Use a reflection process to assess yourself as a developing professional, with an emphasis on understanding deeply how you respond to change and innovation in the field of ESOL/ESL teaching.
“[A] new innovation has to replace something in the status quo, whether that something is consciously held or not. But the status quo is itself dynamic. The degree to which participants recognize, and even articulate the trade-off, may suggest a path of successful change. Articulating the status quo can be challenging if only because we are all living it.” – Freeman, p. 135, in Hyland & Wong (2013)
“[A systems] approach accepts that change is complex and operates within systems and sub-systems of interrelated components which cannot be isolated….Systems theory tells us that change is dynamic, non-linear, develops over time and can be chaotic and unpredictable. Small changes may have unexpected effects throughout the system.” – Kennedy, pp. 21-22, in Hyland & Wong (2013)
How have changes in educational practices impacted you professionally and personally: a) over your lifetime?; b) over the past 15 years?; c) over the past five years? What has been your experience with innovations introduced and implemented in a top-down manner, such as through decisions made by state or local authorities and mandated in your school and/or classroom? What has been your experience with innovations introduced by you and colleagues to change teaching practices in your classrooms and community?
How has your identity as an teaching professional or as an ESOL teaching professional evolved over the course of your career up to today? Have this week’s readings–the Kennedy chapter and the Freeman chapter in Hyland & Wong (2013)–influenced your understanding of how you and your students “make sense of….new ways of participating in the familiar social settings of the school and classroom,” in Freeman’s words? Does the “social identity” you have developed over the course of many personal and professional experiences affect how you “make sense of” new curricula, innovations, and mandates today?
