1. Assignment 3
Professional Development
Felix Barría Montoya
Diego Ulloa Iglesias
English Methodology (DID0412-1)
Mss. Correa
December 22nd, 2011

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Index
Page
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 2
Research Question ……………………………………………………………… 3
Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………………….. 3
Data: Chart* …………………………………………………………………... 7
Data: Discussion ……………………………………...………………………. 8
Conclusion …………………………………………………………...……….. 10
References ……………………………………………….…………………….. 12
Appendix ……………………………………………………………………..... 13

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Introduction
Professional development is seen as long-term learning opportunities which depends
basically on the own person in question—the teacher in this case. Hence, we interviewed a
teacher that finished University last year and is currently taking a master degree at the
Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción.
To what we consider from the information taken from the corresponding interview, was
also considered different views from different authors about what professional development
is, what are the main characteristics of it are, how a teacher can be professionally developed
and what is the purpose of reaching this “status”.
At the end of the following analysis, there is a comparison between what theory says and
what the teacher interviewed told us about what she thinks of professional development
which would be helpful for other teachers in their process of seeking a professional
development status.

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Research Question
Is professional development relevant for teaching English as a foreign language?
Theoretical framework
Professional development is a very important topic for everyone who really cares about
their profession and intends to have a successful career. It calls for autonomy and
commitment to be developed within a certain community, which in the case of teachers‟ is
constantly moving. According to Ur (2002) we do not just teach: we also learn,
continually—about our subject matter, about teaching methods and about many other things
that make us better educated and therefore better educators (p. 391) Because, from
experience we know that teaching does not involve only teaching, but also learning from
the environment that surrounds us and why not, our own students. For the same reason we
cannot permit ourselves to teach because we want to try something new; Ur (2002) states
that the professional cannot allow himself or herself „to have a go‟ at teaching or to do it
badly (p. 389). From this we can infer teaching is more of a lifestyle if you will, rather than
just a profession. We have to adequate ourselves to this profession and not the other way
around.

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Brown (2000) uses the term “peak performer” as that person who is reaching his/her fullest
potential and therefore who reap success. Among others, this type of person is
characterized by taking risks; this is a person who is not afraid to try new things. Brown
adds that it is not a matter of simply taking risks because it should be in learning from our
own „failures‟. So, according to what Brown suggests, teachers should reach their fullest
potential through risks which should be taken from the moment you start being a teacher
and this should also be based on their own errors—„failures‟ as he considers it. Being
successful involves continually improving our practice, but reflective teaching goes beyond
the level of acquiring new techniques. As Barlett (1990) points out, “As teachers we have
to transcend the technicalities of teaching and think beyond the need to improve our
instructional techniques” (p. 205). Teachers who are ill prepared for the demands of
teaching are those who has to be more aware of being well-prepared through acquiring
instructional techniques—as Barlett suggests or, as Brown suggests, taking risks in order to
be a peak performer to make a success of their failures.
On another front, “Becoming reflective forces us to adopt a critical attitude to ourselves as
individual second language teachers—to challenge our espoused personal beliefs about
teaching” (ibid., 213). Richards (2002) and Nunan (2001) note that “experience alone is
insufficient for professional growth, and that experience coupled with reflection is a much
more powerful impetus for development” (p. 201), that is to say teachers should never feel
fully developed simply because it is an ongoing process—as Bailey, Curtis and Nunan
(2001) also points out that teachers never stop learning because they have to improve their
teaching skills throughout their life in order to become better professionals, and by

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incorporating a reflection into their professional growth would result in a proper
combination for obtaining good results.
Ur (2002) makes some comparisons between the profession of being a teacher and some
other categories which are the following:
Teacher vs. Lay
Teacher vs. Amateur
Teacher vs. Technician
Teacher vs. Academic
Now each of these comparisons made us think that teachers should have a bit of each in
order to be more complete.
For example in the first case it is good that like the lay population, we try to communicate
each other as colleagues and shape a strong community which will be in constant contact,
sharing discoveries and experiences.
Secondly, it is never bad to be passionate about doing something and as we previously
mentioned we have to really take a commitment in teaching but it is good to keep that
amateur we all have inside because as Ur (2002) states, an amateur does things for fun, for
the love of it (p. 389) We already know that it is very important to take our profession of
teaching very seriously but having fun teaching and loving the fact of doing it is just as
important.

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In the case of the third comparison, we are both technicians and teachers. Technicians
practice constantly in order to develop skills and be more competent using them. Though
teachers develop their skills through practice and the use of knowledge patterns that will
allow them to reflect—as was mentioned before on how they should be developed. (Ur
2002)
Finally, we considered this comparison to be the most important because is a must that
teachers gradually become a mix between an academic and a professional. The professional
is always an active participant who focuses on real time experiences and learning, while the
academic is more of a passive character who is more focused on research (Ur 2002). We
make the distinction of passive and active just to make a contrast between the two for none
of them can be considered better than the other one. As a matter of fact teachers should
always focus on real time action as well as backing it up with constant research and
contextualization.

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Data: Chart.
Note: Due to a format issue the corresponding chart cannot be
displayed here. Please check the document showed below “Data:
Chart Professional Development”.

