An investigation of teachers' reactions to an inservice teacher education program based on reflection and action
Amorim, Altamir Roberto Machado
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125866
Description
Title
An investigation of teachers' reactions to an inservice teacher education program based on reflection and action
Author(s)
Amorim, Altamir Roberto Machado
Issue Date
2005
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Davidson, Fred
Hahn, Laura
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Teaching English as a Second Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Language teacher education
Impact of reflection
Sense of ownership
Professional development
Language
eng
Abstract
Conferences on language teacher education are being held all over the world displaying marked emphases on inservice teacher education and programs that are teacher-learner-centered, context-sensitive, and which, through reflection and collaborative action research, allow teachers to further their own professional development and their knowledge about the teaching processes. In view of such interest, and the still scarce amount of published data-based evidence on the effectiveness of such programs, particularly from the point of view of the teachers, this study investigated teachers' reactions to a program that incorporates those characteristics. More specifically, it investigated how teachers acknowledged the impact of reflection on their beliefs and practice, which activities teachers thought were more motivating and beneficial to them, what specific and practical learning issues emerged from such a program, and how much this approach contributed to giving teachers a sense of ownership of their developmental process.
For this investigation, four Teacher Assistants from the Division of English as an International Language of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign participated in a 10-week program based on reflection and action research devised after suggestions from the literature.
The findings indicate that teachers, without downplaying the importance of instruction on theory, see reflection and action research as effective tools for development, and see this approach to teacher education as more beneficial to their professional development than programs heavily based on theory and methods.
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