In the name of God

B. Kumaravadivelu
Professor of Applied Linguistics/TESOL
 The transmission
Limitations of the
model of teacher
concept of method
education

Resulted in
Post-method
pedagogy
 Conceptualizing Post-method pedagogy

classroom strategies, instructional

materials, curricular objectives,
and evaluation measures

Historical, political, and three-dimensional system

sociocultural experiences that
directly or indirectly influence L2
education.

particularity practicality possibility

 A Pedagogy of Particularity

language pedagogy should be:

Antithetical to the notion that there

can be one set of pedagogic aims
sensitive to a particular group of teachers and objectives.
teaching a particular group of learners

pursuing a particular set of goals

within a particular institutional context

embedded in a particular sociocultural milieu

 A Pedagogy of Particularity

Hermeneutics Pedagogy is local

To ignore local exigencies is to ignore

lived experiences
text
interpretation

situational
understanding
 A Pedagogy of Particularity
Becker
(1986) Particularity is
a goal and a process, for and through, means and ends

particularity is not
something we begin
with; particularity is
something we arrive
at, something we
achieve

by
repeating
practice of particularity context-sensitive pedagogic knowledge

particular is so deeply embedded in the practical

pedagogy of particularity should be a

pedagogy of practicality
as well
 A Pedagogy of practicality

reflects relationship between theory and practice

There is harmful effects in the theory/ practice dichotomy

In post method pedagogy: theory and practice constitute a dialectical praxis

 A Pedagogy of practicality

teachers should
construct their personal
are teacher theories by testing, by
developed interpreting, and judging experts
the usefulness of
professional theories

Personal Professional
by interpreting
theories theories
and applying from
professional centers
theories in
ignored valued
practical
of higher
situations learning
 A Pedagogy of practicality

action research reflective teaching

aim Zeichner states

to improve practice rather than reflective teaching has done very little to foster
to produce knowledge genuine teacher development and to enhance
teachers’ roles in educational reform.
 A Pedagogy of practicality

 In pedagogy of practicality teachers theorize from their practice and

practice what they theorize

 Kumaravadivelu says that context-sensitive pedagogic knowledge

should emerge from teachers' every day teaching practice so teachers
need to be autonomous individuals.

 in summary: pedagogy of practicality aims for a teacher-generated

theory of practice.
 A Pedagogy of practicality
 a theory of practice is “an on-going, living, working theory”
 a union of action and thought is needed to make theory of
practice. action in thought and thought in action

unexplained  Pedagogical thoughtfulness  Max van Manen

awareness of what
constitutes good
teaching
Two sides of practicality
powerful sense of
what works and what
doesn’t insights and intuition
Not general: for this reflection and action
teacher in this
context
Van Manen calls it
sense making
 A Pedagogy of possibility

experiences participants bring to the pedagogical setting are

shaped by the
learning/teaching episodes and social, economic, and
political environment in which they have grown up.
 A Pedagogy of possibility

language education provides its participants with

challenges and opportunities for a continual quest
for subjectivity and self-identity
Conceptualizing Post-method pedagogy
Pedagogy of particularity

• seeks to facilitate the advancement of a context-sensitive, location-

specific pedagogy that is based on a true understanding of local
linguistic, sociocultural, and political particularities

pedagogy of practicality

• seeks to rupture such a reified role relationship by enabling and

encouraging teachers to theorize from their practice and practice what
they theorize.

pedagogy of possibility

• seeks to branch out to tap the sociopolitical consciousness that

participants bring with them to the classroom so that it can also function
as a catalyst for a continual quest for identity formation and social
transformation
 Post-Method Learners
academic autonomy
Related to learning
Learning becomes
autonomous when learners
are willing and able to take
charge of their own learning.
cognitive, metacognitive, and
affective techniques
strategies and styles
autonomous learners
social autonomy liberatory autonomy
interpersonal critical thinkers
learners’ ability and it actively seek to help
willingness to function learners recognize
effectively as cooperative sociopolitical impediments
members of a classroom to realization of their full
community. human potential.
 Post-Method Teachers

teacher is an autonomous individual

competence and confidence

 Post-Method Teachers

Teacher research starts with desire to self-explore and self-improve.

a good observation.

Teachers can identifying researchable questions, use

questionnaires, surveys, and interviews to gather information,
developing interpretive strategies to observe, analyze, and
evaluate their own teaching acts.
 Post-Method Teacher Educators
What is needed in post method era, is a fundamental restructuring of teacher
education so that it focuses as much on the teacher part of teacher education as
on the education part of it.

It is important to recognize
teachers' voices and their visions

Bakhtin's theory of utterance "word" or "utterance" is the main unit of meaning.

Dialogic discourse facilitates an interaction between

meanings, between belief systems, interaction produces
responsive understanding, as Bakhtin calls it.
 Post-Method Practitioners as Pedagogic Explorers
 Pedagogic exploration is an integral part of post method pedagogy
 Post method pedagogy considers research as belonging to the multiple
domains of learners, teachers, and teacher educators so they ought to be
engaged in pedagogic exploration

Objectivity

pedagogic explorers may not have adequate research skills

Feyerabend
argues that there is
Generalizability no absolute objectivity
becomes problematic only if it is approached in its traditional sense as: even in scientific
having implications for a wider sphere of pedagogic activity research.
Problematizing post-method pedagogy

resistance to change

When there is a need to change in teachers, they

have to change not only their methods and

materials but also their attitudes and beliefs.

Thanks for your attention