NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CHEASIM KAMCHAY MEA

MA in TESOL
Course: Professional Development
By: Mr. Khim KimTheng
Book Summary
Professional Development for Language Teachers
Contents
1. The nature of teacher education
2. Workshops
3. Self-monitoring
4. Teacher support groups
5. Keeping a teaching journal
6. Peer observation
7. Teaching portfolios
8. Analyzing critical incidents
9. Case analysis
10. Peer coaching
11. Team teaching
12. Action research

Chapter1 The nature of teacher education

This book is about how teachers can continue with their professional development as language
teachers once their period of formal training is over.
1. What are your plans for your professional development in the next few years?
2. What kinds of organized staff development activities have you found most useful?
Teacher training and teacher development
Teacher training: Training refers to activities directly focused on a teacher’s present
responsibilities and is typically aimed at short-term and immediate goals. Often it is seen as
preparation for induction into a first teaching position or as preparation to take on a new teaching
assignment or responsibility. Training involves understanding basic concepts and principles as a
prerequisite for applying them to teaching and the ability to demonstrate principles and practices
in the classroom.
Teacher development: Development generally refers to general growth not focused on a specific
job. It serves a longer-term goal and seeks to facilitate growth of teachers’ understanding of

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 1

 teaching and of themselves as teachers. It often involves examining different dimensions of a
teacher’s practice as a basis for reflective review and can hence be seen as “bottom-up.”
Understanding teacher learning
The following questions show the characteristics of teacher learning: What is the nature of teacher
knowledge and how is it acquired? What cognitive processes do we employ while teaching and
while learning to teach? How do experienced and novice teachers differ? These questions are
themselves dependent on our conceptualization of the nature of language teaching and our
understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and processes we employ while teaching.
Conceptualizations of teacher learning
-Teacher learning as skill learning: This view sees teacher learning as the development of a range
of different skills or competencies, mastery of which underlies successful teaching. Teaching can
be broken down into discrete skills that can be mastered one at a time.
- Teacher learning as a cognitive process: This approach views teaching as a complex cognitive
activity and focuses on the nature of teachers’ beliefs and thinking and how these influence their
teaching and learning.
- Teacher learning as personal construction: This educational philosophy is based on the belief
that knowledge is actively constructed by learners and not passively received.
- Teacher learning as reflective practice: Reflection is viewed as the process of critical
examination of experiences, a process that can lead to a better understanding of one’s teaching
practices and routines. In teacher education, this has led to the notion of reflective teaching, that is,
teaching accompanied by collecting information on one’s teaching as the basis for critical
reflection, through such procedures as self-monitoring, observation, and case studies.
Novices and experts
Experienced teachers approach their work differently from novices because they know what
typical classroom activities and expected problems and solutions are like (Berliner, 1987). By
comparison, novice teachers typically are less familiar with subject matter, teaching strategies, and
teaching contexts and lack an adequate repertoire of “mental scripts and behavioral routines”
(Berliner, 1987, p. 72).
Individual and institutional perspective
-The individual perspective: From the point of view of the teacher’s personal development, a
number of areas of professional development may be identified: Subject-matter knowledge,
Pedagogical expertise, Self-awareness, Understanding of learners, Understanding of curriculum
and materials, Career advancement.
-The institutional perspective: Joyce (1991) identifies five dimensions of institutional
improvement that teacher development as collegiality, research, site-specific information,
curriculum initiatives, instructional initiatives.
Collaborative and self-directed learning
-Collaborative learning: The goals of collegial forms of professional development are to
encourage greater interaction between teachers, peer-based learning through mentoring, and
sharing skills, experience, and solutions to common problems.
-Self-directed learning: In self-directed learning, teachers assume responsibility for setting goals
for self-development and for managing and controlling their own learning.
- Central to self-directed learning are the following processes: Inquiry, Self-appraisal, Experience,
Personal construction, Contextualized learning, Planning and managing

