms are more likely to produce teachers fitting thestandards of that employer. But at the university level, aslong as the "directing professor" is rotated every two years,such awareness is unlikely soon. In the meantime, keepinvestigating your professional development options, andjoin the KOTESOL Teacher Education and DevelopmentSIG, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KOTESOL_TED_SIG/,to share with others what you have learned, and to learnfrom others doing likewise.

“Unfortunately...there is little agreementor standardization on what constitutes a meaningful certificate.”

"Certificated" Teachers?


..

..

.

.

Professional Development, orContinuing Professional Development(CPD) as it is sometimes called, caninclude many concepts in addition toeducational degrees and certificates.While there are those who believe thata master's degree in Teaching Englishto Speakers of Other Languages(MATESOL) or similar, or a doctoratein English Education or AppliedLinguist ics/Second LanguageA c q u i s i t i o n i s t h e d e f i n i t i v equalification for teaching English,there are numerous other optionsavailable. Another perspective is thattraditional research studies aref u n d a m e n t a l t o p r o f e s s i o n a ldevelopment, regardless of initialqualification. Classroom studies,practicum, training, readings,d i s c u s s i o n s , c o n f e r e n c e s ,memberships, and more, also may beincluded in a list of professionaldevelopment activities.

The British Institute of EnglishL a n g u a g e T e a c h i n g ( B I E L T ,www.bielt.org) attempted to formalizeaccreditation of a broad perspective toprofessional development. While theorganization itself has becomeremarkably silent, their compilation ofprofessional development activities isstill a useful guide. We shouldrecognize, however, that while this isan approach many teachers andteacher trainers would endorse, moretraditional minds may see thingsdifferently - which is to say employersin Korea may not necessarily thinkyou deserve a pay raise based on yourinvolvement in the type of activitiesthat follow!

Research has many definitions (seemy commentary in the KATENewsletter, June 2001), which may ormay not require formal "publishing"in a journal or speaking before aconference. Some say ActionResearch may include such things asreflective practice or evaluating theperformance of teachers (yourself orothers). Teaching diaries, too, may bea form of research. The TESOL

Research Agenda (TESOL Inc., 2000)states that research "should embraceepistemological flexibility andinclusiveness." A review essay in thePAC Journal (Dickey, 2001) discussesthe varying perspectives of threemajor research guidebooks by AnneBurns, Donald Freeman, and MichaelWallace: there is no unified opinionon this topic.

Workshops and conferences, both asattendee and as presenter, are oftencited as forms of continuingprofessional development. When youparticipate in a conference session,y o u b e c o m e a w a r e o f o t h e rapproaches to problems you, too, face,and chats outside the workshops canbe no less enlightening. In-housetraining programs, KOTESOL chaptermeetings, and semi-organized staff-room discussions produce the samelevel of mental activity. The BIELTworksheets go so far as to argue thatthose who coordinate such programsshould also get credit for professionaldevelopment, not just for theirdedication to their fellows (which,a f t e r a l l , o u g h t t o b e w o r t hsomething!) but because that processgets the mental juices flowing muchlike considering an upcoming mealcan start the mouth watering.

Courses of study are an obvious formof CPD, but also, not so obvious.While "recognized" certificates anddiplomas in ELT are increasinglyavailable in Asia, more choices are outthere. A one-day, six-hour workshopcertificate may or may not beequivalent to 1/20th of a 120-hourcourse with practicum. Then too,courses in topics only peripherallyrelated to ELT can be counted, such ascomputers or other technologies,literature, public speaking, or evenpersonal wellness such as yoga (afterall, one doesn't usually teach wellwhen one is sick, physically orspiritually). The role of personaldevelopment within CPD is somewhatcontroversial, of course, and itshouldn't be the main focus of a

teacher's continuing professionaldevelopment, but it can surely be oneaspect of a total teacher developmentprogram. There is also the advantageof returning to the role of "learner" togive us a freshened perspective onwhat and how we teach. Distancestudies add another issue to beconsidered - level of contact withother learners.

Visitations and "shadowing" areanother aspect, where teachers seefirsthand how others are addressingissues in language education. Weneedn't limit ourselves to the teachingof English: teachers of otherlanguages, and indeed, teachers ofother topic areas, face many of thesame issues, and may have developedresponses far outside current ELTthinking. Shadowing a student, too,can be quite illuminating, as ourstudents today do not face the sameissues we did those years ago.

Reading is often a recommendation oflanguage teachers for their learners,yet how often do we read ourselves?As with classroom studies, ELT is notthe only topic on the table; generalissues in education, technology,personal development, and evenreading for pleasure all can contributet o o u r g r o w t h a s t e a c h e r s .Subscription to, or regular libraryvisits for, major ELT journals is anobvious recommendation. TheModern Language Journal is anexcellent (SSCI-rated) journal of fairlybroad coverage, though it can besomewhat difficult to locate in Korea.ELT Journal is more classroom-focussed, with shorter articles; themost recent issues are freely availableon the web. Lots of teachers'magazines and newsletters are freely

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More than Degrees



B Robert J. Dickey

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available on the web (e.g., www.e l t n e w s . c o m a n d w w w .developingteachers.com), this mightalso be an opportunity for you tomake use of your readings by writingbook reviews.

Writing materials is an oft-overlookedaspect of professional development aswell, too often dismissed as a money-making scheme rather than aneducational process. Perhaps thereare "hacks" out there that havecreated lots of materials, anddeveloping new is nothing more thanmindless recycling, but for most of us,there is a great deal of thought goinginto each page. Questions such as"will my learners react well to this"and "will they learn from this" arecritical aspects of teaching, whethercreating a single lesson, or a bookseries. This is distinct from theregular lesson-planning that all goodteachers should do (even if notwritten).

