language teacher education

PerspectivesHEIDIBYRNES,AssociateEditorGeorgetownUniversityAMONGTHEMOSTBELOVEDSAYINGSINthelanguageprofessionisthis:Successfullan-guagelearnersinnosmallmeasurehaveattainedthatsuccessbecause,somewhereintheirlan-guagelearningbiography,therewasanoutstand-ingteacherwhoinspiredandmotivated,whochallengedandrewarded,andwhoencouragedandsupportedthelengthylearningprocess,oftenovermanyyearsandbeyondaparticularteachingrelationship.Thoseofuslocatedattheuniversitylevelusuallyaddacorollarytothatsaying:OurabilitytodoourworkwellcriticallydependsonajobwelldonebyteachersinK–12education.Ofcourse,awarenessofthecentralroleofteachershasalwaysbeenatthecoreofourprofes-sionalidentity,justasawarenessofthedireconse-quencesofpoorteachinghasalwaysbeenamongthemosttroublingnegativesinourprofessionalledger.Thisissonotleastbecausepooror,atleast,uninspiredteachingtendstofigurepromi-nentlywhenstudentsdiscontinuelanguagestudyandwhenthepublicconcludesthatlanguagesjustcannotbelearnedinaworthwhilewayexceptbypeoplewitha“gift”forlanguagesorunderspe-cialcircumstances,suchasimmersionorstudyabroad.APerspectivescolumnthatseekstoexam-ine“TheChallengeofEnsuringHigh-QualityLanguageTeachersinK–12Classrooms”mustthereforebeoccasionedbyconcernsbeyondsuchstaplebeliefs.Indeed,recentdevelopmentshavemadeitabundantlyclearthatindividualclass-roomteachers’abilitytodoa“goodjob”isre-markablyshapedbyamultitudeofprofessionalandsocietaldynamicsthathavesweptacrossthelanguagefield.Onemightevenspeakofbuffet-ingwindsthathaveblownawaymanyassumptionsabouthowwebestconceptualize,trainfor,watchover,support,andquitesimplymanageteachingandlearninglanguagesintheageofglobalization.Letmementionthreeparticularlyprominentissuesthatillustratetheheightenedneedtoensurehigh-qualitylanguageteachersinK–12classrooms.AmongthemandatesoftheNoChildLeftBehindlegislationstands,ofcourse,theman-dateforhighlyqualifiedteachers.Justwhatqual-itieshighlyqualifiedteachersshouldpossessinafieldwhoselearners,educationalgoals,con-textsofinstruction,andsubjectmatterareshift-ingunderourveryeyespresentsvexingquestions.Similarly,inapost-9/11UnitedStates,teach-inglanguagesthatwerepreviouslyconsidered“lesscommonlytaught”—andinmanycasesthatshouldreallyberecategorizedasessentiallynottaughtatall—hasturnedintoaformidablechal-lenge,allthemoreasnearlyinstantsuccessisof-tendemanded.Finally,aslanguageteachingseekstoaddresstheneedsofthemanyEnglishlan-guagelearnersthatimmigrationhasbroughtintotheeducationalsystemandalsostrivestoguar-anteeaplaceforforeignlanguagelearninginanalreadyovercrowdedcurriculum,teachersfacetasksaboutlinkinglanguagelearningandaca-demiccontentlearningthathavenotonlygrowninintensitybutalsoinscopeanddepth.Eightteachereducatorexpertsshedlightonconcernssuchasthese,addressingtopicssuchasthechangingdynamicsofpreserviceteachered-ucation,teachercredentialingandtheimpactofstandards,teachercognition,recruitingofteach-ersfromvariouscontexts,supportofbeginningteachers,teacherdevelopment,andaccommodat-ingnative-speakerlanguageteachers.DianeTedickopensupthediscussionwithalookatpreserviceeducation.AssomeonewhohasbeenintimatelyinvolvedinK–12teachereducationthroughcontributionstothepost-baccalaureateinitialteacherlicensureprogramattheUniversityofMinnesotaaswellasK–12in-serviceteacherdevelopment,mostvisiblythroughdiverseactivitiesattheCenterforAdvancedRe-searchonLanguageAcquisitionattheUniversityofMinnesota,sheshinesacriticallightonwhatcurrentteachereducationfailstograsp.NotonlydoescurrentpracticeseparateEnglishasasecondlanguageandEnglishasaforeignlanguageteach-ersasthoughthatdistinctionwerefundamentaltotheirpreparation,itdivorceslearningofteach-ingfromlanguagelearning,isolatesthestudentTheModernLanguageJournal,93,ii,(2009)0026-7902/09/261–291$1.50/0C2009TheModernLanguageJournal262TheModernLanguageJournal93(2009)teachingexperiencebyfocusingoneducation-relatedancillaries,andseverslinksbetweened-ucationandtheinterestsoftheliberalarts.Althoughtheingredientsnecessaryfortransform-ingteachereducationareasyetlargelyuntriedintheUnitedStates,interestingmodelsdoexistinothercountries,andtheyareeminentlyworthyofourconsiderationintheelusivequestforhigh-qualityteachers.Justhowburdenedwithgoodintentionsandfraughtwithultimatelyquestionablenotionsgen-uineeffortsatreformcanturnouttobeisthefocusofthereflectionsbyRichardDonatooftheUniversityofPittsburgh.Inhisthoughtfuldiscus-sionofwhatissurelythemostinfluentialframeofreferenceforimprovingteacherquality—thevariousprofessionalorganizationstandardsforpreserviceteachereducation—heconcludesthattheportrayalofteachingthatisinherentinastandards-settingprojectcanunintentionallyex-tinguishwhatmustbedeveloped—namely,aso-phisticatedunderstandingontheteachers’partofthedynamicandsituatednatureofteachingandlearning.Giventhatenablingfutureteach-erstoshapetheirthinkingandpracticeinsuchafashionisinherentlycomplexandthereforede-mandingofcarefulnurturingthroughmentoredpractices,thereporting,ifnottosaybureaucraticapparatusthatastandards-basedapproachtendstoproliferate,caneasilyundotheveryprojectofqualityteachereducatio