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Connective English Language Learnings1
Connective English Language Learnings
Outline
 Perceptions of a Personal Learning Network as a form of Professional Development among EFL Educators
Introduction
Increasing student achievement requires focusing on the needs, interests, and learning preferences of teachers.Sergiovanni (2005) states that
“
all of the learning and all of the support we want students to experience depends inlarge measure on the support that teachers receive
”
(p. 101). To offer effective and efficient support, teachers needprofessional development efforts that account for these needs.Professional development deals with finding ways to address the knowing-doing gap. DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker(2008) add that
“…
closing the knowing-doing gap will require purposeful action to alter not only the existingstructures of schools and districts, but more importantly, the cultures that have created and sustained those traditionalstructures
”
(p. 79). Thus, how one interprets
“
purposeful action
”
then becomes key to understanding its effects onorganizational change. Purposeful action for administrators, principles, teachers, students, parents, and communityleaders
 – 
all of whom are vital educational stakeholders
 – 
often leads to a variety of perspectives. Since teachersknow how to improve education but lack the resolve to actually do it (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008),investigating teachers and how they pursue their own professional development becomes juxtaposed to a top-down,
“
directive control behavior
”
(Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2007, p. 144) approach that views the teacher asthe object of a professional development effort.Instead of being an object of professional development, the educator thus becomes the central focus or the principalchange agent responsible for personalized learning. Personal learning networks (PLNs), for example, provide anindividual approach to selecting other individuals, non-human objects, and artifacts (i.e., nodes) through bothsynchronous and asynchronous communication. Moreover, delivery of one
’
s PLN can either be online, offline, orsome combination of the two. Finally, a crucial part of a PLN is that knowledge
“
rests in the network 
”
(Siemens,2006, p. 31). That is, knowledge not only resides within the individual (i.e., cognitivism or social constructivismlearning theory) but also resides in one
’
s own PLN which can be accessed as needed. The manner in which oneaccesses this knowledge depends on the type of tie, connection, or link we have with the individual nodes. Indeed, itbecomes more important to cultivate one
’
s PLN and to treat it not as an end but as a means to an end.Within the context of teaching and learning English-as-a-foreign language (EFL), educators benefit from developinga PLN as well. The social connections teachers make with others help form relationships that can assist in one
’
slearning. The cognitive connection that develops through social interaction helps form the mindframes that give EFLeducators perspective. That is, professional development becomes a support system for developing cognitive andsocial connections in a way that best serves individual needs, interests, and learning preferences (i.e., a teacher
’
sprofessional competence). Thomas (1987) states that a teacher
’
s professional competence includes (a) languageskills, (b) pedagogical skill and knowledge, and (c) knowledge about how languages are learned (as cited in Bartels,2005). Therefore, EFL educators not only have to decide on how to develop their PLN but they must also decide onhow their PLN will increase professional understandings, knowledge, skills, and dispositions with regard to theirown teaching practice. Given that every teacher has specific needs, interests, and learning preferences, an individualapproach to professional development is the paradigm that will contrast a more directive approach that sets out to listbehavioral objectives and goals that educators must adhere to.
 
Connective English Language Learnings2
Abridged Literature Review
Designing Personal Learning Networks as a form of Professional Development
Professional development through the designing of a personal learning network (PLN) shifts the focus of a stricttop-down directive to a more integrated approach that stems directly from the teacher. An integrated approach toprofessional development links teachers to an array of different individuals, objects, and artifacts (i.e., nodes) thatcollectively provide the social capital necessary to become a better teacher. English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL)educators in particular benefit from knowing how to use a PLN to improve what Thomas (1987) refers to as teachingcompetencies, specifically in the areas of English communication, pedagogy, and knowledge about language (ascited in Bartels, 2005). Adult learning that encompasses a PLN system leads to viewing knowledge and learningthrough a connectivist lens and can set it apart from notions often associated with a more cognitive and constructiveframe.Knowledge and learning is complex. Mason (2008) concludes thatcomplexity theory offers...the most cogent understanding of the nature of continuity and change, and its theories of critical mass, phase transition, emergence and auto-catalysis offer most insightful perspectives on questions asdifficult as those to do with the origins of life and of consciousness... (p. 16)Ball (2004) supports this claim by mentioning that
“
complexity theory seeks to understand how order and stabilityarise from the interactions of many components according to the few simple rules
”
(as cited in Mason, 2008, p. 5).Viewing knowledge and learning as a complex system considers professional development as a dynamic process thatsubsumes teachers as learners. The EFL educator, for example, creates a PLN that serves to provide the supportnecessary in order to become a better teacher. As teachers reflect on the particular area or areas needingimprovement, a continual adaptive network develops through a process of ongoing interaction with both local as wellas colleagues from the global arena.Creating a PLN requires setting professional goals that clearly mark the gap between where teachers currently are intheir development with where they would like to be in the future. Teachers might reflect on any combination of thefollowing questions: (a) How can I improve as a communicator of English? (b) How can I improve my pedagogicalskills? (c) How can I increase my knowledge about how the English language is learned? Since learning is complex,framing and addressing the answers to these questions become more valuable if they come directly from the teacher.The PLN becomes the means by which teachers create the connections they need in order to achieve their own goals.Warlick (2009) states that PLNs can be synchronous, semi-synchronous, or asynchronous, utilizing on-lineconferencing media, macroblogging-type tools such as Twitter (2010), Facebook (2010), and Google Wave/Docs(2010), and typical forum-based services that are often found in online communities such as those offered by Ning(2010). The PLN integrates social and cognitive networks in that EFL educators may use similar web tools but fordifferent reasons and in different ways.Cultivating understandings embedded within the social network create a personal learning network that is unique tothe educator. Like students, teachers pursue understandings as well through the expression of six facets: they can.(a)describe, (b) interpret, and (c) apply; and they have (d) empathy, (e) perspective, and (f) self-knowledge (Wiggins &McTighe, 2005). For example, an understanding for a professional development effort, directed towards the teachingof English to students of other languages (TESOL) might be the following: EFL educators will understand thatsharing experiences and knowledge with others can occur in a non-threatening environment of instructional leaders.As a
“
throughline
”
(Active learning..., n.d.), this understanding serves to provide an overarching idea that serves asan umbrella to more specific understandings links to the knowledge and skill sets of individual teachers. In order forthe six facets of understanding to emerge, the social aspect of a PLN must promote what Morrison (2002) argues forin favor of Dewey and Habermas as
“
openness
”
,
“
diversity
”
,
“
relationships
”
,
“
agency
”
(as cited in Mason, 2008, p. 6),all in relation to complexity theory.
 
