Chapter
8
PROFESSIONAL
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
If the ne w standards are to have a significant impact o n the fo re ign language pro fe ssio n, lan-guage te ache rs who are curre ntly in the classro o m must play a ke y ro le in bringing abo ut the ne ce ssary re fo rm. Many studie s de aling with the imple me ntatio n o f the standards cite pro fe s-sio nal de ve lo pme nt as o ne o f the mo st impo rtant ve hicle s fo r he lping te ache rs to de al with changing e ducatio nal ne e ds o f the Ame rican public.
( Glisan, 1996, p. 57)
The info rmatio n in this se c tio n has be e n adapte d fro m the Standards fo r Pro fe ssio nal De ve lo pme nt fo r Te ache rs o f Fo re ign Language s, 1997. Ac c o rding to that do c ume nt, pro fe ssio nal de ve lo pme nt fo r te ac he rs sho uld be analo go us to pro fe ssio nal de ve lo pme nt fo r o the r pro fe ssio nals. Becomi ng an ef f ect i ve world language t eacher i s, t herefore, a cont i nuous process t hat begi ns f rom preser-vi ce educat i on and ext ends t hroughout a t eachi ng career. As the lang uage s and c ulture s o f all natio ns are rapidly c hang ing , te ac he rs will ne e d o ngo ing o ppo rtunitie s to e nhanc e pe rso nal lang uage skills, furthe r the ir c ultural unde rstanding , and ke e p abre ast o f the late st lang uage the o ry and me tho do lo g y. In o rde r fo r wo rld lang uage pro g rams in Ne w Je rse y to e mbrac e the philo so phy and fully re alize the go als se t by the Co re Curriculum Co nte nt Standards, pro fe ssio nal de ve lo pme nt must be a prio rity.
Collaborat i ng language organi zat i ons( i. e. , Ame ric an Asso c iatio n o f Te ac he rs o f Fre nc h, Ame ric an Asso c iatio n o f Te ac he rs o f Ge rman, Ame ric an Asso c iatio n o f Te ac he rs o f Spanish and Po rtug ue se, and Ame ric an Co unc il o n the Te ac hing o f Fo re ig n Lang uage s) have i dent i f i ed t he followi ng f i ve st an-dards for i mprovi ng t eacher compet ence and st udent learni ng. The se standards are fo llo we d by re c o mme nde d pro fe ssio nal de ve lo pme nt ac tivitie s fo r attaining e ac h standard.
re ac h this standard. The y take additio nal c o urse s re late d to lang uage ac quisitio n, lang uage te ac h-ing , and the study o f the targe t lang uage and its c ulture s. Te ac he rs maintain a c urre nt pro fe ssio nal library o f bo o ks, pe rio dic als, and o the r me dia that fo c us o n lang uage, c ulture, and pe dago g y. The y are invo lve d in pro fe ssio nal o rg anizatio ns and inte rac t with c o lle ag ue s in bo th fo rmal and info rmal se tting s.
Professional Development Standard 5
Teachers of foreign languages are members
of t eaching and learning communit ies.
Prof essi onal development act i vi t i es for at t ai ni ng t hi s st andard. Example s o f pro fe ssio nal de ve l-o pme nt ac tivitie s fl-o r attaining this standard inc lude l-o ngl-o ing partic ipatil-o n in disc iplinary and inte r-disc iplinary fac ulty de ve lo pme nt o ppo rtunitie s; me nto re d de ve lo pme nt o f te ac he r c o mpe te nc y and pe rso nal le ade rship skills; expe rie nc e g aine d thro ug h partic ipatio n, se rvic e, and le ade rship in sc ho o l, c o mmunity, and pro fe ssio nal o rg anizatio ns; and re g ular c o llabo ratio n in c urric ulum de ve lo pme nt with c o lle ag ue s in the targe t lang uage, as we ll as c o lle ag ue s o f o the r disc ipline s.
These f i ve prof essi onal development st andards should be of i nt erest t o several audi ences con-cerned wi t h t he quali t y of world language i nst ruct i on:
■ A first audie nc e inc lude s e duc ato rs in po stse c o ndary lang uage de partme nts and de partme nts
and c o lle ge s o f e duc atio n. The do c ume nt sug ge sts g uide line s fo r the de ve lo pme nt o f pro g rams fo r the pre paratio n o f fo re ig n lang uage te ac he rs as we ll as fo r the ir in- se rvic e de ve lo pme nt.
■ A se c o nd audie nc e inc lude s sc ho o l administrato rs, supe rviso rs, and c urric ulum planne rs who
c an de rive fro m the se standards c rite ria fo r the hiring , re te ntio n, and pro mo tio n o f fo re ig n lan-g ualan-ge te ac he rs, as we ll as lan-g uide line s fo r te ac he rs’ c o ntinuinlan-g in- se rvic e de ve lo pme nt.
