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Teacher Capabilities Valued by English Language Teacher Educators: Insights From Ecuador
Capacidades docentes valoradas por formadores de docentes de inglés: perspectivas desde Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v28n1.118525Keywords:
English proficiency, Pedagogical knowledge, Teacher capabilities, Teacher identity, Teacher knowledge base (en)Base de conocimiento docente, Capacidades docentes, Conocimiento pedagógico, Dominio del inglés, Identidad docente (es)
Efforts to ensure quality English language teacher education often impose external criteria that emphasize predetermined language proficiency and pedagogical skills. Inspired by the capabilities approach, this paper describes teacher capabilities valued by English language teacher educators in Ecuador. I analyze focus group interviews with 37 teacher educators from 18 universities about their language use practices and instructional goals, providing insights into how educators may think about content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, teacher identity and cognition, and their importance relative to or together with English proficiency. Drawing on insights from Ecuador, I encourage programs in varied global contexts to critically explore how and by whom the desirable outcomes of English language teacher education are defined and valued in everyday practice.
Los esfuerzos por garantizar una formación de calidad para docentes de inglés suelen imponer criterios externos que enfatizan competencias predeterminadas en dominio del idioma y en pedagogía. Inspirado en el enfoque de capacidades, este artículo describe las capacidades docentes valoradas por formadores de docentes de inglés en Ecuador. Analizo entrevistas de grupos focales con 37 instructores de 18 universidades sobre sus prácticas de uso del idioma y sus metas instruccionales, para revelar varias maneras de concebir el conocimiento de contenido, el conocimiento pedagógico, la identidad y la cognición docente, así como la importancia de esas áreas en relación con el dominio del inglés. Partiendo de las experiencias de Ecuador, aliento a explorar cómo y quiénes definen y valoran el dominio del inglés y la buena enseñanza.
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