Connective English Language Learnings3Professional development for EFL educators requires that knowledge, learning, and leading be viewed as a complexand emergent process. Adler (1982) presents teacher roles as falling under three broad categories: (a)
“
didactic (ordirect) instruction
”
, (2)
“
facilitation of understanding and related habits of mind
”
, and (c)
“
coaching of performance
”
(as cited in Wiggins & McTighe, 2007, p. 129). Instead of limiting these three roles to the teacher, each actor (i.e.,teacher, curriculum designer, administrator, etc.) within the network actually takes on a combination of these threeroles at any particular moment. Therefore, instead of classifying the three categories as roles, they are classified asactivities given how each one materializes through the forces surrounding any given situation.Learning and leading within the TESOL field is a continuous process of developing one's English communicativeskill, pedagogical skills, and knowledge about how the language is learned. Professional development affords EFLeducators the opportunity to develop personal goals and to nurture a personal learning network that support the socialand cognitive networks, enabling educators to improve their practice. As a learning ecosystem, professionaldevelopment remains open, diverse, interactive, and autonomous so that EFL educators become entitled to createeducational plans and processes that support research-based protocols. Only once a culture of sharing has beenestablished can a professional learning community work successfully towards systems that measure higher studentachievement.
Annotated Bibliography
Bartels, N. (2005). Applied linguistics and language teacher education. New York: Springer.Chen, Y. (2008). A mixed-method study of EFL teachers
’
Internet use in language instruction. Teaching and TeacherEducation. 24, 4, 1015-1028. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2007.07.002Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Los Angeles: Sage.Douglas, C. (2009). A comparison of what teachers know versus what teachers practice (Doctoral dissertation).Retrieved from http://library.
 
ncu.edu/ncu_diss/download.aspx?dissertation_id=1413Gadotti, M. (1996). Pedagogy of praxis: A dialectical philosophy of education. Albany, NY: State University of NewYork Press.Glickman, C., Gordon, S., & Ross-Gordon, J. (2007). Supervision and instructional leadership: A developmentalapproach. New York: Pearson.Liang, T. (2004). Organizing around intelligence. London: World Scientific.Moodle. (2010). Retrieved on March 19, 2010 from http://moodle.
 
org/ Sardar, Z. & Abrams, I. (1999). Introducing Chaos. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd.Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing knowledge. Retrieved on March 7, 2010 from http://www.
 
elearnspace.
 
org/ KnowingKnowledge_LowRes.
 
pdf Siemens, G. (2008). Groups and networks. Retrieved on March 7, 2010 from http://elearnspace.
 
org/media/ CCK08_Wk5/player.
 
htmlUniversidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes. (2010). Retrieved on March 19, 2010 from http://www.uaa.mx/ 
Problem Statement
The lack of focus on teacher professional development among EFL educators has resulted into teachers working inisolation, ultimately failing to enhance the learning of English as a foreign language. Although teachers know whatto do in the classroom, they lack the wherewithal to link their knowledge to practice. Instead of 
“
directive controlbehaviors
”
(Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2007, p. 144) to professional development, a more personalizedparadigm seeks to diversify the learning process as EFL educators thus begin to reflect and take action on how toimprove a teacher
’
s competence (Thomas, 1987) such as language skills, pedagogical knowledge and skill, and one
’
sunderstanding of how foreign languages are learned (as cited in Bartels, 2005).
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