MU-HE-04-Filipi-Dedic-Saefullah-Truong

Title:
Bringing teacher standards to life through an authentic assessment design in a teacher education program

Presenters:
Dr. Anna Filipi, Marija Dedic, Selvia Saefullah, Christine Truong
Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. Email: anna.filipi@monash.edu

Abstract:
Reflective practice is an important part of professional learning. Teacher Professional Standards from around the world pay attention to its centrality. Yet what we mean by reflective practice is not always clear, and how we build it into our courses to effect teacher quality and the habit of life-long learning is a challenge. This paper will discuss how reflective practice is at the core of an authentic assessment program in a Master of TESOL (MTESOL) program in Australia. It describes how professional learning is embedded in a patchwork assessment project design (Winter, 2003) in a MTESOL unit based on a planning, teaching, feedback and evaluation cycle. Students from a multitude of backgrounds and at different stages of their career trajectories worked collaboratively in groups to intervene to improve an aspect of an English Language Learner’s English. It is argued that this authentic assessment task provides a classroom model for collaboration and cooperative learning that gives attention to feedback literacy (Boud & Molloy, 2013). This approach also positions the teacher as a learner, provided through the creation of a team environment. It is also argued that the professional skills of life-long learning (Hounsell, 2007) and teacher reflective practice (Farrell, 2018) are important outcomes arising from the assessment task which invites students to collaborate beyond the course boundaries.

Keywords:
Nil

Authors:

DEDIC Marija: Marija has been an English language teacher for over 9 years, working predominantly on EAP courses for adults. She is particularly interested in developing practical approaches to teaching and learning that not only support language acquisition, but also the transformative purpose of education. She co-presented a critical thinking framework at the 2020 English Australia Conference, winning an award for contribution to professional practice. Marija recently completed a Master of TESOL at Monash University as part of her commitment to ongoing professional development.

SAEFULLAH Selvia: Selvia has been teaching English language for over 7 years, mainly focusing on teaching secondary students. Currently, she is teaching in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia and is the head of the English basic program. She is interested in practical teaching and learning approaches as well as teacher professional development. She completed a Master of TESOL at Monash University.

FILIPI Anna: Anna is a Senior Lecturer in TESOL and Language Education at Monash University where she has taught since 2011. She is well published (see: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/anna-filipi/publications/) and her research interests are in the applications of findings in Conversation Analysis to L1 and L2 learning, bilingualism and language switching, and L2 assessment. She is also interested in researching her own practice.

TRUONG Christine: Christine has been a secondary teacher for over 7 years, teaching English, history and EAL/ D. She has extensive experience teaching in South- East Asia in the public school, international school and university system. As Head Teacher of the English Department, she established a range of programs dedicated to enhancing literacy and language acquisition. Christine is particularly interested in pedagogical approaches that cater for increasingly diverse classrooms and strongly believes in the significance of reflective practice in providing teachers with opportunities for lifelong learning. She recently completed a Master of TESOL at Monash University.