이해와 협력 그리고 지속가능성

Understanding, Collegiality, and Sustainability: Utilizing Exploratory Practice for Teachers’ Professional Development

Exploratory practice is an approach that stems from practitioner research, and it highlights the understanding of language education and enhances the quality of life in the classroom by engaging everyone within the learning community (Allwright & Hanks, 2009). Exploratory practice asserts that teachers can develop deeper understanding of their teaching environment when they research their own questions by using ordinary pedagogical activities as a research tool. This method has been proposed as a way of looking towards professional development without burdening teachers with extra workload to conduct research. In this regard, this study examines exploratory practice as an alternative way of Korean language teachers’ professional development. First, it reviews the traditional approaches to teachers’ professional development and other practitioner research methods. Then, it explains the rise of exploratory practice and examines its principles in three major themes: understanding, collegiality, and sustainability. Lastly, the study closes by discussing the potential of utilizing exploratory practice for Korean language teachers’ professional development.