Memberships is perhaps the most

controversial of all professionaldevelopment activities. Merely payingdues (and in some cases, no duesassessment) is hardly the type ofmental processes we have beendiscussing. On the other hand,members typically receive variousnotices and materials which will causethe reader to at least consider issues. Iwould like to suggest that weprofessionals maintain active memberships in atleast three different types of ELTorganizations: an international suchas TESOL Inc. (www.tesol.org),IATEFL (www.iatefl.org), or AsiaTEFL (www.asiatefl.org), one or more"national" organizations such asKorea TESOL (www.kotesol.org),Korean Association of Teachers ofEnglish (www.kate.org), or Pan-KoreaEnglish Teachers' Association(http://www.pketa.org), and one ormore local or specialty organizationssuch as your KOTESOL chapter or aSpecial Interest Group (SIG, such asKOTESOL's Young Learner's SIG).Membership implies collegiality, and

here we can also consider the remarksin my first column (Dickey, Feb,2004), association with our peers is ac r i t i c a l a s p e c t o f c o n t i n u i n gprofessional development: our own,and assisting that of our colleagues.

ReferencesDickey, R.J. (2001). Perspectives on

Action Research [Review Essay]. PAC Journal, 1(1), 175-183. Retrieved May 15, 2004, from http://www. pac-teach.pac-teach.org/jrnl-v1/pacj1-M.pdf

Dickey, R.J. (June, 2001). Is it research? KATE Newsletter, pp. 6-8. Retrieved May 15, 2004, from http:// www.kate.or.kr/main/forum/2001_25_2.doc

Dickey, R.J. (Feb. 2004). A is for Association. The English Connection,8(1), p. 20.

TESOL Inc. (2000). TESOL ResearchAgenda, June 2000. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Inc. Retrieved March 20, 2001, from http://www.tesol.org/assoc/bd/0006researchagenda01.html


Announcing the Christian Teacher SIG

* Are you a Christian educator?

* Are you interested in building a network with other Christian educators?

* Are you interested in issues that affect you and your Christian faith and how you can witness within the legal parameters of the

Korean educational environment?

If your answer is “yes” to any of the above questions, then you are invited to get involved. Contact Patrick M. Guilfoyle by

email at [email protected] or call 051-246-2337We are especially in need of a webmaster to help create a homepage for our newly formed special interest group.

Continuing Professional Development isconsidered an essential feature ofprofessionalism: doctors, lawyers, nurses,accountants, and teachers are all requiredto periodically undergo certain levels offormal educational courses beyond initiallicensure requirements in order tomaintain their professional licenses, as aremost all other licensed professionals. Inaddition to mandated training programs,there are typically additional "continuingeducation" requirements.

The distinction between "training" and"education" has often been describedalong the lines of "training shows how todo, education informs how to learn how todo, and how to take it further."Professional development, then,incorporates both training and education,and extends beyond to include all types ofhuman development that will affect ourprofessional service. Personally-selectedreadings related to pedagogy or languagewould naturally fit within continuingprofessional development, as would "self-improvement" courses related tointerpersonal relations or computer skills-and many would argue that meditation orexercise should be included as well. In theabsence of licensure specifications, it is notnecessary for us to define precisely whatcontinuing professional development is, oris not.

Professional licensure often requiresmembership in an identified organizationas one aspect of professional development,yet there are often other professionalsocieties that operate alongside the"officially recognized" body. In othercases, such as ELT in EFL environments,there may be no mandated professionalassociation, yet professional bodies thrivenonetheless. These groups, which I will

identify as Associations ("big A"), are arecognized aspect of quality teaching, andmembership in such is typically includedin a professional resume. Korea TESOL(KOTESOL) is one such organization.

We may also consider what I call "little a"association, the less formal relationshipsthat active professionals build with theirpeers and colleagues. A few exampleswould include informal discussions in ateachers' workroom or office concerninghow to tackle a current classroom issue,inviting peers to observe and critique alesson (live or via video), and informaldiscussions while reading through teacher

training materials (such as articles withinthis newsletter), as well as participation inemail discussion lists. "Little a"association extends to how you identifyyourself - are you a teaching professional?Are you proud to be identified as alanguage teacher? The question is nothow you entered teaching, or what level oftraining you have undertaken, but do youview yourself and those you associate withas teaching professionals?

Korea TESOL provides a number ofcontinuing professional developmentactivities: conferences, chapter meetings,readings (newsletter, proceedings,journal), Special Interest Groups (SIGs),and research publication opportunities(newsletter, conferences, proceedings, andjournal). KOTESOL is one of more than

two dozen ELT-related societies in Korea,to say nothing of the dozens ofinternational societies with members inKorea. In other areas of this newsletteryou will find specifics on some of theKOTESOL SIGs, such as TeacherEducation and Development SIG andYoung Learners SIG. You also have theopportunity to begin a SIG if you have aspecial interest in language learning that isnot currently served. Look to the"interests" section of the KOTESOLmembership form, or the websites ofTESOL, IATEFL, and JALT for some ideason SIG topics.

A teaching professional should dedicate atleast one hour per week to continuingprofessional development. Associationsare one aspect of this. Regardless ofwhether it comes with a "big A" or "little a"teachers have a duty to include associationin their career. Our superior students getan "A" for outstanding work; we tooshould aim for "A"s.

