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Bringing to Light English Language Teachers’ Voices for Continuous Professional Learning in Chile

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Critical Issues in Teaching English and Language Education

Abstract

In Chile, the national program “English Opens Doors” (Programa Inglés Abre Puertas, EODP) was established in 2004 by the Ministry of Education as a means to stimulate the learning of English as a foreign language, providing support for school students to enhance their communicative skills and opportunities for teachers to engage in continuous learning initiatives. The professional needs that have prompted these activities, however, have for long been overlooked and unheard, reflecting how the teaching and learning of English in Chile is based on dominant international and hegemonic trends of language education. The aim of this critical exploratory study is twofold: to provide the participants with a voice to question the current professional development activities offered by this ministerial program, and to raise awareness of their particular professional needs. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with six EL public school teachers who have actively participated in EODP initiatives. The findings show that the EODP activities do not cater for teachers’ professional needs, generating frustration within the profession. Further, as there is not a solid needs-analysis process depicting the basis for these initiatives, an inaccurate public school context that perpetuates the social and economic inequalities among educational establishments is displayed through these initiatives. Some collaborative activities that put teachers at the heart of the process in order to design and enact meaningful professional learning and contribute to their agency are suggested.

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Further Reading

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  • Changing the term professional development to professional learning, as the former implies a certain level of imposition upon teachers and does not recognize them as agents of their own growth, Calvert examines the importance and role that teacher agency plays in transforming teacher learning. For too long, professional development has been understood within the exercise of compliance, neglecting the active role that teachers have in their own learning. Through several stories from school teachers, the author presents strategies and conditions that school leaders and policy makers may adapt to create venues for teacher agency that will transform and effectively support teachers’ professional growth.

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  • Bearing in mind that teacher professional development goes beyond mere acquisition and transferability of knowledge and skills, these authors illustrate eight core features of effective and sustained professional development initiatives that move beyond the traditional one-day workshops that do not meet the needs of either teachers or learners. Based on a review of the literature on professional development and the authors’ experience, these core features are exemplified with evidence from practice and are linked to three main areas: teacher engagement, teaching practice and student learning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Paulina Sepulveda-Escobar

  2. Universidad Autonoma de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Paulina Sepulveda-Escobar

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  1. Paulina Sepulveda-Escobar
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Correspondence to Paulina Sepulveda-Escobar .

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  1. Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Salah Troudi

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Sepulveda-Escobar, P. (2020). Bringing to Light English Language Teachers’ Voices for Continuous Professional Learning in Chile. In: Troudi, S. (eds) Critical Issues in Teaching English and Language Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53297-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53297-0_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53296-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53297-0

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