Through the Eyes of a Visitor: A Different Perspective on Teaching

Abstract

Educators and teacher educators can develop blind spots to professional ideas and issues. Objectivity may come through the eyes of someone outside the profession. This study looked at a higher education advisor studying education, but who had no intention to apply for licensure nor to teach. She participated in a materials development project to create culturally-appropriate electronic learning materials for Thai children. During the project, the participant reflected on not only developing materials for teaching but also teaching itself. In this study, we examined and triangulated the reflective journals, interviews, journal reflection and final philosophy statement of the participant. The data showed that she expressed ideas related to the profession of teaching that the education majors in the project did not express. The findings provide insights that can inform both English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching specifically, and teacher education more broadly