Facilitating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teacher Educators' Self-Study to Identify Problem Space in Teaching Teachers:
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Syaripudin, Usep
Title Proper by Another Author
A Case Study of Building a Self-Study Community of Practice in a Teachers College in Indonesia
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Whitney, Anne Elrod
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
The Pennsylvania State University
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2019
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
275
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
The Pennsylvania State University
Text preceding or following the note
2019
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
The study in this dissertation examines the potential application of self-study research as a professional development platform for EFL teacher educators in an Indonesian context. Two major theories of human learning and development underpinned this study in gaining an in-depth understanding of how EFL teacher educators engaged in conversations about their practices: Mezirow's (1991) transformative learning and Wenger's (1990) the community of practice theory. Drawing on these theories, this study asks "how do teacher educators collaboratively identify shared problem spaces for inquiry through conducting self-study about their practices in teaching teachers?" more specifically, through this question, I sought to identify: a) what kind of reflection emerges from the group conversations? And b) what is the nature of the dialogues in the conversations that might lead and hinder the reflections? Moreover, this study also asks, "what challenges and opportunities do teacher educators identify for moving forward with self-study as a community of practice?" In order to identify the answers to the questions, relying on the case study method, this study invites five teacher educators in an EFL teachers college in Indonesia. It collects the data through moderating the participants to engage in bi-monthly conversations about their practice through the platform of WhatsApp chatroom, interviewing them individually, and asking them to write a reflective essay about their experiences participating in the conversation group. Analyzing the datasets using thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis and approaching them through multiple analytical frameworks such as Kreber and Cranton's (2000) the scholarship of the teaching model, Mercer's (2004) typologies of talks in conversation, and Wenger et al. (2011) value creation in community, this study found that while the conversation group has facilitated the participants to reflect on their practice, the reflections they made are on the surface level of content and process reflection. Engaged in the dialogues in the conversation group did not provoke the participants to critically reflect on their practice because the collective knowledge they share about the context has encouraged them to immediately exchange advises to the problem they share. In consequence, the conversations develop into either disputational or cumulative and become less critical. Moreover, the analysis also reveals that, as reported by the participants, the conversation group has provided the participants with a new experience of professional development practice. It has provided them with a relatively safe and open space for talking about problems in their class and seeking help from colleagues. However, time management and area of specialization are still the issues to deal with. In order to make this conversation group a self-study community and encourage critical reflection, this study suggests the importance of expert facilitator who can act as a mediator, instructor, and role model for the participants.