MA International Education (TESOL)

The course unit begins by introducing key concepts in teacher education, including distinctions between teacher education, teacher training, and teacher development, as well as competing theoretical models of teacher education. It then moves on to a consideration of the importance of context in teacher education and of the exploration of such context through reflective practice and action research. The knowledge base of teacher education is debated, along with perspectives on teacher learning. A series of units covers the ‘self’ in professional development including awareness of teacher beliefs and assumptions, reflective practice, the use of teacher journaling; working with others including collaborative action research, personal learning networks, the nature and role of observation; language awareness, and critical pedagogy; institutional perspectives on teacher development; course design and development in pre-service and in-service settings. Participants will share their own experiences of teacher development and create a bank of approaches and techniques.

This unit aims to:

• initiate, or further develop, professional competence in the area of language teacher education with an increased awareness of the complexity of providing training or development opportunities for teachers that are appropriate to local educational contexts;
• develop participants’ skill in critically reflecting on their previous teaching or teacher education experiences, whether as learners, teachers, trainees or trainers, in the light of research, theory, and current areas of debate in language teacher education;
• develop a knowledge and understanding of past and current theories of, and research into, language teacher education and the skills of relating that theory and research to particular teacher education contexts;
• facilitate the continuing theorisation of teacher education praxis.

The course content mixes seminar-type input (delivered in the case of distance participants via on-line materials, including video), small group work in various formats, case studies, guided reading, participant-led discussions (open to participants both on-site and in-context), reflective tasks, workshops, and a variety of demonstration processes.

Learning Hours:

• demonstrate a general knowledge and understanding of theories of, and research into, language teacher education;

• understand how particular contexts will require particular approaches;

• understand the importance of the teacher educator modelling desired behaviour.

• Critically reflect on personal teaching or training experiences and their appropriateness for particular educational contexts;
• demonstrate skills in applying knowledge and understanding to the analysis and evaluation of the content and process of specific language teacher education course components and/or materials for language teacher education;
• interact critically with the literature of the field, including its socio-political aspects.

• engage in professional self-development activities and facilitate these for others;
• undertake an analysis of the training and/or development needs of a particular group of trainees or teachers;
• adapt and/or develop appropriate content and processes for course components and/or materials for a particular group of trainees or teachers.

On successful completion of this course unit, participants should have developed:

• Enhanced skills in academic literacies including academic presentation, information processing (on- and off-line) and online networking;
• Enhanced skills in interpersonal and intercultural communication;
• Enhanced skills in team work and collaborative practice;
• An appreciation of the value of reflection in professional practice; and
• Autonomy and enhanced meta-cognitive strategies with regard to further professional development.

Assessment task Word Length or Weighting Equivalent within unit

Feedback via blackboard

Texts are recommended during the course as we address the different topics. This provides useful chapters on many of the topics explored:

Richards, J.C. and T.S. Farrell (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

An overview collection of short papers is:
Burns, A. & Richards, J. (eds.) (2009). The Cambridge Guide to Second Language

Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Depending on the interests that participants have or develop, the following texts are also

highly recommended:

Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Edge, J. (ed.) (2001). Case Studies in TESOL: Action Research. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Inc.

Edge, J. (2002). Continuing Cooperative Development: A Discourse Framework for Individuals as Colleagues. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Gebhard, J. and R. Oprandy (1999). Language Teaching Awareness: A Guide to Exploring Beliefs and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Johnson, K. (2009). Second Language Teacher Education: A Sociocultural Perspective. New York: Routledge.

Johnson, K. (ed.) (2000). Case Studies in TESOL: Teacher Education. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Inc.

Parrott, M. (1993). Tasks for Language Teachers: A Resource Book for Training and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J.C. and D. Nunan (eds.) (1990). Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Roberts, J. (1998). Language Teacher Education. London: Edward Arnold. (addresses design of initial and inservice teacher education)

Tedick, D. (ed.) (2005). Second Language Teacher Education: International Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wajnryb, R. (1992). Classroom Observation Tasks: A Resource Book for Language

Teachers and Trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, M.J. (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers: A Reflective Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Woodward, T. 1991. Models and Metaphors in Language Teacher training: Loop Input and Other Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Information
Direct teaching input - 12x 2 hour sessions = 24
Directed online study - 34 (Distance Learning - 48)
Independent reading - 35 (Distance Learning - 35)
Proposed tasks, including online forum exchange/collaborative activity - 30 (Distance Learning - 40)
Tutorials - 2 2
Assessment - 25 (Distance Learning - 25)