Teacher Development vs Teacher Training
My prior post discussed teacher development and what it is, using Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development (Chapter 1: Defining Teacher Development).
This post uses the information about TD and moves forward to explain the differences between TD and TT (Teacher Training). Within the field of TESOL, neither of these 2 concepts are incorporated much into our teaching practice and this leads to misconceptions and negative attitudes towards TD and TT. Sometimes, they are difficult to even differentiate due to the lack of knowledge and exposure teachers have with them.
Within the discussion of Teacher Development and Training, the bi-polar scale helps to show the differences between the two concepts and how we can understand them easier. However, it is argued that rather than separation of the two, they should be closer linked to allow for a more cohesive growth for teachers.
Adrian Underhill believed that TT depended more so on pedagogic skills and knowledge of the topic. The idea of understanding methodology, techniques and more technical ideas was something that should stem from training. He understood that ‘the kind of person I am affects my teaching, but I don’t really see what I can do about this other than by gaining experience’. TD more so looked at the personal self of a teacher within the classroom and how they operated. ‘I believe that education is change and that I will not be able to educate unless I am also able to change, otherwise my work will come to have a static quality about it that is not good for me or for my students.’
Underhill recognised the differences between the technical and the practical, but still saw the cohesive element that they shared in helping towards the overall growth of a teacher and their practices. Tessa Woodward reinforces this idea and explains how with the bi-polar scales, it creates a sense that one side is more dominant or better than the other side. This causes a shift in the focus with teachers and educators towards one or the other, having not quite understood the differences and benefits of both, but rather that the concepts offer only one choice.
Rob Bolitho takes this idea of ‘one or the other’ and talks about how they can compliment each other rather than stand a part. His personal perspective reflects how a teacher’s personality into their practice can be just as important as skills based teaching practice, although this is not to say one is better than the other. He explains how the unfortunate reality is often that development is traded in for training, and this can usually be seen when teachers decide to study a Masters course or take additional in-service training to ‘grow’ as teachers.
The developmental aspect can be seen as having ‘room to grow’. With growth, we take what we know and try to address it from a different angle. He explains how some teachers may do this through yoga or drama classes, building upon what they already have and expanding it to use it differently. Training introduces us to new concepts and ideas and what we know can either be replaced or left untouched.
With training, there seems to be the notion that, “Now I have finished, I am qualified”, and this idea is what can stagger development from teachers. By understanding that training acts as the technical instrument in our teacher practice and development allows us to grow those skills, our teaching practice flourishes and we become better rounded as teachers.
*Bolitho’s article raises some interesting questions such as:
. What aspects of your present job did your initial training not prepare you for?
. What did you do/have you done about this?
. What else would have been helpful in your initial training?
. What kind of in-service training would be most helpful to you now?
. What can you do to help bring this about?
Development promotes the idea of ‘change’ and by taking time to understand what we can change about ourselves/our teaching practice, only then will we begin to develop. The cohesion between TD and TT is that we can’t replace one with the other but rather use TD to build upon our TT.
What a lot of TESOL teachers don’t receive is TD and that is mostly down to the ‘learning on the job’ notion imposed by their institutions. By looking at the above questions * we are able to find a starting point into a journey of development and this will allow us to grow as teachers and to understand what is needed to develop.
Part 1: Teacher Development: What Is It?
References
Head, K & Taylor, P (1997): Readings in Teacher Development (Chapter 1: Defining Teacher Development)
Tessa Woodward - How are training and development different?
Adrian Underhill - The differences between training and development
Rod Bolitho - How can training and development compliment each other?
