Professional Development
Discussions, Observations,and Achievable Aims: A MultiPronged Approach to Professional
Development
Thomas Entwistle
The British Council, Japan
Richard Thomas Ingham
The British Council, Japan
Etienne Marceau
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies
Further to the foundation of a new university department in 2017, the assembled teamof English teachers saw an opportunity to create a community of learners. Beyond
teaching, developing class materials, and attending meetings, the desire to further develop
professionally became evident. As a result, over the scope of three years, the group tackled
different facets of professional development by sharing observations, literature, and personal
experiences over time. From this, three initiatives were developed: first, a monthly readinggroup where members shared and discussed academic articles; second, a peer observation
scheme where members attended classes taught by colleagues and provided observations
and constructive feedback; and third, a continuing professional development forum where
members cooperated to set and work towards both learning aims and career goals. Although
a complete shift to online teaching in 2020 brought challenges, it also resulted in significant
motivation to provide support within the group. Writing and publishing the current article
is also part of the group’s career development, wishing to keep its momentum in pursuing
future activities.

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Discussions, Observations, and Achievable Aims, OnCUE 14(1), pages 80-90
2017年、大学に新学部が設立され、そこに集まった英語講師チームが学習者としてのコミュニティを作るチャンスを見出した。教えること、教材を開発すること、ミーテ
ィングに参加することに加え、プロとして成長したいという願望が顕著となった。その結果3年間に亘り、チームメンバーは観察、文献、個人的な経験を共有しながら、プロフェッショナル・ディベロップメントの様々な側面に取り組んだ。そしてそこから
次の3つの取り組みが生まれた：1つ目は、学術論文を共有、議論する月例リーディ
ンググループ、2つ目は、同僚の授業に参加し、観察と建設的なフィードバックを提供する相互授業参観制度、3つ目は、学習目標とキャリア目標の両方を設定し、その目標に向かいメンバーが協力する継続的専門能力開発フォーラムである。2020年にオンライン授業に完全移行したことで課題が生じたが、チーム内でサポートを提供し合うことが大きなモチベーションへと繋がった。本論文執筆は、チームのキャ
リア開発の一環でもあり、今後の活動に向けて、この勢いを維持していきたい。

As Moritoshi (2012) posited, “the importance of on-going professional
development which helps individuals to attain their career goals should beclear to us all” (p. 39). It was this ethos that encouraged the formation, over athree-year period, of a professional development (PD) support community at a
private university in Japan. Members include both native and non-native Englishspeaking professors, visiting lecturers, and English teachers. There are a multitudeof ways in which one can take action to develop professionally (Balloch, 1996),
from attending conferences or conducting in-class action research to creating
communities of practice between like-minded colleagues working in the same
institution. Our PD programme consists of three main strands: a monthly
Professional Academic Discussion Forum (PADF), a Voluntary Peer Observation
Scheme (VPOS), and a Continuing Professional Development Programme(CPDP). This paper outlines each strand of the PD programme and how it was
implemented, then sets out the benefits and drawbacks of each. It is our hope that
this paper will help to motivate and encourage other English teams in tertiary
education to put into practice their own PD programmes.

The Professional Academic Development Forum

Farrel (2007) noted that educators should continually reshape their knowledge ofteaching and learning. With this in mind, the initial strand of the PD programme,
The Professional Academic Development Forum (PADF), was created. This is a81

