ESOL teacher educators’ learning initiatives and perceived learning needs: still a pending task

Abstract

Even though international research has offered a rich account of teacher educators’ professional learning, it has overlooked the implications of the disciplines they teach for their professional learning engagement. Therefore, it is timely to examine teacher educators from different fields of expertise to offer a more specific and subject-related understanding of their professional learning involvement. This study investigates the initiatives that Chilean university-based ESOL teacher educators engage in to continue learning and their perceived professional learning needs. Data are drawn from a national web-based survey and a focus group. The results suggest that individual formal learning opportunities that are highly valued, and sometimes prescribed, by higher education institutions are predominant. Their professional learning needs, however, relate mainly to promoting collaborative peer-learning, advancing knowledge about diversity in the classroom and technology literacy, and enhancing their research skills and practice in language teaching. This study highlights the importance of identifying these needs as a foundation to design learning opportunities that meet the demands of the profession and the particularities of each discipline. Recommendations to enhance their continuous education towards a view of professionalism that recognises their ability to manifest ideas and agency to effect change are discussed.