Unlicensed EFL Teachers Co-constructing Knowledge and Transforming Curriculum Through Collaborative-Reflective Inquiry
Profesores de inglés no licenciados construyendo conocimiento colectivo y transformando el currículo a través de la investigación colaborativa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v20n1.62323Keywords:
Collaborative inquiry, reflective teaching, teachers’ professional development, unlicensed teachers of English as a foreign language (en)desarrollo profesional de docentes, enseñanza reflexiva, investigación colaborativa, profesores de inglés no licenciados (es)
This paper describes a case study research project carried out in a public school in Bogotá, Colombia, with four unlicensed teachers of English as a foreign language. Although the institutional guidelines in the school suggest that teachers should collectively propose changes to shape pedagogical realities, there is evidence of little communication among them. This study emphasizes collaborative, reflective inquiry as a means to educative transformation. Findings suggest that collaborative inquiry prompts the language teachers to conjointly design teaching strategies and materials that articulate with students’ contexts. Furthermore, along the way, the teachers were empowered to propose curricular changes to adjust contents and goals of the area with the students’ contextual reality.
References
Aldana, G. N., & Cárdenas, M. L. (2011). Red de docentes de inglés: ¿una posibilidad para la continuidad de grupos de estudio? [An English teachers’ network: is it a possibility for continuing study groups?]. Folios, 34, 57-75. https://doi.org/10.17227/01234870.34folios57.75.
Benesh, S. (1996). Needs analysis and curriculum development in EAP: An example of a critical approach. TESOL Quarterly, 30(4), 723-738. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587931.
Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco, US: Jossey-Bass.
Brownell, M. T., Adams, A., Sindelar, P., Waldron, N., & Vanhover, S. (2006). Learning from collaboration: The role of teacher qualities. Council for Special Children, 72(2), 169-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290607200203.
Butler, D. L., Lauscher, H. N., Jarvis-Selinger, S., & Beckingham, B. (2004). Collaboration and self-regulation in teachers’ professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(5), 435-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2004.04.003.
Butler, D., & Schnellert, L. (2012). Collaborative inquiry in teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(8), 1206-1220. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.07.009.
Cárdenas, M. L., González, A., & Álvarez, J. A. (2010). El desarrollo profesional de los docentes de inglés en ejercicio: algunas consideraciones conceptuales para Colombia [In service English teachers’ professional development: Some conceptual considerations for Colombia]. Folios, 31(3), 49-68. https://doi.org/10.17227/01234870.31folios49.67.
Cárdenas, M. L., & Nieto, C. (2010). El trabajo en red docentes de inglés [English teachers’ networking]. Bogotá, CO: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Chou, C.-H. (2010). Investigating the effects of incorporating collaborative action research into an in-service teacher training program. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 2728-2734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.404.
Clavijo, A., Guerrero, C. H., Torres, C., Ramírez, L. M., & Torres, N. E. (2004). Teachers acting critically upon the curriculum: Innovations that transform teaching. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura, 9(15), 11-41.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1990). Research on teaching and teacher research: The issues that divide. Educational Researcher, 19(2), 2-11. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X019002002.
Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2004). Practitioner inquiry, knowledge, and university culture. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. L. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 601-649). Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Conway, P. F., & Clark, C. M. (2003). The journey inward and outward: A re-examination of Fuller’s concerns-based model of teacher development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(5), 465-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(03)00046-5.
Diaz Maggioli, G. (2012). Teaching language teachers: Scaffolding professional learning. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Eslami, Z. R., & Fatahi, A. (2008). Teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, English proficiency, and instructional strategies: A study of nonnative EFL teachers in Iran. TESL-EJ, 11(4), 1-19.
Farrell, T. S. C. (2007). Reflective language teaching: From research to practice. London, UK: Continuum Press.
Fichtman Dana, N., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2003). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and learning to learn through practitioner inquiry. Thousand Oaks, US: Corwin Press.
Glenn, M. (2011). Developing holistic practice through reflection, action and theorising. Educational Action Research, 19(4), 489-502. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2011.625694.
González, A., & Quinchía, D. I. (2003). Tomorrow’s EFL teacher educators. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 5, 86-104.
Griebling, S., Harte, H., Dyke, K., & Bauer, L. (2011). Using wikis to promote reflective teaching and collaboration among higher education institutions. Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning, 9, 43-53.
Hagevik, R., Aydeniz, M., & Rowell, C. G. (2012). Using action research in middle level teacher education to evaluate and deepen reflective practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(5), 675-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.02.006.
Halim, L., Buang, N. A., & Mohd Meerah, T. S. (2011). Guiding student teachers to be reflective. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(1), 544-550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.05.080.
Jerez, S. (2008). Teachers’ attitudes towards reflective teaching: Evidences in a professional Development Program (PDP). Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 10(1), 91-111.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2003). A postmethod perspective on English language teaching. World Englishes, 22(4), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2003.00317.x.
Leitch, R., & Day, C. (2000). Action research and reflective practice: Towards holistic view. Educational Action Research, 8(1), 179-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650790000200108.
Little, J. W. (1982). Norms of collegiality and experimentation: Workplace conditions of school success. American Educational Research Journal, 19(3), 326-346. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312019003325.
Little, J. W. (2002). Locating learning in teachers’ communities of practice: Opening up problems of analysis in records of everyday work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(8), 917-946. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00052-5.
McNulty, M., & Quinchía, D. I. (2007). Designing a holistic professional development program for elementary school English teachers in Colombia. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 8(1), 131-143.
Mena, J. J., Sánchez, E., & Tillema, H. (2008). Teachers reflecting on their work: Articulating what is said about what is done. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 14(2), 95-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600801965887.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, US: Jossey-Bass Publications.
Milheim, K. L. (2010). The role of collaborative reflection in the career development of adult literacy and basic education program directors. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 9(2), 15-19.
Moran, M. J. (2007). Collaborative action research and project work: Promising practices for developing collaborative inquiry among early childhood pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(4), 418-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.12.008.
Onks, S. C. (2009). Collaborative reflective practice of two early childhood educators: The impact on their ongoing inquiry and professional development (Doctoral dissertation).University of Tennessee, USA.
Patton, M. Q. (2001). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, US: Sage Publications.
Priestly, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2013). Teachers as agents of change: Teacher agency and emerging models of curriculum. In M. Priestly & G. Biesta (Eds.), Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice (pp. 187-206). London, UK: Bloomsbury.
Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: Strategies for teacher learning. New York, US: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667237.
Schnellert, L. M. (2011). Collaborative inquiry: Teacher professional development as situated, responsive co-construction of practice and learning (Doctoral dissertation). The University of British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved from https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/38245.
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511557842.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2003). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. London, UK: SAGE publications.
Tierney, R. J. (2006). Teacher and student as assessors: The changing position, expectations and roles for the literacy educator, students and parents. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Reading Association, Chicago, USA.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986/2000). Thought and language. Cambridge, US: MIT Press.
Wong, R. M. H. (2011). Developing teacher awareness of language use and language knowledge in English classrooms: Four longitudinal cases. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 8(1), 19-38.
Zeichner, K. (1996). Designing educative practicum experiences for prospective teachers. In K. Zeichner, S. Melnick, & M. L. Gomez (Eds.), Currents of reform in preservice teacher education (pp. 215-234). New York, US: Teachers College Press.
Dimensions
PlumX
Article abstract page views
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Author

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are authorized to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as long as you give appropriate credit to the authors of the articles and to Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development as original source of publication. The use of the material for commercial purposes is not allowed. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
Authors retain the intellectual property of their manuscripts with the following restriction: first publication is granted to Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development.






























