A Sociopolitical Agenda For Tesol Teacher Education

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) sits at the nexus of constant change, which makes it vitally important for language teachers to engage in continuous development and keep abreast of the sociopolitical milieu in which they are embedded. However, most teacher education activities are often associated with what is perceived as best practices that are expected to be adopted (often uncritically) for classroom application and practice, with the intention of training teachers to become technicians in their respective classrooms. In reality, TESOL practitioners often find themselves in situations that require them to be reflexive practitioners and to negotiate sites of political struggles and social injustice. Given that a socially situated understanding of TESOL teacher education is often overlooked, this volume highlights the sociopolitical dimensions of TESOL teacher education. In Part 1, the authors introduce the theoretical underpinnings of the sociopolitical agenda proposed by this volume. Building on these theories, Part 2 realizes the proposed agenda by situating it within actual TESOL teacher education contexts that are characterized by power imbalances and neoliberally inflected educational injustices.

This edited book brings together chapters from diverse geographical and educational contexts to examine the question of transnationalism in English Language teacher education. While the activities that connect people, institutions and cultural practices across the borders of nation-states have gained interest in fields such as applied linguistics, TESOL and migration studies in recent years, there has been little research so far into how transnationalism intersects with language teacher education, and how existing practices can be better integrated into teacher education programmes. The authors fill this gap by introducing and examining existing transnational practices - including cross-cultural settings, study abroad programmes and online teacher education - then offering multiple dialogues on mobility of knowledge, practice and pedagogy in teacher education. This book will be of interest to language teachers, teacher educators, and students and scholars of applied linguistics, cross-cultural studies, and migration studies.

TESOL Teacher Education in a Transnational World critically examines theories and practices in contemporary TESOL teacher education to shed new light on the intersection of transnationalism and language teacher education. It emphasizes the scholarship of transnational mobility of language teachers, and showcases critical research from diverse contexts. The book fills a critical research gap by more fully examining the theory and practice of teacher education in a changing time when national identities and cross-border mobilities continue to figure prominently in scholarly discussions. Through a diverse set of epistemological, historical and theoretical perspectives along with methodological innovations, contributors of this volume not only index the dynamism of the scholarship of teacher education, but they also offer new forums for lively pedagogical debates. Featuring contributions from diverse educational and geographical contexts, including Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America, the book moves the existing scholarship forward to more fully examine TESOL teacher education in relation to transnationalism. This book will be of great interest to academics, scholars, post-graduate students, teacher educators, policymakers, curriculum specialists, administrators, and other stakeholders interested in language teacher education, TESOL and applied linguistics

This book offers insights into the lived experiences (e.g., teaching, research, and practicum supervision) of TESOL teacher educators in diverse institutional and socio-cultural contexts. Informed by a situated, ecological perspective, it draws on a variety of research approaches (e.g., qualitative, action research, and self-study), and sheds light on how language teacher educators engage in daily practice and social interactions. This edited collection examines how TESOL educators cope with potential contextual obstacles (e.g., the theory-practice divide), and how they seek their continuing professional development in complex, shifting higher education settings. The book offers critical and thoughtful reflections of current practice and policies in language education and higher education, and provides practical implications on the preparation and development of frontline language teachers.

This volume takes a holistic view of the current trends and challenges in quality and quality assurance in TESOL and teacher education. Bringing together top scholars in the field from all over the world, the text features invaluable international perspectives with the common objective of improving the quality in TESOL and teacher education in constantly changing and challenging educational contexts globally. Grouped into four wide-ranging, thematic sections – on multilingualism, diversity, teacher education, and future challenges – the book addresses new obstacles faced by educational professionals in today’s rapidly changing educational landscape by offering alternatives to quantitative targets. Chapter authors cover a range of contexts and timely issues, including technology in the classroom, culturally relevant teaching, teaching for continuous improvement, professional development, and monitoring and evaluating quality. Providing a forum of discussion on the intricacies, complexities, and challenges related to the urgent question of quality in the field, this book is a must-read for prospective ESL/EFL teachers and teacher educators.

This volume draws on empirical evidence to explore the interplay between language teacher identity (LTI) and professional learning and instruction in the field of TESOL. In doing so, it makes a unique contribution to the field of language teacher education. By reconceptualizing teacher education, teaching, and ongoing teacher learning as a continuous, context-bound process of identity work, Language Teacher Identity in TESOL discusses how teacher identity serves as a framework for classroom practice, professional, and personal growth. Divided into five sections, the text explores key themes including narratives and writing; multimodal spaces; race, ethnicity, and language; teacher emotions; and teacher educator-researcher practices. The 15 chapters offer insight into the experiences of preservice teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators in global TESOL contexts including Canada, Japan, Korea, Norway, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This text will be an ideal resource for researchers, academics, and scholars interested in furthering their knowledge of concepts grounding LTI, as well as teachers and teacher educators seeking to implement identity-oriented approaches in their own pedagogical practices.

This edited volume showcases how teacher educators around the world engage with critical and dialogic approaches to prepare TESOL professionals. Language teachers are at the forefront of supporting the academic and social needs of increasingly ethnically and linguistically diverse student populations around the globe, and preparing critical and dialogic TESOL teachers with social justice orientations is essential to helping language learners fulfil their academic and linguistic potential. Although more experienced TESOL teachers may be able to agentively implement critical and dialogic approaches to instruction, we know little about what TESOL teacher educators do to help train and prepare language teachers who can do exactly that. In this volume, TESOL educators from various contexts share their experiences on how they engage with critical and dialogic approaches to reimagine TESOL teacher education. Chapter authors engage with different aspects of critical and dialogic approaches to present their visions for reimagining curricula, pedagogies, online spaces, and the roles of students, teachers, and teacher educators.

At the forefront of research on English language teacher education and professional development, this volume presents new empirical research situated in different contexts around the world, including Canada, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Korea, Qatar, Sudan, and the U.S. It is framed by the volume editors’ insightful overview and analyses of previous and ongoing work in a variety of related domains and an epilogue by David Nunan. The chapter studies are organized around three themes: teacher identity in ESL/EFL teacher education and professional development programs, second language teacher education programs for diverse contexts, and professional development for diverse contexts. All chapters focus on the applied nature of the research and include a section on implications. To provide balance and a range of views, the volume includes both chapters reporting on empirical research funded by TIRF grant recipients and several from invited authors who are senior scholars in the field. This is the third volume in the Global Research on Teaching and Learning English Series, co-published by Routledge and TIRF.