1. UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE LA SANTÍSIMA CONCEPCIÓN
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
PEDAGOGÍA EN EDUCACIÓN MEDIA EN INGLÉS
“PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
REACTION PAPER”
Course: English Methodology II
Teacher: Roxanna Correa
Student name: Camila Cuevas

2. Concepción, November 22, 2013
Joanne Pettis (2002) presents her reflections on developing the
professional competence as ESL teachers. She strongly states there is a need on
reflecting and committing oneself to the continuing development of one’s
professional competence on a regular basis. The author also declares ESL
teachers have the necessity to continuous the lifelong process of learning in and
outside the classroom, for this is vital to their professional competence. The social
aspect of teaching presents educators as agents of change who facilitate the
development of the student’s communicative competence, concept defined by
Tedick and Walker (1994) as the ability to communicate and understand messages
across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Pettis asserts principles, knowledge and
skills are undoubtedly the three aspects that make an educator professionally
competent. Moreover, she argues these aspects to be equally important since
there must be a balance in order to assure professional effectiveness. Knowledge
and principles without skills or, skills and knowledge without principles are
considered unacceptable states by Pettis.
The author also states the importance of learning new things while each teaching
career naturally evolves, and making a personal commitment to the own
professional growth. She says it is a professional responsibility that should be
undertaken by every teacher, promising to make the most of the opportunities that
are presented not because it is an obligation, but because it is beneficial for both
teachers and students.
In her article Elizabeth Taylor (2002) refers to the importance on conducting
research in the classroom. The author declares whenever there is a doubt or
question about a particular topic relating your context, no matter how specific it
may be, there is an opportunity to conduct an investigation. For instance, a teacher
may realize that when students work in groups of four, they tend to stand up and

3. walk around the classroom much more than if they were working in pairs. In this
text, Taylor communicates some steps to teachers in order to conduct a research.
Among these steps, the author mention teachers should have
casual
conversations in order to find out whether these behaviours have been seen in
other classrooms as well. The idea is that this informal chat provides the
opportunity to share ideas that could be useful and learn from colleagues. After
this, Taylor states the need to decide whether to work alone or in a group and to
find out if some previous studies on the topic have been conducted in the past.
Later the author uses the research of a teacher as an example of how to conduct a
research in which she mentions collecting information, analysing it and making
conclusions of it as parts of the investigation. Finally, the author asserts that
investigating in the classroom is absolutely positive not only for the development of
their particular class but also to the whole area of teaching as well.
Penny Ur (2002) begins the article with a definition of professional and
states the dissimilarities that differentiate -almost- professional teachers with
concepts such as lay, amateur, technician and academic in terms of the quality of
preparatory, standards and the level of commitment each of them have. As stated
by the author, a professional of education should be committed to its job from the
moment of preparation that leads to it, such as pre-service or in-service courses, to
the learning that continues through all its professional’s working life. In addition to
this, the skills that an educator has and the context in which they are used
differentiate professionals from technicians and academics, respectively. These,
alongside with responsibility, are the matters she remarks through the article she
considers give teachers the level of professionals. Penny also declares that
English teachers are a community of colleagues committed to reach certain
standards of performance, which are continuously learning and publishing new
ideas in an autonomous way and are responsible for the training of pre-service
teachers. To conclude, the author specifies that even though English teachers
have not reached the level to be considered professionals yet, there is a growing
effort in organisations that will eventually lead to the degree of professionalism
expected.

4. The most important statements of Brown (2001) are the ones referring to the
relation of teachers and learning. He states that educators are continuously
learning though not only educational situations such as conferences or workshops
but actually in every moment of their working life. The author states that a student
asking a question or a doubt presented by a colleague can be a challenge in a
teacher’s professional life and will undoubtedly enrich his or her knowledge in all
aspects.
Brown presents a list of eight different goals that can certainly help
teachers develop their professional competence though the course of years and
while getting more and more experience. Additionally, he states that these goals
should be taken step by step and not expect to achieve them all at once for it is a
long and difficult road to become an expert in the area and he also suggests
teachers should help each other since it is a much more enriching process than
doing all on their own.

5. Evaluation
Firstly, I have to admit I agree with all the ideas presented by Joanne Pettis
(2002) in her reflections. I agree when she states there must be a balance between
principles, knowledge and skills. When I first arrived at the university to study my
major I believed principles and skills were not as important as knowledge, but over
the course of years and the practices at school I have learnt and realized the three
are equally important. I have learnt that a teacher who knows all the grammar but
lacks the skills to teach it is the same as a doctor who knows the theory but is not
able to operate. Now I think that we as teachers need to have all the knowledge, all
the skills and all the principles in the same amount and we should be able to make
one good professional from the combination of all. In my experience as a student in
the university I have seen many times professionals that lack one of these three
aspects and unfortunately, they seem to have no interest in changing it, which
takes me to the next idea of the author: every teacher should be committed to their
professional development.
I consider this as one of the most important activities a teacher should do regularly.
In my case, I have attended as many conferences and workshops as I have could
and hope to continue participating when I am a professional. I have a constant
desire to learn and try new things, which explains my interest in these sorts of
activities, and to me, the chance to exchange knowledge with more experienced
and full of advises professionals is a very enriching opportunity to develop as a
professional. While reading Petti’s reflections I found myself nodding since I agree
with her ideas on this matter and it was very gratifying to know that I have been
committed to my future students on a level I had not give much thought before.
To conclude, as in the text says, it is important to show a high level of responsibility
with ourselves and our students which reinforces the idea that teachers must have
a willingness to learn new activities or techniques to use them in class. Sometimes
teachers tend to avoid these professional development opportunities, becoming
out-dated and more of a problem than someone who provides help.

