Jennie Roloff Rothman
About
Jennie Roloff Rothman is Principal Lecturer of Professional Development: Teacher Development in the English Language Institute at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan. Her research interests include teacher professional development, reflective practices, and global issues in language education.Sessions
Synchronous (Onsite) Professional growth through critical friendships: Cases from Japan more
Sun, Apr 30, 09:30-10:50 Asia/Seoul
Teachers across Japan recognize the importance of professional development (PD), but many are at a loss for what to do since many report feeling isolated or compartmentalized. While recent government initiatives are encouraging more PD, without specific measures being implemented, institutions and individuals remain responsible for creating change. In the absence of formalized PD, many teachers in Japan end up looking beyond institutions to build relationships like critical friendships that, through reflective practice, provide support and encourage growth. A “critical friend” or “trusted other” is someone with whom an educator can engage reflectively and collaboratively about their beliefs, practices and identity (Hatton & Smith, 1995; Stenhouse, 1975). This panel will showcase the experiences of several EFL professionals in Japan through research conducted on, and through, critical friendships. Panelists will share their approach to researching their critical friendship research and what they gained, broadly and in terms of their personal growth.
Synchronous (Onsite) Lessons from the pandemic: Implementing responsive professional development looking towards the future more
Sun, Apr 30, 12:30-14:30 Asia/Seoul
Recent years have seen a marked shift in how education is being conducted, especially regarding technology use when online teaching became the norm during the pandemic. The presenter is a member of a team overseeing professional development for a large department of English-speaking educators at a Japanese university. Their poster will describe the implementation of emergency remote teaching (ERT) support in 2020, with particular focus on a) how it utilized teacher input and emphasized collaboration and b) how the lessons from this period have been applied to subsequent professional development support activities. Some of the takeaways that have continued include an informal technology troubleshooting chat group, an online forum for sharing materials, ideas, and resources, the use of technology guidebooks, and orientations. The efforts have enabled a smooth transition to hybrid as well as face-to-face lessons, and have informed policy decisions aimed at ensuring the continuation of quality education.