Entwistle, Ingham, & Marceaumonthly, ninety-minute meeting for members of the department where academic
papers related to language and education are discussed.
Prior to each meeting, participants read the nominated academic paper,
briefly consider what they have learnt from the research, and note any issues theymight have (e.g., methodological weaknesses or parts which were difficult tounderstand). During the meeting, members share their thoughts relating to thepaper, raise their questions (which are then discussed by the attendees), suggest
improvements in the methodology or consider ways that the research could beapplied within the department. Each PADF closes with members proposing andthen voting on the paper to be discussed in the subsequent meeting. The only
rules relating to the choice of academic papers are firstly that they should not
be directly related to classroom teaching techniques, in order to help broaden
members' knowledge in areas beyond that narrow focus, and secondly that theyshould not be members’ own papers, as critique of these had caused friction in asimilar discussion group which some of the members had previously participatedin.
Over the course of the PADF meetings, a broad array of topics has been
discussed, including regional dialectical differences in the UK, learner autonomy,
and the critical period for language acquisition.
Forum members have described several benefits of participation in themeetings. Lee & Boud (2003) identified scholarly writing as a source of fear
and anxiety for academics, and participants reported that PADF meetings havehelped to demystify this area. Some team members felt that the supportive natureof the meetings, in conjunction with the variety of subject matter covered, helped
them to feel part of a wider academic community. Several participants reported
that the discussions helped them when doing research for the Cambridge
DELTA or master’s degree programmes. Furthermore, the forum also helped all
members to deepen their knowledge of the academic writing process. A minor
drawback, however, was that attendance dipped at busy times in the semester,so the team decided that the PADF would be postponed if less than a third ofmembers could attend.
Since the PADF’s inception, two previously unpublished members have82Discussions, Observations, and Achievable Aims, OnCUE 14(1), pages 80-90

become published academic authors, sharing their knowledge in JALT’s The
Language Teacher, International House Journal, and KOTESOL Journal, withseveral further academic papers awaiting review or publication. Perhaps mostimpressively, a PADF related to educational podcasts resulted in the English
team publishing their own podcast (Ingham, 2020) to support students on thedepartment’s Content and Language Integrated Learning programme.
The PADF has helped participants to broaden their knowledge on topics
that they would not normally have taken the time to explore. Furthermore,hearing varied viewpoints and opinions from team members has given fresh
perspectives on a broad range of educational topics. Overall, the opportunity tomeet regularly and informally to discuss a range of academic topics has helped toensure that we are the enquiring professionals that we hope to be.

The Voluntary Peer Observation Scheme

The value of peer observations has been widely stated, such as benefiting fromthe knowledge of experienced colleagues, improving pedagogic practice, andpreventing falling into bad classroom practices (Swanson, 2016). However, it isour experience that peer observations are still not as widely practiced in Japanesetertiary education as one might assume, possibly due the fact that educators in
tertiary education in Japan work more independently. A major benefit of peer
observations is that one gets the opportunity to experience a co-worker’s lesson.
As educators, it is all too easy to teach in isolation in classrooms and lecture
theatres, removed from other teachers.
The Voluntary Peer Observation Scheme (VPOS) is not formally evaluative
but it has proven to be an extremely helpful way of sharing in-class best practices
by providing members with constructive, actionable feedback. It works in two
ways. A teacher can request a trusted colleague to observe their class for a specificreason, for example, for ideas on classroom management, to check whether the
students are on task, whether the teacher exploits the materials to their fullest, or
whether a variety of feedback techniques are being used. These have often beenstated as common reasons for requested observations (Parrot, 1993; Wallace,1998).
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Alternatively, a teacher offers their co-workers the chance to observe a classthey also teach, to provide them with the opportunity to see a different approachtaken to teaching the same level, class, or content.
Following Bowen & Marks (1994), before an observation takes place, theteacher being observed and the observer agree on the ground rules and focus of
the observation, e.g., something for the observer to look out for or to provide
feedback on. Also, feedback should ideally be provided shortly thereafter in a
post-observation meeting or email.
However, there are some limitations to an observation scheme, one of themost salient being that it is hard to allocate the time for the pre-observation
discussion, the observation itself, and the post-observation meetings. Also, there
may be some reticence among some colleagues to being observed if they have
not had observers in their class for many years. Nevertheless, in our experience,leading by example has opened the door to future mutual observations and has
highlighted the reciprocal benefits of peer observations with trusted colleagues.
Feedback from teachers who took part in the VPOS has been extremely
positive, such as these:• Observing each other can be a useful way to share classroom activities andclassroom management techniques. Seeing it unfold is often clearer thanreading a long description.
• Since these observations were a little more casual, they provided theimpetus for some experimentation, and then some feedback related to thatexperimentation. I didn't need to be concerned about any potential negative
impact if the experiment didn't quite go according to plan. As a result, I triedout several new ideas that I will be adopting in the future.
• Observations really helped me to reflect on my own classroom practices andto re-evaluate whether what I do in class is principled, i.e., based on soundteaching theory, or ritualistic, i.e., something done out of habit.
Such comments have been the greatest validation of a purely voluntary
peer observation scheme and have shown that such observations can be
developmental, rather than unnecessarily evaluative.

