Beatrix Price, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary

1. Rationale

Over the last six decades, since English language teachers associations (henceforth ELTAs for short) started providing continuing professional development (CPD) to their members and other ELT professionals alike, there has been a paradigm shift in ELTAs’ mission. Both TESOL and IATEFL were founded with the original aim of providing CPD, as well as promoting better teaching. Since the foundation of these two international associations, many ELTAs have been created on a continental, regional or national level. Today almost every country in the world has either formal or informal ELTAs, with fluctuating membership, due to the challenges the profession must face. Teachers can access online resources, join online communities and attend webinars for free, so as a consequence attendance is decreasing at paid CPD events in ELTAs and at ELT conferences. Therefore, in ELTAs recently the emphasis of providing CPD to members has shifted more towards offering a community where best practices, new theories, methods and above all, mutual support, can be found. Hence, apart from the tangible benefits that ELTAs offer, intangible benefits, such as the sense of belonging to these professional organisations is just as important as personal and professional growth (Falcão & Szesztay, 2006). Based on the sporadic literature on the professional development of TESOLers and my recent PhD research on ELTAs, in this article I aim to demonstrate how knowledge and skills development is supported in these learning communities.

2. ELTAs as nourishing cradles for professional growth

Normally, language teachers’ associations function as learning communities for their members, giving the possibility for knowledge dissemination, both as knowledge receivers and knowledge providers. ELTAs present possibilities for CPD for newbies and experts alike; encourage their members to learn and share when both bottom up and top down CPD are present, with the organisations assuring impactful, professional development. It is becoming more evident that ELTAs have been influential in the lives of many ELT professionals worldwide. These voices often reiterate that the various platforms of communities of practice (CoPs) provide a safe environment for members, thus ELTAs are often seen as nourishing cradles for professional growth (Price, 2022). Support is provided by colleagues in an encouraging way, guiding, mentoring or simply by nudging each other gently. CPD events are organised with a common goal, by sharing best practices, experiences, discussing challenges and opportunities (Elsheikh & Effiong, 2018). In this way the goals of ELTAs and their activities are in harmony with their members’ needs. But what are these platforms where professional development takes place?

2. Communities of practice as the platform for professional trajectories

English language teachers’ associations and their smaller units, special interest groups or sections, regional branches or chapters and professional learning networks are all defined as CoPs, as they are groups of professionals who share the same interest and arrange their activities in order to develop their knowledge, skills and approaches (Wenger, 1998). They are the supporting networks for professional development and teacher learning. These learning communities are complex organisations, with shared knowledge and knowledgeability among people with a similar profession. Members are brought together to learn from each other by joining in common activities, participation is shared and negotiated, participants take different roles, create places for themselves and improve their practices.

Members, after joining ELTAs, are usually silent members of the organisation; however, as they gain more knowledge and self-confidence, they become more active contributors to the community. Gradually, they share more practice with other members of the CoP, and so learning and teaching continues in a way that there is a growing involvement in the work of the organisation. Members of the community spiral inward toward the centre, reaching their own plateau and then, changing direction, start moving outward toward the periphery again (Price, 2022). Thus, learning is an ongoing process, when teaching and training take over.

Members of professional organisations often belong to several professional communities, they cross boundaries and import and export knowledge through brokering, and gradually share results as an increased expertise. The members of the learning communities benefit from crossing boundaries, and through the process of brokering (Wenger, 1998) they enrich each community with fresh ideas, knowledge, research and publications, have the joy of supporting fellow-teachers’ development, and enhance personal image and status. During this journey they bring their expertise from one CoP to another, new perspectives are gained, enriching the specialised knowledge of the community. Eventually, if someone cannot develop professionally any longer in a given learning organisation, they either enter a more challenging CoP within the same field of discipline, or leave the field of study and find a new area of interest.