Rob Dickey is a past president of KoreaTESOL, and has served as facilitator ofthe Teacher Education & DevelopmentSIG. Email: [email protected]

TESOL International: www.tesol.orgIATEFL: www.iatefl.orgJALT: www.jalt.org

Two Jeolla ChaptersEffective as of January 1, 2004, there are two chapters in the Jeolla area. The National

Executive Council has approved the dissolution of the Jeolla Chapter and its restructuringinto two new chapters - North Jeolla Chapter and Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter - each serving

the area in its name. We wish both new chapters much success and growth.

A is for "association"


16


By Robert J. Dickey

13

The English Connection September 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 5


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part Six -- Getting it Write

In this sixth and final piece in our series onprofessional development with Englishlanguage teachers in Korea, I would liketo write about writing. I would also like tothank the editor for giving me thisopportunity, and to thank the KOTESOLreaders who have emailed me theirresponses to the pieces.

I hope to encourage you to write aboutyour experiences of professionaldevelopment for publication in TEC, as itis through this sharing that we understandourselves better and contribute to thecommunities of English language teachersand learners in which we live and work.

Interestingly, in spite all the many volumeswritten on writing, I have read surprisinglyfew clear definitions of writing – of what itis that we actually do when we write, in afirst or second language. One of myfavorites is a 15-year old definition fromJ.A. Berlin, who described writing as “anart, a creative act in which the process –the discovery of the true self – is asimportant as the product – the selfdiscovered and expressed” (1988, p.484).Admittedly, Berlin is characteristicallyshort on details of what actually happenswhen one writes, but the connectionbetween writing, discovery/expression ofthe self, and professional development isespecially relevant here.

As English language teachers, we oftenask (or require) our students to keepjournals of their classroom/languagelearning experiences. However, we areusually too busy to do so ourselves – Ihave often said, if I could follow even halfthe advice I give to my students, I wouldbe twice the person I am today. Why dowe ask our students to do this? I havekept journals, and ask my students to do

so, because thoughts and feelings remainas vague and amorphous collections ofshapes and colors unless they areprocessed. One way of processing them,“lower level processing”, is to talk aboutthem, but writing is a significant step upto a higher level.

When we have to write down a complexthought or feeling, we have to give somestructure to what was vague andamorphous, we have to create some orderout of the cognitive chaos in our headsthat we call ‘thinking”. Although weencourage our students to see writing asa tool for thinking, again, we as teachersdo not necessarily see our own writing inthis same light. If we did, we would spendmore time writing about our experiences,about what worked and what did not, aboutour thoughts and feelings as teachers andabout how these influence what we doand how we do it.

My main purpose for writing this piece isto urge you to write about yourexperiences of professional development,for publication here or elsewhere, andeven for your eyes only. Here are somereasons why you should consider writingan essential part of your professionaldevelopment:

· Writing about our own experiencehelps us step back from our thoughtsand feelings, and view them with alittle less subjectivity and a little moreobjectivity.

· Writing about the challenges we faceand how we responded to themprovides a record which we canconsult at a later date, to see if wewould handle the same situation thesame way (usually not).

· Writing regularly about our languageteaching and learning beliefs andvalues enables us to see whatchanges within us and what remainsthe same over time, and why.

· Writing about our successes is a formor validation and celebration.

· Writing about our disappointments iscathartic and comforting.

· Sharing our writing with our col-leagues develops trust and mutual

understanding, as well as revealingcommon concerns .

· Publishing our writing allows us togive back to the communities thatsupport us and gives credibility tothe notion of experiential writing as avalid form of professional develop-ment.

Many English language teachers I havemet in Korea, and elsewhere, have pointedout that they have little time, and if theywere to start writing about their dailyclassroom lives, they might never stop!One simple solution that has worked wellfor me is to set a simple timing device – Iuse a kitchen timer – for a short period oftime, such as 10 minutes, then start writingabout whatever comes into your mindwhen you think of the day. I write withoutconcern for grammatical correctness – notan easy thing to do for many languageteachers! – and stop when the timer startsringing. I call this “critical incidents” or“critical moments” writing, as I find I oftenwrite about some brief incident thatoccurred in class that day that did notregister strongly at the conscious level,but which was clearly something that hadbeen on my mind that day.

As I approach the end of my first year asDirector of the School of English atQueen’s University, we have foundourselves placing professionaldevelopment right at the heart ofeverything we are doing. As a result, theSchool is growing and expanding in wayswe never imagined. I believe that if youplace professional development at theheart of everything you do, you too willfind yourself growing and expanding inways you never imagined.

Good luck with your journey, and BonVoyage!

13

The English Connection July 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 4


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part Five -- Dying to Develop

As I write this, I am packing to go back toEngland for the weekend. As this is myfirst year living and working in Ontario,Canada, most people understandablyassume this trip is so I can take a much-needed break from SARS, West Nile andMad Cow. But the main purpose of thetrip is to spend the weekend sitting at myfather’s grave, sharing a glass or two ofsingle malt whiskey with my Dad. I wasalways late with my Father’s Day presents.

Last month, on the first anniversary of hisdeath, I was invited to give the openingplenary talk at the annual conference inthe Department of Language TeacherEducation at the School for InternationalTraining in Brattleboro, Vermont. Havingspent the year reading a great deal on deathand dying, I finally made what eventuallyseemed to me to be the obviousconnections between death, dying andprofessional development. The title of theplenary talk was, therefore, The Death ofthe Self in Professional Development.

I started with four quotations, one fromShakespeare and three from Shelley, thatdescribe death:

* The undiscovered country, fromwhose borne no traveler returns

* Some say that gleams of a remoterworld visit the soul in sleep, thatdeath is slumber

* For love, and beauty, and delight,there is no death, no change

* Death is the veil which those who livecall life — they sleep, and it is lifted

These four quotations led me to fourquestions:

* What if the undiscovered country thatwe travel is our own internal

landscape?* What if the remoter world was not

beyond us, but inside us?* What is the relationship between

Death and Change? Is one possiblewithout the other?

