scholarly journals Linking Teacher Professionalism and Learner Autonomy Through Experiential Learning and Task Design

2004 ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Fleming ◽  
Pierre Walter
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Task Design ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks

Like others in the teaching profession, second language education (SLE) teachers have been subjected in recent years to a process of work intensification and accountability. This process makes use ofexternally developed sets of behavioral objectives, assessment instruments, commercially produced classroom materials, and externally controlled technologies. Taken together, these have resulted in a marked reduction in the freedom of dedicated SLE teachers to be inventive, flexible, adaptable, and responsive to students' needs. In short, teachers are losing professional autonomy. In this article, we argue that an experiential learning approach can help counter this trend. We describe and compare three theoretical frameworks and models in this orientation that have been developed specifically for SLE and draw out practical implications for classroom task design. We contend that experiential learning is more than a classroom management technique and argue the importance of linking learner autonomy and teacher professionalism through this approach.

INVESTIGATING EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES REGARDING LEARNER AUTONOMY AT DONG THAP UNIVERSITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 127 (6B) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Anh Thanh Nguyet Le
Keyword(s):  
Language Education ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
University Life

<p><em>Learner autonomy is currently one of the central themes in language education. </em><em>Autonomous learning plays an important role not only in university life but also throughout life for learners.</em><em> Exploring teachers’ perceptions and practices regarding learner autonomy is necessary, especially in local contexts, to provide more insights of this field. The present study was conducted with 20 EFL teachers at Dong Thap University through interview. The findings showed that all of them had positive understandings in related aspects and levels of learner autonomy. In practice, they made significant attempts to cultivate students’ autonomy. However, they faced certain problems shared by EFL teachers elsewhere.  </em></p><p><em></em><em><br /></em></p>

scholarly journals Innowacyjność w edukacji językowej a profesjonalizm nauczyciela

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Krystyna Droździał-Szelest
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Task Based Instruction ◽  
Learning Language

Innovation in language education, just as in any other discipline, is connected with changes whose primary goal is to make the process of language learning/language teaching more efficient. Examples of such innovations include, for instance, task based instruction, computer assisted language learning or the use of portfolio as a means of assessment.Innovation implies a new, qualitatively different perception of the language learning/ language teaching process, roles of teachers and learners, use of materials etc., hence it is believed to constitute a challenge for language teachers and their professionalism. The present article is an attempt to answer the question whether and to what extent the language teaching profession is actually prepared to deal with innovation.

scholarly journals Autonomous responsibilities, abilities and behaviours: An appraisal of English-majored students

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
Truong Minh Hoa
Keyword(s):  
Survey Research ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Item Questionnaire ◽  
And Behaviors

Learner autonomy has become the prevailing theme of language education for nearly four past decades, especially its three constructs such as responsibilities, abilities and behaviors. Thus, the current study embraced salient traits of a survey research design to scrutinize these constructs as appraised by the Vietnamese tertiary learners. The study recruited the participation of 80 English-majored students at Hung Vuong University, Vietnam. Their appraisal was elucidated by a quantitative instrument, that is, a 28-item questionnaire whose descriptive statistics were yielded by SPSS 22.0. The study found that a greater proportion of the informants ultimately recognized their autonomous responsibilities, acknowledged their autonomous abilities, and estimated some autonomous behaviors both inside and outside the classroom. Brief conclusion was made at the end of the paper.

scholarly journals Self-Regulation: Why is it Important for Promoting Learner Autonomy in the School Context?

2014 ◽  
pp. 342-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiyuki Nakata
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
School Context ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Teacher Autonomy ◽  
Language Learning Strategies ◽  
Research Areas

Both researchers and practitioners in the field of foreign language education are increasingly interested in the notions of self-regulation and learner autonomy. Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of self-regulation in promoting learner autonomy. For many practitioners, an important question to be addressed is how to help learners become more self-regulated in order to promote their learner autonomy. As it stands, however, the majority of learner autonomy research following this line of inquiry has been conducted within the framework of language learning strategies. Although learner autonomy research conducted within the framework of language learning strategies has to some extent contributed to addressing the question above, it has not provided enough guidance to practitioners and practitioner trainers, especially those who are struggling to promote autonomy in their learners in the EFL school context, which is full of constraints and limitations and does not allow much freedom. The present paper attempts to fill this gap, first by comparing the roots and the avenues of development of these two (essentially related but) distinct research areas—self-regulation and learner autonomy—and then by integrating the notion of self-regulation within the theoretical framework of learner autonomy, together with other notions of agency, teacher autonomy and scaffolding.

scholarly journals Basic factors of developing learner autonomy in foreign language education (with the main focus on Kazakhstan)

