Plenary session: The Professional Life Cycles of Teachers - Tessa Woodward
Tessa Woodward is a teacher, teacher trainer/educator, and the professional development coordinator at Hilderstone College, UK. She is also the editor of Teacher Trainer Journal for Pilgrims and has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books, including Planning Lessons and Courses (Cambridge University Press) and Ways of Working with Teachers (TW Pubs). She was President of IATEFL from 2005 to 2007.
The Professional Life Cycles of Teachers
As we come together in Harrogate for this IATEFL conference, we will be attending talks and workshops, panel discussions and social events over several days. We will find ourselves in rooms with teachers of all kinds…. young ones and not so young ones, those from different
countries and cultures and with different mother tongues.
There may be times when we wonder why one person is getting so aerated about a particular topic or why another person seems so optimistic or pessimistic about the whole learning and teaching endeavour. This plenary may possibly help us to make sense of this for we will look at some research that has been done into the life cycles of teachers. What are the concerns of a teacher who has just started in the job?
How do these differ from those of someone who has been in the field for a few years? Or for many, many years? You will be offered a possible framework, based on number of years in the job, collated from several thinkers in the field of life cycle research. Together we will ask questions from the TESOL teacher’s point of view and finally will ponder the implications of the framework for ourselves, our colleagues and indeed for IATEFL Harrogate conference goers!
Audio from Tessa's Plenary (mp3 49.5 MB)
Opening Plenary By Tessa Woodward (Part 1)
Opening Plenary By Tessa Woodward (Part 2)
15 March 2010
1 year 37 weeks
Hello,
Sounds very interesting and promising. There is a number of forum discussions related to this topic.
Best,
Molhim
15 March 2010
1 year 43 weeks
hello Tessa Woodward
your way of thinking really interesting and inquisitive.I look forward to discuss a lot with you regarding your topic.
16 March 2010
1 year 38 weeks
Hello Tessa,
This promises to be interesting. The framework offered may help us to discover somethings about ourselves and in the process give us insights for further development.
16 March 2009
1 year 34 weeks
Hello Tessa,
I'm so sorry I won't be able to attend.
Anyway, thanks to this site, those of us who won't be attending will be able to watch the plennary sessions.
All the best,
Mercedes
1 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
I would like to attend the coming conferences if possible. I would like you to help me continue to train other teachers of my country. Many of them have never received any training since they have left university. Some are even not qualified to teach English and they most of the time use their small knowledge to be translating English in mother tongues.
2 April 2010
1 year 45 weeks
Your topic sounds extremely interesting. I'm glad there's this opportunity for us 'unhappy' IATEFL non-goers --too far to go-- to hear your talks!!!
Graciela
15 March 2010
1 year 23 weeks
Hello Ms. Woodward,
Teacher development has been discussed a lot, but this one promises more. We know what we can, but probably we have forgotten what we could and sometimes we are not of great help to out younger colleagues. I believe, a look back will help us remember things we have forgotten as well as learn some new things.
Ophelia
5 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Ms. Woodward,
The questions you are going to touch upon are relevant and of great interest for me. I am a teacher trainer and new standards for teacher training are beeing introduced in our country . The expectations( written in the standards) are very high. It seems that a newly qualified teacher should be an expert in everything: Jack of all trades! I would like to Know more about the methodology of the research.
Looking forward to reading your presentation.
Elena
10 March 2009
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa Woodward,
I have already talked to you on the Teaching English/TE website.
It is a great pleasure to see you here as it happens whenever we read your articles published in the ETp, English Teaching professional.
I recently re-read "The Secret of Success"(ETp Issue 26, 2003), in which you clearly propose the four essential elements to ensure that "learners learn".I always found it encouraging, that is your "GUT" feeling, isn't it?
I look forward to keeping learning from you, dear Tessa.
Let's see where we shall be included within your certainly appealing "Life cycle research".
Good luck to you and
All the best,
Maria
6 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Hello,
well, to be honest my life cycle as a teacher has been concerning me for the last couple of years, so hopefully I will find some answers there!
Irene
7 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
Hello Tessa,
I´m one of the many conference "non goers" who is delighted to get the chance of having this online experience. I'm eager to know about the cycles you promise to unveil for us and see if I can fit into one of them. Thanks for throwing light upon such a significant issue!
Silvina
11 March 2009
1 year 42 weeks
dear tessa,
your plenary is a wonderful kick-start on the first day of harrogate 2010.teachers all over the globe are waiting for this moment.a great going for all of us.
regards
dr.mangay
moderator for esp
7 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
This is quite interesting. I hope to be able to participate!
Regards
1 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
Hello Tessa Woodward,
I appreciate your view on teacher development. It will be better if you can plan a trip to Democratic Republic of Congo to talk with teacher trainers who cannot attend this conference on line.
