Nara JALT Presentation. July 17th 2010.

VIDEOTAPING AND SELF-REFLECTION

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

In addition to physical conditioning and hitting thousands of balls at a driving range, a professional golfer will spend hours upon hours carefully examining videotape of his/her swing in order to observe any flaws or elements of the swing that could be improved.  In fact, the majority of PGA/LPGA golfers would view videotaping as an essential and valuable part of their professional development.  This sentiment stands in sharp contrast to the feelings about videotaping that exist in the EFL teaching arena.  Most English teachers will curl their toes in obvious discomfort when the words “videotape” and “your lesson” are mentioned in the same sentence.  In all probability, this negative feeling stems from the fact that video recording is often used as an evaluative tool, especially during the pre-service teaching practicum, and not as an effective professional improvement device. 

This presentation aims to alleviate some of the discomfort and apprehension that educators have with video recording their EFL classes.  In addition, it highlights the preliminary findings of an ongoing, truly synergised teacher development project that promotes professional development.  The project required participating teachers to videotape each other’s university English lessons before engaging in critical self-reflection and peer feedback.  In essence, the varied perspectives enabled the teacher to raise his/her own self-reflective awareness.  Preliminary observations from the study report; i) differences between how each teacher initially perceived his/her lesson regarding achievement of objectives, student participation/performance, teacher/student rapport, and issues regarding learning environment; and ii) how collaborative feedback examined these issues through inter-teacher reflection.

About the Presenters

Greg Dunne:　　EFL Program Coordinator, Osaka Shoin Women’s University

 Greg Dunne has followed on from a high school English teaching career in his native Australia by teaching EFL in Japanese universities for the past 12 years. Currently, he is a tenured instructor at Osaka Shoin Women’s University where he coordinates the EFL program. He holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) degree from Macquarie University, a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Tasmania and a Diploma in Teaching from Sydney Advanced College of Education. His research interests include teacher development, CALL, task-based learning and world Englishes.

Sean Toland　　EFL Instructor, Osaka Shoin Women’s University 

Sean Toland has taught English as a foreign language in Japan and Korea at every level from elementary to University.  In addition to his EFL experience, he has also spent three years teaching high school students in two geographically remote Inuit settlements in Canada’s far north.  Sean holds a Masters in Education degree from Brock University, a diploma in Education from McGill University, and an Honours B.A. with a double major in History and Religion & Culture from Wilfrid Laurier University.  He is currently working as an English instructor at Osaka Shoin Women’s University in Osaka, Japan.

WHEN.  July 17th 2010. ( Saturday)

TIME     6-8pm.

WHERE.  Manabunara at Gakuenmae station, kintetsu line.  http://www.manabunara.jp/

Seating may be limited so please RSVP

oneworld.catriona@gmail.com   or mail for further info.

The presentation will be followed by a Midsummer’s Yakiniku party at a local restaurant,

everyone welcome.

Many thanks.

Nara JALT.