View Content #23485

Language education is a dichotomous field. Contemporary approaches to language acquisition mandate curriculum standards mapped by functional language use, while the skeleton of many textbooks is formed by discreet grammar points. Educators must contend with this dichotomy while simultaneously facing the realities of teaching classrooms filled with students with differing needs and proficiency levels, attending meetings, collaborating with colleagues, and maintaining their personal lives. This question presents itself, as a result, as to how educators might stay apprised of current research in second language acquisition. The following section provides five tips for busy educators.

 

1. Set professional goals. Goals crystalize a desired endpoint. Once that endpoint is articulated, a concrete path to achievement can be developed. Even if one detours from the path, by engaging in “goal-relevant” activities (Locke & Latham, 2002, p. 706), one ensures consistent and efficient (to the extent that efficiency is possible) progress towards the goal. This step is particularly necessary for teachers contending with time constraints; there is little luxury to devote to professional development time to extraneous activities.

2. Be aware of strengths. Mike Rutherford’s discussion of his work in developing the 23 Artisan Teacher themes perfectly highlights the need to consider this awareness. He writes, “…no one attempts to employ all twenty-three themes on a regular basis…Artisan Teachers tend to identify the themes in which they are already skilled and employ those skills first and most often, to the great benefit of their students” (Rutherford,  2016). More bluntly put, no one is great at everything, and luckily, to try to be great at everything would be counterproductive. All educators have specific strengths that they should exploit in their practice. Logic holds then, that educators should use their time for engaging in research to further develop their strengths, not to belabor their weaknesses. 

3. Subscribe to free resources. Many free resources are available to educators that provide research in digestible chunks. Subscriptions to weekly digests like InterCom allow educators to tailor research to their specific needs. Scott McLeod’s blog, “Dangerously Irrelevant,” (http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org)  connects subscribers to a daily text messaging service (http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/resources/digital-leadership-daily) that links new research about the incorporation of technology in the classroom. Because of their delivery format, it is easy to read up on what is being said while waiting in line at the grocery store or the like.

4. Ensure staff meetings are targeted toward development goals. Work with department heads and professional learning community leads to incorporate some sort of professional development into meetings that is targeted toward goals for your group. These professional development sessions do not have to take up much time; participants can share the weight of presenting and leading discussions about current research for 10-15 minutes every week. Exit tickets will help direct further discussions so that the plan for continued growth is concrete and clear.

5. Advocate for the professional development you need. Once you have developed your own professional goals, find resources (materials, trainings, workshops) to help you grow. Some of these resources are quite expensive, but many administrators have money that they can devote to educators’ professional needs. Typically, these funds are more likely to be released if the educators present the goal relevance of the the resources and their consumption and connect said consumption to a positive institutional impact.

 

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Educators know this to be true. Time is often the scarcest of resources for educators and can negatively impact their continued professional growth. Hopefully, these tips provide an approach to continuing on facet of working hard toward work worth doing.