FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION - Professional Development and the Performance of Teachers of English a

The main findings of this research are presented as follows: first, a list of activities for the construction of professional development of teachers of English is provided, followed by the perceived outcomes of these activities in their professional development. The third finding will be the demonstration of these activities in the teachers’ performance specifically in the three dimensions of classroom management, instructional strategies and students’ engagement.

Finally a discussion is provided creating a link between the findings and the literature.

Professional Development of EFL Teachers:

Formal and Informal Learning

The diverse learning activities experienced by teachers of English in Taiwan were mentioned in sections dividing formal learning from non-formal and informal learning. In this research formal learning is referred to training and academic degrees (bachelor and master in education) whether the training course was received in Taiwan or at their home countries. In the first section a list of all the formal learning activities for the construction of the professional development of teachers of English from Taiwanese cram schools was mentioned. Informal learning was mentioned subsequently, and a list of the different activities experienced by teachers was provided. Both lists provided the answer to the first research question for this dissertation.

Formal Learning, Type of Training and Approach

In this first category, through semi-structured interviews, and filled in of the short-questionnaire, the teachers mentioned different activities experienced in their professional development. The teachers mentioned to have participated in at least one training course or workshop about: teaching methods, instructional strategies to teach English as a foreign language, English grammar, and phonics. In fact the ones that have been working for one year, expressed they had to participate in TEFL and TESOL certifications respectively, as a requisite to work in Taiwan. Some teachers expressed that attending to seminars, and workshops organized by their work place or book publishers were essential for the construction of their professional development. Furthermore, the teachers who were pursuing an academic degree in education (bachelor or master degree) expressed these courses contributed greatly to the

construction of their professional development.

According to what the EFL teachers mentioned in the different interviews, there were different opinions regarding the training approach, some of them said that the trainee was not active while teaching them, or maybe he/ she talked too much, and it became a boring training session. In the following table first was mentioned the types of training experienced by teachers whether in Taiwan or at their home countries, and secondly the approach of the different trainings is briefly mentioned.

Table 4.1.

Formal Learning Activities Experienced for EFL Teachers in Taiwan

Professional Development: Formal Learning

The first category is the learning activities, experienced by EFL teachers in Taiwan that are considered to be ‘formal learning’ structured. The findings for this category are: Formal education programs (school programs): Bachelor and Master Degree in education. And the second finding is teaching certifications for those who do not have any educational background,

Theme Category Codes from open coding

Formal learning

1.1 formal education programs

1.1.1 Bachelor and / or Master degree in education (Teaching English as second language)

Certification 1.1.2 TEFL training course

1.1.3 Workshops in classroom management and teaching strategies organized by MOE or any other educative institution in Taiwan.

1.1.4 Lack of training at work Training

approach

1.2.1 Observation and interaction with teachers from different branches to learn best practices from them.

1.2.2 Senior expatriate teachers that lecture new teachers in how to manage the class and students. Plus hands-on experience

1.2.3 The new hired teachers will perform a class (or more than one) and a supervisor will observe the class, take notes and provide feedback to the teacher.

1.2.4 Professional practice course as a graduation requisite for bachelor and master degree students ( education major only)

but participated in TEFL training course, online teaching courses, workshops in classroom management organized by MOE, and book publishers. In the following paragraphs a short description of each finding is included. Posterior the training approach for both school learning and certification is mentioned as well.

Formal Education Programs (School Programs)

Regarding this type of learning, eight of the participants mentioned this experience was fundamental for their teaching careers, (two of them had a master degree in education while 6 of them had a bachelor degree in English literature and/ or education) they said that in the different courses enrolled during their colleague and university programs they acquired some of the basic tools for teaching English as a second language. In fact, all the eight participants mentioned that the educative strategies learned at school were applicable in their current jobs.

Katrina said:

I think getting a bachelor degree in education was important in my formation as a teacher, especially in the classroom management strategies. I had mentors, in this case the different professors for the different courses, they guided me and shared their experiences to me (KA0259-KA0260).

Another important aspect is that although the teachers experienced formal training in college some of them did not clearly understand the meaning of the same.

Jasmine said:

At the time I was studying my master degree in education, I learned many strategies but at that time I didn't understand why I was learning them, until I started to work in the cram is when I said, wow these activities are so useful! (JA0105-JA0107)

The teachers mentioned different names of courses related to classroom management and instructional strategies. The most popular were: general teaching methods, curriculum development for preschool teaching, classroom management strategies, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, sociology of Education, and child development. At the university the teachers had the option of choosing the course that is more appropriate for their needs, thus most of them were interested in courses that can be applied in their daily work.

Teaching’ Certification

Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL).

Most of the cram schools in Taiwan ask the teachers to take a TESOL course in the case they do not have any background in education before coming to work in Taiwan. Six of the interviewed teachers had mentioned they received the course in their home countries or online.

Brian stated: “I did the TESOL before coming to Taiwan because I was told that this was a requirement to work in cram schools here” (BR0104-BR0105). Louis also added: “I had a 120 hour TEFL course online, I did not have any background in education and I wanted to get a recognized qualification, the course was manageable and well structured” (LO0110-LO0112).

