Abstract :
The aim of this presentation is to contribute to the reflection on which methods could be adopted to support teacher development towards a pedagogy for autonomy.
In particular, a working lesson framework for teacher education will be here illustrated, after being experimented in in-service and pre-service language teacher training programmes. Along with expanding teachers’ knowledge about the most functional approaches and methodologies in language teaching and learning, those training programmes intended to increase language teachers’ awareness of teacher autonomy more in general and increase their ability to promote learner autonomy in more specific terms. For this purpose, a specific lesson framework was conceived, consisting of a combination of components (critical reflection on one’s orientations, awareness of useful teaching/learning strategies and tools, sustained motivation, use of in-school and out-of-school learning, role of/in professional communities, and reflective practice), which were recursively applied to each single lesson plan of the training programme and adapted to fit the different lesson topics. While teachers were gaining confidence with the lesson framework in the role of learners during the training, they were asked to transfer the tool to their own context, in the role of teachers of their classrooms, with special attention to a pedagogy for autonomy.
Data deriving from teachers’ logbooks and from the analysis of their lesson plans at the beginning and at the end of the training programmes will be here discussed, highlighting to what extent the proposed lesson framework has affected their professional development as well as their ability to promote autonomy in their students. Finally, applicability and limits of this lesson framework will be questioned, also in consideration of current issues in teacher education.
