Chapter proposals accepted

Some of us responded to Paul Breen’s call (LTE blog, “Miscellaneous News”, March 2013) for chapter proposals for a book edited by him, entitled Cases on Teacher Identity, Diversity, and Cognition in Higher Education. It is to be published by IGI Global some time towards the end of 2014.

Several of our proposals have been accepted. They include Magdalena de Stefani’s, Mariam Attia’s and Magda Rostron’s submissions.

Magdalena De Stefani:

 This is a slightly (minimally) modified extract from my proposal.

‘Challenging traditions: Constructing an identity through innovative teaching practices in Uruguay’

In my chapter I present the case of Mariana, a Uruguayan non-native speaking teacher of English working at a primary school. I describe the explorations through which Mariana and I engaged in an action research process to reconstruct her experience of introducing a new approach to the teaching of emergent literacy with six- and seven-year-olds at the same school. Mariana and I jointly analysed a series of interviews, observations and class recordings held over a three-month period. In addition, we engaged in Cooperative Development sessions (Edge 2002:18) using the framework to engage in ‘a mixture of awareness-raising and disciplined discourse’ as a further means of facilitating our understanding of Mariana’s professional development processes. Through the analysis, we explored her practices, her identity as a NNS teacher, her ability to deal with change and innovation, her relationship with peers, as well as her newly-discovered roles as researcher, leader and change agent.

Mariam Attia:

 ‘The role of early learning experiences in shaping teacher cognition about technology use’

The term Apprenticeship of Observation refers to the often hidden, nevertheless profound, influence of schooling experiences on teachers’ pedagogical beliefs (Lotrie, p. 61). In my chapter, I investigate the relationship between Arabic language teachers’ early experiences as learners and their cognitions about ICT use. Naturally, practitioners with many years of experience will not have encountered elements of technology, as we know it today, during their schooling years. However, findings suggest that perceptions furnished early in life of what constitutes ‘good’ or ‘bad’ practice do shape teachers’ cognitions about teaching including the use of ICT. The study underscores the importance of reflective practice for teacher development. Practitioners need opportunities to identify associations between Apprenticeship of Observation and their current cognitions about teaching including cognitions about ICT integration.

Magda Rostron:  

Working title: ‘An exploration of identity of NNS teachers of English through narratives of teacher experience’  

In my proposed chapter I address the following threads:

• NARRATIVES OF TEACHER EXPERIENCE
• NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKING TEACHERS OF ENGLISH
• TEACHER IDENTITY

The teaching profession, particularly in the field of TESOL, seems to be undergoing multi-directional transitions, with teachers often finding themselves in an ‘ideological’ no-man’s land, facing questions in regard to content, methods, audience, underlying principles and goals of their teaching and, perhaps most importantly, their own professional identity in and out of the classroom. I explore the issue of teacher identity in the fast-changing context of the Qatari educational system, using my own story as a non-native speaking teacher of English in Qatar and incorporating other NNS teachers’ narratives. Through interviews and focused analysis of teachers’ stories, I investigate commonalities and contrasts in the way we formulate and practise our teaching philosophies, examining how we are/can be teachers, native and non-native alike, in the TESOL landscape of Qatar.

Magdalena, Mariam and Magda