3. From teacher to trainer - From member to leader

Active participation in ELTAs often results in positive opportunities for volunteers’ professional growth, such as moving from teacher to teacher trainer, from teacher educator to curriculum reviewer or materials writer. In my PhD research the participants also referred to different turning points in their trajectories, from learning to teaching; from teacher to teacher trainer, volunteering and working in leadership positions, as resulting steps on the teacher career ladder and the career path development (England, 2020). One of the interviewees outlined his path:

I worked as an elementary school teacher; then in a school from the secondary sector; then I became the Director of Studies in a school in New York. Now I’m back to my country, teaching at two higher education colleges and I travel around the world, giving talks.

As success breeds success, after presentations in smaller CoPs, participants take on bigger positions and are pre-disposed to bigger challenges.

TESOL leaders’ professional development in teachers associations provides an exponential growth, resulting in recognised knowledge and skills development, through the demands of bottom-up and top down CPD that ELTA leaders facilitate. Transitioning into more responsible positions also brings challenges that result in advancement. As ELTA volunteers are often bound to take on challenging tasks, they are forced to move beyond their comfort zones and acquire skills that they would not commonly take on. However, experiencing success along their way, they offer more and more of their services to their organisations and encourage others to do so. One of the leaders in my interview study encapsulated it this way:

All these years ELTAs have offered me exposure to the developments in ELT theory and practice, introduced me to new tools, techniques, ideas and trends, helped me expand my networks and contacts, enhanced my understanding of my own context while also making me see how it is situated in the global ELT context, helped me become a better researcher, presenter and writer, and broadened my vision about education in general and ELT in particular.

4. Networking and volunteering in ELTAs

What is that safety net that glues together a professional community? It is important to observe the motivation of leaders for accomplishing different tasks. First of all, there are clearly defined leadership positions, where the participants share their knowledge, pass on their experience and map out the most crucial tasks of the ELTA, while there are many small volunteer positions where many professionals still mainly work behind the scenes. This can be demonstrated by the end of a conference, where at the closing ceremony the main organisers say thank you to all the participants and helpers, when during a never-ending applause conference-goers can visualise how many dozens of volunteers have worked behind the scenes to make the event possible and successful. Regular conference attendees do not often think about these details; however, without all the helpers these events would not be feasible. And without people in smaller volunteer positions ELTAs would not be able to function. All participants should be acknowledged, their experience, wisdom and devotion to their organisations should be acknowledged, and respected.

5. Onwards

It can be concluded that professional and personal growth are additional elements of CPD within the contexts of ELTAs. Apart from these, belonging to a community of like-minded professionals brings added value, maybe the most important for members of ELTAs, where they can learn, grow, share and bring value to the profession. Nonetheless, this cannot be generalised, since not everyone ends up as a teacher trainer or material writer, a CoP volunteer or ELTA leader. Knowledge exchange takes place for only as long as members can grow. When a given learning organisation cannot provide a platform for any further development, members move on, either in the same professional field or choose an entirely different interest area.

Thus, as a function of ELTAs, they not only provide CPD to their members through tangible benefits, but also create communities, networking, empowering and inspiring CoPs. These spaces, through the various fields of expertise, offer a chance for ELT professionals to benefit the most from their communities.

Hence, in various CoPs of ELTAs, there is need for ongoing CPD within supportive professional contexts through inner choice, for the benefit of all participants in the field of education.

References

Falcão, A., & Szesztay, M. (2006). Developing an association for language teachers. An introductory handbook (3^rd rev. ed.). IATEFL.

Elsheikh, A., & Effiong, O. (2018). Teacher development through language teacher associations: Lessons from Africa. In A. Elsheikh, C. Coombe, & O. Effiong (Eds.), The Role of Language Teacher Associations in Professional Development (pp. 71–86). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00967-0_6

England, L. (2020). TESOL Career Path Development. Creating Professional Success. Routledge.

Price, B. (2022a). TESOL professionals’ motivation for growth and leadership – ELTA volunteers. The newsletter of the Teacher Education Interest Section of TESOL. http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolteis/issues/2022-02-16/3.html

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press.