Learning to Be a Writing Teacher: A Case Study of Two In-service English Teachers

This case study explored the experiences of two Korean in-service English teachers in an intensive English composition course at a graduate school. The course was designed for the participants' development both as learners and teachers of English writing. What two secondary school English teachers brought to, developed in and obtained from the 16 week long academic journey were examined, and the meanings of their experience were interpreted from the perspective of teacher knowledge building (Johnson, 2003, 2009; Kennedy, 1999). Data included two teachers' weekly journal entries, portfolios, and interviews along with their writing samples. Following the principles of qualitative data analysis (Dörnyei, 2007), data were coded and categorized until the core categories emerged. The findings showed that both teachers came to class with the strong identity of learners of English writing. Influencing and being influenced both by thier attitude toward the class and perception of their institutional context, however, the two teachers' learning was somewhat differently constructed and the difference was explained in terms of knowledge building. The findings conceded the substantial influence of personal and institutional context on English writing teacher's professional development. The findings were discussed along with the implications and suggestions for writing teacher education programs and future research.