Action Research for Professional Growth in EAL Practice

Professional Learning is a core component of the ongoing work of teachers. Professional learning focussing on English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) is particularly needed for teachers in schools that have high numbers of students with EAL/D. Very few teachers learn about EAL/D in their initial teacher education degrees, but by the nature of the linguistic diversity of their classes, many teachers have found themselves to be teachers of EAL/D and in need of EAL/D-specific content and pedagogical knowledge and teaching strategies. Professional learning that includes classroom action research, where teachers can directly put into practice what they learn and engage in cycles of trialling their new learning in their own classroom context and responding to it, is particularly impactful on both teachers’ own learning and on the use of the new learning with students. This article describes one context of professional learning with action research for EAL/D and then shares four examples of practice. It is anticipated that this model of teacher professional learning, together with the examples of innovative and effective EAL/D strategies, is worthwhile sharing with other teachers of EAL/D.