Professional Development Through Teacher Research

This volume aims to understand how language teacher educators around the world continue developing professionally by examining their own teaching practices. It explores the professional gains teacher educators see in conducting research with their own students/future teachers and seeks to reduce the gap between educational research and practice.

Little is known about how language teacher educators become, and also develop professionally as, teachers of teachers. One avenue for teacher education professional development is that of teacher research, whereby teacher educators can not only improve their practices in their immediate context but also help develop transformative pedagogies in wider contexts by sharing their research. This volume aims to understand how language teacher educators around the world continue developing professionally by examining their own teaching practices. It seeks to understand the professional gains teacher educators see in conducting research with their own students/future teachers; to promote knowledge democratisation by including teacher educators from under-represented contexts such as Latin America and Africa; to examine language teacher educators’ motivations to write for publication; and to reduce the gap between educational research and educational practice in BA and MA programmes in language teaching.

This book focuses on the professional development of teacher educators, forming a definitive and expert resource for all those interested in this area of professional learning. It offers an in-depth overview of existing international research and professional development initiatives in the area of teacher educators' learning. The book highlights relevant research on the topic, identifies the lessons learnt from recent initiatives, and indicates ways forward for teacher educators' professional learning internationally. It provides a unique combination of six years of pan-European collaborative work, resulting in a book with clear relevance and appeal to both academics and practitioners internationally. The book conceptualizes teacher educators' professional development, in order to deepen understanding of how and why learning occurs and conducts empirical research into the professional development needs of teacher educators internationally using quantitative and qualitative methods in order to redress gaps in existing research. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of teacher education and professional development and learning.

In this publication national and international researchers working in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education, applied linguistics and educational sciences are presenting their current research in the area of primary EFL teacher education. The starting point of this collection was the general shift in educational research towards the role of teachers as well as towards facets of the teaching profession and their relative contributions to successful and 'good' education. All contributions to this volume focus primarily on hitherto insufficiently researched as¬pects of the professional development of primary EFL teachers. This book is thus contributing to closing existing research gaps as well as giving impetus for future studies and increasing communication about research on the professional development of EFL teachers in related disciplines. Aside from an overview of teaching primary EFL in Europe and beyond, the contributors are presenting up-to-date research on policy and practice of primary EFL teacher education, in-service training as well as professional competences and beliefs of primary EFL teachers. Edited by Eva Wilden and Raphaela Porsch, this interdisciplinary book provides contributions from Nora Benitt, Henriette Dausend, Ann-Cathrin Deters-Philipp, Janet Enever, Alicia Jöckel, Johannes König, Angelika Kubanek, Sandra Lammerding, Rama Mathew, Günter Nold, Annamaria Pinter, Thorsten Piske, Shelagh Rixon, Andreas Rohde, Henning Rossa, Bianca Roters, Sarah Strauß and Sarantis Tachtsoglou.

This book makes a significant contribution to a hitherto much neglected area. The book brings together a wide range of papers on a scale rarely seen with a geographic spread that enhances our understanding of the complex journey undertaken by those who aspire to become teachers of teachers. The authors, from more than ten countries, use a variety of approaches including narrative/life history, self-study and empirical research to demonstrate the complexity of the transformative search by individuals to establish their professional identity as teacher educators. The book offers fundamental and thoughtful critiques of current policy, practice and examples of established structures specifically supporting the professional development of teacher educators that may well have a wider applicability. Many of the authors are active and leading persons in the international fields of teacher education and of professional development. The book considers: novice teacher educators, issues of transition; identity development including research identity; the facilitation and mentoring of teacher educators; self-study research including collaborative writing, use of stories; professional development within the context of curriculum and structural reform. Becoming a teacher is recognised as a transformative search by individuals for their teaching identities. Becoming a teacher educator often involves a more complex and longer journey but, according to the many travel stories told here, one that can be a deeply satisfying experience. This book was published as a special issue of Professional Development in Education.

Because what we do in staff development can best be understood in terms of Contexts, Strategies, and Structures, the remainder of the book features distinguished educators who write from their own unique experiential and theoretical stances. Jacqueline Ancess describes how teachers in New York City secondary schools increase their own learning while improving student outcomes • Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Joel Zarrow demonstrate how teachers learn to use data to improve their practice and meet educational standards • Lynne Miller presents a case study of a long-lived school, university partnership • Beverly Falk recounts stories of teachers working together to develop performance assessments, to understand their student’s learning, to re-think their curriculum, and much more • Laura Stokes analyzes a school that successfully uses inquiry groups. There are further contributions (including some from novice teachers) by Anna Richert Ershler, Ann Lieberman, Diane Wood, Sarah Warshauer Freedman, and Joseph P. McDonald. These powerful exemplars from practice provide a much-needed overview of what matters and what really works in professional development today.

Enhancing Practice through Classroom Research is an accessible introduction to understanding and improving teaching and learning through a process of reflection, research and action. Written by teachers for teachers, it offers a straightforward guide to classroom research and considers issues central to effective professional development. Including questions for reflection and illustrated with case studies and vignettes of the authors’ own experiences of undertaking classroom research, it offers a step-by-step guide to beginning your own research: identifying an area of professional concern or interest articulating your own educational values developing a better understanding of your practice thinking critically about educational practices depicting practice as it is and as it evolves finding a research methodology providing evidence of improved practice developing theory from practice. Acknowledging the busy nature of classroom teaching and focussing on personalising professional development, this friendly, sensible text offers support and guidance for all student and practising teachers interested in research either for your own professional development or to pursue postgraduate studies in your area of interest.

Focusing on the partnerships and collaborations between teacher educators and students with regards to faculty members’ professional development, contributors from around the world provide insight into professional development opportunities in the context of teaching and collaborating with students. Contributions from these distinguished scholars come from a broad range of countries and cultures to ensure that the presented studies reveal rich information about diverse systems of teacher education. The studies presented in the book demonstrate how these faculty student partnerships can significantly assist faculty members to develop professionally and produce benefits and impacts on their professional identity. Providing ideas and tools aimed at teacher educators around the world, this book explores partnerships and cooperation as a tool to lead to development and ultimately promotion. This book is a must-read for all researchers, teacher educators and lecturers looking to expand their knowledge of partnerships with students in higher education.

Written from various perspectives, this book describes ways of using action research to improve teaching and learning. It includes contributions about action research related to: political action; school inclusion; distance learning; feminism; and initial teacher training. The coherent theme of the book is the consistent appraisal of action research as a means of supporting the transformation of educational praxis through practical enquiry and reflexive practice.

As new trends emerge in the realm of education, instructors are faced with the task of continuing development in order to stay up to date on the latest teaching methodologies for both virtual and face-to-face education. Facilitating In-Service Teacher Training for Professional Development is a pivotal reference source for the latest research on the scenarios faced by in-service educators, uncovering models, recent trends, and perceptions of in-service teacher training. Featuring extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives, such as teacher identity, collaborative teacher development, and exploratory practice, this book is ideally designed for researchers, practitioners, and professionals seeking current research on the need for continuing development in teacher education.