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 2

Implementing professional development: The teacher’s perspective
Teachers can plan many aspects of their own professional development. Most of the activities and
procedures discussed in this book can be carried out under the teacher’s own initiative, although
the institution can and should play an important role in facilitating the individual initiatives of its
teachers. The following guidelines reflect the teacher’s perspective:
- Decide what you would like to learn about your teaching and about the field
- Identify a strategy to explore the topic you are interested in
- Talk to people who have taken part in a professional development activity
- Decide what kind of support you will need
- Select a colleague or colleagues to work with
- Set realistic goals and establish a time frame
- Evaluate what you have learned and share the results with others
Implementing professional development: The institutional perspective
From what has been said thus far, it follows that professional development, either from the
perspective of the individual teacher or from that of the institution, should not be left to chance.
The following guidelines reflect the institution’s role in implementing a professional development
program for its teachers
- Determining the needs of both the institution and its teachers
- Setting goals for professional development
- Selecting the participants
- Important considerations
- Providing support
- Evaluating what has been learned
- Disseminating the results

Chapter2 Workshops
What are workshops?
A workshop is an intensive, short-term learning activity that is designed to provide an opportunity
to acquire specific knowledge and skills. In a workshop, participants are expected to learn
something that they can later apply in the classroom and to get hands-on experience with the topic,
such as developing procedures for classroom observation or conducting action research.
Benefits of workshops
- provide input from experts
- offer teachers practical classroom applications
- can raise teachers’ motivation
- develop collegiality
- support innovations
- are short-term
- are flexible in organization

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 Procedures for planning effective workshop
1. Choose an appropriate topic
2. Limit the number of participants
3. Identify a suitable workshop leader
4. Plan an appropriate sequence of activities
5. Look for opportunities for follow-up
6. Include evaluation
Summary
Workshop-based learning is such a familiar format for professional development that the
nature of effective workshops is often taken for granted. The fact that many teachers have
experienced both effective and less effective workshops during their careers is a reminder that
a successful workshop needs to be well planned and coordinated and not thrown together at
the last moment. A well-conducted workshop can have a lasting impact on its participants and
workshops can plan a key role in achieving a school’s institutional goals as well as meeting
some of the individual needs of its teachers. Providing opportunities for senior teachers to
develop skills in running workshops is an important part of staff development. Giving teachers
regular opportunities to update their professional knowledge through participating in
workshops also sends an important message about the school’s commitment to quality and to
professional development. Workshops also give teachers an opportunity to step back from the
classroom, make connections with colleagues, and return to teaching with a renewed sense of
enthusiasm.

Chapter3 Self-Monitoring
The nature of self-monitoring

Self-monitoring or self-observation refers to a systematic approach to the observation, evaluation,

and management of one’s own behavior in order to achieve a better understanding and control over the
behavior (Armstrong & Frith, 1984; Koziol & Burns, 1985).
Purpose and benefits of self-monitoring
It allows the teacher to make a record of teaching that he or she can use for a variety of purposes,
as we will discuss in this chapter. It can also provide an objective account of one’s teaching. Although
teachers usually feel that they have a good understanding of how they approach their teaching and the
kind of teacher they are, when given a chance to review a video recording or a transcript of a lesson, they
are often surprised, and sometimes even shocked, at the gap between their subjective perceptions and
“objective” reality.

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 Procedures used in self-monitoring
-lesson reports: written narrative, evaluation, checklists and questionnaires
- audio-recording a lesson: making the recording, reviewing the recording,
- video-recording a lesson: reviewing the video
Implementing self-monitoring
- Self-affirmation and assurance
- Identification of problems
- Areas for improvement
Summary
Self-monitoring a sample of one’s lessons is often a good starting point in planning personal
professional development, because it can be used to identify issues that might later be further explored
through peer coaching, action research, or in a support group. Although teachers are sometimes skeptical
at first about the benefits of self-monitoring, few remain so after experiencing it and generally feel it was
well worth the effort. A useful target is to try to monitor one or two lessons every semester or every time
the teacher teaches a new group of students. This may involve simply audio recording a lesson and
listening to part or all of the cassette as a kind of reality check. If a particular aspect of the lesson seems
problematic, then a video recording of a subsequent lesson is often a good follow-up. The information
obtained can benefit not only the individual teachers but could also be used as a component of a teacher’s
portfolio. An audio or video recording plus a commentary on it, for example, could be included in the
portfolio.

