Exploring english teachers’ knowledge construction in professional development: methodological dimension

Abstract

This thesis presents a narrative study that looks into three pre-service EFL public school teachers’ stories with the view to giving account of their knowledge construction in regards with their TPD methodological dimension. The study was conducted in Bogota, Colombia. The two concerns of the research were: 1) what these three EFL teachers’ narrative telling reveals concerning their methodological dimension in terms of their TDP knowledge construction when sharing their experiences. 2) what knowledge they have constructed as a way to make sense of their world, concerning their professional growth. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, which eventually underwent a process of filtering for their final analysis. The data analysis was carried out by considering narrative analysis frameworks that met the needs of this particular study. Results suggest three main categories for knowledge construction: outer sources, mediating sources, and inner sources. These teachers’ narratives also suggest that their TPD knowledge construction starts at a pre-service education level, influenced by their prior experiences and knowledge. The practical knowledge these three teachers have constructed are at the level of skills: classroom management, class planning, and teaching vocabulary; at the level of cognitive process: teaching methodologies; and at the level of reflective practices: reflective insights concerning their practices.