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Data: Discussion
To be fully developed is, as we know, a very important aspect in any professional‟s career.
We mentioned a few comparisons that should be mixed together as much as possible in
order to be a good professional and also to make a contribution to the big community all
teachers conform.
Our interviewee, in question number 2 of the “importance” category answered:
1. Do you think it is important to be fully developed professionally? Why?
Of course, I think that it‟s very important to be fully developed professionally
because that‟s the way in which a teacher contributes to education and the task
becomes easier since the teacher knows exactly how to perform in different
situations.
In this answer we can see she clearly takes into account professional development as
something important for a teacher because it contributes to the community as well as
enhancing the way you face each class making it easier to come up with different and better
ideas each time.
By mixing each of these comparisons mentioned beforehand into your way of developing
your career will help you to be a more competent teacher and as the interviewee mentions
“professional development is what a professional do to be better at what he or she does”. It
occurs when professional people—teachers in this case, become more skillful”. By skillful

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we can recall the characteristics of either a technician or the academic and why not, both. A
teacher with these characteristics is more active and at the same time more careful; always
paying attention to research labour and methodology enhancing.
Again the importance of working within a community is mentioned in the answers the
interviewee gave by affirming teachers “should attend seminars” and interacting with other
teachers”. It is clearly stated that teachers should have both a wide range of skills and also
learn to work within a community in order to experiment and create a body of knowledge
that will be useful for the community.

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Conclusion
What our interviewee believes is not far away from what theory suggests. In general terms,
the teacher in question thinks that professional development is a must all teachers should
have because it would help him/her to improve his/her performance in the classroom.
According to what our interviewee told us, teachers who do not have a post degree are not
that professional as they think they are because not having it means that they are not
interested in improving their knowledge in both pedagogical and linguistic terms;
consequently there is no reflection as it was suggested by the authors. What the interviewee
adds to this, was that teachers that just finished Universities can be hired by a certain school
in order to get more experience—to be exposed to empirical situations in the classroom.
On another front, both interviewee and theory agree that by expanding and sharing one‟s
knowledge with other teachers there would be a more fruitful input which would be helpful
for them in terms of acquiring another point of view about a same situation.
After reading what different authors suggest in their theories and considering what our
interviewee contributed to our research, the answer we were seeking to the question “Is
professional development relevant for teaching English as a foreign language?” cannot be
clearer. Of course, professional development is actually relevant for teaching English as a
foreign language because:
It is an ongoing process, so teaching is not the final goal of a professional teacher,
but keeping on learning continually.

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It would be fruitful for teachers when knowledge is shared with colleagues.
It promotes to be a better teacher by accepting challenges and considering his/her
failures as opportunities to make a success of them.
It also promotes a deep reflection about teacher‟s attitude towards trying new
things, because experience alone is not sufficient for professional growth.
It means that teachers still have that amateur inside; that personal character which
push them to do things for fun because they passionately love what they do—
teaching in this case.
It aspires to be an impact on educational reforms because the more opportunities
teachers acquire, the more successful and effective those reforms and the work of
the teacher is.
It provides teacher with contextualized materials, tools and methods.

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References
Bailey, K.M, Curtis, A & Nunan, D. (2001). Pursuing professional
development: the self as source. Heinly & Heinly.
Brown, H.D (2000). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to
language pedagogy. Pearson Education.
Richards, J. C. & Renandya, W. A. (2002). Methodology in Language
Teaching. An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

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Appendix
Importance
2. What do you think methodology is, considering the type of methodology you use in
class?
Methodology is the way in which I teach the content. It involves the resources I
decide to use in order to teach English or the resources I want my students to use to
learn English. It‟s the way in which I carry out the goal within the classroom.
3. Do you think it is important to be fully developed professionally? Why?
Of course, I think that it‟s very important to be fully developed professionally
because that‟s the way in which a teacher contributes to education and the task
becomes easier since the teacher knows exactly how to perform in different
situations.
4. Would you hire a teacher that has just finished university without a master degree?
Why?
If the teacher finished university recently, I would hire him or her because the
teacher can gain experience in a couple of years and then decide to study again. I

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can encourage teachers to continue studying. But if the teacher has been teaching
for many years and hasn‟t taken on any master degree, I wouldn‟t hire him or her
since it means that he or she doesn‟t care about education.
Activities
1. Have you taken on courses or obtained master’s degrees once you finished
university? How long did it take you?
Once I finished university I decided to take on a master degree of applied linguistics
at UCSC, it lasts two years and I‟m about to finish the first one.
2. Have you had the opportunity of teaching abroad? If so, did it change your form of
seeing professional development?
I haven‟t been abroad.
3. Did you take on courses outside the country? If so, do you think there is a big
difference between those and the ones imparted here?
As I said before, I haven‟t been abroad.

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Professional Development
1. From what you have seen through your career, would you give me a vision of what
professional development is?
Professional development is what a professional do to be better at what he or she
does. It occurs when professional people, teachers in this case, become more
skillful. Professional development involves being aware of the community of
education, in the case of teachers, and they should participate in seminars.
2. To what extent do you think professional development impacts the way any
teacher’s career develops? Has it affected yours?
As I have been studying most of the time and I have participated in reflection
seminars, I have been learning a lot of things that make me a better teacher and a
better person, too. That issue makes me think that the impact that professional
development has is very important for anyone‟s career because a professional can
be better by expanding and sharing knowledge.
3. Do you think teachers in Chile are fully developed professionally? Do you consider
it important? Why?
University teachers are fully developed professionally and it is reflected on the way
they interact with other teachers at seminars and they research a lot. Maybe, school

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teachers aren‟t very developed professionally but the ones that are fully developed
professionally stand out above the rest.