Thomas S.C. Farrell

Insights into professional development in language teaching - Language Teaching Insights Thomas S.C. Farrell

A language teacher's work is never really done. From entering a teacher education program for initial qualifications onwards, language teachers must always be on the lookout for new approaches, methods and insights into their teaching and development. This need for ongoing professional development is not a reflection of any inadequate initial teacher education or training deficits, but rather a reflection that the knowledge base of language teaching is constantly expanding, and the world changing (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic pushed us all to quickly pivot to online platforms for teaching and development), and we must try to keep up with our own development. Insights into Professional Development in Language Teaching is about how we can continue with our professional development as language teachers and examines a variety of approaches (individual and collaborative) to professional development for language teachers. The book is intended as a practical introduction for language teachers, and a guide for administrators and other stakeholders, who wish to implement a coherent and strategic approach to language teacher development.


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Thomas S. C. Farrell is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Brock University, Canada. Professor Farrell's professional interests include Reflective Practice, and Language Teacher Education & Development. Professor Farrell has published widely in academic journals and has presented at major conferences worldwide on these topics. A selection of his work can be found on his webpage: www.reflectiveinquiry.ca.