1 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa,
I'm looking forward to watching you online in Istanbul!!!
Best wishes,
Candan Buge
13 March 2009
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa,
I'm sure this plenary will be enlightening as your talks always are!
I'm thrilled to be able to follow you from my home, I am a keen conference goer but this time it's impossible for me to leave Italy.
I hope to see you again some time soon over here! all the best for the conference and thank you for all your words, past, present and future!
Elizabeth, Ancona Italy
8 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
Where can we watch this session please? What is the URL?? I expected to find it on the Live Channel and/or here.
8 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa,
Just want to join those who are waiting eagerly for your sharing. The topic has made me reflect on my professional experience. Restating your words from A Course of Language Teaching, weather I am a teacher with sixteen years’ experience or that with one year’s experience repeated sixteen times?
With very warm wishes,
Irina
5 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa, the topic of your plenary talk is of great interest for me as I has been engaged in PD activities for 9 years already. Besides, my 20 years teaching experience needs to be reviewed. So I'm looking forward to online presentations and discussions.
Best wishes,
Alexandra
8 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Oops!!!
Dear Tessa,
Perhaps you have learned many new things about yourself today…Not only about Hawaii ... about being Penny Ur…I do apologise.
With very best wishes,
Irina
24 March 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Dear Tessa,
I have really enjoyed following your session online and, at times, I even applauded as if I were really there!
Thank you,
Dragana
15 March 2010
47 weeks 2 days
Dear Tessa
Thank you for an excellent talk, which really got me thinking about my stages/cycles as a teacher. I could associate with a lot of the interesting points you mentioned and it made me truly reflect. I hope to do a summary of the talk on my blog so that I will remember it for posterity.
Many thanks once again.
Janet
23 March 2009
45 weeks 2 days
Dear Tessa,
Thank you for so great plenary talk. I enjoyed every minute of it. I've been teaching English for 17 years but i'm still watching and trying any new methods and approaches that I find interesting.
I think every trade needs mastering but our profession requires this constantly.
Thanks again.
Best wishes,
Elena, Ukraine
11 March 2009
1 year 43 weeks
Tessa I loved your plenary. It was so beautifully delivered and it really spoke to me in terms of those different stages of development. Thank you so much. What I got from your talk is that we all need to be mindful of other people's stages of development and how they differ from our own. I still found myself thinking that there is a need for us to both cultivate our own "garden" but also to join forces to improve the profession for all (some landscaping). I guess its a question of balance, but without both, I wonder if things can move forwards as effectively. Thank you so much for all the hard work you so obviously put into your wonderful talk.
Sara Hannam, Greece
8 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
Dear Tessa,
We met a while ago, when I attended your teacher training course at Hilderstone University, in Broadstairs. Later on, I was fortunate to meet you again, on the occasion of an EFL Conference, in Greece (Thessaloniki, the TESOL Convention) or in Romania, I'm not sure any more.
I'm so sorry I missed your plenary, the more so for its framework of inputs from different thinkers in the field of life cycle research and its various implications for us, teachers, and our teaching.
How could I have access to this wealth of critically useful information?
I thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation, and wish you all the best,
Simona Mazilu,
Romania
8 April 2010
1 year 44 weeks
Hi Tessa,
Congratulations on your plenary and it has helped many teachers of my association who are following the presentation. They are about 70 online to get more information to improve their teaching. I am the Deputy chairperson of the Congolese Language Supporters' Society, an association of teachers of English in the Democratic republic of Congo.We expect our chairman who is attending the conference there in Harrogate to tell us more about the experience.
Once more, Congratulations and we expect a cooperation with my association
11 April 2010
1 year 40 weeks
Dear Tessa,
I have really enjoyed following your plenary.
I really benefited many new information and methods
in my career of teaching.
THANKS FOR THIS INTERESTING PRESENTATION
15 March 2010
1 year 23 weeks
Dear Ms Woodward,
Thank you for wonderful plenary. I am looking forward to meeting you in person in our Bulgarian annual conference.
Ophelia
15 March 2010
1 year 43 weeks
Unfortunately I couldn't take part in Tessa's talk. Is there any way that I (and everybody else who is interested) can receive or have access to the handout that Tessa mentions?
Thanks a lot.
Martina
5 April 2010
1 year 43 weeks
+ Thank you very much for the presentation.
I recognised many of my colleagues and myself. The problem is that in our educational system the criteria for teacher appraisal are based on the assumption that all teachers must be activists. Its like a burden for many teachers. Sometimes it provokes a burnout.
I am going to discuss this with my colleagues. It's an important issue for an institution in the process of change.
Thank you!
Elena