ARTESOL Convention 2008
Building Communities of Inquiry, Practice and Creativity: Voices of the South
Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina
October 3-4, 2008
From the Convention Program Committee
Dear Colleagues,
This year, the ARTESOL theme echoes almost literally part of the theme of
TESOL2008, namely WORLDS OF TESOL: Building Communities of Inquiry,
Practice and Creativity. We are grateful to “Big TESOL” for the loan. It is
difficult to find a theme that can so efficiently trigger exploration of some of
the most important issues currently being discussed in our profession. In a few
words it unfolds a teaching/learning scenario where the roles of inquiry,
constant dedication and creative drive are displayed, analyzed and evaluated.
Drawing these concepts together helps us do away with old dichotomies of
Theory / Practice, Researcher/ Practitioner. It also leads into a number of
subthemes such as awareness, reflection, innovation, insightful observation,
evaluation, ( to name just a few), which consciously or unconsciously influence
our decision making in our daily professional practice.
In his preface to Kathleen Bailey, Andy Curtis and David Nunan’s book
Pursuing Professional Development, (2001) Donald Freeman says: “These
authors do what they write about and they write about what they do……. The
work that results is firmly anchored in the daily practicalities of classrooms
while examining larger issues of sense making in teaching.”
Drawing on Freeman’s suggestion let’s write our proposals to share what we
do, and let’s do what we write in our proposals.
Thank you for your valuable participation
Bailey, K., Curtis, A., Nunan, D. (2201) Pursuing professional development. Canada: Heinle & Heinle
Kathleen Graves
Kathleen Graves is professor of second language teacher
education at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont,
USA. Dr. Graves started her career as an English teacher in Taiwan
and has also taught English in the US, Japan and Brazil. For more
than twenty years she has worked with language teachers and
teacher educators around the world on curriculum and materials
development and on developing a reflective practice. She is the
editor/author of two books on course design, Teachers as Course
Developers and Designing language courses: A guide for Teachers
and is the series editor of TESOL’s Language Curriculum
Development series. She has also co-authored two EFL series, East West and ICON.
She co-designed the SIT TESOL Certificate and is a past chair of the TESOL
Publications Committee.
The courage to reflect, the power of reflection
Reflection helps teachers to understand, critique and improve their practice. While old
models of teacher education viewed teachers as recipients and implementers of the
knowledge of experts, the notion that teachers are reflective is based on a view of
teachers as knowledgeable, critical, constructive and creative. Reflection is not simply a
matter of thinking about one’s teaching, it is a complex skill that is learned over time. As
with any skill, it needs to be practiced and the practice needs to be scaffolded.
Reflection is rooted in an attitude of inquiry about one’s practice—inquiry into the puzzles
and problems of the classroom and of schools. When we are faced with a problem, our
tendency is often to search for immediate solutions. This tendency prevents reflection.
The skill of reflection requires one to see the situation from which the problem arises as
fully as possible in order to allow for multiple ways to understand and interpret it. Multiple
interpretations allow for multiple ‘intelligent actions’, to use John Dewey’s words and thus
allow teachers to respond flexibly and creatively.
In this talk we will explore the process and skill of reflection. The experiences of teachers
learning to reflect will be used throughout to illustrate what it means to reflect, why it takes
courage, and how it empowers teachers.
Using theory as a tool to renew practice
Theories often seem remote from the reality of classroom practice and thus not useful to
teachers. However, theories can also be powerful tools to help teachers rethink and
renew their practice. In this workshop participants work with a text from a textbook from
three different theoretical viewpoints—interactive reading theory, critical discourse theory
and their own personal theory. The aim of the workshop is not to teach reading theory, but
to examine the ways in which theory can be a tool to help teachers understand, invigorate
and renew their practice.
