Authors

Icy Lee, Chinese University of Hong KongFollow

Teachers as presenters at continuing professional development seminars in the English-as-a-foreign-language context: ‘I find it more convincing’

Abstract

With a growing awareness of the limitations of a transmissive mode of education and a one-size-fits-all approach to teacher education, teachers’ active involvement is increasingly recognized as a crucial component of their continuous professional development (CPD). In many EFL (English as a foreign language) contexts, however, CPD is still largely built on the premise of knowledge transmission and knowledge consumption. The present study seeks to explore how EFL teachers can be made to play a more active role by participating as presenters at CPD seminars, as well as the ways in which such a mode of CPD can promote teacher learning. Using questionnaire and email interview data from 166 seminar participants and 4 teacher presenters respectively, the study shows that opportunities for teachers’ knowledge sharing and production at CPD seminars can enrich teacher learning. The paper concludes that a more robust form of teachers’ CPD should see teachers play a much more active role than what is usually allowed in CPD activities that are dominated by the traditional training paradigm built on knowledge consumption.

Recommended Citation

Lee, I. (2011). Teachers as presenters at continuing professional development seminars in the English-as-a-foreign-language context: ‘I find it more convincing’. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(2). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n2.3