Donald Freeman

Reconceptualizing the Knowledge-Base of Language Teacher Education

Moving beyond the historical and theoretical traditions that have defined teacher education in TESOL over the last quarter century, in this introductory piece we argue for a reconceptualization of the knowledge-base of ESOL teacher education. Essential to this reconceptualization is the premise that the institutional forms and processes of teacher education frame how the profession responds to the basic sociocultural processes of learning to teach. As such, our teacher education practices constitute our professional self-definition. We argue that the core of the new knowledge-base must focus on the activity of teaching itself; it should center on the teacher who does it, the contexts in which it is done, and the pedagogy by which it is done. Moreover, this knowledge-base should include forms of knowledge representation that document teacher learning within the social, cultural, and institutional contexts in which it occurs. Finally, we believe the knowledge-base of language teacher education needs to account for the teacher as a learner of teaching, the social context of schools and schooling within which teacher-learning and teaching occur, and the activities of both language teaching and language learning. This tripartite framework calls for a broader epistemological view of ESOL teacher education, one that accounts for teaching as it is learned and as it is practiced; we argue that it will ultimately redefine how we as teacher educators create professionals in TESOL.

Characteristics of Entering Teacher Candidates

Characteristics of entering teacher candidates, defined as students enrolled in their first education course, have been the focus of 44 studies located for this review. Four major categories of variables have been studied: (a) demographics and high-school background; (b) motivation to teach and career expectations; (c) confidence and optimism or anxiety and concerns about teaching; and (d) perceptions of the roles and responsibilities of teachers. Most of the research employed a survey methodology. This article presents a descriptive synthesis of findings from these studies. The principle of thematic consistency with empirical variability—that is, that the general conclusions of the studies have been similar even though the data have shown differences from study to study—is advanced to organize a discussion of what is known about entering teacher candidates and suggestions for future research in this field.

Teacher Training, Development, and Decision Making: A Model of Teaching and Related Strategies for Language Teacher Education

Language teacher education has become fragmented; too often, its efforts focus on ancillary areas such as applied linguistics, methodology, or language acquisition while overlooking the core—teaching itself. Emphasis on these areas, although it may create a pedagogical foundation for the teacher-in-preparation, skirts the central issue of learning to teach. This article refocuses language teacher education on teaching itself by proposing two schemata: (a) a descriptive model that defines teaching as a decision-making process based on the categories of know-ledge, skills, attitude, and awareness and (b) a related framework of two educating strategies—training and development—to teach teaching.

Conceptions of Teaching and the Education of Second Language Teachers.

Teaching is variously defined as a science, a technology, a craft, or an art. Each of these characterizations carries with it defined orientations towards what teaching is, what essential skills it involves, and what teachers must know. They also contribute to defining different approaches to the preparation of teachers. Using a framework proposed by Zahorik (1986) which classifies general conceptions of teaching into three main categories—science/research conceptions, theory/philosophy conceptions, and art/craft conceptions—we review the different conceptions of second language instruction prevalent in the field of TESOL and consider their implications for second language teacher education. The aim is to present a framework for analyzing second language teaching which will shift the focus of discussions of teaching from behavior and activity to the thinking and reasoning which organizes and motivates these external practices.

Realities of Teaching in Racially/Ethnically Diverse Schools Feedback from Entry-Level Teachers

This study identified similarities and differences among two groups of entry-level teachers from 10 different teacher-preparation institutions (N = 1,700)—those who began their careers in racially/ethnically diverse schools (25% or more racial minority students) and those who taught in schools with low levels of racial/ethnic diversity (10% or fewer racial minority students). Although the two groups did not differ on most measures, beginning teachers in high diversity schools did report (a) lower levels of job satisfaction, (b) greater difficulties in establishing meaningful relations with students, and (c) higher levels of complexity in the teaching environment.

Teacher Learning in Second Language Teacher Education: A Socially-Situated Perspective

Ultrapassadando as tradicoes historicas e teoricas que tem definido a educacao de professores de segunda lingua na America do Norte nos ultimos vinte cinco anos, argumentamos neste artigo em favor de uma reconceituacao do conhecimento de base da educacao de professores de segunda lingua. Ao mesmo tempo que reconhecemos que o ensino.de diferentes linguas e moldado por suas respectivas culturas e literaturas, encontramos deficiencias comuns ao definir o que os professores de segunda lingua necessitam saber e ser capazes de fazer para ensinar com sucesso. Propomos olhar o professor como um aprendiz do ensino, as escolas e o ambiente escolar como contextos socio-historicos nos quais a formacao do professor e o proprio ensino acontecem, e o ensino de lingua e a aprendizagem de lingua como atividades que sao implantadas nesse contexto. De forma conjunta, esses tres dominios formam uma estrutura tripartite que utilizamos para elaborar uma nova visao epistemologica que considera o ensino de segunda lingua como real-mente ocorre.

Teacher Learning and Student Learning in TESOL

educational systems at national and local levels (e.g., in Brazil [Ministry of Education and Culture, 1996]; in Italy [Lopriore. 1998]; in South Africa [National Department of Education, 1996]; in the United States [National Commission on Teaching for Americas Future, 1997]). The argument, which is grounded in common sense and in research, is that because teachers are central mediators in what and how students learn in

Asking “Good” Questions: Perspectives From: Qualitative Research on Practice, Knowledge, and Understanding in Teacher Education

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