Developing expertise

As Zeichner and Liston (1996, p.6 ote, o atte ho good a tea he s edu atio programme is, at best it can only prepare teachers to begin teaching . Kiely and Askham (2012, p.496) further suggest that at the point of entering the workplace after training, o i e tea he s ha e a fu ished i agi atio hi h the defi e as the combination of knowledge, procedural awareness and skills, dispositions and identity which teachers take from the course as the conceptual toolkit fo o k i TE“OL , goi g o to suggest that the imagination can e fu ished th ough the i te se, ite ated les of i put, observation, performance, and feedback as well as through interactions with admired tea he edu ato s . As tea he s a ee s de elop, Berliner (2004) believes that their professional development goes through a five-stage continuum - from novice to advanced beginner to competent to proficient to expert - leading towards becoming autonomous teachers.

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However, although these authors are not context-specific in making their points, they seem more rele a t to Weste TE“OL “LTE tha to tea he edu atio i o -Western TE“OL setti gs.

Looking at teacher expertise, Tsui (2003, p.245) suggests that novice and expert teachers diffe i the a s i hi h the elate to thei o te ts of o k, a d he e their o eptio s a d u de sta di gs of tea hi g, hi h is de eloped i these o te ts . More specifically, she points outs that expert teachers have a more elaborate knowledge base, are more intuitive, integrate different kinds of knowledge, have a deeper understanding of learners, learning and learning strategies, and a greater awareness of institutional objectives and of the learning context. Richards and Farrell (2005, p.9) draw upon this to highlight the usefulness of novice and expert teachers working together in o de to de elop, highlighti g the alue of e a li g tea he s ith diffe e t le els of expertise to work together through peer observation, team teaching, mentoring, group dis ussio , joi t pla i g a d p o le sol i g .

Tsui (2009) discusses different perspectives on teaching experience. Firstly, she o side s e pe tise as a state , ha a te isi g e pe t tea he s as possessi g ualities and skills such as being able to exercise autonomy in decision-making, plan lessons efficiently, draw upon both content and pedagogic knowledge, and make appropriate on-the-spot de isio s. “he the dis usses e pe tise as a p o ess , suggesti g tea he expertise involves aspects such as continuous renewal of teacher knowledge through interaction between theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as being able to transcend contextual constraints, tackle problems at deeper levels and push boundaries to develop new skills. She points out also that teacher educators face the issue therefore of needing to understa d the p o esses that fa ilitate the de elop e t of e pe tise i tea hi g i id., p. .

The fo e o eptualisatio , e pe tise as a state eso ates more with what is happe i g i the setti g fo this stud tha e pe tise as a p o ess , as fo e a ple the e seemed to be limited scope in terms of teachers having the time, inclination and/or possi ilit to e gage i the o ti uous e e al of tea he k o ledge des i ed a o e. However, I wonder if my own biases are coming into play here, as on reflection it might

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be argued that teachers working in a number of settings lack the time, inclination and/or possibility to engage in ongoing development.

Related to developing expertise, Richards (2010, pp.101-102) offers te o e di e sio s of la guage tea hi g e pe tise a d p a ti e to help o eptualize the nature of competence, expertise and professionalism in language teaching , suggesting characteristics relating to language proficiency, the role of content knowledge, teaching skills, o te tual k o ledge, the la guage tea he s ide tit , lea e -focused teaching, pedagogical reasoning skills, theorizing from practice, membership of a community of practice, and professionalism. At the same time, he acknowledges that o eptio s of good tea hi g diffe f o ultu e to ultu e a d also the ha a te isti s he des i es appea to e at the o e of e pe t tea he o pete e a d pe fo a e i la guage teaching, at least f o the pe specti e of a este o ie tatio a d u de sta di g of teaching ibid., p.103, my italics). Here, Richards recognises that conceptualisations of expertise and good teaching are not universally applicable, but will vary in different settings and according to who is doing the conceptualising.

5.4. Collaboration in SLTE

The way teachers collaborate in different ways in order to develop professionally became of interest during this study, and so different perspectives on this area are explored here.

Johnston (2009, p.241) suggests that collaborative professional development:

arises from, and reinforces, a view of teacher learning as a fundamentally social p o ess … suppo ts a ie of tea he s oth i di iduall a d as a o u it as producers, not just consumers, of knowledge and understanding about teaching … a d a ises f o a elief that tea hi g a a d should e a fu da e tall collegial profession.

It can take place in different ways, such as via teacher study groups (Clair, 1998; Sato, 2003), dialogue journal writing (Burton and Carroll, 2001), mentoring (Malderez and Bodocsky, 1999), team teaching (Field and Nagai, 2003; Stewart and Lokon 2003), and

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increasingly through long-distance collaboration (Edge, 2006). These kinds of practice can reduce professional isolation, though collaboration can also add challenges, such as dealing with power imbalances that may exist within the collaboration or gaining institutional support for collaboration.

This section first explores more formal collaborative professional development and then considers more informal collaborative professional development through associations with peers and through critical friendships.