On the Professional Development of English Teachers in Colombia and the Historical Interplay with Language Education Policies (original) (raw)
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The Professional Development of English Language Teachers in Colombia: A Review of the Literature
Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 2019
This article offers a review of 25 empirical studies to identify the areas and findings of professional development initiatives for in-service English teachers in Colombia. The reviewed studies suggest that language teacher professional development has focused on six major areas: language proficiency, research skills and reflective practice, teachers' beliefs and identities, an integrated approach to teacher professional development, pedagogical skills and teaching approaches, and emerging technologies. Results suggest that there is a need to move from traditional masterapprentice, content-oriented, teacher-centered models of professional development towards initiatives that allow teachers to critically analyze their particular context and needs, and devise their own local alternatives so that they can become more active agents of their own process of change. Issues that constitute possible alternatives for future research in the professional development of English language teachers are discussed.
Colombian English Teachers’ Professional Development: The Case of Master Programs
Master degree programs have rapidly increased in Colombia to the point where they are one of the most favored options for English teachers seeking to bolster their professional development. This survey study characterizes eighty participants, their five master programs, and their perceptions concerning the influence these graduate courses exerted on their teaching. While participants' pedagogical and research work seemed to have benefited the most from their studies, their practices involving language policy and administration were regarded as distant from what they learnt. Findings suggest that innovation, reflection, and collaboration permeated participants' overarching categories of development. Challenges to respondents' integration of their newly acquired education with their teaching included competing ideologies and agendas exhibited by stakeholders in school communities.
Ikala, 2009
The professional development of Colombian foreign language teacher educators faces many challenges that require individual and institutional actions as well as the participation of a community of teacher educators. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study in which eighteen Colombian teacher educators describe their professional alternatives to achieve higher standards in their jobs. Data collection includes focus groups, in-depth interviews, a questionnaire, and e-mail correspondence. The analysis showed that teaching advanced courses, doing research, attending and presenting in international conferences, being involved in reflective practice, developing autonomous agendas, and networking represent the best means to accomplish their professional growth.
The smooth and successful implementation of any educational reform is largely dependent on the quality of its teacher preparation. In the case of The National English Program in Basic Education (NEPBE) implemented in secondary schools in Mexico by the Department of Education last year, teacher preparation strategies have neglected the changes in the understanding of the profession. Both public and private higher education institutions throughout the country have implemented different professional development strategies. However, the strategies have taken the form of courses and workshops from a top-down managerial approach. They are mostly designed from the perspective of teacher educators and based on administration needs. Little attention is paid to the views, needs, and interests of teachers. Teachers are required to know how to analyze their learners’ needs, although no attempt is made to understand the teachers’ points of view regarding what they themselves need. This paper presents the results of a government-funded survey that investigated the characteristics of 297 secondary school English language teachers in northeast Mexico, in terms of their education, teaching experience, professional development track, as well as their views and attitudes toward different modes of professional development. Implications for professional development policies are discussed.
Professional Development of EFL Teachers in Colombia: Between Colonial and Local Practices
2007
The professional development of EFL teachers represents a challenge for teachers, teacher educators and policy makers in the accomplishment of better standards in education. Literature reviews on the area reveal the need for new models of professional growth for Colombian teachers. Within the framework of “Colombia Bilingüe”, the Ministry of Education proposes a professional development model that aims to reach a signifi cant number of teachers. This paper presents a critical review of this program in the light of national and international literature on teacher education. Conclusions suggest the need for more post-method approaches, for locally produced knowledge to be recognized, and for the collaborative work of policy makers and national scholars to generate teacher development programs more adequate to our reality. Key words: professional development, language policies, EFL, research
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 2023
English teachers' professional development responds to individual needs and societal discourses about teaching, learning, and language use. This paper reports the findings of a case study that explored the factors that increased or limited the active and committed participation of nine Colombian teachers of English in professional development programs. Findings suggest that English teachers are invested in their professional development if they may develop three imagined identities-as proficient English speakers, ELT experts, and ICT competent users-and their affiliation to an imagined community of "bilinguals. " The teachers' journey to the imagined identities and the imagined community is full of conflicting emotions amidst the socio-political context of their work and the country's language education policies.
Profile Issues in Teachers Professional Development, 2007
The design and implementation of a holistic professional development program for elementary school English teachers in Colombia concerns target language improvement and pedagogical reflection. School-based and learner-centered, the program is characteristic of a synthetic, progressive, process-oriented curriculum as teachers' language and pedagogical needs determined the learning and pedagogical activities for the program. The teachers improved their use of conventional English and became aware of an alternative approach for early foreign language instruction. They reported increased confidence using English and implementing new methodological strategies by getting positive feedback from their learners. Positive changes in teachers' and students' attitudes towards English suggest that this holistic approach be used as a viable professional development program for elementary school teachers in Colombia.
"National policies for English-Spanish bilingualism require the availability of more and better prepared EFL teachers in Colombia. This paper critically analyzes the use of two international models of teacher development that play the role of alternative and additional certifications for ELT professionals in the country. Through the review of literature in the field, the author argues that the current promotion of the use of the In-Service Certificate in English Language Teaching (ICELT) and the Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) as additional and alternative teaching certifications may represent some forms of standardization, exclusion, inequality, and businessification in the professional development of EFL teachers. Conclusions suggest the need for more critical voices from teacher educators, better communication strategies among different educational actors and the construction of a more pluralistic view of the professional development of EFL teachers that values local knowledge. Key words: professional development, alternative,certifications, EFL, bilingualism, language policies ."
The English Language Teaching (ELT) professionalization process in Mexico has faced complex and multidimensional challenges in the different educational levels, language and teacher education policies, as well as socio-cultural practices in the last thirty years. One of the greatest challenges was being acknowledged as a profession (Hargreaves, 2000) in public universities (Ramírez Romero, 2013). Although there are a number of isolated documents (Brenes, 1998, Encinas & Sánchez, 2013; Huerta Bortolotti, 2005) that describe the history of the English teacher education programs of the Facultad de Lenguas at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP); there is no historical document of these programs that allows us to understand and reflect on how we arrived to the present stage of development of our teacher education programs and the future perspectives and challenges of this discipline. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the understanding of the development of professionalization of ELT in BUAP since the creation of the Bachelor’s Program for English Teacher Education in 1984. We will use different evaluation lens to reflect on the factors that have enhanced and/or hindered the development of ELT profession in our setting.
Throughout time, the predominant use of certain languages has allowed some nations to take control over others and assure for them a privileged position. This study unveiled how certain practices and ideologies in regard to bilingualism have influenced teachers' professional development. Data were collected through discussion group sessions, reflective journals, and protocols from five teachers from a private K-11 school in Bogota. Analysis indicated participants' discourses drew on hegemonic, colonial, and manipulative ideas. Nevertheless, when dialoguing and peer coaching, a discourse of resistance was constituted. The study suggested further research into teachers' professional growth, bilingualism, and bilingual education in monolingual contexts as the Colombian one.