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The Continuing Professional Development
Programme

A Continuing Professional Development Programme (CPDP) enables members
to understand and map out the development of their competences after joining
the teaching profession (Padwad & Dixit, 2011, p. 7). The idea to create a CPDP
emerged from conversations during the PADF meetings, combined with a desire
to develop as in-service teachers, both for current teaching contexts and careeradvancement. It was realized that despite the best of intentions, the teaching andgrading loads, research commitments, meetings, materials development, etc.,
often forced professional development activities to be put off. Having to conduct
lessons online due to the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a sense of isolation
among staff, so the need to build a community of learners who would share,
support, and motivate each other became clear. As Gee (2005) stated however,the challenges for learning groups include establishing common goals that are
difficult to personalise, and disagreement with decisions taken by a leader.
The university in question offers faculty development opportunities,
but they are informational sessions of a general nature, directed towards the
majority of staff, meaning that the topics might not be particularly relevant to
the professional development needs of many individuals. While this top-down
approach helps to explore new avenues through an “expert-driven process”(Richards, 2015, p. 697), without a concrete plan for implementation, thisinformation might fall into the good to know or maybe one day categories.
Conversely, a bottom-up approach driven by teachers provides more agency,
where they are “given the tools and skills to nurture their own development
rather than ‘waiting to be served’” (Hughes, 2009, p. 27). Hence, the CPDP
advocates personalised goals and requires participants to set clear steps anddeadlines. However, Anderson (2018) provides a cautionary note, warning that
only highly motivated teachers who hold themselves accountable might succeed
in an entirely bottom-up professional development system.
Accordingly, the CPDP was designed following Dörnyei Directed
Motivational Currents (2015) (in bold below), and Cambridge’s list of principles
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Entwistle, Ingham, & Marceauthat identify successful programmes built around the acronym INSPIRE:
Impactful, Needs-based, Sustained, Peer-collaborative, In-practice, Reflective,
and Evaluated (Richardson & Diaz Maggioli, 2018).
1. Goal / Vision: After an initial meeting devoted to explaining the process
and agreeing to the parameters, members determined personal goals forthe year, divided into short-term learning aims that focus on developing
practical teaching and longer term career goals that focus on careeradvancement. Participants provided feedback to help peers narrow down
goals that were too broad, non-specific, or seemingly unreachable.
2. Triggering factor: A desire for deeper professional development andpeer support was shared among group members from the beginning. The
switch to online teaching in spring 2020 prompted the creation of the
CPDP, and its first meeting launched the project.
3. Progress checks: Progress is documented in a shared Google Document,
which is easy to update and consult. The appendix contains an example.
Members were encouraged to provide written feedback between
meetings. There was a meeting every other month where each member
would provide an update on their goals. Meeting every month would,
however, be ideal to maintain a certain momentum, or “motivational
current” (Dörnyei, 2015). A final meeting at the end of the academic
year is recommended to allow members to reflect on and evaluate theirprogress over the year, to celebrate, and to commit to a new set of goals.
4. Positive emotionality: The meetings occurred in a friendly and casualenvironment. All feedback provided was supportive and constructive,
from reading suggestions to personal opinions. There was no pressure,
only encouragement, and although some goals were not achievable due
to unforeseen circumstances such as those caused by the Coronavirus
pandemic, this was not regarded as being overly problematic.
The Continuing Professional Development Programme provided its
members with a framework on which to base personal and professional projects,
and with a community of peers that brought support and feedback throughout
those initiatives.
86Discussions, Observations, and Achievable Aims, OnCUE 14(1), pages 80-90

Conclusion

This article has highlighted some of the benefits of a multifaceted professional
development programme. Specifically, it has outlined three strands: The
Professional Academic Development Forum, the Volunteer Peer Observation
Scheme, and the Continuing Professional Development Programme. It aims
to encourage the implementation of similar programmes elsewhere. It is truethat professional development takes time, effort, and good will to implement,
but in our experience, the time needed may be less than often imagined, and thebenefits derived from professional development greatly offset the effort invested.
It is suggested here that a multi-faceted, informal approach to professional
development encourages coworkers to participate, maintains and even enhancesa collegial atmosphere, and keeps teachers stimulated and fresh as educators.
It is likely also the case that the results are noticed and appreciated by learners,
colleagues, and institutions.

