A qualitative analysis of graduate student teachers’ shared experiences in a teacher
support group is presented. The analysis focuses on how the reflective teaching
framework of exploratory practice can benefit more experienced graduate student
teachers and provide a potential interdisciplinary model for professional development
beyond the first-year teaching methods course in collegiate foreign language
programs. Drawing on individual written reflections and transcripts from
four collaborative group meetings over a two-month period, the authors show
how a teacher support group made up of graduate students and language program
coordinators enabled three experienced graduate student teachers to develop
personally meaningful insights on their classrooms and learners. Findings from
the study point to opportunities afforded for the graduate student teachers in understanding
three interrelated areas of their teaching: (1) that reflection about
teaching
must involve learners, (2) that teaching is an inherently complex and
dynamic process, and (3) that teaching communities promote deep understanding
of classroom teaching