How Teachers' Perspectives Change While Learning Second Language Teaching: The Power of Learning and Participation

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 36
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Identity, Beliefs, and Perspectives: Learning, Participation, Inquiry, and Practice

Abstract

This study examines the experiences of learning second language teaching by a group of undergraduate students participating in a year-long preparation program for the teaching of Spanish. The theoretical framework came from a sociocultural perspective emphasizing the idea of learning teaching as a socially rooted process. The research design had a qualitative perspective, with a participant observer approach. Results showed that as the participants made sense of their experiences they adopted five different perspectives, demarcating a curve of learning and increasing participation. The changes in perspective evolved from a focus on the participant and her/his newly adopted role and expectations, to a focus on developing a teaching practice able to advance language learning for the elementary students in their classrooms.

Author

• Claudia Gabriela Cameratti Baeza, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor