This presentation discusses the preliminary findings of a personal inquiry into the role of the English language teacher educator to support decolonization of English language teacher education for international TESL candidates from the Global South. The private vocational college is in Western Canada, where it offers a short-term TESL program with an additional 2-week Pre-TESL course for non-local candidates, many of whom are from the Global South.
Originally coming from the Global South and teaching in the Global North, I questioned the rationale behind the 2-week Pre-course, and progressively modified it to move away from outcome-focused direct instructions to skills-focused and inquiry-based approach. Much of the course content asked the teacher candidates to ask why certain methods seem to be preferred, and whether it would be applicable for them and their future teaching contexts. From the program feedback at the end of 6 weeks, as well as their self-evaluation and weekly journals, many of the teacher candidates felt more confident, in-control of their learning, and appreciated the two extra weeks prior to beginning the 4-week short term TESL course.
Acknowledging that a Pre-TESL course is specific to the school, the presentation does not aim to suggest a generalized approach in designing and managing a language teacher education program. It certainly does not attempt to advocate for a Pre-TESL program to discuss the impact of the education from Global North to the teaching context of the Global South. Rather, my hope is that though the presentation shares a small case set in a specific context, it would be able to share insights and inspire other educators to make use of their teaching context to support the decolonizing of English language Teacher education.
