Developing Teacher Learning Communities In A Tertiary Language Centre

Abstract

Teacher professional development is often seen as vital in developing better quality learning in students, but it is often difficult to know what development to provide and how to provide it. Several studies have suggested that teacher professional development has minimal impact on teachers’ practice. Professional development is conventionally conceived as a series of 'one-shot' seminars that are removed from teacher’s daily work and offer few follow-up opportunities. This work-in-progress reports on an alternative approach to teacher professional development being developed at the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES) at The University of Hong Kong. The approach aims to overcome some of the shortfalls of professional development by attempting to seed communities of teacher learners through Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs). The communities are defined as groups of teachers, who share a common goal and develop through participation. The presentation outlines the theoretical rationale for attempting to develop professionally in this way before outlining some of the challenges in seeding communities that allow opportunities for full participation of staff.