profile 1.p65


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6PROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILEPROFILE

INTRODUCTION

We perceive teachers to beagents of change who arecharacterised by high self-
esteem as well as by cultural and
professional identity. Likewise, we suppose
teachers possess solid knowledge of their
teaching fields and abilities to identify
problems as well as to provide solutions
to them within particular educational
contexts. For those reasons, and in order
to help teachers strengthen their
professional knowledge, the programmes
offered to English teachers in the Foreign
Languages Department of the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia since 1995 have
included three main components:
language development, methodological
updating and classroom research. The first
two components respond to the trainees’
manifested needs to maintain or improve
competence in using and teaching the
target language, whereas the last one
attempts to foster innovation.

Regarding innovation, we should point
out that it cannot take place without
previous research. We opted for action
research as a means to encourage
teachers to investigate the classroom
despite the limitations of their working
conditions as well as the research tradition
in the area of English language teaching
and learning in our country. Keeping in
mind Wallace’s remarks, we admit  that
action research “is not for everyone. For
one thing, it makes demands on our time,
and also requires the ability to look at

evidence of our own practice in a more
detached and objective way than we
normally do. Nevertheless, if we can find
the time and energy to do it, and we find
it congenial, there is ample evidence that
this approach can provide all sorts of
interesting and helpful professional
insights”. (Wallace, Michael. 1998.
Action Research for Language  Teachers.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
p. 1).

The teachers who took part in the TPD
Programme carried out from 1998 to 1999
selected the working system that would respond
to their personal interests. Some of them
decided to work individually in solving a
problem in their place of work whereas others
opted for team-work. In the former case,
teachers chose data collection procedures such
as sur veys, audio and video recordings,
documentary evidence (students’ work) and
diaries as a means to do self-observation and
to keep track of research in progress. In the latter,
the topic of investigation was selected bearing
in mind common concerns among members of
a team and the generalisibility of findings, that
is to say, the possibility of applying innovations
being implemented in the classroom under
investigation in other teachers’ classrooms.
This allowed them to do peer observation in a
systematic way.

Due to the integration of action research
into the TPD Programmes, we have observed
several gains: collaborative work, validity and
reliability of findings as a result of the
examination of  phenomena from different
perspectives, the sharing of teachers’ findings,
and changes in beliefs about the role of the



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teacher as a researcher, among others. These
achievements have shown that classroom-
centred research provides a great deal of useful
information about how classes are taught and
promotes self-monitoring by classroom
practitioners. Likewise, we can contribute to
bridging the gap between theory and practice
by encouraging teachers to adopt an
investigative orientation to their own
classrooms. In so doing, teachers can evaluate
acquired knowledge and suggested innovations
in the light of school life.

The PROFILE Journal is an annual
publication for professionals interested in
continuing their professional development.
This journal is mainly concerned with
sharing the results of classroom research
projects undertaken by primar y and
secondary school teachers while taking
part in Professional Development
Programmes in our University.

The first part of this issue contains
some papers written by teacher educators
who participated in the 1998-1999

programme. The second section includes
a series of articles based on the classroom
research projects developed by teachers
either individually or in small groups and
which follows the principles of action
research. Finally, we include a list of
research projects worked out by teachers
in the programmes carried out from
January to May, 1995 and from September
1996 to September 1997. The complete
versions of the research reports can be
viewed in our Department. There, we can
find a detailed account of theoretical
issues, research procedures and findings
in various teaching settings.

The papers included in this first number
represent the culmination of countless
hours of work on the part of school
teachers involved in the in-ser vice
programme. The editor is grateful for their
dedication and thanks them for giving us
the opportunity to learn from them and
with them. •