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🪶 Introductory Note to the Reader Since I began working with online
content back in 2010 through an asynchronous course led by Dr. Deborah Healey
from the University of Oregon, I have become deeply convinced that reflection
in teaching is not optional—it is essential. That first course opened my eyes to the
transformative power of thoughtful self-examination in language education.
Later, I continued my professional journey by enrolling in a series of online
certifications through Laureate Faculty Development, where I also worked for
more than eight years. In those programs, reflective journaling was always a
cornerstone of our learning, encouraging instructors to connect theory with
practice through continuous self-inquiry. This essay stems from that conviction. I
want to remind teacher-readers of the value of reflection as a catalyst for
pedagogical growth and collective improvement. As educators, we should move
beyond simply adopting methodologies; we must reflect on how and why
we use them. By integrating structured reflection
within professional communities and aligning this process with the
Kirkpatrick Model, we can sustain meaningful development among English
language teachers and cultivate classrooms where learning, teaching, and
reflection are intertwined. |
Building Reflective Teacher Communities
in ELT: Sustaining Professional Growth through the Kirkpatrick Model
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🪶 Abstract In English Language
Teaching (ELT), professional development (PD) often lacks sustainability,
resulting in limited transfer of learning to classroom practice. This paper
explores how building reflective teacher communities (RTCs) and employing the
Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) can foster long-term
professional growth and institutional coherence. Drawing upon Schön’s (1983)
theory of the reflective practitioner and Wenger’s (1998) communities of
practice framework, the paper argues that sustainable teacher development
depends on integrating reflection, collaboration, and evaluation within
school culture. Such integration transforms training from a compliance
activity into a process of continuous inquiry, enabling educators to align
communicative and formative assessment principles with real classroom
contexts. |
Keywords: Reflective Teaching,
Kirkpatrick Model, Professional Development, Communities of Practice, CoPs, English
Language Teaching, ELT. Teacher Growth, Reflective Teacher Communities, RTCs |
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🪶 Resumen En la enseñanza del
inglés (ELT), el desarrollo profesional (DP) suele carecer de sostenibilidad,
lo que limita su impacto real en la práctica docente. Este artículo analiza
cómo la creación de comunidades docentes reflexivas (RTCs) y la aplicación
del Modelo de Kirkpatrick (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016) pueden
promover un crecimiento profesional duradero y coherente dentro de las
instituciones. Basado en la teoría del profesional reflexivo de Schön (1983)
y en el enfoque de comunidades de práctica de Wenger (1998), el trabajo
sostiene que el desarrollo docente sostenible depende de integrar la
reflexión, la colaboración y la evaluación como parte de la cultura
institucional. Esta integración convierte la formación docente en un proceso
continuo de indagación que fortalece la alineación entre los principios de la
enseñanza comunicativa, la evaluación formativa y la práctica en el aula. |
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🪶 Resumo No ensino de língua
inglesa (ELT), o desenvolvimento profissional (DP) muitas vezes carece de
sustentabilidade, resultando em pouca mudança prática em sala de aula. Este
artigo examina como a criação de comunidades docentes reflexivas (RTCs) e a
utilização do Modelo de Kirkpatrick (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016)
podem promover um crescimento profissional duradouro e coerente nas
instituições. Com base na teoria do profissional reflexivo de Schön (1983) e
no conceito de comunidades de prática de Wenger (1998), argumenta-se que o
desenvolvimento docente sustentável depende da integração entre reflexão,
colaboração e avaliação como parte da cultura escolar. Essa integração
transforma a formação em um processo contínuo de investigação, permitindo que
os professores alinhem os princípios da abordagem comunicativa e da avaliação
formativa à realidade da sala de aula. |
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Introduction
In ELT, teacher professional development often
suffers from short-term focus and limited follow-up. While workshops and
certifications provide exposure to innovative methods or revisitation of proven
methodologies, they frequently fail to lead to long-term change in classroom
practice or in teacher pedagogical behavior. The Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick
& Kirkpatrick, 2016), traditionally applied to corporate training
evaluation, has offered a structured framework for understanding the
effectiveness of teacher development programs in language teaching. However,
for ELT institutions committed to communicative and formative assessment
principles, its potential can only be realized when PD is embedded within
reflective and collaborative learning environments, where teachers can coach
each other and lend them a hand when needed. This is why Farrell (2015) notes
that “teachers must not only learn about teaching, but learn from their
teaching” (p. 12), something that requires a more seasoned instructor’s help.
My intention with this paper is to examine how integrating reflective teacher
communities with the Kirkpatrick Model can ensure sustainable and meaningful
professional growth.
Reflection
as the Foundation of Teacher Growth
The notion of reflection in teaching traces back
to Schön’s (1983) concept of the
reflective practitioner, which emphasizes the teachers’ ability to think
critically about their own practice while engaged in it. Reflection, according
to Schön, allows professionals to construct new understandings of complex
situations through “reflection-in-action” (p. 68). In ELT, such reflection
becomes essential because communicative classrooms are dynamic ecosystems where
language, identity, and interaction converge. Farrell (2015) extends this idea
to teacher education, suggesting that reflective teaching “moves teachers
beyond technique to question the assumptions and values underlying their
decisions” (p. 9). Thus, reflection serves not only as a cognitive activity but
as a transformative process linking experience, ELT theory, and classroom
reality and teaching practices.
