Teacher educators’ personal practical knowledge of language

Abstract

This paper describes teacher educators' understanding of language for classroom communication in higher education. We argue that teacher educators who are aware of their personal practical knowledge of language have a better understanding of their students' language use and provide better support for knowledge construction. Personal practical knowledge originates from teachers' professional practice and is based on their past experience, current awareness and future expectation. Data from focus group interviews with teacher educators (N = 35) were used for content analysis. Findings demonstrate an emerging conceptualization resulting in two language modalities of personal practical knowledge, specified as: 'language-sensitive and interpersonally oriented' and 'language-focused and pedagogically oriented. ' The insights contribute to building a professional practical knowledge base of language and communication-oriented teaching.

Multicultural Classroom: An Aspect Of A Foreign Language Teacher Professional Culture Forming

“…And this person probably thinks more positively of others and expects to be recognized by others in the same way (Hinner, 2017). This is quite important, especially, when realize that a teacher and then a teacher educator are considered both as a connoisseur of his subject and as a pattern (Swart, Graaff, Onstenk, & Knezic, 2018).…”

Breaking down the walls of weak knowledge-sharing among Iranian teachers: Investigating a less-considered leadership role of principals

“…As knowledge workers, teachers have high personal preference and responsibility in analysing, developing and implementing their assigned tasks, and they need to update their job-related information continuously. By putting learning into action, they provide knowledge that other teachers can use as a valuable professional resource (Swart et al, 2018).…”

Implications of Teachers’ Personal Practical Knowledge for Teacher Training Programs: A Case Study of Primary Teachers

“…According to scholars, PPK is a type of action-oriented (Van Driel, 2021) and situational knowledge (Clandinin, 1989) that develops throughout teachers' professional lives (Swart et al, 2018) and involves not simply their past and present experiences but also shapes their actions in the future (Connelly et al, 1997;Yinger & Hendricks-Lee, 2012).…”

“…Drawing on the concept of PPK, professional development has been increasingly focused on learning from teachers' practical experience and interpersonal sensitivity (Ben-Peretz, 2011;Knezic et al, 2010;Noroozi et al, 2012;Van der Spoel et al, 2020) since it is believed that PPK is the driving force behind teachers' thinking and behavior (Swart et al, 2018). Many scholars so far have explored the role of teachers' PPK in their teaching practices (e.g., Chou, 2008;Sun, 2012;Swart et al, 2018).…”