Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

Professional development interview

Integrantes
Guido Riquelme P.
Daniela Rodrguez G.

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

Introduction
The present work intends to analyze and expose what a teacher from the UCSC thinks
about professional development in general and in a personal way. The information
provided in this work was taken partly from an interview made to the teacher and from
diverse sources or authors that have presented previous investigations in this area.
This text presents analysis of the interview, general concepts related to professional
development and also some reflections about what was found.
Theoretical framework
The education policy brief, held by Margarete Kedzior, present the need of Professional
development in the pedagogical area.
According to Rhoton and Stile (2002) the teachers expertise affects significantly to
students at the moment of learning.
As Guskey states in 1995 Professional development is something which must take in
consideration the needs of a group of particular teachers that are in a particular context.
This is explained in other words by the same author in 2003. Professional development
must be understood as a way to improve the teaching practices, yet there is not a
general way of doing this.
There are some factors that affect the process of development, according to the author
there are three that is important to bear in mind. First, Birman, Desimore, Garet and
Porter (2000) highlighted the importance of extension, the longer the experience the

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

more significant is the processes of professional develop. Secondly, Birman et al. (2000)
also considered collaboration a big part of PD, this means, teachers working side-byside with their peers. And thirdly, according to the association for supervision and
curriculum development PD should be a continuous process not episodic.
The author also presented some models of professional development, such as
mentoring (Smith, 2002) and lesson study (Mid-atlantic eisenhower regional consortium,
2002). In the former novice teachers and master teachers work together, trying to learn
from each other. And, in the latter teachers work together in order to improve their
lessons.
All these methods and factors finally have some effects on teachers that are part of
these professional develop programs. Carpenter, Fennema, Franke and Levi (2001)
stated that when teachers work collaboratively, they tend to take more risks than before,
they learn from their mistakes, and they show themselves more willing to share
successful strategies tips.
Even though according to the literature professional development is something
beneficial for teachers, there exist some barriers that affect this process. As professional
development programs are time consuming, some teachers do not agree to spend part
of their leisure time on this kind of programs (Birman, Desimone, Garet, Porter and
Yoon, 2001). Also a big barrier to take into consideration is the cost. Birman et al. (2001)
states that high quality professional development programs could be expensive.

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

Description of Interviewee and data collection.

It is well known that teachers in this university keep on studying, going to conferences,
seminars, lectures, take courses in order to be up to date. Also, this university requires
teachers to have at least a masters degree in order to teach a course . In this particular
case, the interviewee has studied even after graduating from UdeC, where she got her
degree. She is currently working at the UCSC English department.
Interview transcription
How would you describe yourself as a teacher?
I dont know, uh, I think Im an organized teacher. Im a very demanding teacher. I am
very friendly, I thin. But, I think that I try to know what Im teaching and I want my
students to feel safe about that, about my expertise.
What do you think about studying abroad? Would you recommend it and
why?
Well, I strongly recommend it. Ive had the experience of studying abroad, once as a
teenager and then as an adult, I highly recommend it. I think every teacher should find
the opportunity to travel. I think its the only way that you can really get to know the
language, like, for real. And get the level of naturalness and, kind of, relax with the
language and really enjoy it. And, of course, apart from practicing and learning, but I
think its kind of this more like, more like a psychological thing, like, to lose the fright of
speaking on an everyday basis. I think thats very important.

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

What have you done in order to become what you are now, professionally
speaking?

Wow, well I have studied a lot. I have a masters degree from a prestigious university in
this area, from UdeC. I really enjoy studying. Im always reading. Im always trying to
keep up to date. Ive attended to some courses, not all of them, mostly the ones Im
interested in, like, linguistics and language stuff. Im not very keen on the pedagogical
aspects of this major. Its not my area. I guess therere lot of people whose area is that.
But, thats not my area. My area is like language and linguistics.
How would you describe your experience in this university?
Well, Ive just uh, last august it was ten years since I started working here, so its been a
very good experience. I think being part of a team which has formed or has grown with
this major, with the English major, its been important regardless of might being just a
part-time teacher, I feel part of the major and its been a very rewarding experience, I
think. I have enjoyed working here and I hope I will still enjoy it, I dont know, you never
know. But, uh, so far so good.
Analysis
By analyzing the interview, what can be mentioned is that the interviewee sees the
professional development as a very important issue since she has been studying and
keeping herself up to date and certainly that has contributed to her career, making her to
be a more complete professional, in this case a more complete teacher.

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

Another point is that she mentions the importance of being self-confident when one is
learning English. That is why she considers that studying abroad is a good opportunity
because it exposes students to the language. It forces students to use it in everyday
situations which is probably the most effective way of learning.
The interviewee states that pedagogical issues are not her area yet she has a wide
knowledge in terms of language itself. Some students may find necessary to keep
pedagogical strategies in mind everytime they do a class but, according to this teacher,
maybe it is not so. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that every teacher has their
own techniques.
Finally, the environment created by the teachers can affect in a negative or in a positive
way depending on how it is. As we have seen at schools where we have participated,
the environment of work is important because teachers spend most of their days
surrounded by the same people so it can affect their moods and their own motivation.
Conclusion
The literature and the interviewee agree on the importance of professional development.
Not only because affects the teaching practice but also because it has a big impact on
our students, especially for the reason that it can cause the successful or failure of their
learning process. Nowadays to attend to a conference, a lecture, or a course is not as
expensive and occasional as it was previous years. The tools to improve their teaching
practices are there, is on the teachers use them and make them an active part of their
teaching process.

Universidad Catlica de la Ssma Concepcin

Facultad de Educacin
English Teaching
Didactics II

References.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. (2003) What professional
development structures best affect classroom instruction? Translating Education
Research into Action. 1(15), 1-4.
Birman, B. F., Desimone, L., Garet, M. S., & Porter, A. C. (2000) Designing professional
development that works. Educational Leadership. 57(8), 28-33.
Birman, B. F., Desimone, L., Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., & Yoon, K. S. (2001) What
makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of
teachers. American Educational Research Journal. 38(4), 915-945.
Carpenter, T. P., Fennema, E., Franke, M. L., & Levi, L. (2001) Capturing teachers
generative change: A Follow-up study of professional development in
mathematics. American Educational Research Journal. 38(3), 653-689.
Guskey, T. R. (1995) Results-oriented professional development: In search of an
optimal mix of effective practices, North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.
Guskey, T. R. (2003) Analyzing lists of the characteristics of effective professional
development to promote visionary leadership. NASP Bulletin. 87(637), 38-54.
Kedzior, M. (2004). Teacher Professional Development. Education Policy Brief
(pgs. 1-5). Delaware: University of Delaware.
Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Regional Consortium. (2002) What is lesson study? Research
for Better Schools. V(2), 1-2.
Smith, S. (2002) Teacher mentoring and collaboration. Journal of Special Education
Technology. 17(1), 47-48.