Promoting professional development through collaboration in a content-based instruction environment

Abstract

Teacher's professional development (PD) has become an increasing and urgent need in public schools, especially, regarding the lack of English language teachers in Colombian elementary educational contexts. This is one solid reason why teachers should work together in order to promote their professional growth. According to Ganser (2000) formal experiences that include professional meetings, working with peers, and mentoring foster professional development. This qualitative case study, that took place in a public school in Barranquilla, intended to determine to what extend the collaboration between an expert English teacher and one primary educator influenced the latter's professional development. Data was collected through direct observations, interviews, and a questionnaire. The findings show that the primary teacher improved her teaching practice as a result of the mentoring process conducted with the help of the expert English teacher. She was able to design coherent lesson plans, include new teaching strategies such the use of visual aids, error correction, and provide positive feedback on learners’ contributions. Additionally, she made use of more interaction patterns and increased the use of English expression in class. Finally, this study evidenced the effectiveness of collaboration between colleagues that not only benefitted the mentee's but also the mentor's professional development resulting in mutual professional growth.