Tsui 2011

1. Teacher Education and
Teacher Development
Amy B. M. Tsui
The University of Hong Kong
By: Amirhamid Forough Ameri
ahfameri@gmail.com
May 2016
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2. Overview
 Important Developments and Trends
 Emergence of L2 Teacher Education as a Field of Inquiry
 Theoretical Underpinning and Knowledge Base of L2 Teacher Education
 Major Research Strands
 Teacher Cognition
 Teacher Knowledge
 Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
 Teacher Identity
 Issues for Future Research
 Pedagogic Content Knowledge of L2 Teachers
 Teacher and Learner Knowledge and Beliefs
 Student Learning 2

3. Important Developments and Trends
 Emergence of L2 Teacher Education as a Field of Inquiry
 Early work on L2 teaching in the 1960s focused on methods.
 In the 1970s and 1980s, the discussion was broadened to approaches.
 The emergence of applied linguistics with a focus on how theories of language,
language development, and language use can be applied in solving problems in the real
world.
 the core curriculum of L2 teacher education programs consisted of courses on
 linguistic analysis,
 sociolinguistics, and
 psycholinguistics, in particular
 SLA.
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4. Important Developments and Trends
 However, the emergence of L2 teacher education and development as a field of inquiry
is much more recent than the emergence of applied linguistics.
 The first book-length publication devoted to L2 teacher education appeared in 1990,
when Richards and Nunan (1990) :
 conceptual basis of L2 teacher education program designs,
 the practicum and models of supervision,
 observations of teaching,
 reflective teaching, and
 action research.
 So, the concept of skills-oriented teacher training was replaced by cognitive-oriented teacher education
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5. Theoretical Underpinning and Knowledge Base of L2
Teacher Education
Major sources influencing L2 teacher
education
The paradigm shift from a behaviorist view in the
1960s and 1970s, to a cognitivist view in the 1980s,
and a sociocultural perspective in the 1990s
General teacher education and its
theories
A shift from the cognitive processes of teachers in the classroom to the situated nature of teachers’
action and knowledge. In Lave’s words, the teacher as “the whole person in action, acting with
the setting of that activity” (1988, p. 17).
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6. Theoretical Underpinning and Knowledge Base of L2
Teacher Education
 Freeman and Johnson (1998) called for a reconceptualization of the knowledge base of
L2 teacher education stating that “language teacher education is primarily concerned
with teachers as learners of language teaching rather than with students as learners of
language. Thus teacher-learners … as distinct from language learners.”
 They proposed a tripartite framework:
 First, “the core of the new knowledge base must focus on teaching itself;
it should center on the teacher, the contexts, and the pedagogy.”
 Second, “this knowledge should include forms of knowledge representation that document teacher
learning within the social, cultural, and institutional contexts’’
 Third, “the knowledge base of L2 teacher education needs to account for
the teacher as a learner of teaching,
the social context of schools and schooling, and
the activities of both language teaching, and language learning”
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7. Theoretical Underpinning and Knowledge Base of L2
Teacher Education
 Drawbacks of Freeman and Johnson’s (1998) model:
 central to the field are two aspects of teacher knowledge:
 knowledge of the subject matter and
 knowledge of language systems, applied linguistics, and SLA.
 Tarone and Allwright (2005): this framework lacked a key element, namely, the second
language learner.
 Furthermore, they maintained that SLA is an important component of the knowledge
base of L2 teachers because most of the research findings of SLA are directly relevant to
teachers when they make decisions.
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8. Theoretical Underpinning and Knowledge Base of L2
Teacher Education
 Richards (1998) also defined the scope of L2 teacher education:
1. the knowledge base of teachers, the beliefs and principles that teachers hold,
2. the professional development of teachers and the influence of experience and
3. the impact of teacher education on teachers’ classroom practices.
 Richards (1998): the knowledge base of L2 teacher education is constituted of:
• general theories of teaching;
• teaching skills;
• communication skills;
• subject matter knowledge;
• pedagogical reasoning and decision-making; and
• contextual knowledge. 8

9. Major Research Strands
 Freeman (2009): the scope of L2 teacher education encompasses three dimensions:
“substance, engagement and outcomes”.
 The substance of the field has shifted from knowledge and skills to social activity,
 the processes in which teachers are expected to engage have shifted from application of
professional input to a complex interplay between context, teaching, and learning.
 The measuring of outcomes of teacher education activities or program designs is a
highly controversial area for policy makers.
 Most of the research studies on L2 teacher education pertain to the first two dimensions:
substance and engagement. The third dimension, outcomes, is perhaps the least
developed and researched.
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10. Major Research Strands
Teacher Cognition
 The investigation of teaching behaviors and classroom processes became a focus in the
late 1960s and early 1970s.
 These processes were referred to as “teacher thinking” at the time and subsequently the
broader term teacher cognition was used.
 Early studies focused on teachers’planning thoughts, their classroom decision-making
processes, and their implicit theories.
 An information-processing model was adopted for analysis.
