Published

2018-01-01

Colombian English Teachers’ Professional Development: The Case of Master Programs

El desarrollo profesional de profesores colombianos de inglés: programas de maestría

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v20n1.63323

Keywords:

Colombian English teacher education, English as a foreign language master programs, English teachers’ graduate education, English teachers’ professional development (en)
desarrollo profesional de profesores de inglés, educación de profesores de inglés colombianos, educación posgraduada de profesores de inglés, maestría en enseñanza de inglés (es)

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Authors

  • John Jairo Viáfara
  • José David Largo

Master degree programs have rapidly increased in Colombia to the point where they are one of the most favored options for English teachers seeking to bolster their professional development. This survey study characterizes eighty participants, their five master programs, and their perceptions concerning the influence these graduate courses exerted on their teaching. While participants’ pedagogical and research work seemed to have benefited the most from their studies, their practices involving language policy and administration were regarded as distant from what they learnt. Findings suggest that innovation, reflection, and collaboration permeated participants’ overarching categories of development. Challenges to respondents’ integration of their newly acquired education with their teaching included competing ideologies and agendas exhibited by stakeholders in school communities.

Los programas de maestría en Colombia han aumentado rápidamente convirtiéndose en opciones preferidas para el desarrollo profesional de profesores de inglés. Empleando encuestas, se caracterizaron cinco programas de maestría, ochenta participantes y la influencia de sus estudios de maestría en su enseñanza. Mientras la pedagogía y la investigación fueron aparentemente los aspectos que más se beneficiaron de sus estudios, sus prácticas en política lingüística y administración fueron las menos favorecidas. Los hallazgos sugieren que la innovación, reflexión y colaboración permearon en general el desarrollo profesional de los participantes. Los retos que enfrentaron los participantes al integrar la educación posgraduada con su enseñanza incluyeron ideologías y agendas opuestas de los varios actores educativos en las escuelas.

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Viáfara, J. J., & Largo, J. D. (2018). Colombian English Teachers’ Professional Development: The Case of Master Programs. Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 20(1), 103-119. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v20n1.63323

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