Moments of disruption and the development of expatriate TESOL teachers

TESOL teachers, like mainstream teachers, often experience key incidents in their professional development. In expatriate TESOL, however, unfamiliar cultural and linguistic contexts may disrupt teachers' sense of both professional and personal identity. In this article, narratives constructed from interviews of teacher experiences document a selection of critical events and discuss their implications for professional development in TESOL. Teachers reported that deep reflection on their experiences led to a re-conceptualisation of their professional and cultural identities. The analysis of their reflections may have significant implications for TESOL work in the context of the global and the local. The narratives specifically explore teachers' initial experiences of readjustment, awareness of differences in expectations of their roles as teachers, the impact of being perceived as representatives of 'Western' culture, and their re-appraisal of the educational and cultural-linguistic values of 'home'.

Mediating teacher professional identity : The emergence of humanness and ethical identity

Over the past couple of years, international vocational education and training has been much debated at the nexus of the commercialisation of vocational education and social justice for international students. This nexus has significantly affected the professional identity and responsibilities of teachers who are directly involved in providing vocational education and training for international students. Drawing on a research project funded by the Australian Research Council, this paper offers an alternative lens on vocational teachers' process of mediating professional identity in response to the flow of international students and the commercialisation of vocational education. It employs the logic of relationality as a conceptual framework to interpret teachers' journey of identity re-construction. The humanness and ethical dimensions of identity have been at the heart of the teachers' negotiation over the kind of teachers they are and to which they aspire. The teachers in this research draw on humanness and ethical dimensions to engage in critical reflection of their own teaching practices, their interaction with international students and the socio-political context shaping international vocational education and training. They perceive their professional responsibility not only in relation to the facilitation of students' development of vocational skills and knowledge, but also the provision of pastoral care for international students and the advocating for social justice for this student cohort.

Facilitating reflection and action: the possible contribution of video to mathematics teacher education

In the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002), change in teacher beliefs, knowledge and practice is mediated by either enaction or reflection. The stimulus for change can be provided by an external source such as a professional development program or it can result from the teacher’s inevitable classroom experimentation and reflection on the consequences of that experimentation. This paper explores the role that video can play in catalysing change and facilitating teacher reflection. In particular, we examine: (i) international research employing video and the capacity of such research to inform practice and stimulate teacher reflection in both pre-service and in-service settings; (ii) the use of video in professional development programs and the choice between exemplary and problematic practice as catalysts for teacher reflection in both pre-service and in-service programs; and (iii) teacher agency and the catalytic role of video in supporting teachers’ reflection on their own practice, through the use of video as the communicative medium to sustain a professional community of reflective practitioners.

EAL teacher-agency: implications for participation in professional development

Teachers construct their practice, education and professionaldevelopment within two domains of professionalism: sponsored andindependent. The association between these two domains, however,is complex; it is overlapping, inseparable and sometimes uneasy. Thecomplexity is further exacerbated by the codependent nature ofassociation between the teacher and employment context in whichteachers’ and institutions’ trajectories for professional developmentmay vary. This situation calls into question the discrete treatmentgiven to and received by sponsored and independent professionalismin conceptualisations of teacher professional development. We arguethat, in both domains, teachers’ agency as learners is crucial for theirprofessional development and institutional efficacies. We critique theostensible disconnect and tensions that exist between the domains ofsponsored and independent professionalism in relation to teachingEnglish as an additional language and discuss how principles ofsponsored and independent professional development initiativescan be harnessed for optimal teacher learning.discuss how principles ofsponsored and independent professional development initiativescan be harnessed for optimal teacher learning.