Volume 30, Issue 1, 2021
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.2077
Micro-level episodes tell a tale: A look into an English language teacher’s online professional development
Abstract
Teachers who work in contexts where the institutional support in terms of professional development (PD) is either lacking or limited may seek other opportunities to develop their professional knowledge and skills. This study reports how an English language teacher, as a self-directed adult learner in such a context, perceives her professional growth after undertaking a PD activity facilitated and supervised by a more experienced former colleague through an online medium. The data elicited through semi-structured interviews and blog records was coded and analyzed according to Evans’ (2014) PD model which attributes eleven dimensions of change to behavioral, attitudinal, and intellectual constituent of PD. Results indicated that there were interactions between and among change dimensions of developmental components in single micro-level episodes which shaped the bigger picture of PD of the participating teacher. Moreover, the participant reported to have seized the opportunity to examine her beliefs, knowledge, and practices critically, and initiated to challenge and revise her frames of reference, which eventually instigated transformative learning.
Keywords
Online professional development, self-directed learning, transformative learning, English language teacher