An Action Research Endeavor with International Student Teaching Assistants for Their Development as Teaching Professionals

Abstract

Research on the experiences of international student teaching assistants (TAs) in the context of Japan is scarce even though for the majority of TAs the position provides them with their first experience of being an educator at the university level. In this research, I used an action research methodology to better understand and improve the quality of classroom life with three international student TAs. Data were gathered, using interviews, picture drawing, and classroom field notes. Overall, there was an agreement among the participants that the action research endeavor enabled them to feel empowered as teacher professionals in that they reported increases in both their collaboration with me (the course instructor) and the frequency and quality of their engagements with their students. They also noted that the feedback they received from and offered to me became more insightful and wide-ranging. I will conclude this article with my recommendations for future research on TAs.