Examining short-term ELT teacher education : an ethnographic case study of trainees' experiences

This thesis investigates the beliefs, experiences, behavior and attitudes of ELT course participants on a Trinity College London TESOL Certificate course. Using a primarily ethnographic methodology, data in the form of unstructured and semi-structured interviews, course lectures, teaching practice journals, course documents and field notes were collected and analyzed to offer insight into the design and implementation of short-term teacher education. Course participants were followed for nine months after the course to provide follow-up data, and six experienced ELT teachers were also interviewed to add long-term perspective. The results demonstrated that the length of the Certificate course necessitates a prioritization of practice over theory and a focus on behavioral change at the expense of examination and critique of course participants' pre-existing beliefs. Trainees emerge from short-term teacher training with confidence well in place in most cases but lacking in an understanding of the foundations of informed language teaching, an explicit in-depth knowledge of language, and a view of the field as a profession worthy of long-term commitment. A noteworthy gap was discovered between course participants' lack of desire for further professional development and more experienced teachers' insistence that additional support and training is crucial beyond the short course. The findings of the study point to a need for a radical restructuring of the short course, which takes into account a changing global market and current understanding of teacher change and the significance of teachers' beliefs.