Chapter4 Teacher Support Group

The nature of teacher support groups
A teacher support group can be defined as two or more teachers collaborating to achieve either
their individual or shared goals or both on the assumption that working with a group is usually
more effective than working on one’s own.
Purposes and benefits of teacher support groups:
-Reviewing and reflecting on teaching
-Materials development
Types of teacher support groups
- Topic-based groups
- School-based groups
- Job-alike groups
- Writing groups
Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 5
 - Research groups
- Virtual groups
- Teacher networks
Forming a teacher support group
-Group membership
- Group size
- Group organization
- Determining group goals
- Group time
- Group meeting place
- Troubleshooting
Summary
Teacher support groups offer a forum where teachers can discuss issues that are important to them,
while at the same time getting support, advice, and help from other like-minded teachers in a non-
threatening environment. Many different types of groups are possible, depending on the goals and
membership of the group. Support groups can help develop a culture of collaboration in an institution and
enable teachers with different levels of training and experience to learn from one another and work
together to explore issues and resolve problems.

Chapter5 Keeping a Teaching Journal

The nature of a teaching journal: teaching journal is an ongoing written account of
observations, reflections, and other thoughts about teaching, usually in the form of a notebook, book, or
electronic mode, which serves as a source of discussion, reflection, or evaluation.
Purpose and benefits of a teaching journal: Journal writing enables a teacher to keep a
record of classroom events and observations. We have found that without such a record, the teacher often
has no substantial recollection of what happened during a lesson and cannot use the experience of
successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) teaching as a source for further learning. The process of writing
about teaching events often leads to new insights about those events
Procedures used for keeping a journal:
1. Decide on your audience: yourself, a peer, and/or an instructor.
2. Decide on your focus: a lesson, a technique/method, a theory, a question posed.
3. Make entries on a regular basis (after a lesson, daily, or once a week).
4. Review what you have written regularly – every 2 or 3 weeks.
The audience for a teaching journal:
-The teacher
- Other teachers
Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 6
 - A supervisor
Responding to another teacher’s journal
- Affective and personalizing comments
- Procedural comments
- Direct responses to questions
- Understanding responses
- Exploratory suggestions
- Synthesis comments and questions
- Unsolicited comments and questions
Implementing journal writing
- Set goals for journal writing
- Decide who your audience is
- Be prepared to set aside time for journal writing
- Set a time frame for the writing activity
- Review your journal entries regularly to see what you can learn from them
- Evaluate your journal writing experience to see if it meets your goals
There are two approaches to writing down one’s thoughts and observations in a journal.
1. Stream-of-consciousness approach. When writing for oneself, a “stream of consciousness”
type of writing may be all that is necessary, where grammar, style, or organization is less
important than obtaining a record of teaching and feelings and thoughts about it. This
exploratory type of writing can generate lots of ideas and awareness that can be looked at after
some time and analyzed for recurring patterns.
2. Edited approach. When writing for another teacher or for a supervisor, a more edited writing
style may be helpful. Written entries by the peer or instructor can be made in the margins of
the journal.
Summary
Journal writing enables teachers to document teaching experiences and to use the process of
writing about them as means of reflecting on teaching. Journal entries also provide information
that can trigger useful conversations with peers and supervisors. Although journal-writing
procedures are fairly straightforward, successful implementation of journal writing requires
careful thought about its goals, its focus, and the time demands it can create for both writers
and readers.

