Presentation by Eric Ntam at the ELT conference in Sudan/ Khartoum University and British Council/1-3 March 2010.

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
TRAINING FOR TEACHERS: THE ROLE OF
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Eric Ntam
University of Yaounde I, Cameroon

2. The Nature of the Teaching
Profession
 One of the „helping professions‟
 Work in Isolation
 Limited opportunities for shared learning
 Conservative attitudes
 Societal pressure and victimisation
 Stress, burn-out, fluctuating motivation
 a need for development

3. Differences between Training
and Development
Training is….. Development is….
 time-bound  continuous
 budget-dependent  an internal process
 often imposed  optional
 often driven by systemic change  a factor in personal change
 ‘transitive’ as a notion  essentially ‘intransitive’
 dependent on a trainer  independent of a trainer
 possible only in groups  essentially individual
 based on an external agenda  based on an internal agenda
 often problem-centred or  person-centred and based on
deficit-based a growth view
 accountable to authorities  accountable mainly to self

4. Limitations of INSETT
 one-off workshops
 imposed topics; little attention to participants‟
individual needs
 deficit view leads to resistance and negativity
 little follow-up support or monitoring
 little systematic follow-up evaluation of impact
 teachers from different schools thrown together
 lack of conceptual basis for planning; the process is
often arbitrary and random; not shared with teachers
 trainers often lack face validity for participants
 (Fullan 1991)
 a need for development

5. Development: a working definition
“…. a lifelong autonomous process of
learning and growth by which (….) we
adapt to changes in and around us, and
enhance our awareness, knowledge
and skills in personal, interpersonal
and professional aspects of our lives.”
O’Brien (1986)

6. Language Teachers’ needs
(Peyton, 1997)
 Comprehend contemporary media & interract
with native speakers
 Master pedagogic knowledge
 Master technologies and integrate them in
teaching
 Maintain language proficiency & be up to date
 Cope with demographic explosions in schools
 a need for development

7. Finding Needs: How and Where
(Peyton, 1997)
 Evening courses
 Summer institutes and seminars
 Lectures
 Study & travel abroad
 Immersion weekends/monthly professional
dinners
 Workshops offered by professional associations

8. Associations: Challenges
 Finding a few inspired professionals
 Finding active members
 Finding volunteers
 Falcao & Szesztay, (2006)
 Defining role relationships
 Maintaining group sense of belonging
 Finding funding
 Finding MOE recognition
 Maintaining autonomy from state influence

9. An Example: CAMELTA
 Created in April 2001 as umbrella association
 ELTAs existed since the early 80s
 Committed members from ELTAs saw need for
a national body
 British Council „mothered‟ initial steps by:
 Hosting and funding initial meetings
 Heavily funding subsequent national conferences
 Sponsoring keynote speakers from the UK
 Supporting regional chapters
 Offering its venue and other logistics

10. CAMELTA’s Goals
 Improve practice of language teaching and
learning
 Promote high standards of in-service training
through seminars and workshops
 Foster & promote scholarship relating to
language teaching
 Foster high academic and professional
standards
 Break down the isolation that teachers
experience both in their classrooms and
schools

11.  Encourage co-operation and mutual support
 Foster the exchange of ideas, resources,
information and experience
 Offer a regular forum for the exchange of new
ideas, practices, materials etc
 Provide opportunities for personal language dev‟t
 Encourage dev‟t of EFL/ESL teacher identity and
collegiality
 Create a forum for the promotion of teacher
friendly ELT
 Generate networking and skills sharing for best
practices
 Stay out of politics and trade unionism

12. How CAMELTA Works
 Yearly Annual conference and AGM in August
 Termly regional seminars and workshops
 Monthly divisional workshops
 One-off seminars with visiting professionals
 Video conferences with partners
 Teacher participation in course book writing
 Occasional partner-sponsored scholarships
 Conference participation in other countries

13. Why we are vibrant
 Objectives meet members‟ needs and aspirations
 Consensus in scheduling meetings
 Skilfulness in the leaders
 Interesting and relevant topics at seminars
 Regular seminars and workshops
 Responsibilities are respected
 Financial contribution remains minimal
 A discourse community is formed (swales, 1990)
 Hierarchical stereotypes between practitioners and
decision-makers are bridged (Kuchah, 2008)

14. How we ensure empowerment
 Teachers run/lead their affaires
 Teachers present talks, workshops at seminars
 Teachers produce newsletters, journals etc
 Non-executive members are involved.
 Teachers have healthy debates with decision-
makers

15. Leadership: Life wire
 people of energy, drive or influence
 Good leaders:
 Have a sense of achievement
 Recognise, acknowledge and reward volunteers
 Delegate functions and work with committees
 Sacrifice and devote time, energy and resources
 Seek support from all members
 Negotiate partnerships with MOEs
 Negotiate partnerships with, and affiliations to international
institutions and organisations eg. TESOL & IATEFL
 Militate positively for the associations

16. Remember…
 MOEs insist on teacher change,
associations insist on teacher growth.
 “Change is mandatory; growth is optional”
(Fullan 1993)
 “Therecan be change without growth, but
never growth without change” (Kuchah, 2008)

17. References
Fullan, M. (1991) The New Meaning of Educational Change
(2nd edition) London: Cassell
Fullan, M. (1993) Change Forces Brighton: Falmer Press
O‟Brien, A. (1986) Teacher Development, Evaluation and
Teacher Profiles for TESOL London: Institute of
Education (unpublished MA thesis)
Kuchah, K. (2008) „Developing as a Professional in
Cameroon: Challenges and Visions‟ in Richards, K. & S.
Garton (eds.) Professional Encounters in TESOL. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 203-217)
Swales, J. M. 1990. Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

18. Let Us Change And Grow Now
THANK YOU