A JTE’s conceptualizations of a lesson grounded in professional discourse to better inform practice

Abstract

Abstract

The study examines the teaching practice of a high school Japanese teacher of English (JTE) to depict her efforts in professional self-development and to meet curriculum demands of the national English curriculum in Japan requiring teacher change. A lesson is selected to show how it reflected approaches in her instruction away from static, traditional methods. The lesson uses a jigsaw activity that the JTE (the author) conceptualized as being embedded in approaches to her instruction supported by social constructivism, communicative language teaching and cooperative learning. The study is framed around Gee’s theory of Discourse.  The concept (always used in upper case form) has a personal and social identity dimension—a way of being, thinking, talking and acting appropriately within the communities of which one is a member.  For teachers, acquiring a ‘secondary’ professional Discourse leads to conceptualizations of teaching that better inform practice. The study shows how conceptualizations of the JTE’s instruction--enriched through profession knowledge gained in a postgraduate program--were applied in practice. Conceptualizations of the lesson through Discourse are detailed. Results from student feedback show the success of the lesson to support the direction the JTE is taking in her self-directed professional development and meeting curriculum goals. (200 words)