Creating collaborative teacher communities**
Teaching is a learning profession in which each new group of learners and each lesson
provide the opportunity to continually renew one’s practice. Just as student-learning
becomes more powerful when students can learn with and from each other in a learning
community, so does teacher learning. However, teachers often experience isolation in
their work as they struggle to make sense of and improve their practice. Communities of
teachers-as-learners are not widespread. In this workshop we will explore one approach
to teacher communities, the inquiry approach. Participants will identify an area of their
practice they wish to explore. Together with others, they will work through a disciplined
process of description and interpretation to help each other gain a fuller picture of their
teaching so that they can identify a range of effective responses. We will also explore
ways to develop and continue the inquiry approach once participants return to their
workplace.
PAS Sección Informativa y Cultural
Embajada de Estados Unidos
Colombia 4300
(C1425GMN) Buenos Aires
Argentina
Martha Galloway
Dr. Martha Galloway is an English Language Fellow
sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and based at
the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and IICANA BNC
Córdoba. She graduated from Texas A&M University
with a Ph.D.in Educational Psychology (emphasis in
Bilingual/ESL). She has over 15 years experience in ESL
both at the university level and secondary education. She
has a broad teaching background including
undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs, community
college ESL, community based programs, and high school. Some of her research interests
include early biliteracy, dual language education, language teaching methods, content and
project based methods, student motivation, and ESL action research.
Building Creative Teacher Research Teams (TRT) through Classroom Action
Research
This hands-on workshop will provide a brief overview and model of Action Research
(AR) for English Language teachers. Attendees will receive materials and resources to
plan and develop their own research projects and to build local TRTs. AR has the potential
to be a powerful agent for educational improvement; with the goal of enhancing their own
teaching practice and the lives of their students, participants will engage with others,
based on interest or level, to begin to plan AR projects. Presenter offers to
continue dialogues with local TRTs beyond the conference.
Oriel E.Villagarcía
Profesor en Inglés, Univ. Nac. de Tucumán, Fulbright and British
Council Scholar, graduate studies, University of Texas, M.A.,
University of Lancaster. Has taught at the Universidad Católica de
Salta, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, and Universidad
Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Former Marketing Manager and
ELT Consultant for Longman. Founding member of what is FAAPI
today, and first president and co-founder of ASPI (Asoc. Salteña
de Profesores de Inglés). Free-lance teacher trainer.
Exploring Creativity in the Classroom
We will consider the use of some traditional exercises with a twist to allow students to
engage in language which has depth and which translates their individuality, their feelings
and emotions. We will explore resources such as visualization and poetry to encourage
expression of the Self and to turn the language lesson into something memorable and
enjoyable.
Norma Scagnoli
Norma Scagnoli works as eLearning Specialist for the
College of Business in the University of Illinois at U-C. She
has extensive experience in instructional design and
faculty development that she acquired in the last 10 years
of work and research in the area of educational
technologies. Norma has a Masters of Education and a
PhD in Human Resource Education from the University of
Illinois. Her previous work as Online Program Coordinator
and Instructional Designer, as well as her experience as
faculty and educational technology consultant in US and Latin America have enhanced her
knowledge on faculty needs and interests in technology, and have enriched her expertise
in the field. Her research work includes publications on blended learning, international
collaboration, collaborative learning and instructional design.
Learning Objects and language Teaching
New models of teaching and learning include the combination of traditional campus
teaching and online education with some emphasis on self-directed learning and
collaboration. Current technology development (such as Web 2.0 applications) enables
non-tech savvy instructors to develop Learning Objects (LO) or digital course materials
that can be used, shared and reused to create knowledge. Through the use of LOs
converted from current course materials, faculty can easily produce self-study modules
that can be incorporated to their courses as a way to enhance self-directed learning.
This presentation aims to help instructors get a deeper understanding on Learning Objects
and the development of self study materials. It will expand on instructional design
principles and the elements that make pedagogically sound learning objects. The audience
will receive step by step information on how to design and create modules from existing
course materials via Web 2.0 applications, and how to import the LOs into their current
Content Management Systems. Ideas for use and storage of the LOs will also be
suggested. The presentation includes the introduction of Web 2.0 applications that enable
the creation of materials and free software that allows the development of SCORMcompliant
LOs.