1 / 24

Self-directed Teacher Development

Self-directed Teacher Development. Sandra Piai. Aims. Define teacher development Identify some of the challenges Concentrate on you as the teacher Different ways of developing as an individual teacher Reflect on their effectiveness Discuss what you do Conclusions.

kalani
Download Presentation

Self-directed Teacher Development

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Self-directed Teacher Development Sandra Piai

  2. Aims • Define teacher development • Identify some of the challenges • Concentrate on you as the teacher • Different ways of developing as an individual teacher • Reflect on their effectiveness • Discuss what you do • Conclusions

  3. Teaching and development • Teaching is a lifelong process • TD is an ongoing part of this process, we can develop through: • colleagues • reading • conferences/courses • our students • It is about change and growth and ‘becoming the best kind of teacher I personally can be’ (Underhill, 1986: 1)

  4. True or False? • We cannot develop unless we are aware of who we are and what we do. • Teaching practices are influenced by teachers’ prior experiences and beliefs. • We can take charge of our own development. • Reflection is the bridge between teaching and learning. • All teachers even experienced ones need lesson plans

  5. Main challenges? • Time • Cost • Support

  6. You as the teacher • Who are you? • Who are you? • Who are you? • Who are you? • Who are you?

  7. Ways of developing • Conferences/workshops/seminars • Writing articles/books • Going on courses/Taking further qualifications • In-house training • Learning another language • Action research • Peer observation • TD discussion groups • Teaching journals • Development portfolios • Critical friend/learning partner • Critical incidents • Lesson plans • Other?

  8. What do all these have in common? REFLECTION

  9. Reflection is ‘Special form of problem-solving.’ (Dewey, 1933) ‘… a process of reviewing an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about practice.’ (Reid, 1993) ‘…an opportunity to consider the teaching event thoughtfully and analytically and objectively.’ (Cruikshank, 1981 in Richards and Nunan, 1990: 202)

  10. Some reflections on teaching journals • introspection skills cannot be taken for granted and should perhaps be deliberately developed • focusing on one’s own behaviour can be an uncomfortable process • can help develop self-confidence • can gain insights into own classroom behaviour • ‘in writing, … we take the first step in reflecting on and about our practice’. (Bartlett, 1990) • ‘practice and reflection on practice are inseparable elements of a developmental spiral’. (Thornbury, 1991) NB who are we writing for?

  11. Some reflections on development portfolios • Are less personal than reflective journals • Provide a framework for lifelong learning • Help keep you motivated • Are a personal record of your developmental journey and can contain: • qualifications • attendance certificates • handouts • lesson plans • peer observations • feedback/reflection on observations • materials • workshops/articles given/written by you • etc • Can be presented at job interviews

  12. What do you do? • A) if you are an experienced teacher? • How have you developed? • Does your teaching have a routine? • Do you innovate? • B) if you are a newly qualified teacher? • How are you developing? • Do you innovate? • Have you established a routine in your teaching?

  13. Lesson Plans • Planning is a substantial aid to reflection ‘What a teacher believes in terms of values comes into play, consciously or unconsciously, as classes are planned.’ (Crookes, 2003: 100) (How much of your lesson plan is based on your prior experience as a student?)

  14. How much do you reflect on your lesson plan a) whilst writing it? b) after your lesson? • Do you write notes on your lesson plans before/during/after lessons? • Do you act on these notes?

  15. Learning partners • Fill in a reflective journal at the end of each English lesson • Reflect on things that worked well as well as things that didn’t • Meet your partner at the end of each week and swap journals • Read each others’ journals and write reflective questions • Reflect on these questions

  16. TD Groups The Frierian Fishbowl • Which factors do you believe are paramount for a student to succeed in learning a language? • What do you consider is your primary role in the classroom? • What connections do you see between your teaching experience and what you learned at school? • If you were a student in one of your classes what would you think of yourself?

  17. Sliding doors • At the end of the week, think back over your lessons and select one incident to reflect on • Ask yourself the question ‘what would have happened if ……..?’ • Write down your reflections on what might have happened and why

  18. To sum up • Many ways teachers can develop • We can self-direct our own development BUT • Need time, space and support to do so • Need to be aware of who we are • Need to be aware of where we want to go

  19. To quote Lewis Carroll: ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ ‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the cat. ‘I don’t much care where...’ said Alice. ‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the cat. (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)

  20. Conclusions • TD is …… • The most interesting development idea/activity today was ….. because ….. • Even with little time/support I can ….. • Attending this talk today has made me think about …..

  21. Some useful literature and websites • Appel, Joachim (1995) Diary of a Language Teacher. Oxford: Heinemann • Foord, Duncan (2009) The Developing Teacher. Delta Publishing • Head, K. & P. Taylor (1997) Readings in TD. Oxford: MacmillanHeinemann • TD SIG Newsletter. Published by IATEFL • www.gtce.org.uk/tla/rft/reflection0507/ • www.ifl.ac.uk/cpd/ • www.tda.gov.uk/teacher.aspx • www.tdsig.com • www.Teachers.tv • www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/teacher-development-tools • philseflsupport.com • bcnpaul1.blogspot.com

  22. References • Bartlett, L. (1990) Teacher Development through Reflective Teaching. In Richards & Nunan (eds) Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: CUP • Bolitho, R. (1988) The Emergence of a teacher development movement in ELT in the UK. (Unpublished paper). In Head & Taylor Readings in Teacher Development. Oxford: MacmillanHeinemann • Cruikshank, D. R. and J.H. Applegate (1981) Reflective Teaching as a Strategy for Teacher Growth. In Richards & Nunan (eds) Second LanguageTeacher Education. Cambridge: CUP • Dewey, J. (1933) How People Think. Boston, Mass: D.C. Heath & Company • Thornbury, Scott, (1991) Watching the whites of their eyes: the use of teaching practice logs. English Language Teaching Journal 45/2: 140-6 • Underhill, A. (1986) Editorial. In Teacher Development Newsletter 1/1

  23. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING sandrapiai612@gmail.com

More Related