Reflection through Discussion

Abstract

As mentioned in the previous chapter, in their mid-career years some language teachers may feel the need to take stock of their professional lives and one of the most effective ways of doing this is to engage in some form of reflection such as talk in a teacher development group. Because teaching is such an isolated act with one teacher and any number of students in a classroom (door usually closed), teachers do not readily gather together to talk about their teaching because some may feel insecure sharing their ideas after years in isolation. However, Farrell (2007) has suggested that teachers who come together to talk about their teaching can be very effective and as a result of participating in such groups, teachers can change their thinking about their work and ultimately become more confident practitioners. One reason for such effectiveness is that teacher reflection groups facilitate dialogue, sharing, and collaboration and the exchange of resources, information, and expertise while also offering “hope to others wishing to break out of the shells of isolation separating teachers from their colleagues as well as from teacher educators” (Oprandy, Golden, and Shiomi, 1999: 152). This chapter outlines and discusses in some detail what these three ESL college teachers talked about at the group meetings in an attempt to interpret these career experiences in terms of their newly emerging concern with plateauing in their mid-careers.