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-139
Author(s):  
Bakytzhan Zhakanovna Zhankina ◽  
◽  
Ekaterina Alekseevna Kostina ◽  
Bakhytgul Asylbekovna Zhetpisbayeva ◽  
Sergali Tuleubekovich Kargin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Foreign Language Education

scholarly journals Teacher Standards and Professionalism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Pauline Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Policy Makers

<p>The focus of this research is teacher professionalism in New Zealand and the possible role of the ‘Standards for the Teaching Profession’ that were released in 2017, in strengthening the quality of teaching. Evidence suggests that the quality of teachers’ work is an important factor in students’ success. So, a challenge for education policy-makers is to create a system that encourages and enables teachers to be high quality and motivated to keep improving. The literature suggests a strategy to enable this is to encourage a mature profession, where teachers take collective responsibility for improvement. Standards for teachers can be a positive influence on improving teacher practice when their use is balanced between regulatory and development functions, so that they are a catalyst for professional development. This research involved 45 teachers in English Medium settings participating in sector specific focus groups for early childhood, primary school and secondary school teachers, a review of policy documents and secondary data from Education Council workshops. The analysis suggests that aspects of organisational professionalism influence the environment, although most teachers did not consciously align themselves to this discourse. There appeared to be some differences between sectors, with those in early childhood aligning more closely to their organisation than other teachers and feeling like they were not accepted as a legitimate part of the teaching profession. Although teachers were generally positive about the new standards, few teachers considered using them for reflection or professional conversations outside of formal appraisal. The aspiration presented in literature of a mature profession that works collaboratively with a mix of stakeholders to combine expertise, ask tough questions to create solutions and grows professional knowledge was not apparent, however teachers identified opportunities to shift the profession towards this discourse.</p>

Plurilingual STEAM and School Lunches for Learning?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-57
Author(s):  
Daniel Roy Pearce ◽  
Mayo Oyama ◽  
Danièle Moore ◽  
Yuki Kitano ◽  
Emiko Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Cultural Artifacts ◽  
School Lunches ◽  
English Only ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Western Japan

In Japan, where there is a bias toward English-only in foreign language education, there are also grassroots efforts to introduce greater plurality in the classroom. However, introducing diverse languages and cultures into the classroom can lead to folklorization, the delivering of essentialized information in pre-packaged formats, which can potentially delegitimize other languages and cultures. This contribution examines a collaborative integrative plurilingual STEAM practice at an elementary school in Western Japan. In the ‘school lunches project,' the children experience various international cuisine, leading up to which they would engage with related languages and cultures through collaboratively produced plurilingual videos and museum-like exhibits of cultural artifacts. The interdisciplinary, hands-on, experiential learning within this project helped the children to develop an investigative stance toward linguistic and cultural artifacts, nurture a deeper awareness of languages and openness to diversity, foster reflexivity, and encourage interdisciplinary engagement.

Second Language Strategic Interactions Using Emerging Technologies and Experiential Learning

2014 ◽  
pp. 699-723
Author(s):  
Jonathan deHaan ◽  
Neil H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Digital Video ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Strategic Interaction ◽  
Foreign Language Education ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Learner Outcomes ◽  
Mediational Means

The affordances provided by technology for increasing efficacy of foreign language education have been a major research area within applied linguistics over the past thirty years or so (see Levy & Stockwell, 2006, for an overview). In a Japanese context, there are culturally-based issues with foreign language education at the tertiary level, such as large class sizes and low student motivation, that present educators with specific challenges where technology may provide effective mediational means to improve practice and learner outcomes. In this chapter, the authors describe an eight-week teaching intervention that was designed, through digital and web technologies readily available to teachers, to improve the communication skills of Japanese university students of English. The strategic interaction framework, developed by Di Pietro (1987), was enhanced by use of digital video and a freely available wiki site. Performances were digitally video recorded and uploaded to a private wiki and participants used this to evaluate, transcribe, and self-correct their performances. The instructor then used the video and text to focus post-performance group debriefing sessions. The results suggest that a wiki, digital video, and strategic interaction-based experiential learning cycles can be effectively integrated to mediate Japanese university EFL students' oral communication development. Technical and pedagogical recommendations are offered.

Teacher Identity, Growth Mindset, and Agency

2022 ◽  
pp. 119-135
Author(s):  
Diane LaFrance ◽  
Lori Rakes
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Retention ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs

This chapter discusses the problem of teacher retention as it relates to handling the unexpected, whether it be meeting the needs of all learners, classroom management, or any other problem teachers may encounter. The authors propose that teacher education programs can support the growth of preservice teachers by helping them to develop teacher identity early in their learning through experiences and autonomy. In addition, preservice teachers should develop a growth mindset to promote agency when encountering learning obstacles and to engage in reflective practice. By identifying as teachers, allowing themselves to grow, and being proactive in searching for ways to improve their practice, preservice teachers can better prepare themselves for the reality of teaching and, hopefully, remain in the teaching profession.

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