Finally Dave described his experience with the TEFL course: “when I first studied teaching I took a TEFL course, and that was in London with a TEFL teacher and that was really getting the basics of teaching” (DA0104-DA0105).

Short-term workshops.

All of the teachers interviewed have gone to at least one training session in Taiwan.

This could be at the beginning of their careers or at any point of the same. Most of them mentioned two types of training, unrealistic training: those trainings that include lots of theory but little real examples and that according to some of the teachers, are actually not useful. And useful training: where the trainee engages and interacts with the teachers, the teachers can

‘practice’ the activities taught by the trainee and there is a minor gap between theory and practice. Regarding training sessions that are interesting for teachers,

Mary said:

Here in Taiwan, I went to a story telling workshop done by J. Lin (not mentioned the real name for ethic reasons) and it was very interesting, his techniques I really liked, I found his workshops more engaging… I've gone to other workshops let's say in grammar, and it was so boring…I had trouble staying awake (MA0124-MA0128)

Brian, another participant, said that the cram school where he worked provided training which was useful for the construction of his professional development. And although he stated two times during the interview that is not too much into professional development experiences, he still mentioned the trainings he received at work. Providing in-service training is very useful for teachers who do not have much initiative in the acquisition of professional development, because they are basically encouraged to learn new practices at work.

Brian said:

“Some of the schools I have worked they provided some training course. In education in elementary school level, or sometimes was based on material focusing on American English, a lot of concepts could be applied to teaching” (BR0102-BR0103).

Lack of training.

Regarding this aspect, there were several interviewed teachers who said that they consider important to have more training in the area of classroom management, because for them sometimes is difficult to control the class. The students from cram schools, had attended to school early during the day and they are already tired by the time they go to cram school, thus sometimes these kids tend to bother and distract other kids in the class.

Josh said: “To me the biggest difficulty is class control, when students don’t show interest to what I am teaching” (JO0110-JO0111).

Training Approach

Whether the training was received in school or in another location, the approach used for the different trainers and organizers in general is quite similar. Among the approach for training are: observation and interaction with colleague teachers, lectures from senior expatriates, the new hired teachers will perform a number of class contents or demo, and a supervisor will observe the class, take notes and provide feedback to the teacher. And the last but not least is professional practice course, as a graduation requisite for bachelor and master degree students (education major only).

Observation, lectures, role-play and hands-on experience.

This approach was mentioned for majority of the participants. They had the possibility to see another teacher in action and learn from him/her experience and guidance. The teachers had a lecture from a senior teacher first and a hands-on experience afterwards. The key aspect for this kind of approach is that the teachers had the possibility to practice what they learned through a role play.

Josh said:

I went with my coworkers to another school location (branch). We sat in a classroom while a senior teacher explained teaching activity ideas to us. He explained us how they were useful, provided examples from his experience to us, and we practiced the activities using role play (JO0126-JO0128)

It is important that the trainer is good at the time he/ she gives the explanation of the hands-on activities to the teachers. The majority of foreign teachers said they had experience lecture taught training. They considered this kind of training approach listening to someone for several hours before doing the activities, was too monotone for them. And for some teachers it becomes difficult to listen to the trainer when he / she is not a native English speaker. Mary Said: “it’s distracting having someone educating you on something that they are not actually quite up to native (English) speaking skills” (MA0130-MA0131).

Doing a class “demo” and supervisor feedback.

All of the teachers interviewed had experienced supervision while teaching, and posterior feedback was provided for their supervisors. This kind of training approach was equally used in trainings, workshops and some seminars. Online trainings cannot be included in this category as the teachers who receive the training cannot be observed by supervisors.

The amount of observation time may vary from ten minutes to an hour, depending of the trainer.

Although sometimes this might be a little stressing, all the participants mentioned it is positive to have someone who corrects their mistakes and provides suggestions:

Peter said:

One time I had a training in teaching strategies, during the training, I had to teach English to Taiwanese students. I always had a person that was making something that is called “shadow”. I started to teach my lessons and the supervisor took notes about every single detail during my class. She saw my teaching style and methods used while teaching the class. When I finished the class we set a meeting to discuss my performance. I had some feedback, most of the time pointed the negative aspects of my style (PE0278-PE0384).

Professional practice.

This training approach was only manifested by the participants who had school learning. All the eight teachers who said they had an academic degree in education expressed that as a graduation requirement they had to take a number of courses called: ‘professional practice or internship’. They had to teach specific topics and accomplish a number of hours in the classroom and other activities, while they were evaluated for their professors and tutors at

school. This practice was in schools from their country of origin or in Taiwan depending where the degree was acquired. Regarding this experience Trevor said:

Well, in my university I had to take this course where I had to teach English and Spanish in this Taiwanese public school. Part of the requisites to approve it was to teach a certain number of hours and because of that I gained experience in the workplace. I liked because I had the chance to apply the knowledge in a real life setting (TR0119-TR0122).