* What would we see if the veil werelifted?

I asked the audience: What advice wouldyou give to a language teacher entering aperiod of sustained, intense reflection,when they will grow and develop greatly,but when they might also questioneverything they think they knew about whothey are and what they do? There weremany good answers from the participants,and after several suggestions had beenmade, I compared their advice with theadvice given in some of the recentliterature.

Deb Sims gave some good advice:

* Allow yourself time alone* Be aware that sleeping well may be a

problem* Be aware that fatigue may be a

problem* Allow others to help* Honor your emotions

Likewise, DeeAnn Burnette-Lundquistgave some good advice too.

* Anxious panicky feelings can becomeoverwhelming and debilitating

* This is a time you feel very out ofcontrol of your life

* This is a time for much introspection* Open the doors of communication: let

those who you care about share thisexperience with you

* Allow those close to you to providewhatever assistance and support theycan

However, neither Deb Sims nor DeeAnnBurnette-Lundquist was giving advice tobeginning reflective practitioners. Sims’piece is on The Early Stages of Grief: TheFirst Seven Days and Burnette-Lundquist’s is on Terminal Illness and theDying Process. Time and again, I wasstruck by the similarity between the advicegiven to people on death and dying, and

the advice given to teachers engaging inreflective practice on a deeper level.

Patricia Rose Upczak, in Death: Tragedyor Transformation, writes: “Our challengeis to learn how to use the difficult or harshexperiences in our lives to transformourselves.” I re-wrote it as: “Our challengeas language teachers is to learn how to usethe difficult or harsh experiences in ourlanguage classrooms to transform ourprofessional selves.”

For me, the most relevant, recent piece wasby Alexandria Kennedy on Losing aParent.

Kennedy writes about the “gut-wrenchingawareness.” She warns that “daily routinesare disrupted, assumptions jolted, valueschallenged.” She explains how importantit is to engage in “questioning our selves”but again warns that this will lead to“tearing apart of old structures, challengingold assumptions and beliefs, anddisrupting the patterns we have becomeaccustomed to and often become deadenedby. This is a painful process, but growthalways seems to involve some pain.”

Two quotations in particular, though,seemed to capture the ambivalence ofwanting to hang on to what we know andresist letting go, whilst at the same timewanting to be better than we are, to realizeour full personal and professionalpotential:

“On a bridge between two worlds – theknown one behind and the unknown onebefore us – we desperately make a standagainst the forces that threaten to changeour life as we have known it.”

continued on page 20

The English Connection July 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 4

20

continued from page 13

chance to talk and think together with otherlike-minded teachers.

Hyunjung: I’d like to connect your pointof reflective teaching and networking withother teachers to the notion of praxis youearlier mentioned. Since I’m planning tocontinue my graduate study to the PhD level,I’m often asked if I don’t enjoy ‘teaching’ atsecondary schools. I often wonder whywe should have such a dichotomous view.At least to me, research and teaching arenot two separate things: I strongly believethat any practice should be based on theoryand any theory should develop throughpractice. In this regard, I agree that thefinal stage of any kind of research shouldbe dissemination (or action).

Since you’re an expert on action research,what would you suggest to those teachers(like myself) who’d want to integrate theirpractice and theory? I’m sure manyteachers would be interested in actionresearch but often times they do not haveresources. Would you have any tips onwhere they can start?

Graham: The limitations of time and theunprofessional working conditions of most

teachers, along with the pressure forimmediate action to address most problems,are the most serious obstacle to the issue.Nevertheless, the teacher-researchermovement, or more broadly, the actionresearch movement, has been in existence for50 years and shows every sign of continuingto grow, not only within education but withinbusiness, agriculture, and many otherspheres of professional action.

The basic steps are generally for thebeginner, preferably in dialogue with afellow teacher, to select an aspect ofpractice or a conceptual area, which iseither problematic or which they wouldlike to explore further. Then, simple datagathering strategies are used to focus onit: such as, journaling about it, audiotapingsome of one’s classes, or collectingstudents’ work. Some process of analysisis necessary, and then, if we are dealingwith a problem about which we would liketo take action, one or two possible actionsthat might improve the problem should besketched out. Then try them, and repeatwhatever data collection and analysisstrategies seem appropriate, and on thebasis of that, try to arrive at a conclusion.Did this initiative improve matters? Andif so, why? In answering those lastquestions, the action researcher, the

teacher-researcher is engaged ingenerating theory, and thus is in a betterposition to theorize their own practice.

Ideally, of course, the process is cyclical;and ideally, would involve not just thesolitary teacher. If more that oneprofessional is involved, you automaticallyhave dissemination, incidentally.

There is a vast literature on this. But letme leave it at that for now.

The CorrespondantsHyunjung Shin is an MA-ESL candidatein the Department of Second LanguageStudies at the University of Hawaii atManoa where she taught advanced readingand writing classes for the EnglishLanguage Institute. She taught EFL inKorea for six years. E-mail:[email protected]

Graham Crookes is Associate Professor,Dept. of Second Language Studies, wherehe is also Director of the UH ManoaEnglish Language Institute. Previously ahigh school teacher, he is originally fromEngland and has taught English inMalaysian Borneo and Japan, beforecoming to Hawai’i. E-mail:[email protected]


“We die over and over again as we haveto let go of old beliefs, structures, and waysof being. We die to who we were.”

This might all seem like so much pseudo-philosophical, self-indulgent navel-gazing.But the relationships between facing thosethings we fear most and changing in waysthat permanently re-shape our

relationships with ourselves, and growingand developing in ways that positivelyimpact on our work as language teachersare too great to ignore.