References

Anderson, N. J. (2018). The five Ps of effective professional development for
language teachers. MEXTESOL Journal, 42(2), 1–9.
Balloch, F. (1996). Teacher development resource book. English Experience.
Bowen, T., & Marks, J. (1994). Inside teaching. Heinemann.
Dörnyei, Z. (2015, November 14). Motivational currents in language learning
process and practice in EAP [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=WEhZ4dJ8FHM
Farrell, T. S. C. (2007). Reflective language teaching: From research to practice.
Continuum.
Gee, J. (2005). Semiotic social spaces and affinity spaces: From The Age of
Mythology to today's schools. In D. Barton, & K. Tusting (Eds.), Beyond
communities of practice: Language power and social context (pp. 214–232).
Cambridge University Press.
Hughes, J. (2009, January). Self-service development. English Teaching
Professional, 60, 27–28.
Ingham, R. (Host and Producer). (2020–present). NUFS English team collabo
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podcast [Audio podcast series]. https://anchor.fm/richard-nufs
Lee, A., & Boud, D. (2003). Writing groups, change and academic identity:
Research development as local practice. Studies in Higher Education, 28(2),
187–200.
Moritoshi, P. (2012). Importance of PD articles for the CUE community (andyou). OnCUE Journal, 6(1), 39–40.
Padwad, A., & Dixit, K. (2011). Continuing professional development – anannotated bibliography. Teaching English series. British Council India.
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/continuing-professionaldevelopment-%E2%80%93-annotated-bibliography.
Parrott, M. (1993). Tasks for language teachers. Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C. (2015). Key issues in language teaching. Cambridge University
Press.
Richardson, S., & Diaz Maggioli, G. (2018). Effective professional development:
principles and best practice. Cambridge papers in ELT series. Cambridge
University Press.
Swanson, M. (2016). Distrusting oneself, befriending criticism, and taming themind and breath. OnCUE Journal, 9(4), 372-379.
Wallace, M. J. (1998). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge
University Press.

Author Bios

Thomas Entwistle is a British Council English language specialist and memberof the English Team at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Japan. His current
areas of interest include phonology, pronunciation, and world Englishes. thomas.
entwistle@britishcouncil.or.jp
Richard Thomas Ingham works through the British Council as a lecturer at the
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Japan. His research interests include extensive
listening, podcasting, and peer evaluation. richard.ingham@britishcouncil.or.jp
Etienne Marceau is a lecturer at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Japan.
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He learned English through studies in music before becoming interested in second
language education. His research interests include content-based education andlearning beyond the classroom. marceau@nufs.ac.jp
Received: March 27, 2021
Accepted: May 27, 2021

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Appendix
An Example of a Shared Google Document for CPDP
Learning Aim 1

Ideas & feedback

Objective:
Reduce grading time for writing
courses
How:-Research different types of rubrics

Ask colleagues if they would be
willing to share their rubrics.

-Customise the rubric: what are key
elements of the course? What should
students focus on?

Final drafts could be graded on overall
improvement and development.

-Seek feedback from colleagues

Contact writing coordinators fromother departments?

Simplify. Ensure students thoroughly
understand assessment and what isrequired of them. Improve the peer
review process. Feedback on all drafts,
but only the last one is graded.

When: starting now, to be finalised
before next semester.
Career Objective 1
Objective:
Become a published academic author
How:-Contact JALT re: requirements &their interest-Increase networking opportunities
through continued attendance of
JALT events

Ideas & feedback
It is easy to attend presentations andevents this year - many are online.
Currently in discussions with a JALT
representative about several potential
ideas for publication.
Email the professor responsible forin-house publications.

When: Ongoing90