Teacher Knowledge Development

Abstract

Contemporary literature on knowledge all points to a review of traditional and cognitive concepts of learning. From teacher studies.

Appendices

The Research Questions

• 1. Self knowledge: How would you describe your identity as a professional language teacher and researcher? How is your identity influenced by your professional self knowledge?

• 2. Informal Practical Knowledge: How has your classroom experience shaped your professional knowledge? How can you begin to research this tacit knowledge and link it to theories of teaching and learning?

• 3. Formal Theoretical Knowledge: How would you describe your content and pedagogical knowledge and how have you attained this formal knowledge? How has your formal theoretical knowledge informed your teaching and approaches to student learning?

• 4. Theorising Practical Knowledge: What formal theoretical knowledge are you currently interested in studying? How do you expect this to impact your current teaching?

• 5. Practicalising Theoretical Knowledge: What new classroom practices are you currently interested in trying out? Where did you learn about these new practices? Why do you expect them to have an impact on your teaching and/or your students’ learning?

• 6. Knowledge Seeker: How do you reflect on your practice? How do these reflections impact your teaching?

• 7. Knowledge Discusser: What professional communities of inquiry do you rely on most? Why are these communities of practice/learning communities so important to you? How could you make better use of them?

• 8. Knowledge User: As you implement new classroom practices, how do you analyse, interpret and research their success? How could you better record the results of this implementation/intervention?

• 9. Knowledge Provider: How do you report on your classroom practice? How do you give to others in the profession? In what ways are you a knowledge provider?

• 10. As you reflect on your reading of this entry and your responses to the above questions, what would you now like to begin researching in your classroom? How are you planning to launch this new research?

Suggested Resources

Barkhuizen, G. (Ed.). (2017). Reflections on Language Teacher Identity Research. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

In this fascinating volume, Gary Barkhuizen has collated the reflections of forty-one experienced researchers and scholars in the fields of applied linguistics and TESOL on their personal understandings of language teacher identity. Each contributor locates their conceptual understanding of language teacher identity within a biographical narrative of their professional lives and research work. The editor has successfully woven these accounts into a guided reflective structure that takes stock of the current thinking on language teacher identity and looks towards future directions in language teacher identity research giving the reader concrete suggestions for research topics. With contributions from some of the most respected names in the field, including Bonny Norton, Simon Borg, Anne Burns, Jack C. Richards, Paula Golombek, David Nunan and Tom Farrell to name just seven, the reader is guaranteed an inspiring journey through teacher identity and how it impacts everything we do in our classrooms.

Elbaz, F. (2016). Teacher Thinking: A Study of Practical Knowledge. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

In this book Freema Elbaz directly confronts the ways in which teaching, curriculum development and teacher growth and change are viewed by scholars and policy-makers in education today. Elbaz reports in detail an analysis of the ideas and insights of one teacher focusing on her thoughts and concerns over a series of long interviews. In doing so, she echoes how many teachers feel about their identities as professional language teachers, excited to be in the classroom creating new learning opportunities for their students and not wanting advancement but professional growth, development and change. Elbaz paints a vivid picture of what happens behind the classroom door both theoretically and methodologically and provides the reader with multiple insights that will resonate in the battle between hostile pressures and creative teaching. A book that will inspire you to reflect on how your identity and context can provide opportunities for research, conversations and collaboration.

Farrell, T. (2018). Reflective Language Teaching: Practical Applications for TESOL Teachers (Second Edition). London, UK: Bloomsbury.

This is a revised version of Farrell’s 2008 Reflective Language Teaching: From Research to Practice with a clearer focus on the “how to” practical applications of reflection and reflective writing. This edition still gives the reader ample reference to the relevant research literature and includes three new chapters on the concept of reflective practice, online reflection and effective teaching. The renaming of chapter 12 to “Collegial Friendships” from the original “Critical Friendships” captures the essence of this new edition, and the new case studies clearly demonstrate that this is a book written by a colleague who reflects deeply on his practice and how it ties to his theories, beliefs and values. It is a book that will encourage everyone to deepen their reflective practice, and then research the way in which their reflections and the language they use in those reflections can provide insights into both their practice and the often hidden professional identity behind that practice.

Borg, S. (2013). Teacher Research in Language Teaching: A Critical Analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

I consider this book essential reading for all teachers undertaking research in their classrooms. The author draws upon six years of research covering four studies and over 1,700 language teaching professionals from around the world, so the reader immediately feels they are not alone. I would recommend reading the concluding Chapter 9 first as the author suggests in his introduction. This chapter reviews the key findings that emerge from the previous chapters in the form of practical responses to them, and I found it triggered multiple research ideas for my own classrooms and deepened my reading of the other chapters when I returned to them. The checklist provided to assess the feasibility of teacher research projects is also very useful in helping the reader narrow their research focus from the multitude of ideas we all have. The chapter strikes an enviable balance between the theoretical and the practical role that research can play in the classroom and how this is linked to the increasing demand for evidence-based teaching, as does the whole book.

Quirke, P. (Ed.). (2017). Adult Education. TESOL Voices: Insider accounts of classroom life. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press.

This book is one in the TESOL Voices series edited by Tim Stewart which “aims to fill the need for expanding practical knowledge through participant research in the field.” Both the editor and series editor believe that the most enduring theories in TESOL are most likely to be those that emerge from or are supported by teacher inquiry that happens in the classroom. This volume on adult education is divided into three sections based on topical spheres of influence in relation to teaching and learning interaction in the classroom. The first section on community discusses factors outside the classroom that have impacted the author’s teaching and their students’ learning. The second section on course planning and structure reviews factors as diverse as laughter and authentic dialogue. The final section focuses on language learning and linguistics. The book, and all the books in this motivational series, speak to the reader as a teacher searching for research inspiration, and the authors’ voices resonate with us all and motivate us to research our classrooms and tell our stories and those of our learners.