 Findings:
 teacher cognition was highly complex and
 teachers’ classroom decision-making processes and other dimensions, such as teachers’
beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge were important in shaping their classroom practices.
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11. Major Research Strands
Teacher Cognition
 The cognitive processing model was challenged for its decontextualized and fragmented
approach to cognition. It was pointed out that teacher cognition must be understood
within the teachers’ immediate and wider contexts of work, their personal biographies,
and experiences.
 Studies of teacher cognition also turned to sociocultural theories of learning.
 Definitions: Some researchers have defined teacher cognition as referring to
 teacher thinking and beliefs, as distinct from teacher knowledge.
 However, a number of researchers have pointed out that teacher thinking, beliefs, and
knowledge are interwoven.
 More recently, values and the ethical disposition of teachers have been considered.
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12. Major Research Strands
Teacher Cognition
 Studies of L2 teachers’ cognitive processes began in the early 1990s, with the bulk of
the work appearing after the mid-1990s (Borg, 2006).
 Two Strands:
 the general cognitive processes of L2 teachers
 specifically focusing on L2 teaching (mostly on the teaching of grammar).
 Studies of L2 teachers’ non-subject specific cognitive processes have been conducted on the
following:
1. teachers’ planning thoughts and classroom-decision
2. teacher beliefs, sources of influence, and the ways in which they shape classroom practices
3. the relationship between teacher cognition and classroom practices,
4. the impact of teacher education on teacher cognition change.
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13. Major Research Strands
Teacher Cognition
 Findings:
 Prospective and practicing L2 teachers’ pedagogical philosophies, classroom practices,
and decisions were shaped by their prior L2 learning experience.
 teachers’ teaching experiences also impacted on teacher cognition.
 Context of work (such as a prescribed curriculum, a lack of resources, or the school
culture) was found to be another source of influence.
 teacher cognition not only shapes but is also shaped by classroom practices and the
contexts in which teachers work.
 Teacher cognition is evolving and fluid.
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14. Major Research Strands
Teacher Knowledge
 The systematic study of teacher knowledge took center stage in the in the 1980s and early
1990s, and pertained to the nature of teacher knowledge and teacher knowledge domains.
 The Nature of Teacher Knowledge:
 It is inspired by Schön (1983, 1987) who has heavily criticized the widely accepted
model of professional knowledge, in which professions such as medicine and law were
classified as “major” professions, and professions such as nursing and teaching as
“minor” professions.
 Schön argued that what professionals do in practice is not knowing and acting as two
distinct processes, but an integrated process of “knowing-in-action.”
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15. Major Research Strands
Teacher Knowledge
 Shulman (1986): a missing paradigm in teacher knowledge research at the time was
teachers’ knowledge of the subject matter they teach. Basic knowledge domains:
 pedagogic knowledge,
 content knowledge (i.e., knowledge of the subject matter),
 pedagogic content knowledge (i.e., the effective representation of content knowledge to
students).
 knowledge of learners, context, and the curriculum.
 Investigations of the nature of L2 teacher knowledge have been conducted through
teacher interviews focusing on
 their planning thoughts,
 interactive classroom decision-making, and
 their reflections on their teaching. 15

16. Major Research Strands
Teacher Knowledge
 Teacher Knowledge Domains: Subject Matter Knowledge and Teacher Language
Awareness:
 Prior to the 1990s, teachers’ knowledge about language was neglected in L2 teacher
education research. The focus had not been on teachers’ subject matter knowledge, that
is, teachers’ knowledge of the underlying systems of language (including phonological,
lexical, grammatical, and discoursal features of L2).
 It was not until the late 1990s that more attention was given to this area.
 The research focus of this area, however, has been mostly on
 teachers’ declarative knowledge of grammar,
 their beliefs about grammar teaching, and
 their procedural knowledge about grammar
The latter has also been referred to as “teacher language awareness” (TLA).
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17. Major Research Strands
Teacher Knowledge
 Major studies:
 Gap in Literature:
 the bulk of the work pertained to grammar knowledge. Other aspects of the language system and
language skills remain largely neglected.
 Only a few studies deal with teacher cognition in L2 writing.
Study Findings
Andrews’ study on prospective
and practicing NS and NNS L2 teachers
NNS scored substantially higher than the former in a test
on knowledge of grammar
Prospective L2 teachers’ KAL (knowledge about
language) in the UK
A very low level of meta-linguistic knowledge was found
among NS teachers
Teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about grammar,
Grammar teaching, and the impact of these on their
actual classroom practices
Teachers’ beliefs about grammar and grammar teaching
may or may not be borne out in their classroom practices.
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18. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
 Research in this area belongs to the engagement dimension in L2 teacher education
(Freeman, 2009), namely, the process of professional learning for teachers
 Courses such as reflective teaching, classroom research, and action research are now
standard courses.
 Three research strands are important:
 teachers as reflective practitioners,
 teachers as researchers, and
 the development of teachers’ expertise in teaching.
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19. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
Teachers as Reflective Practitioners
 The concept of reflective action was first proposed by John Dewey: teachers are not
just passive curriculum implementers but that they can also play an active role in
curriculum design and educational reform (Dewey, 1933).
