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Continuing professional development and reflective practice for English teachers in the municipal schools in Northeast Brazil

Continuing professional development and reflective practice for English teachers in the municipal schools in Northeast Brazil
Continuing professional development and reflective practice for English teachers in the municipal schools in Northeast Brazil
This thesis presents the rationale, design and outcomes of an action research study carried out in Northeast Brazil on the continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers of English as a second language (ESL). Municipal ESL teachers in Northeast Brazil are faced with problems such as the scarcity or lack of resources; lack of opportunities for CPD courses; lack of attention to English on the part of the government; and classes which are too large. In my action research a CPD course was designed and delivered to 20 in-service municipal ESL teachers. The course has had the purpose of providing those teachers with an opportunity to improve their own linguistic skills and confidence as teachers of English writing, and of equipping them to find longer term solutions for the challenges they encounter in their practice. It was based on reflective practice and related professional development theory (Dewey, 1933; Freire, 1972, 1974; Mann and Walsh, 2013; Schön, 1983; Allwright, 2003; Guskey, 2000; Jay and Johnson, 2002), with a focus on writing and creativity (Harmer, 2007; Hyland, 2003; Zemach and Rumisek, 2005; Raimes, 1983a, 1983b, 2002, Moon, 2008; Pavlenko, 2002).

The study was guided by the key research question: “How can a continuing professional development course grounded in reflective practice with a focus on writing impact Northeast Brazil ESL teachers’ attitudes and planning?”

The tools utilised to address the key question and other related sub- questions were in-class pieces of writing, and workshops carried out in the course for design of teaching materials, as well as focus groups, interviews, and class discussions. Results show that even though teachers are faced with scarcity of resources in their teaching, they could respond to opportunities for professional reflection, and were also willing to plan more engaging, creative and meaningful activities. However, some found it hard to leave behind traditional practices involving the teaching of fragmented language, with no opportunity for contextualized writing. The analysed results show encouraging signs that teachers working in difficult circumstances can benefit from the opportunity to share ideas and together design teaching materials applicable in their context, and that dialogical intervention in the CPD course is the right path to foster teachers’ professional development in unfavourable settings.
De Lima, Kalina
34b7d883-e335-4b9b-bd8f-6d7a03f04be5
De Lima, Kalina
34b7d883-e335-4b9b-bd8f-6d7a03f04be5
Mitchell, Rosamond
de2eabed-7903-43fa-961a-c16f69fddd7e
Bonfim, Washington
ccfd7d77-708c-4bba-a7dc-d564679f875b

De Lima, Kalina (2014) Continuing professional development and reflective practice for English teachers in the municipal schools in Northeast Brazil. University of Southampton, Faculty of Humanities, Doctoral Thesis, 350pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This thesis presents the rationale, design and outcomes of an action research study carried out in Northeast Brazil on the continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers of English as a second language (ESL). Municipal ESL teachers in Northeast Brazil are faced with problems such as the scarcity or lack of resources; lack of opportunities for CPD courses; lack of attention to English on the part of the government; and classes which are too large. In my action research a CPD course was designed and delivered to 20 in-service municipal ESL teachers. The course has had the purpose of providing those teachers with an opportunity to improve their own linguistic skills and confidence as teachers of English writing, and of equipping them to find longer term solutions for the challenges they encounter in their practice. It was based on reflective practice and related professional development theory (Dewey, 1933; Freire, 1972, 1974; Mann and Walsh, 2013; Schön, 1983; Allwright, 2003; Guskey, 2000; Jay and Johnson, 2002), with a focus on writing and creativity (Harmer, 2007; Hyland, 2003; Zemach and Rumisek, 2005; Raimes, 1983a, 1983b, 2002, Moon, 2008; Pavlenko, 2002).

The study was guided by the key research question: “How can a continuing professional development course grounded in reflective practice with a focus on writing impact Northeast Brazil ESL teachers’ attitudes and planning?”

The tools utilised to address the key question and other related sub- questions were in-class pieces of writing, and workshops carried out in the course for design of teaching materials, as well as focus groups, interviews, and class discussions. Results show that even though teachers are faced with scarcity of resources in their teaching, they could respond to opportunities for professional reflection, and were also willing to plan more engaging, creative and meaningful activities. However, some found it hard to leave behind traditional practices involving the teaching of fragmented language, with no opportunity for contextualized writing. The analysed results show encouraging signs that teachers working in difficult circumstances can benefit from the opportunity to share ideas and together design teaching materials applicable in their context, and that dialogical intervention in the CPD course is the right path to foster teachers’ professional development in unfavourable settings.

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More information

Published date: 1 April 2014
Organisations: University of Southampton, Modern Languages

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 366431
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/366431
PURE UUID: 7da9759f-a87b-4940-a1dc-2831e40f6f3e
ORCID for Rosamond Mitchell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-528X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 30 Jun 2014 11:29
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:33

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Contributors

Author: Kalina De Lima
Thesis advisor: Rosamond Mitchell ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: Washington Bonfim

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