Poetic Habits of Mind in TESOL Teacher Preparation

• In Event: 35.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 35.078-2 - Exploring Preservice Teacher Identity Development Through Poetry, Story, and Discourse

Abstract

This paper examines the possibility of viewing TESOL teachers’ identities through the metaphor of ‘poet-teachers.’ The authors examined interviews, poems and classroom discourse among sixteen Chinese, Vietnamese, and English L1 speakers who participated in a poetry writing course as a component of their TESOL teacher preparation curriculum. Building on the theoretical foundations of Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Hetland et. al.’s (2013) Studio Habits of Mind, three qualities related to poetic habits of TESOL teacher identity are discussed: creative (l)imitation, surprise, and dialogic collaboration. Results suggest imitation, instruction and collaboration in poetic ZPD can create emotionally and linguistically rewarding experiences, encouraging TESOL educators to identify as creative co-learners and interactive producers of meaning.

Authors

• Yohan Hwang, Konyang University

• Melisa Misha Cahnmann-Taylor, University of Georgia