Professional development can be difficultand distressing, because change can bedifficult and distressing. But without suchdevelopment, there can only be, at best,stability to the point of stagnation. Atworst, death. Not of the physical self, but

of the heart and soul of what enables us togo beyond teaching and learning, toinspiring and transforming. As ourstudents go from Beginner to Advanced,as we go from novice to expert, we mustdie to who we were, if we wish to live ourlives to the fullest.

* All of the articles referred to in this piececan be found at the website:

http:// www.death-dying.com

Contact Adam Turner [email protected] for more information.To join, go to http://groups.msn.com/KOTESOLWESIG/ and click on JoinNow. Then follow the directions.

TED SIG

by James Trotta

With summer approaching (and hopefullybringing lighter workloads), many peoplewill have some time to reflect on what

they’ve been doing (and not doing) in theclassroom. Why not think out loud? The TEDSIG welcomes reflections, questions,suggested classroom practices, and anythingelse that might lead us to better teaching.

We’re not only looking for posts aboutexperiences in the classroom, but also withtraining programs. If you’re taking (orhave taken) a teacher training course inKorea or via distance learning, we’d liketo hear your experiences. If you’re thinkingabout starting a program to get morequalified, you can gather information frommembers of the TED SIG.

If you have any resources to share we’dlike to hear about them. Have you read agood book or an enlightening articlerecently? Do you know a good website forEnglish teachers? Do you have an activitythat helps your learners? If you answered“yes” to any of these questions or if youhave questions of your own, then the TEDSIG is where you want to be.

Topics that have been discussed recentlyon the TED SIG email list include EAP,online and distance learning, calls forpapers, and Oxford’s grammar andchildren’s days. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KoTESOL_TED_SIG/


11

The English Connection May 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 3


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part Four -- Creating the Necessary Conditions

In that lastTEC piece onprofessionaldevelopment(PD), I putf o r w a r dsome simplev i s u a lrepresentationsto show someof the

relationships in our schools, ourclassrooms and within ourselves, claimingthat it is in the spaces between the pointsof the triangle wherein developmentalreflection occurs.

If I were to draw another simple triangularrepresentation here, the link between thetheory and practice of PD would beconditions necessary. That is, a goodunderstanding of the theory of PD –frameworks and models, for example –matched with an equally goodunderstanding of the practice – what needsto be done – is still insufficient, in theabsence of the conditions necessary for thetheory and practice to inform each other.

In 2000, I wrote about five key conditionsthat I believe must exist in order for PDwith language teachers to happen (Bailey,Curtis, & Nunan, 2001). The followingyear, based on another year of experienceand reflection, I expanded that list to eightconditions for a KATE article (Curtis,2001). By now, 2003, there are twelveconditions. It’s not that all of theseconditions have to be met for PD to takeplace, but in my experience, the more ofthese conditions that exist, the more likelyit is that positive, professional change andgrowth will occur.

1. Time At the heart of growth is change,which is the essence of all PD, and changetakes time. Individual language teachers,their students, and their institutions needsufficient time for PD to take place.Insufficient time often results in theappearance of change, but it is not real.

2. Trust It is essential that those “beingdeveloped” and those “doing thedeveloping” trust each other’s motivesand methods completely. Without this

trust, we are not willing to expose ourprofessional selves to the scrutiny of ourpeers, and without such openness, realchange is not possible.

3. Choice Professional developmentactivities can be forced upon languageteachers. Professional development cannot, as activity and awareness are not thesame thing. Teachers must be allowed tochoose which PD activities to engage in,if the activities are to have a long-lasting,positive effect.

4. Institutional Support Institutionalsupport for PD can take many forms, forexample, providing teachers with financialsupport and/or release time to attend/present at conferences, to follow in-service, on-line courses, providing books,journals and articles all show that theinstitution is investing in its teachers.

5. Recognition Recognition by peers andstudents of our PD as teachers is veryimportant, and recognition by theinstitution of the time and energycommitted teachers give to such activitiesmay be a key factor in encouragingteachers to engage in PD activities.

6. Judgmental vs Developmental Bothof these aspects of teacher evaluation areimportant, but they should not be confusedwith each other. When we are beingjudged, for example, for contract renewalpurposes, we show what we know. Whenwe are trying to develop, we need to focuson what we have yet to learn.

7. Better Teaching and Learning Onemeasure of the effectiveness of PD is thatit results in a richer and more rewardinglearning experience for the students. It isdifficult for a teacher to develop and forthis not to show in his/her teaching, but ifwe have our learners in mind in all our PDactivities, we may develop even more.

8. Reciprocity/Mutuality Linked to trust,issues of power, position and status areimportant here. For example, classroomobservation is often carried out by seniorteaching staff of junior teachers. However,observation the other way around – of theseniors by the juniors – is much less

common. Result: All judgment. Nodevelopment.

9. Space Internal and external space –inside your head, and around you – areessential for reflection. If your mind isalways full of thoughts, all clamoring forattention, you cannot hear yourself think.Similarly, if you are always surrounded bycrowds, you will not be able to step backfrom yourself and reflect.

10. Documentation We all have enoughpaperwork in our lives already, but manychanges are subtle and take place overlonger periods of time. So without somekind of text – including audio and videorecordings – to map and record thechanges, we may not see them as clearly.

11. Clarity of Purpose Using transferableskills, if we can apply our teachers’ abilitiesto create clear, assessable aims and objectivesfor our language lessons to our own PDaction plans, we will be able to create cleargoals for our development, whilst stayingopen to different possible paths.

12. A Partner Our PD book was subtitledThe self as source to highlight as the selfcan be a very powerful source for changeand growth, and PD activities can becarried out solo. However, that said, it isusually beneficial to be with someone elsegoing through similar changes, to share toexchange and to be with professionally.

ReferencesBailey, K.M., Curtis, A., & Nunan, D.

(2001). Pursuing professionaldevelopment: The self as source.Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

Curtis, A. (2001). Eight conditionsnecessary for the promotion ofprofessional development. KATE(Korean Association of Teachers ofEnglish) Update, 25(2), 8-9.

11

The English Connection March 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 2


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part Three -- Creating Spaces and Mapping Relationships

In the first ofthese articles,we looked atthe reasonswhy busyE n g l i s hl a n g u a g eteachers doand do notengage inprofessional

development, and in the second article, athow seeing ourselves on video can be apowerful way to learn more about ourteaching selves.

In the third of these articles, I would likeus to pursue this notion of knowing ourprofessional selves. How would you define

language teachers regularly, and mostreplies identify relationships such asteacher-student and student-student, aswell as test-syllabus and knowledge-skillsrelationships, and at the more macro level,relationships among the schoolcommunity, the national, and internationalcommunity.

A simple way of visualizing such three-part relationships is displayed in Figure 1.

I would like to suggest that ourprofessional development activities aslanguage teachers can be thought of as away of developing our understanding ofan often-overlooked but essential tripartiteeducational relationship: that between Me,Myself and I (Figure 2).

As Diane Larsen-Freeman has noted, ourviews of teachers have not expanded toanywhere near the extent that our viewsof learners have developed. One reasonfor this might be that in our eagerness tobe learner-centered teachers, we lost sightof our selves. Professional development,then, is a way of regaining this perspective.

I realize that this way of conceiving ofprofessional development can be accusedof being, at best, overly introspective, atworst, self-indulgent. But I woulddisagree. As we say in PPD:SaS, for anykind of teacher professional developmentto be considered successful, one of theoutcomes has to be more effective teachingand learning, however that is defined.

It is in the space between the three pointsof the Me, Myself and I triangle that ourawareness and knowledge of what we do,how and why we do it like that (and notsome other way) grows. This may well seemsomewhat esoteric, but we can work in thisspace without sinking into the existentialquicksand of French and German philosophy,and in ways that are practical andapplicable in our everyday teaching lives.

To conclude, this approach to professionaldevelopment is important because it shiftsour focus from How can I get better atwhat I do?, which is a good question butone which only partially addresses thegoal, to How can I step back from myselfand see my teaching selves as my studentsand other teachers might see them?

One key result of this way of thinking isthat the changes we are attempting to bringabout may not – and do not have to – resultin changes in what we do, but may be moreabout a changed understanding of what wedo and why we do it that way.

* If you do, please send it to me, as I’dlove to read it.

“teaching”? It is interesting how many ofus engage in activities, sometimes foryears, without regularly stopping to askourselves exactly what it is that we aredoing and why. Having worked in manyother professions, from hotel and cateringto health care, I find language teaching tobe one of those professions wherein thebusyness of doing often seems to precludeadequate reflection on the business of being.

If each of you reading this article now wereto put down your copy of TEC and writedown your own, personal definition of“teaching” – and I wish you would* –there would be as many differentdefinitions are there are readers. This isone of the things that gives our work aslanguage teachers meaning – the way inwhich we understand it depends on whoand where we are at that point in time, andchanges as we change and move on.

For me, teaching is about the formation ofrelationships. It is that simple. And thatcomplex. Professional development, then,is a way of identifying and mapping theserelationships. What relationships can youidentify in your English language teachingand learning? I ask this question to English

In our book, Pursuing ProfessionalDevelopment: The Self as Source, (Bailey,Curtis & Nunan, 2001), we cite Leo vanLier’s use of the notion of estrangement.I have extended and applied his use of theterm, to suggest that what we are trying todo in our professional development is tocreate some distance between our differentselves.

Figure 1.

School Test Local

Teacher Student Teacher Task National International

In the last issue of TEC, we explored theuse of video in our professionaldevelopment, and one reason video canbe so powerful is because it is so good atestranging us from our selves. Commentsfrom teachers seeing themselves for thefirst time on video, such as “Do I reallysound like that?” show the way in whichit is like seeing someone else. Part of thisis because we have grown up in culturesdominated by television, so seeing anyoneon the small screen, even if it is ourselves,is like seeing someone (else) in a daytimedrama television show.

Figure 2.

I

Me Myself

11

The English Connection Jan-Feb 2003 Volume 7 / Issue 1


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part Two -- Moving Pictures

In thep r e v i o u sTEC (Vol 6, 6)I presentedargumentsfor anda g a i n s tA l r e a d y -Very-BusyE n g l i s hl a n g u a g e

teachers in Korea engaging in professionaldevelopment activities. The list of reasonswhy we need to was significantly longerand, I hope, more persuasive the list ofreasons why we might not.

Since that first piece, I have received anumber of emails along the lines of �Yes,Andy, that�s all well and good. But how?�Good question. In this piece, then, havingconsidered the question of Why, I wouldlike to start the discussion of How.

In Korea, I have been asked several timesif I can recommend low-tech, low-impact,low risk ways of developingprofessionally. I would like to suggestvideo recording your teaching. Althoughteachers have been recording theirteaching as a way of learning about theirclassrooms for more than 30 years, it stillsurprises me how infrequently we use thismedium in our professional development.

Although �low� is a relative notion, basedon what I have seen in Korea, I would saythat video cameras are no longerconsidered �hi tech� here. Video camerasin classrooms can be disruptive. But if thelesson is interesting, relevant and wellplanned, it is surprising how quicklystudents and the teacher forget about thecamera, making this a relatively low impactapproach.