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 Chapter6 Peer Observation
The nature of peer observation: Peer observation refers to a teacher or other observer
closely watching and monitoring a language lesson or part of a lesson in order to gain an
understanding of some aspect of teaching, learning, or classroom interaction.
Purpose and benefits of peer observation: The purpose of observation is to learn from
the observation experience. For the teacher being observed, the observer can provide an
“objective” view of the lesson and can collect information about the lesson that the teacher who is
teaching the lesson might not otherwise be able to gather. For both teachers, observation also has
social benefits.
Procedures used for peer observation:
-Written narrative
- Field notes
- Checklists
- The focus of an observation
- Peer coaching
Implementing peer observation:
-Select a colleague to work with
- Each teacher takes turns at teaching and observing: Complete the observation using the
procedures that were agreed on, Arrange a post-observation session.
-Supporting teachers in implementing peer observation:
+Survey teachers in order to find out what kinds of support they might need for classroom
observations
+Gather resources on classroom observations such as articles or videotapes of classroom
observations, and, if possible, invite outside experts or consultants to give a workshop on how to
do observations
+ Ask teachers who have taken part in peer observation to explain what makes for a successful
classroom observation.
+Where possible, free up time for teachers who want to engage in classroom observations.
+When teachers have successfully completed a series of classroom observations, encourage them
to report to the other teachers about their experiences.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 8

 Summary
Peer observation can help teachers become more aware of the issues they confront in the
classroom and how these can be resolved. Observation can also help narrow the gap between one’s
imagined view of teaching and what actually occurs in the classroom. By engaging in non-valuative
classroom observations, the responsibility of professional development can also shift from others
(supervisors, peers, etc.) to the individual teacher. Because observation involves an intrusion into a
colleague’s classroom, procedures for carrying out observations need to be carefully negotiated between
the participating parties. Having an observer in one’s class is always something of a threatening
experience because the teacher is now “on show.” Assigning the observer a nonevaluative task goes some
way toward minimizing the sense of threat, as does pairing teachers by choice and letting them negotiate
the goals and procedures for observations.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 9

 Chapter7 Teaching Portfolios
The nature of a teaching portfolio: A teaching portfolio is a collection of documents and
other items that provides information about different aspects of a teacher’s work. It serves to
describe and document the teacher’s performance, to facilitate professional development, and to
provide a basis for reflection and review.
Purpose and benefits of creating a portfolio: The purposes and audience for a portfolio
are crucial in determining what is selected to go into it and how the contents of the portfolio are
arranged.
-It provides a demonstration of how a teacher approaches his or her work and presents evidence of
the teacher’s thinking, creativity, resourcefulness, and effectiveness. The portfolio can thus be submitted
to a supervisor or manager as evidence of the standard of the teacher’s performance.
- Portfolio serves as a source of review and reflection. The process of compiling the portfolio
prompts the teacher to engage in a comprehensive self-assessment of different aspects of his or her work.
- portfolio can promote collaboration with other teachers. For example, it can become part of the
process of peer coaching
Procedures used in compiling a teaching portfolio
- A portfolio could include lesson plans, anecdotal records, student projects, class newsletters,
videotapes, teacher evaluations, and letters of recommendation, but the form and contents of the portfolio
will vary depending on its purpose.
- An electronic portfolio has the same goals and content as a paper-and-pencil portfolio but
presents them through the medium of the computer. It is a multimedia approach that allows the teacher to
present the portfolio in a variety of formats, such as audio, video, graphics, and text.
- Contents of a portfolio
- Evidence of your skills and competency as a language teacher
- Your approach to classroom management and organization
- Documents showing your commitment to professional development
- Information concerning your relationships with colleagues
Organizing the contents of the portfolio
-Introductions
- Artifacts
- Explanations
- Reflections
- Conclusion
Implementing teaching portfolios

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 1. Do teachers understand the nature and purpose of keeping a portfolio? An orientation session in
which teachers are given the chance to examine examples of portfolios and discuss how they can be
assembled is an important first step.
2. Participating teachers need to be given clear guidelines on what to include and within what time
frame.
3. It is crucial to establish the criteria that will be used to assess the contents of a portfolio. Will
assessment depend simply on assembling the agreed upon number of items, or will individual items also
be assessed? Teachers need to know what they need to do in order to achieve a positive evaluation.
Summary
Compiling a teaching portfolio provides a teacher with an opportunity to document his or her
strengths, skills, and accomplishments as a teacher and can also provide a rationale for undertaking some
of the other activities discussed elsewhere in this book, such as self-monitoring, journal writing,
videotaping a lesson, and peer observation. Assembling a portfolio is best viewed as an ongoing, long-
term endeavor, with new features being added as needed and when they become available. Setting
realistic goals and narrowing the contents of the portfolio are important, especially at the outset. The
process of assembling the items to include in a portfolio can trigger self-appraisal, facilitate review, and
help set goals for further development.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 11