Professional Development: Informal Learning

The activities experienced by English teachers in Taiwan within the informal learning category were more diverse and flexible. There were several factors that “pull” them to the informal activities. Among these are: the teachers set their own learning objectives, need to learn to do something they “cannot do”, and learn because they feel the “need” to know.

Generally, informal learning experiences are more effective and less expensive for them, besides more easy to access. Different activities from informal learning experiences were mentioned by the EFL teachers, as part of the professional development construction. All the teachers experienced informal learning and all of them agreed that they found this activities more often than the ones from formal learning. Besides the teachers mentioned why they chose one activity over the others. The coding for the informal learning experience includes the learning achieved through self-learning, intentional learning and people interaction.

Table 4.2.

Informal Learning Activities Experienced for EFL Teachers Theme Category Codes from open coding

Informal learning

1.3 People interaction category

1.4 Self-learning

1.3.1 Work experience

1.3.2 Sharing ideas with colleagues and friends 1.3.3 Weekly meetings at work

1.3.4 Feedback from boss and / or coordinator, parents and kids

1.4.1 Self-assessment

1.4.2 Reading books and teaching materials

1.4.3 Visiting teaching blogs and online workshops

People Interaction Category

Working experience.

All the 24 participants during a moment of the interview mentioned the importance of work experience in the construction of their professional development, and said experience was the most influential activity for their development as teachers, Josh said: “Experience is the most important source. This was placed in people interaction because the teachers had to interact with the kids and with other teachers in order to construct professional development through working experiences. Teachers feel very motivated when they can apply in real setting what they have learned, this could be seen as mastery experiences. Josh, one of the teachers said: all other sources (of learning) must be completed by that” (JO0127-JO0128). He and others teachers agree with the fact that have some teaching experience is necessary, mostly because some of the teaching methods vary between their home country and Taiwan.

Philip stated:

I feel confident but mostly because of the experience, I have seen what works and what not. I adjust my teaching methods as I go on so, I am not going to teach based on books and text because you know that kids responds to different things, is just base on the confidence in my teaching methods and confidence in my ability to adapt me to their learning needs (PH0254-PH0259).

Informal learning is considered a life-long process, and often produced at the work place. This could be one of the reasons why teachers feel more confident through the years working in schools. Dave added: “experience was the most important factor in my professional development because it allowed me to find my own teaching style, to me feel comfortable is to find my own way (of teaching)” (DA0137-DA0138). Diego added: “The more experience you have the better you teach” (DI0245-DI046).

Sharing ideas with colleagues and friends.

When the 24 interviewees were describing their informal learning process and activities experienced, all of them mentioned that sharing ideas and thoughts with friends or colleagues at work, was often practiced. Besides, this occurred not only at work, but also during training and workshop sessions where teachers had the chance to meet up and talk to each other, share their concerns and offer solutions to each other classroom difficulties. Around half of the

interviewed teachers said this was the second opportunity more often experienced Dave said:

“over the course of the year we (referring to himself and his colleagues) helped each other and shared ideas, and yes I pick things up from other teachers.” (DA0128-DA0129). Brian, also mentioned that teachers who rotate classes every year tend more to share ideas among them.

He said:

Every year we changed class, so we had opinions to how to do with specific students.

The three of us (the teachers working in the same cram school) were good friends, so we shared experiences. We borrowed ideas, we taught a lot of the same material, so there was a lot of time to discuss and I felt something that was difficult we could discuss it together and we solved it together (DA0126-DA0130).

Others even participated in meetings organized by cram school teachers in Taipei and shared different topics and issues from their class. Charles had the chance to become one of the organizers of these meetings.

Charles said:

Five years ago I started a group and we would meet once a month. Is like we will organize on Facebook and it was a place that teachers in the Taipei area wanted to get together, we had sit down and we actually went through the same type of class, so the teachers shared ideas together and was independently organized (CH0136-CH0139).

When teacher Charles mentioned that these meetings were arranged independently he meant that he and the other teachers attending were not part of any specific school. Interaction is something very important for EFL teachers in Taiwan, they feel others understand their frustrations and difficulties at work. Basically, the teachers support each other, and help each other.

Some “ideas and solutions” occurred in a weekly meeting setting. And although there is not the majority, it is important to mention that 9 of the 24 teachers interviewed mentioned that they experience weekly meetings, and they had the chance to interact with their colleagues

“At my afternoon school we had a teacher sharing every week so different teachers would be assigned to do different things” (Leo), (LE0113-LE0114). Josh added: I had weekly meetings with my colleagues, and we discussed most of the time the behavior control of students”

(JO0121-JO0122).

In fact, when teachers interact with others and also learn from other teacher sources, they know which ones are valid and which ones are not useful in the classroom.

Feedback from boss and/ or coordinators, parents and kids.

These was another important aspect for EFL Teachers in Taiwan, ten of the interviewed teachers said that feedback is included as part of their professional development: Pamela explained a little the reason why she likes feedback:

在文檔中 Professional Development and the Performance of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Taiwanese Cram Schools: A Study Based on the Self-Efficacy Model (頁 52-76)