Risk, however, is a big issue in professionaldevelopment. I have often been quoted �and misquoted � expressing my view thatthere is no professional developmentwithout exposure. By this I mean that weare acknowledging that there are gaps inour knowledge, skills and/orunderstanding when we engage in

professional development. This may seemfundamental to learning anything, but it isnot always easy for teachers, especiallythose in particular cultures, to see and tosay this.

But with video recording your ownteaching, if you decide where and whenthe recording is made, if you allow anadequate �acclimatization period� foryourself and your students to get used tothe camera being there, and if you watchthe tape yourself, you largely eliminate therisk.

In Chapter 7 of our book PursuingProfessional Development: The self assource (Heinle & Heinle, 2001), KathiBailey, David Nunan and I discuss ourexperiences of using video in ourprofessional development. I would like topresent here an abridged version of aTeachers� Voices section entitled�Andy�s Film Debut� (pp.119-120), asthis captures many of the pros and consof video as a professional developmenttool.

“ The first time I sawmyself on video, I didn’t.

It was many years ago, on my first teachingpractice. I was in a school in the NorthEast of England, in a grim, bleak place,suffering from nearly fifty- percentunemployment. Not surprisingly, such anenvironment did not do much to engenderin the local children a positive dispositiontowards learning in schools (or being inschool at all).

To compensate for my lack of teachingexperience, I was �power dressing�, whichmeant wearing dark colors. So there I was,dressed head to toe in black, standing infront of a floor-to-ceiling black chalkboard.The video camera was the only one in theschool, and did not work very well,especially in the low-light conditions ofthe dark room where I was teaching.

When we sat down to watch the video ofmy teaching, there was an embarrassed

silence, until I started to laughuncontrollably, breaking the tension andgiving permission to the other (light-skinned) teachers to do the same.

There I was. Not. All of the variousdarknesses had combined to produce ashadowing effect, in which all that couldbe seen on the video recording was a pieceof white chalk, dancing in the darkness, adazzling white smile, and almost nothingelse.

This episode taught me many things, notleast about technology�s limitations whenit comes to capturing teaching and learningon tape. Many years after this unpromisingtelevision debut, I have realized that thereis a useful analogy here for the way a videocamera actually masks what goes on inclassrooms, as well as, paradoxically, atthe same time shamelessly andunflinchingly recording everything thatpasses before it. The idea that �the cameranever lies� is itself a great lie, as anyoneknows who�s ever seen how cinematicspecial effects are created.

However, this technological weakness canalso be a strength. In my case, the cameradidn�t record what was going on in myhead and my heart. That is, it couldn�trecord what I was thinking and feeling. Torecord these things, I needed to look tomy journal entries or the audio taperecordings of my pre- and post-lessonobservation discussions with otherteachers. But the very fact that the cameradid not record these internal workings wasof value, as it helped to show the differencebetween what I was feeling and thinkinginside, versus the professional teachingpersona I was projecting to the outsideworld, most immediately to the studentssitting in front of me, then to my teachingpeers and beyond.�

9

The English Connection November 2002 Volume 6 / Issue 6


byDr. Andy Curtis

Paths to Professional Development:Part One

It was sogood to beback inSeoul, for thea n n u a lKOTESOLconvention.Travel l ingfrom Canadato Korea forthe weekend

meant spending more than 50 hours intransit for barely as much time there! Butit was definitely worth it. The chance tohear teachers talk about their dailyclassroom realities and challenges isalways an inspiring and humblingexperience.

In this first of what we hope we will be aseries of articles on professionaldevelopment (PD or CPD as it’s calledthese days = Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment) and the start of shared andon-going dialog, I’d like to present thistwo-part, introductory piece. In the firstpart, I summarize some of the main reasonsfor and against professional development,based on the first part of the workshop wedid at the conference. In the second partof the piece, I take a more holistic andwhole-person view of the reason whyprofessional development is so important.

In the PD workshop, we started with a listof good reasons why busy languageteachers do not engage in professionaldevelopment activities. I’ll present thatlist here, partly because such lists – shortand simplistic though they are – can stillserve as provocative starting points forfurther discussion.

The first five items on this list can beprefaced with “Lack of”

Teacher Development: WhyNot?o Time - Too Busyo Energy - Too Tiredo Motivation - Purposes and Benefitso Support – Institutionalo Encouragement - Colleagues, Familyand Friends

o Aversion to/Dislike of ‘ Theories’ and‘Experts’o Aversion to/Dislike of ‘ Fashions and‘Fads’o Interference with the Teaching Process- Distractions and Divided Attentiono Reluctance to/Resistance to Change -‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’o Fear of Confronting ‘ The Self’

Which if these, if any, are barriers to yourown professional development? Are thereadditional barriers in your environmentnot listed here?

After looking at this list in the workshop,we then looked briefly looked at a list ofreasons why we do need to engage inprofessional development activities eventhough we are busy.

Teacher Development: Why?+ Acquisition of New Knowledge andSkills+ Upgrading Present Knowledge andSkills+ New Techniques+ New Materials and/or Equipment+ Problem-solving+ Variety and Novelty+ Changes in the Context and Setting+ External ‘Initiatives’+ Income and Prestige+ Promotion and Prospects+ Empowerment+ Avoiding ‘Routinization’+ Burnout Prevention+ Networking+ Professional Interest/Support Groups+ Respect as ‘Professionals’+ Communication with the WiderCommunity

Though I’m tempted to annotate this list,and give a brief explanation of some ofthe less obvious reasons, I’m not goingto at this stage, as I’d like these two liststo serve as the starting point for an on-going discussion. How do you respondto these lists?