 This notion was further developed by Schön: teachers are not “technical experts” but
“reflective practitioners” (1983, p. 332).
 Reflective practice = a mediational tool for teachers’ professional learning.
writing reflective journals and autobiographies
 One of the concerns in reflective practice is how teachers can move beyond descriptive
accounts of their work (Jarvis, 1992) to reflect on their practice critically.
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20. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
Teachers as Researchers
 The notion of “teacher as researcher” was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by
Stenhouse’s (1975):
 curriculum development should involve testing educational theories through application
in practice, hence the term action research.
 To be more effective, action research should be undertaken by teachers, not researchers.
 The concept of action research developed from
 a somewhat linear and fixed sequence of planning, action, observation, and reflection to
 a dynamic and cyclical model that allowed for feedback, modification, and re-trial.
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21. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
 Burns (2009) summarized the purposes of action research in L2 teacher education as
follows:
1. to address specific issues in teaching or learning situations;
2. to investigate curriculum innovation and the change processes;
3. to facilitate teachers’ professional development;
4. to enhance teachers’ knowledge of conducting research and to equip them with research
skills;
5. to enhance the development of their personal practical theories; and
6. to provide a vehicle for reducing the gap between research and practice.
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22. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
Teaching Expertise
 It has been motivated by the need to understand the special form of knowledge held by teachers
and to demonstrate that experts in teaching possess sophisticated skills and knowledge.
 Early studies of teaching expertise adopted an information-processing approach (often quasi-
laboratory in nature), using simulated pedagogical tasks through expert–novice comparisons.
 Findings:
 Expert teachers have a complex but integrated knowledge base;
 they are capable of recognizing patterns very quickly;
 they have better improvisational skills than novice teachers
 they are able to justify their classroom actions in a principled manner; and
 they have better self-monitoring and meta-cognitive skills than novice teachers.
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23. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
 Two views towards expertise:
 Static: characterizes expert performance as effortless, efficient, and automatic
 Process: characterizes expertise as a process of continuous search for excellence, in
which practitioners work “at the edge of their competence.”
 Tsui (2003) concludes:
 first, expert teachers’ ways of thinking and ways of learning can serve as a reference for
both novice and experienced teachers
 second, case studies of expert teachers can help to raise experienced teachers’ awareness
and to make their implicit theories of teaching explicit;
 third, understanding the critical differences between expert and non-expert teachers can
help teacher educators, mentors, and school leaders to identify the emerging
characteristics of expertise in young teachers early on.
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24. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
Teacher Identity
 Teacher identity is an emerging theme.
 Centrality is given to teacher identity formation as an integral part of teacher learning.
 Identity formation involves
 Not only acquiring the competence that is valued by the community but also
 being able to engage in and contribute to the construction of meanings.
 Thus, identity is not just
 relational (i.e., how one talks or thinks about oneself, or how others talk or think about
one),
 it is also experiential (i.e., it is formed from one’s lived experience).
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25. Major Research Strands
Teacher Learning and Teachers’ Professional Development
 Wenger’s theory of learning as social participation and the concept of legitimate
peripheral participation proposed by Lave and Wenger (1991) have been drawn on by
many studies.
 Research on teacher identity clusters around three major themes (Tsui, 2007):
 the multi-dimensionality of professional identity
 the personal and social dimensions of identity formation
 the relationship between agency and structure in identity formation.
 Most definitions of identity state identity as relational.
 Others define identity as discursively constructed and context bound.
 Wenger’s theory of identity formation is perhaps the most powerful, in that it argues for
identity formation being relational and experiential, as well as social and personal.
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26. Issues for Future Research
Pedagogic Content Knowledge of L2 Teachers
 Few studies have focused on
 the ways in which L2 teachers are able to effectively represent subject matter knowledge
to students,
 the difficulties students have in understanding how the language works, and
 how they could be helped.
 The work of Andrews (2007) is an important addition to the literature.
 More work of this nature is needed, as well as more work on other aspects of the
language systems, including phonetics, lexis, and discourse.
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27. Issues for Future Research
Teacher and Learner Knowledge and Beliefs
 A number of studies have been done on learner and teacher beliefs. However, so far
these studies have largely been conducted separately, and the interrelationship between
learner and teacher beliefs has been under-researched (Kiely, 2001).
 Kiely’s work shows that the student’s response to the teacher has a powerful impact on
the latter and that it can lead to resistance, reflection, and/or reframing on the part of the
teacher.
 The few studies that have elicited data from both teachers and students show that there
is a gap between the two sets of beliefs.
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28. Issues for Future Research
Student Learning
 To date, research on L2 teacher education has been focused on the teacher, which is to
be expected as the teacher is at the center of field of inquiry.
 However, as Tarone and Allwright (2005) pointed out, claims made about teacher
knowledge, pedagogical practices, and teacher change have so far made little reference
to learners.
 Whereas much attention has been paid to teachers’ voice, students’ voice has largely
remained silent.
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