"I'm Not a Traditional Teacher Anymore": Impact of U.S.-Based Professional Development Among Five EFL Teachers

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Dismantling the Master's House: Disrupting and Decolonizing Teacher Education

Abstract

This study focuses on the retrospective perspectives of five Ecuadoran English teachers regarding their experience in a seven-month professional development program at a midwestern university in the US. We particularly focus upon the reciprocal nature of self-efficacy and identity. As teachers increased their competence through newly developed knowledge and skill, their perceptions of themselves altered as well. Prior to the program all five teachers described themselves as very traditional teachers who focused on recitation and grammar, i.e., “banking education”(Freire, 1970). Afterwards, they began capitalizing upon students’ funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992) and different styles of languaging (Jørgensen, 2008). In the process, their teacher self-efficacy subsequently impacted their identity (Canrinus, Helms-Lorenz, Beijaard, Buitink, & Hofman, 2012).

Authors

• Gail Cappeart, DeKalb High School

• Corrine M. Wickens, Northern Illinois University