During my presentations, I made onepoint that a number of conferenceparticipants picked up on and asked me

about: “The fastest and most efficient wayto kill something is to purify it,” I said.This comes from my training in the lifesciences and from my time working inhospitals in England. Purity is often seenas a highly desirable state of being: amessage reinforced from all sides, fromreligious beliefs to advertising andmarketing campaigns. But, as CharlesDarwin showed, a really pure livingorganism cannot adapt to changes in itsenvironment. Even the slightest and mostmomentary change will render itobsolete. Darwin’s famous phrasesurvival of the fittest often struck me asone of the most commonly misunderstoodand misappropriated of all scientificconclusions, as it had nothing whatsoeverto do with physical strength. The word‘fit’ here means ‘ suitability’ as in ‘bestfit’, best able to adapt to changingenvironmental conditions.

We all know, at some level, that change isinevitable, whether we like it or not. Wemay not like it, but we know this to betrue. If there is no growth, there is, at best,stagnation. I don’t mean to bemelodramatic – or to beat the biologicalmetaphor to within an inch of its life –but at worst, without growth, death is theonly option. Not of the body but of thespirit. I mean the death of passion. Ofenthusiasm, of joy of all those things thatmake teaching, for me, the best job inworld. I have tried others professionalpaths, from health care to hotelmanagement, but teaching and teachereducation have been by far the morerewarding for me – though not, sadly, inthe financial or material sense!

Many of us are by now familiar withAbraham Maslow ’s Hierarchy of Needs,with basic physiological or bodily needsat the bottom of the pyramid, followedby the need for safety and security, then

continued on page 20

The English Connection November 2002 Volume 6 / Issue 6

20


Conclusion

You have read the books, articles, and theconcepts that helped you develop yourown teaching theory or practical teachingideas. Writing up your experiences orarticulating your philosophy is your wayof helping other colleagues anddeveloping yourself professionally. Afterthe paper has been published, someonewill read and comment on your work. Itwill help you open up and learn. Asinterest grows, people add other evidence

social needs, ego needs, and at the top ofthe pyramid is the need for self-actualization. My understanding of self-actualization here is the need that eachof us has to realize our full potential. This,for me, is at the heart of the need for CPD;it enables us to realize our full potential,professionally and personally.

This first piece has been a briefconsideration of Why. In Part Two ofPaths to Professional Development, wecan start to explore How.

Selected References

Bailey, K.M., Curtis, A. & Nunan, D.(1998). Undeniable insights: thecollaborative use of three develop-ment practices. TESOL Quarterly,32(3), 546-556.

Bailey, K., Curtis, A. & Nunan, D. (2001).Pursuing Professional Develop-ment: The Self as Source. Heinle &Heinle.

Dr Andy Curtis is the Director of theSchool of English at Queen’s Universityin Canada. He recently completed a yearas Visiting Professor at the School forInternational Training in the USA.


and theories to your ideas. Publishing apaper might be a professional obligation,but one which can be fun and fruitful.

References

Choi, K. (1998). How to publish [On-line]. Available:http://www.ag.iastate.edu/journals/rie/how.htm

Horowitz, I. (1995, November). How topublish well and often when you areunlikely to contend for a nobel prize.Chinese University of Hong KongResearch Bulletin,3, p.13-16

Sebranek, P., Kemper, D., & Meyer, V.(1999). Write source 2000: a guide towriting , thinking, and learning.Wilmington, MA: Great sourceEducation Group, Inc.

The Author

Hee-Jung Jung is a Ph.D candidate atWashington State University. She has aBA in English and an MA in Educationfrom Washington State University. She hastaught English in an elementary schoolin Korea. Email: [email protected]

Now, down to business. The time has cometo get on the YL bandwagon. Join theYoung Learners ’ Special Interest Group.Go to www.kotesol.org/younglearn/ tosee what we have on offer. All KOTESOLmembers are invited to join, as we areexcited to continue building a communityof YL teachers. Even if you do not teachyoung learners you will find ourcommunity worthwhile.

New developments? TEC has a newcolumn devoted to YL issues. Expect abroad appeal to the great diversity thatmakes up KOTESOL. Check this month’sissue for an action research project. Also,this month you will find new worksheetsand surveys added to our Yahoodiscussion board. That way you will findit easy to begin productive dialogues.Hope to hear from you soon!

KTT

by Douglas Margolis

If you missed the KOTESOL Internationalconference, you missed four KTTpresentations: TJ Everest, from PusanUniversity of Foreign Studies, wowed ajam packed room with a new presentationabout teaching supra-segmentalpronunciation features, such as stress,

rhythm, and intonation; James Ranallielaborated a listening comprehensioninstructional plan that promoted both topdown and bottom up listening skills viamicroteaching; Stephanie Downeyoffered a workshop on error correctiontechniques; and yours truly gave a newpresentation on motivation strategies.

In addition to these presentations, KTTwas also blessed with several newvolunteers, including Lilia Punzalan, DonMakarchuk, Tory Thorkelson, andMelanie van den Hoven. We trulyappreciate their participation. Moreover,KTT has been preparing a training needssurvey to identify what areas of trainingare most needed. If you receive one ofthese surveys in the mail, please help usby completing and returning it. Yourparticipation will help us improve ourtraining workshops and make them moreworthwhile to you.

Finally, as always, anyone interested injoining KTT, please contact me. Theprimary requirement for being a KTTmember is current KOTESOLmembership. Even if you lack confidencein your presentation skills, we could useyour help and support with logistics,presentation development, and otherareas. If interested, please send an emailto me ([email protected]). I lookforward to hearing from you.


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