Reconceptualizing the Knowledge-Base of Language Teacher Education

Abstract

Moving beyond the historical and theoretical traditions that have defined teacher education in TESOL over the last quarter century, in this introductory piece we argue for a reconceptualization of the knowledge-base of ESOL teacher education. Essential to this reconceptualization is the premise that the institutional forms and processes of teacher education frame how the profession responds to the basic sociocultural processes of learning to teach. As such, our teacher education practices constitute our professional self-definition. We argue that the core of the new knowledge-base must focus on the activity of teaching itself; it should center on the teacher who does it, the contexts in which it is done, and the pedagogy by which it is done. Moreover, this knowledge-base should include forms of knowledge representation that document teacher learning within the social, cultural, and institutional contexts in which it occurs. Finally, we believe the knowledge-base of language teacher education needs to account for the teacher as a learner of teaching, the social context of schools and schooling within which teacher-learning and teaching occur, and the activities of both language teaching and language learning. This tripartite framework calls for a broader epistemological view of ESOL teacher education, one that accounts for teaching as it is learned and as it is practiced; we argue that it will ultimately redefine how we as teacher educators create professionals in TESOL.

‘I think we should just accept … our horrible lowly status’: Analysing Teacher–Teacher Talk Within the Context of Community of Practice

“…Nunan, 2001;O'Keeffe, 2001;Pennington, 1992), as has been what constitutes what teachers 'know' in a professional sense (e.g. Borg, 2003;Freeman & Johnson, 1998;Golombek, 1998). While interaction inside the classroom -frontstage discourse -has been a subject of study and has been considered the most significant type of discourse that teachers engage in, I propose that interaction outside the classroom -backstage discourse -is also significant.…”

Responding to the Need for Re-Conceptualizing Second Language Teacher Education: The Potential of a Sociocultural Perspective

“…Freeman and Johnson (2005) only acknowledged the role of the learner by borrowing from Tarone and Allwright (2005) that " [teaching] is not an activity one does by oneself" (p. 18). The present paper argues that the role of the learner can be viewed as part of the context aspect of Freeman and Johnson's (1998) framework. This is supported by an activity theory perspective (e.g., Engeström, 1987Engeström, , 2001Leffa, 2005) in that there are people in the context of language teaching who co-participate in the teaching activity as members of community, among whom learners are the most obvious.…”

“…An analysis of Freeman and Johnson's (1998) framework shows that it does indicate coverage of knowledge from SLA, although this knowledge, together with many other related disciplines, is not visible in this framework. If the framework is considered as "a broader epistemological framework" (Freeman & Johnson, 1998, p. 405) that helps "to shape a general research agenda that can elucidate the knowledge-base of [SLTE]" (Freeman & Johnson, 1998, p. 407), knowledge from SLA can fit into the first category -the teacher as learner of teaching.…”

“…(p. 401) Freeman and Johnson (1998) further argued that learning to teach is not merely the accumulation of research outcomes-a view held by advocates of positivism, or scientifically based SLTE. Rather, it is "a long-term, complex, developmental process that operates through participation in the social practices and contexts associated with learning and teaching" (Freeman & Johnson, 1998, p. 402; see also Johnson, 2009;Johnson & Golombek, 2011).…”

“…According to Freeman and Johnson (1998), research in mainstream education has contributed to the shift away from a behaviourist view of SLTE as the field has come to understand that:…”