 Chapter8 Analyzing critical incident
The nature of critical incidents: A critical incident is an unplanned and unanticipated
event that occurs during a lesson and that serves to trigger insights about some aspect of teaching and
learning. Critical incident analysis in teaching involves the documentation and analysis of teaching
incidents in order to learn from them and improve practice. The following vignette from a teacher in
Japan is an example of a critical incident that occurred during a teacher’s class.
Purpose and benefits of analyzing critical incidents: Exploring critical incidents can
have a number of benefits: It can serve as a form of reflective inquiry; it can help identify and resolve
problems; it can serve to identify good practice; and it can give teachers a heightened sense of
professional awareness.
Procedures used for analyzing critical incidents:
-Anatomy of a critical incident: Critical incidents can reveal some of the underlying principles,
beliefs, and assumptions that shape classroom practices.
- Preparing and analyzing critical incident reports: Self-observation, Self-evaluation,
- Personal critical incidents
Implementing critical incident analysis
As with other activities that involve writing about teaching, a number of decisions need to be
made in carrying out critical incident analysis. These include the following:
- Who is the audience for the analysis?
- What kinds of incidents are useful to write about?
- How much time will it take?
Summary
Critical incidents are unplanned incidents that occur during teaching and that serve to trigger
insights about teaching. Critical incident analysis involves documenting and reflecting on such incidents,
whether as an individual or in a collaborative activity. Although it can be an activity for it own sake, it is
best to combine one or more activity, such as journal writing or creating a teaching portfolio, when
analyzing critical incidents.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 12

 Chapter9 Case Analysis
The nature of case analysis: In order to understand what a case is, consider the issue of
classroom management and how we could learn more about the principles of good classroom
management. One approach would be to consult a textbook on teaching and find out what information it
contained. Such information would probably be a summary of the opinions of experts and practitioners.
Purpose and benefits of using cases: Analyzing cases based on descriptions of how
teachers deal with issues encountered in the classroom can provide a basis for arriving at valuable insights
and principles, enabling teachers to verbalize and share the problem-solving strategies they make use of
in their teaching.
Procedures for analyzing and discussing cases:
-Sources for cases: There are two sources for cases. Cases can be based on what happens in a
teacher’s own classroom. By writing and reflecting on their own cases, teachers can better arrive at an
understanding of the events as they unfold.
- Using case studies: The purpose of a case is to serve as input for discussion and reflection. This
can be done in a variety of ways.
However, the case analysis is not complete, as a decision needs to be reached about the outcome
of the case. This involves choosing one outcome from a variety of alternatives and saying why other
outcomes are rejected.
Implementing case analysis: Before considering how cases can be prepared, it is necessary
to consider the ways in which they might be used. If cases are to be used as a teacherdevelopment activity
within a school or institution, they can serve several useful functions, such as being made available as
resources in support of a particular course or to address a particular issue.
Summary
Teachers have a great deal of accumulated expertise and knowledge, though much of this is often
not available as a source of learning and reflection for others. By documenting examples of successful
practice and exploring and writing about problematic issues that arise in teaching, a rich set of records can
be produced that can be used as a basis for professional development. Cases can serve as a documentation
of good practice, providing a valuable resource for novice teachers to explore the thinking and practices
of experienced teachers. Through reading and commenting on cases, teachers can learn from the
experience of others as well as develop a deeper understanding of their own beliefs and practices.
Because cases are relatively easy to develop, they can serve as an initial teacher development activity, one
that can be followed up by other more demanding activities, such as action research.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 13