Communities
of Practice (CoP) as Contexts for Reflection
While reflection may begin as an individual
process, its impact multiplies when situated within a community of practice
(CoP). Lave and Wenger (1991) define CoPs as groups where individuals “share a
concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as
they interact regularly” (p. 98). Within ELT institutions, such communities
allow teachers to engage in dialogue, share classroom experiences, and
co-construct pedagogical knowledge. As Wenger (1998) later argues,
participation in a community transforms learning from a product into a process
of identity formation. When teachers reflect collectively on student outcomes,
feedback, and challenges, they align their practices with shared values of
communicative competence and learner autonomy, principles central to modern
language pedagogy.
The
Kirkpatrick Model as a Framework for Sustained Evaluation
As I have explored in other posts of mine in
this blog, the Kirkpatrick Model offers a four-level framework, Reaction,
Learning, Behavior, and Results, that can help supervisors guide pre- or
in-service instructors’ reflection within teacher communities. Applied to ELT,
it can help educators evaluate professional development initiatives beyond
participant satisfaction (Reaction in the Kirkpatrick Model). For instance,
Level 1 (Reaction) may involve teachers’ engagement during workshops; Level 2
(Learning) assesses the knowledge gained about communicative or formative
practices; Level 3 (Behavior) examines whether teachers apply these methods in
class; and Level 4 (Results) evaluates the ultimate impact on student learning
and engagement (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016). When communities of
practice (CoP) adopt this model as a shared reflection tool, they ensure that
evaluation becomes formative, not punitive, fostering continuous improvement
and shared accountability.
Integrating
Reflection and Evaluation: A Synergistic Approach
The true innovation of a proposal like this one
lies in combining reflection (Schön, 1983) and evaluation (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2016) as complementary dimensions of teacher growth and
professional development. Reflective teacher communities (RTCs) can use the
Kirkpatrick framework to structure their teaching and learning discussions,
moving from initial emotional responses to data-informed inquiry about learning
transfer and student outcomes. As Fullan (2007) has observed, “sustainable
change depends less on policy and more on the quality of interaction within the
professional community” (p. 43). When teachers collectively analyze classroom
evidence such as student in- or out-of-class work, peer observations, and
formative assessments (application and feedback sessions), they develop a
culture of evidence-based reflection aligned with institutional goals, mostly
aligned with CEFR linguistic and pragmatic descriptors.
Leadership
and Institutional Support
Institutional leaders such as the academic
director, the head of training, and the coordinator of teacher supervision play
a decisive role in nurturing these reflective teacher communities (RTCs).
Leadership, according to Hargreaves and Fullan (2012), must shift from
hierarchical supervision to “professional capital,” where teachers are
empowered as agents of improvement (p. 89), not just a cohort of instructors
who must execute specific “orders” on how to teach and align their teaching to
a given methodology. Creating time for structured reflection with a CoP,
promoting collaborative inquiry through online synchronous and asynchronous
course, and recognizing teacher innovation when this has materialized in a
classroom are essential administrative supports that all instructors must feel
coming positively towards them. As Farrell (2015) cautions, “reflection without
institutional backing risks becoming another isolated burden on teachers” (p.
23), more “work” that needs to be complied with if a teaching position wants to
be held. Therefore, reflective practice should be institutionalized as part of
the school culture, not an extracurricular activity.
The
Transformative Potential of Reflective Communities
When reflection, collaboration, and structured
evaluation converge, reflective teacher communities (TCRs) evolve into “transformative
agents of change” for the language classrooms. At this point, instructors
become researchers of their own practice (classroom delivery), and evaluation
shifts from compliance to curiosity (summative and formative assessments). Lave
and Wenger’s (1991) principle of legitimate peripheral participation reminds us
that even novice teachers contribute meaningfully as they engage in shared
reflection and gradually assume more central roles. Such dynamics ensure that
professional learning, and in consequence teacher development, is not a static
process but continuously renewed through participation, dialogue, and shared
vision of how language teaching is more effective in their institutions and
within the methodology being employed.
Conclusion
Sustaining teacher professional growth and
teaching performance in ELT requires more than isolated workshops, training
sessions, or assessment frameworks. True PD demands a cultural shift toward
reflective collaboration and embracing a CoP. By integrating the Kirkpatrick
Model into reflective teacher communities (TCRs), institutions can ensure that
professional development becomes a cyclical, evidence-informed, and
participatory process that will help instructors align with the institutional
pedagogical model. As Schön (1983) envisioned, teachers evolve not through
prescriptions but through reflection-in-action; as Farrell (2015) adds in this
respect, teacher learning deepens when shared within communities. The road
forward for ELT professionals is thus clear: to cultivate reflective teacher
communities (TRCs) that transform training into sustainable, institutionalized
professional growth.
📚 References
Bailey, K. M.
(2017). Learning about language
assessment: Dilemmas, decisions, and directions. National Geographic
Learning.
Farrell, T. S. C.
(2015). Promoting reflective practice in
ELT: Research-based principles and practices. Routledge.
Fullan, M.
(2007). The new meaning of educational
change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Hargreaves, A.,
& Fullan, M. (2012). Professional
capital: Transforming teaching in every school. Teachers College Press.
Kirkpatrick, D.
L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2016). Kirkpatrick's
four levels of training evaluation. ATD Press.
Lave, J., &
Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning:
Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.
Schön, D. A.
(1983). The reflective practitioner: How
professionals think in action. Basic Books.
Wenger, E.
(1998). Communities of practice:
Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge University Press.
Comprehension and Reflection Worksheet
Building Reflective Teacher Communities in ELT - Sustaining Professional Growth Through the Kirkpatrick Model by Jonathan Acuña
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