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THE PROFESSIONAL LIFE-CYCLES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES (TESOL) This thesis focuses on the findings of a research study conducted in Geneva and Sydney to examine the career cycles of TESOLs. It explores many of the issues investigated in Huberman???s study of 160 secondary school teachers in Geneva (1989, 1993). Seventy-three in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and trainers / administrators in adult TESOL, and professional development issues were examined in greater detail than in the Huberman study. The central purpose of the study was to test the universality of the Huberman model of career phases. TESOLs were found to have far more variations during their career cycles than school teachers, who were in a more stable and predictable situation. The study focused on particular moments in the career cycle, exploring TESOLs??? levels of satisfaction. TESOLs in the present study were found to have similar intrinsic satisfactions and concerns about working conditions as the findings of other TESOL studies. Although the occupation was reportedly becoming increasingly more professional, its unpredictable nature made it stimulating and rewarding. In spite of the instability of the TESOL career, TESOLs appeared to have more positive career experiences overall than many school teachers with more stable career paths. The study also examined professional development issues by comparing the perceptions of TESOLs and their trainers / administrators. They had many divergent opinions as to the professional development requirements of TESOLs. While there was no conclusive evidence that professional development could be linked to stages, TESOLs in a phase of diversification were found to have different professional development requirements from other phases. Personal, professional and environmental factors also affect the professional development requirements of TESOLs at any stage. In summary, it appears that the traditional career phase model is inappropriate when applied to TESOLs, and perhaps for other similarly unstable careers. With the recent changes in people???s professional lives, requiring increasing mobility and adaptability in the changing job market, other career path models to guide counselling, professional development and other staff management programs will need to be explored.

This study's purpose was to provide data on major inhibitory factors experienced by a third of Oregon high school English teachers in areas of: attitudes, behaviors, and physical and emotional effects of theme assessment. Methods employed two analyses: (1) statistical testing of the independent variable of teaching experience (1 to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 10, and 11+ years) applied to twelve null hypotheses by the Chi-Square test for significance; and (2) descriptive analysis of frequencies. Hypotheses were stated to measure no significant differences between years of experience and twelve assumptions about: 1)number of themes assessed per month, 2)hours spent per month on theme assessment, 3)assessment turnaround time, 4)amount of commentary given, 5)perceptions that most students do not seem to apply assessment suggestions to subsequent themes, 6)fatigue affecting judgment in assessment, 7)perceptions that assessment may adversely affect eyesight, 8)feelings of despair over students making the same errors previously pointed out, 9)perceptions that burnout is related to assessment, 1O)perceptions that a journalism copy editing course would be unlikely to lessen assessment time, ll)the belief that composition should be taught as a separate course, 12)perceptions that a teachers' short course on assessment would have practical application to an increased theme load. Measured by Chi-Square, the first hypotheses was rejected; the other eleven were retained. Descriptive analyses supported null hypotheses results and yielded conclusions about: l)assessment loads and teachers behaviors, 2)in-service training and assistance, and 3)attitudes about a national standardized theme structure, theme writing per se, and work loads of other disciplines. Recommendations include smaller and fewer classes, a separate composition course, and further assessment training, Suggestions for further research include investigating the lack of militancy in high school English teachers, feasibility of shifting assessment training to Education Departments, applicability of copy editing training, studying teachers' physical and emotion-related ailments. / Graduation date: 1990

The purposes of this study were to understand the opinions of English teachers in junior high school in Kaohsiung City on the selection criteria and the influence factors for English textbooks, and to offer a few concrete suggestions for the improvement of junior high schools textbook selection according to the results. The research adopted questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was designed and distributed to 400 English teachers from 45 junior high schools in Kaohsiung City as the subjects. As a result, 305 were valid responded corresponding with a 76% of return rate. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe method were conducted for data analysis and finally come to the following results: 1. The teachers generally agree to the importance of the textbook selection criteria, in which they emphasize the most on ¡§context-related properties,¡¨ and the less on ¡§physical properties.¡¨ 2. On the whole, the teachers agree to the influence factors on textbook selection, and the ¡§internal factors¡¨ have more influence than the ¡§external factors.¡¨ 3. English teachers are the main participants in selecting English textbooks in junior high school, and the final results are determined in the meeting of textbook selection. 4. There are significant different opinions on the importance of the textbook selection criteria due to the ¡§school sizes,¡¨ ¡§genders,¡¨ ¡§years of teaching experience,¡¨ and the ¡§experiences of textbook selection.¡¨ 5. There are significant different opinions on the influence factors on textbook selection because of the ¡§locations of school,¡¨ ¡§educational qualifications,¡¨ ¡§years of teaching experience,¡¨ and the ¡§experiences of textbook selection.¡¨ Based on the results of the study, some suggestions are proposed to the educational authorities, schools, teachers and publishers, as well as future studies.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-135).

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this dissertation was to gain greater understanding about how preservice secondary English/language arts teachers made use of multicultural theory and practice in the context of urban classrooms. This qualitative case study examined preservice teachers’ employment of the multicultural knowledge and tools they gained in the university setting when placed in the far different reality of diverse, urban schools. Employing the frame of figured worlds, this research strove to tease out how preservice teachers negotiated the complex and varied worlds through which they traveled when learning to teach, and to document their movement from novices committed to equity to those capable of nurturing and enacting social justice. The resulting successes and struggles derived by data analysis yielded three themes. The first detailed the impact of figured worlds in positioning preservice teachers inside of the schools; the second explored the participants’ notions of multiculturalism and their capacity for enacting literacy events supportive of social justice; the third and final theme described the tentative successes of the preservice teachers as they relied on sociocultural tools inside the classroom, as well as their burgeoning advocacy stance regarding students. Findings focused on three areas of interest. First, that the fragmented understandings of multiculturalism inhibited the preservice teachers’ capacity to enact culturally relevant or responsive pedagogy; second, that the participants struggled with how to merge their notions of effective pedagogical practice given the rigid district-adopted curriculum they were expected to teach; and finally, that as the preservice teachers learned to author their own experiences inside the figured world of schools and create a space for students to do the same, they grew into more efficacious practitioners. Implications indicate that first, preservice teacher education programs should offer practicing teachers greater opportunities to consider figured world theory and funds of knowledge approaches early in their fieldwork experiences so that they might better contextualize the experience and develop a mindset that deflects deficit thinking. The second implication directly impacts teacher educators, calling on them to make the abstract theories studied in the university classroom more concrete and connected to the realities existing in schools. The third and final implication calls on teacher education programs to work diligently to foster a dialogue with preservice teachers that centers on issues of social justice. / text