 Chapter10 Peer Coaching
The nature of peer coaching
Peer coaching is a procedure in which two teachers collaborate to help one or both teachers
improve some aspect of their teaching. Robbins (1991, p. 1) defines peer coaching as follows: A
confidential process through which two or more professional colleagues work together to reflect on
current practices, expand, refine, and build new skills, share ideas; teach one another; conduct classroom
research; or solve problems in the workplace.
Purpose, benefits, and types of peer coaching
Peer coaching is a developmental process (Joyce & Showers, 1982) and is an effective way to
promote professional development. It provides opportunities for two teachers to look at teaching
problems and to develop possible solutions.
-Types of peer coaching:
+technical coaching: Technical coaching refers to a situation in which a teacher wants to learn a
new teaching method or technique and seeks the assistance of another teacher who is experienced and
more knowledgeable in this area.
+collegial coaching: Collegial coaching involves two teachers focusing on refining their existing
teaching practices.
+challenge coaching: Challenge coaching involves two teachers focusing on a problem that has
arisen in some aspect of teaching, and they work jointly to resolve the problem.
Procedures used for peer coaching: Three initial phases are often useful in implementing
peer coaching: peer watching, peer feedback, and peer coaching (Gottesman, 2000).
-Peer watching
- Peer feedback
- Peer coaching
Peer coaching and mentoring: Mentoring is a particular form of peer coaching. It is a
process whereby an experienced teacher works with a novice teacher, giving guidance and feedback.
Mentor teachers often receive special training and support for their role as mentor.
Peer coaching is generally different from a mentor-protege relationship in that the responsibilities
are more restricted and the relationship between the coach and the teacher is more equal. The purpose of
peer coaching is to build collegiality as teachers develop themselves professionally.
Implementing peer coaching: Peer coaching may be implemented in the following ways:
-Find out teachers’ views on peer coaching
- Provide structure for teachers
- Select the form of peer-coaching activity
- Plan how and when to carry out the activity
Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 14
 - Choose specific topics
- Reflect and review
Summary
Peer coaching is a form of teacher collaboration in which one teacher coaches a peer in
performing a teaching activity. This form of collaboration offers benefits to all the participants. Peer
coaching can take the form of technical coaching, collegial coaching, or challenge coaching. It is
important to clearly define the roles of both the coach and teacher from the very beginning of the process
so that a culture of trust can be established as early as possible in the collaboration. When institutions
want to implement peer coaching, the teachers should be consulted about their concerns and informed
about their roles in the process and the type of structure the institution will provide. Sufficient time must
be allowed both by the teachers involved in the peer coaching and by the institution in which the peer
coaching occurs.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 15

 Chapter11 Team Teaching
The nature of team teaching: Team teaching (sometimes called pair teaching) is a process
in which two or more teachers share the responsibility for teaching a class. The teachers share
responsibility for planning the class or course, for teaching it, and for any follow-up work associated with
the class such as evaluation and assessment.
Purpose and benefits of team teaching: In team teaching, both teachers generally take
equal responsibility for the different stages of the teaching process. The shared planning, decision-
making, teaching, and review that result serve as a powerful medium of collaborative learning.
- Collegiality: An important benefit of team teaching is that it promotes collegiality among
teachers in a school.
- Different roles: When colleagues share a class, each has an opportunity to move between
teaching and observing or assisting, providing a change from the pace and demands of a solo-taught class.
- Combined expertise: When two teachers teach a class, they can learn from each other’s strengths
when planning and teaching lessons.
- Teacher-development opportunities: Team teaching is an effective means of teacher
development.
- Learner benefits: Learners also benefit from having two teachers present in the class.
Procedures used for team teaching
-Decide on the roles within a team-teaching collaboration: Equal partners, Delivering a team-
taught lesson, Mentor and apprentice, Advanced speaker and less proficient speaker, Fluent, untrained
native speaker and experienced nonnative speaker.
- Delivering a team-taught lesson: A crucial factor in team teaching is determining the
responsibilities of each teacher during a lesson. The different teacher roles, discussed in the preceding
section, may lead to different responsibilities within the lesson.
Implementing team teaching
-Decide on the goals of the program: When setting up a team-teaching program it is important to
decide what the purpose of team teaching is going to be.
- Prepare for team teaching: This can be achieved through planning and discussion among
teachers, during which decisions can be made about the frequency of team teaching and the logistics of
implementing it.
- Address teachers’ concerns: If you are a supervisor or program coordinator, it is important that
each team know what the overall aims of the team-teaching program are and what the relationship of
these aims to their own professional development.
-Decide model(s) of team teaching to be used and identify participants:
+ Monitor progress
Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 16
 + Evaluate what was learned
Summary
Team teaching involves a shared and collaborative approach to planning, developing, teaching,
and evaluating lessons. It is important that both members of the team take equal responsibility for each
stage of this process. The shared planning, decision making, teaching, and review that result from the
team-teaching process serve as a powerful medium of collaborative learning. Implementing successful
team teaching requires that both teachers have a strong sense of confidence in each other. Team teaching
should also be well coordinated and the lessons well monitored so that students have a sense that the
lesson is not disjointed. After the lessons, the team should review the process in order to evaluate what
was learned not only by the students but also by the teachers, so that all concerned can decide whether to
continue with these lessons or not.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 17

