What does sustainable teacher development look like now? Keynote talk for 10th Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association International Conference 2022
Professor Richard Smith, University of Warwick
(18 November 2022)
PowerPoint slidesLink opens in a new window
Abstract
Prior to the pandemic, Bangladesh was going through a period of rapid and apparently successful development. At the same time, the world has faced and is facing various crises, and sustainability of development has become a kind of mantra. In this context, what are the values, attitudes and approaches that have sustained and can continue to support English language education, during these challenging times? In this talk, I consider the notion of sustainability from different perspectives specifically relevant to English language education in Global South contexts, sharing a number of strategies teachers have adopted to good effect, including sharing of successes (an ‘enhancement approach’), ‘teacher association research’, and Exploratory Action Research.
Outline
- What is ‘sustainable development’, in relation to English language education?
- Teaching in difficult circumstances, revisited
- An enhancement approach to teacher development
- Promoting teacher-research – and teacher association research, and teacher-research mentoring
- Decentring ELT
References and Links
Preamble
Khan, R., Bashir, B., Basu, B.L. & Uddin, M.E. (eds.) (in press). Local Research and Glocal Perspectives in English Language Teaching: Teaching in Changing Times. Springer.
Shaila Sultana, M. Moninoor Roshid, Md. Zulfeqar Haider, Mian Md. Naushaad Kabir & Mahmud Hasan Khan (eds.) (2021). The Routledge Handbook of English Language Education in Bangladesh. Routledge.
1. What is 'sustainable development', in relation to English language education?
ELT Journal 'Key Concepts in ELT' feature
Barbier, E. B. (1987). The concept of sustainable economic development. Environmental Conservation, 14(2), 101-110.
United Nations (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Sustainable development: The 17 goals. United Nations. https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Al Amin, M., & Greenwood, J. (2018). The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Teacher Development for Effective English Teaching in Bangladesh: A Gap That Needs Bridging. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 20(2), 118-138.
Fullan, M. (2006). The future of educational change: System thinkers in action. Journal of Educational Change, 7, 113–122.
Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2003). Sustaining leadership. Phi delta kappa, 84(9), 693-700.
Zehetmeier, S., & Krainer, K. (2011). Ways of promoting the sustainability of mathematics teachers’ professional development. ZDM, 43(6), 875-887.
Edwards, E., & Burns, A. (2016). Language teacher action research: Achieving sustainability. ElT Journal, 70(1), 6-15.
Allwright, D. (1997). Quality and sustainability in teacher-research. TESOL Quarterly, 31(2), 368-370.
2. Teaching English in difficult circumstances, revisited
Michael West (1888–1973: Life, Works, Archive (Warwick ELT Archive)
West, Michael. (1960). Teaching English in Difficult Circumstances. Longmans, Green.
Anderson, J., Padwad, A. & Smith, R. (2021). 'Language teaching in difficult circumstances' In Coombe, C. & Mohebbi, H. (eds.) Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics: A Reference Guide. Springer, 111–116.
Teaching English in Large Classes research and development network (TELC-net)
Smith, R. (2011). 'Teaching English in difficult circumstances: A new research agenda'. In Pattison, T. (ed.) IATEFL 2010 Harrogate Conference Selections. Canterbury: IATEFL. Pre-publication version hereLink opens in a new window
Phyak, P. (2015). 'From "schooled pedagogy" to "pedagogy of disaster": The role of EFL teachers in the super-difficult circumstance of post-disaster Nepal'. ELT Choutari (July 2015 issue).
3. An enhancement approach to teacher development
Richard Smith, Amol Padwad & Deborah Bullock (eds) (2017) Teaching in Low-resource Classrooms: Voices of Experience. London: British Council.
Sagun Shrestha. (2019) 'A success story conference: What, why and how?'. ELTED Journal 22: 60–65.
Ram Ashish Giri, Saraswati Dawadi, Sagun Shrestha & Saifa Haque (eds.) (2022) Enhancement Approach: Success Stories of EFL Teachers from Bangladesh and Nepal, published by BELTA and NELTA. See also this video of the book launch eventLink opens in a new window on 6 February 2022
4. Promoting teacher-research – and teacher association research, and teacher-research mentoring
Exploratory Action Research:
Richard Smith & Paula Rebolledo (2018) A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research London: British Council.
Webinar introduction to Exploratory Action Research (British Council webinar for secondary school teachers in Ukraine): Paula Rebolledo & Richard Smith
Paula Rebolledo, Richard Smith & Deborah Bullock (eds) (2016). Champion Teachers: Stories of Exploratory Action Research London: British Council.
J.S. Negi (ed.) (2019) Exploring for Action, Acting for Change: Stories of Exploratory Action Research in Nepal. Melauli: Support Society Nepal.
Video presentations and reflections, with posters from the Teachers Research! Online 2021 conference
TA-research:
Richard Smith & Kuchah Kuchah (2016). 'Researching teacher associations'. ELT Journal 70/2: 212-221
Kuchah Kuchah & Richard Smith (2018) 'An invitation to Teacher Association Research'. English Language Teacher Education and Development Journal 21: 64–71.
Mentoring teacher-research:
Richard Smith (2020) Mentoring Teachers to Research Their Classrooms: A Practical Handbook. New Delhi: British Council. Associated video interviews with mentors.
R. Smith, S. Eraldemir Tuyan, E.A. Békés & M. Serra (2021). 'Enhancement mentoring for teacher-research: A positive approach in a crisis'. English Language Teacher Education and Development Journal 24: 43–61.
Video and posters from the International Festival of Teacher-research in ELT 2021 event Mentoring teacher-research – in a time of Covid-19
5. Decentring ELT
Decentring ELT (A.S. Hornby Educational Trust website).
D. Banegas, D. Bullock, R. Kiely, K. Kuchah, A. Padwad & M. Wedell (2022). 'Decentring ELT: Teacher Associations as agents of change'. ELT Journal 76/1: 69–76.
Decentring ELT: Challenges and Opportunities (Brief report on The A. S. Hornby Educational Trust's 60th anniversary online conference, in collaboration with AINET and the Centre for English Language Education, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, 3–4 December 2021
Other links and references
Teacher-research for difficult circumstances (ESRC project pages)
Mentoring teacher-research (ESRC project pages)
Community space for teacher-researchers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/teachersresearch/
Community space for mentors of teacher-research: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mentoringTR
Contact information
Prof. Richard Smith, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
Email: R.C.Smith@warwick.ac.uk
Website: https://warwick.ac.uk/richardcsmith
Twitter: @RichardSmithELT