A Case Study of English Teacher Development through Online Supervision

Little has been known about the process of the language teacher professional development. The present study aims to investigate an assumption that anybody who has subject matter knowledge will be a good language teacher. A teacher with rich linguistic knowledge started to question the effectiveness of his online class. The teacher, in collaboration with a teacher trainer, became involved in the critical examination of his online class, seeking for more effective ways of teaching. The trainer provided the teacher with clinical supervision, which is characterized as developmental, collaborative, non-judgemental, interactive, and teacher-centered. The data collected at the multi-facets of the online teaching shows how the process of the teacher's decision-making became principled on the basis of recent developments in English language teaching, and how the teacher has gained pedagogical knowledge through reflection upon his teaching. The feedback from the students reveals that such teacher professional development is beneficial to student learning. These findings suggest that language teacher's professional development can take place when they are engaged in reflective teaching and classroom investigation. It is also suggested that the process of teacher development can be enhanced through collaborative supervision with trust, openness and congeniality between parties involved.