6. Secondly, I consider the text of Elizabeth Taylor (2002) of most use since
we are facing a final stage in our major. During this last academic year, I have
been exposed to many different theories and papers in which investigations are the
protagonist and to be completely honest, it has been very confusing at times.
When I first read the text in class, I thought it was quite motivating and very easy to
follow with all the descriptions and examples in it. Now that I have read it more
carefully, I still believe that but I also consider that the impact that an investigation
has on our context in immense and it can be the extra push we sometimes need to
improve our performance as educators. Additionally, I consider it now as another
way to develop our professional competence for it certainly contributes to the
constant needs we present though our career. In my opinion, I believe conducting
investigations on particular topics are an excellent way to try to find solutions to
problems that seem to not have a clear answer. Moreover, it is a good opportunity
to contribute to the improvement of the educational system we are immersed.
It has been during these last two years I have realized I would like to conduct
investigations in the future, for I believe everyday matters in schools should and
can be studied with the same level of professionalism as any other scientific
studied issue. I think this is an activity that should be largely encouraged by
authorities such as the Ministry of Education and every single school in our country
since provides an effective and powerful tool lo every context in which is
conducted. Even though some professionals might find it difficult to implement, I
consider these challenges to be one of the most rewarding since contributing to the
development of other teachers and students it is not very common in our Chilean
society. To conclude, I have to admit it was a very interesting article from beginning
to end for the example used by the author gave me a clear view on how to find
something interesting in my professional context and be able to expand it and take
it to the next level.
Thirdly, I have to say I had never had the chance to read any work of Penny
Ur (2002) but I did know she is a very important author of our times, which gave
me an extra interest while reading her article. I saw Penny in a conference earlier
this year and her ideas are quite similar to the ones I heard in that opportunity. I

7. believe this author, given her vast experience, talks from a much known
perspective than others could, which makes me feel confident about her. I have to
admit she makes good points on the distinctive aspects on a professional versus
amateurs and all the other categories and I found myself wondering whether I was
on my way to become a professional or any other from the list. When we started
this major, I think none of us knew how difficult and hard it would be, but though
the years, I think we have learnt the importance of preparing ourselves in every
aspect possible. The experience the teaching practicum gives us ever semester,
added to the constant theories and discussions that take place in and outside
university classrooms had given us a wide range of opinions on what is expected
from a teacher. Some of my classmates –and professors as well- still believe that
you can be a teacher if you have a good level of English and tend to forget about
the skills and expertise that requires to be an educator. However, I do consider
there is a thin line between one and another, and sometimes one tend to make that
confusion and call ‘professional’ to an academic or vice versa.
Finally, I totally agree with Brown (2001) when he states educators never
stop learning because I have seen many cases in which I see my own school
teachers attending workshops and some of them have even talked to me about this
matter. I consider this as one of the most interesting things in teachers since it is
very important to be constantly acquiring new knowledge and making a good use
of it in the practice. Another aspect that caught my attention was Brown’s list
because I actually consider it very helpful for us pre-service teachers, since we
tend to expect much of ourselves as we expect from our students, but actually in
reality things work in a different way. When we first go to schools as pre-service
teachers we believe we can perform a class just as it is told in university, but when
we face reality we discover that it is not the case at all. Most of the time it is quite
stressful to deal with the different situations presented in the classroom and it is
particularly interesting to find out some teachers in school are not very willing to
help us when we face difficulties.

8. References
Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language
pedagogy (2nd. Ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman.
Pettis, J. (2002). Developing our professional competence: some reflections. In J.
C. Richards, & W. A. Renandya, Methodology in language teaching: an
anthology of current practice, 395-396. (Reprinted from TESL Canada
Journal, 14(2), 67–71, 1997).
Richards, J. C., & Renandya, W. A. (Eds.). (2002). Methodology in Language
Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, E. (2002). Research in your own classroom. In J. C. Richards, & W. A.
Renandya, Methodology in language teaching: an anthology of current
practice, 397-403. (Reprinted from TESOL in Context, 3(2), 6–10, 1993).
Tedick, D. J., & Walker, C. L. (1994). Second language teacher education: The
problems that plague us. Modern Languages Journal, 78, 300–312.
Ur, P. (2002). The English teacher as professional. In J. C. Richards, & W. A.
Renandya, Methodology in language teaching: an anthology of current
practice, 388-392. (Reprinted from English Teaching Professional, 2, 3–5,
1997).