 Chapter11 Team Teaching
The nature of action research: Action research takes place in the teacher’s own classroom
and involves a cycle of activities centering on identifying a problem or issue, collecting information about
the issue, devising a strategy to address the issue, trying out the strategy, and observing its effects.
Action research has the following characteristics:
-Its primary goal is to improve teaching and learning in schools and classrooms and it is
conducted during the process of regular classroom teaching.
-It is usually small-scale and is intended to help resolve problems rather than simply be research
for its own sake.
-It can be carried out by an individual teacher or in collaboration with other teachers.
Purpose and benefits of action research: The other positive effect from this action
research project was the introduction of cultural/age-based workshops in teacher-training meetings. The
student interest reports were shown to teachers. Teachers then worked together to learn about topics of
interest to students. This information was used by teachers in the class to promote student-teacher or
student-student interaction, especially in times of silence caused by reluctant students or restrictive
textbooks. Student motivation and participation increased. I no longer hear many teacher complaints that
students lack character or are dull and apathetic. On the contrary, teachers now talk with enthusiasm
about students’ personal anecdotes in the teachers’ room.
Procedures used for conducting action research: Action research consists of a number
of phases, which often recur in cycles.
-Planning
-Action
- Observation
- Reflection
Burns (2002) expands this process to a cycle of eleven events that characterize action research
projects she has conducted with teachers in Australia:
- Exploring
- Identifying
- Planning
- Collecting data
- Analyzing/reflecting
- Hypothesizing/speculating
- Intervening
- Observing
- Reporting

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 18

 - Writing
- Presenting
Collect information about the issue
1. What kinds of speaking activities involve all of the class in speaking?
2. What change in error correction strategies might improve the accuracy of students’ writing?
3. What procedures for using group work will work well with my learners?
4. What error correction strategies do I use in my oral classes and how effective are they?
5. How effective are collaborative learning activities with my students?
Develop an action plan and observe its effects

Implementing action research

In planning action research, it is useful to keep these questions in mind:
- Purpose
- Topic
- Focus
- Mode
- Timing

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 19

 - Resources
- Product
- Action
- Reporting
Summary
Action research can be a powerful way for language teachers to investigate their own practice. It is
usually undertaken with the idea of improving a teacher’s classroom practice. This type of research
requires that the teacher investigate an issue that he or she has been puzzled by for a period of time by
engaging in a process of planning, action, observation, and reflection. As a result of insight gained from
undertaking an action research project, language teachers not only learn a lot about their own teaching but
can also become more expert at investigating their own practice. Teachers can also share their results with
other teachers by going to conferences or publishing their work in language teaching journals. In this
way, other teachers may be encouraged to explore their own teaching by replicating these action research
projects or by carrying out new action research studies on topics and issues they consider important or
even unique to their particular contexts.

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 20

Professional Development Nhim Bunnoeun pg. 21