Synchronous (Onsite) Teacher Education / Professional Development Panel Discussion (80 mins Onsite)
Professional growth through critical friendships: Cases from Japan
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.
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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.
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Chhayankdhar Singh Rathore is a lecturer in the Department of English for Global Communication at Konan Women’s University, Kobe, where he teaches and is an advisor and manager of the Self-Access Learning Center, e-space. He is a graduate of St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, where he read English Literature & Political Science, and of the M.A. TESOL program at Soka University, Japan. His areas of interest include Reflective Practice, Self-Access Learning, Drama-in-Education, Speech & Debate, and World Englishes. In the ELT community, Chhayankdhar is known by his nickname, C.D.
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Chitose Asaoka is a professor in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Dokkyo University. She holds a Ph.D. in education from Institute of Education, University College London. Her current research interests include teacher education and teacher autonomy.
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Atsuko Watanabe is a Professor in the Faculty of Language and Literature at Bunkyo University, Japan. Her research interests include reflective practice and researcher reflexivity. Her publications include Reflective Practice as Professional Development: Experiences of Teachers of English in Japan (Multilingual Matters, 2017) and a co-edited book with Zia Tajeddin, Teacher Reflection: Policies, Practices and Impacts (Multilingual Matters, 2022).