Reflective Practice in ESL Teacher Development Groups ─ From Practices to Principles

Reflective Practice in ESL Teacher Development Groups discusses the concept of reflective practice in ESL teachers using data from a 3-year collaborative partnership in which three ESL teachers in Canada explored their professional development through reflective practice. The process involved regular group discussions, teacher journal writing, classroom observations and pre and post-interviews of each teacher. This fresh bottom-up approach to professional development will enhance knowledge on what counts for professional development of ESL teachers and can promote ESL teacher-initiated professional development that is more focused towards classroom realities, based on knowledge that is co-constructed through engagement with experience, and systematic reflections, and is grounded in real teaching situations.

Thomas S.C. Farrell is Professor of Applied Linguistics, Brock University, Canada. His professional interests include Reflective Practice, and Language Teacher Education and Development. His latest publications include Reflecting on Teaching the Four Skills, Reflective Writing for Language Teachers, and Reflective Teaching.