Developing expertise through experience

by Alan Maley (editor ), John F. Fanselow, Thomas S.C. Farrell

Focusing on the role of experience in teacher training and life-long development, it is an exploration and extension of Prabhu’s concept of ‘the teacher’s sense of plausibility’. Prabhu suggests that whatever forms of training and professional development teachers are exposed to, they will make sense of them in their own way, drawing on their own values, beliefs and experiences and their evolving sense of what will be appropriate for them in their specific context.

Twenty practitioners world-wide were invited to reflect on their own career trajectories in the light of Prabhu’s idea. Their responses offer fascinating insights into the way places, publications, ideas and key people have influenced the professional and personal development of the contributors.

The book concludes that it would be timely to incorporate trainees’ narratives and personal experiences as part of pre- and in-service training programmes and in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in general

241 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Alan Maley worked for The British Council from 1962 to 1988, serving as English Language Officer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, and China, and as Regional Representative in South India (Madras). From 1988 to 1993 he was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust, Cambridge. From 1993 to 1998 he was Senior Fellow in the Department of English Language and Literature of the National University of Singapore, and from 1998 to 2003 he was Director of the graduate programme at Assumption University, Bangkok. He is currently a freelance consultant, and Series Editor for the Oxford University Press Resource Books for Teachers series.

His publications include Resource Book for Teachers: Literature, Beyond Words, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words, Variations on a Theme, and Drama Techniques in Language Learning (all with Alan Duff), The Mind's Eye (with Françoise Grellet and Alan Duff), Learning to Listen and Poem into Poem (with Sandra Moulding), Short and Sweet, and The English Teacher's Voice.