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Vol 32 No 2 The Teacher Trainer 5www.tttjournal.co.ukIn contrast, “reflection-on-action” is necessarily distanced fromaction in order to gain greater clarity. “The task of the reflectivepractitioner is to make this tacit or implicit knowledge explicit byreflection on action, by constantly generating questions andchecking our emerging theories with both personalpast experienceand the reflections of others” (Williams and Burden, 1997, p. 54).Kemmis (1985) describes this as one of the main thrusts of themovement towards teachers as action researchers.In allof SIT’s teacher training, teacher development, and trainerdevelopment programs, participants are asked to examine their ownmotivations, beliefs and assumptions about the teaching–learningprocess. They are asked to explore how these inform the decisionsthey make when teaching, and then to evaluate their choices. Theconclusions they draw about their own teaching practice are thenchallenged and/or validated in the light of the learning of theirstudents. Once they are familiar with reflection following theExperientialLearning Cycle, participants have the ability to both poseand solve problems related to their teaching, empowering them toconstantly improve upon and renew their practice.The alternatives he proposed were that teaching involves boththinking and doing, and that the effects of teacher education lie lessin influencing how teachers behave than in recasting how they thinkabout what they do in classrooms (Freeman, 1991).Freeman’s modelbelow extends the knowledge-transmission view ofeducation (knowledge and skills) to include attitude and awareness.This modelis referred to as the KASA framework and, like the ELC,is core to the design of the SIT Trainer of Trainers course.KASA Framework – A descriptive model of trainingAdapted from Freeman’s Descriptive Modelof Teaching. 1989AWARENESSTriggers and monitorsattention to:ATTITUDEThe relatively recent paradigm known as Teacher Thinking isbecoming more accessible for language teacher educators throughwriters such as Donald Freeman and Karen Johnson. The latter hasusefully divided the Teacher Thinking research into the followingfour categories: Learning to Teach. This research chronicles the developmentalprocess involved in learning to teach and concludes that teachers’lifelong learning experiences, prior experiences as students,memories of former teachers, conceptions of teachers andteaching, and knowledge of subject matter have a significantimpact on how teachers organize instruction and represent thecurriculum to students. Teachers’ Decision Making. This research focuses on thecognitive information processing that teachers use to identifyproblems, attend to classroom cues, formulate plans, makeinteractive decisions, and evaluate alternative courses of action.This research attempts to describe the cognitive informationprocessing and resulting instructionalactions that teachersconsider during interactive teaching. Teachers’ Beliefs. This research is based on the assumption thatteachers’ beliefs influence both perception and judgment, whichin turn affect what teachers say and do in classrooms. Inaddition, teachers’ beliefs play a criticalrole in how teachers learnto teach; that is, how they interpret new information aboutlearning and teaching and how that information is translated intoclassroom practices. Teachers’ Knowledge. This research examines what teachersknow and how they use that knowledge to plan and carry outinstruction. Teachers’ knowledge encompasses personalknowledge, classroom knowledge, curricular knowledge,knowledge of students and knowledge of the institutionalcontexts within which they work.(adapted from Johnson & Johnson, 1998)Johnson makes a distinction, however, between Teacher Thinkingand Teachers’ PedagogicalReasoning. Both attempt to understandthe cognitive processes of teaching, but while the former looks atwhat teachers think before, during and after teaching, the latterfocuses on how they think. The aim is to understand the practice ofteaching through the reason that determines that practice (Johnson,1998).Donald Freeman, former Dean at SIT, has been one of the leadingadvocates for the need to understand how one becomes a teacher.He has stated that training has generally been based on twomisguided premises: that teaching is the execution of activity inclassrooms, and that it involves shaping that activity according tocertain broadly held beliefs of effective classroom pedagogy.A stance towards self,activity and others thatlink intrapersonaldynamicswith externalperformanceand behavioursSKILLSKNOWLEDGEThe HOW of training –approach methodand techniquesThe WHAT of training –subject matter, knowledgeof students, ission view of training of trainersFigure 2: The KASA Framework forTraining TrainersAcknowledging the need to move beyond the limited knowledgetransmission view of teacher education, Diaz Maggioli(2013) haspresented four perspectives in the history of teaching teachers: lookand learn, read and learn, think and learn, and participate and learn.Allfour are present in SIT’s Training of Trainers program: look andlearn in its system of mentoring and apprenticeship, read and learnin the pre-course tasks, think and learn through reflection and useof ELC on the course, and participate and learn through buildingconnections with experienced professionals in the field and inclusionin a professionalcommunity of SIT trainers worldwide.In both language and teacher training classrooms, the perspectivesoutlined above are applied to course content. Participants areactively engaged with the subject matter, engaged in using contentand skills, in identifying their attitudes, and in developing theirawareness.Structure of the Training-of-TrainersProgramWorld Learning’s SIT Training-of-Trainers (SIT TOT) course is a trainerdevelopment program designed for experienced teachers andteacher trainers to build on the strengths they bring to training, andto develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and awareness specific toan experientialapproach to training teachers. This course, for initialor continuing professionaldevelopment for language teachereducators, combines skilldevelopment, reflective dialogue,mentorship, and engagement in professionalcommunities in thedevelopment of teacher trainers. The course’s main aim is to traintrainers who can prepare learning-centered teachers to be reflectivepractitioners and active members of a professionalcommunity.continued Pilgrims Ltd. 2018 Allrights reserved.

6 The Teacher Trainer Vol 32 No 2www.tttjournal.co.ukThe program involves both distance and face to face training andcovers a range of competencies deemed essentialfor making thetransition from teacher to teacher trainer. Below we willoutline thekey course components and processes and show how these reflectthe core course principles outlined above.During the course trainers-being trained (TBTs) work intimately withtrainers-of-trainers (TOTs). The TOTs are allveteran teacher trainerswho have worked in a multitude of training contexts around theworld. This one-on-one mentorship serves to scaffold trainerlearning as wellas build long-term professionalconnections in thefield of teacher training. As you can see in Figure 3, the course isdivided into four parts.Applica!onPre-courseTasksMentoringFinal LearningStatementFigure 3: The SIT Training of Trainers ProcessIn the first two parts (Application and Pre-Course Tasks), the TBTcompletes written tasks that are assessed by a TOT. The TOT alsoprovides feedback to support the TBT. In the third part, 9Mentoring),the TBT works on an SIT approved teacher training course (this isusually an SIT TESOL Certificate course or one of our manycontextualized short-term teacher training programs) with a TOTwho monitors, supports and assesses the TBT’s progress. In the finalpart, TBTs submit a reflective written assignment for review, the finallearning statement. Throughout the program candidates areregularly assessed by their mentor trainers against key knowledge,skills, awareness and attitudes deemed essentialfor deliveringexperientialtraining programs. Upon successfulcompletion of theprogram, the TBT willbe licensed as an SIT trainer, which gives themaccess to a worldwide network of teacher trainers as wellasopportunities to work as consultants on World Learning’s trainingprograms and projects.Course Content of the Training-of-Trainers ProgramReflectivePracticeProfessionalismSIT TOTCourseContentInterpersonalQualitiesWorkshop Designand DeliveryObservation andFeedbackFigure 4: SIT TOT Course ContentThe course content focuses on the following key areas for trainerdevelopment: Reflective practice, interpersonalqualities and skills,workshop design and delivery, observation and feedback andprofessionalism (see Figure 4). Each area of the training builds andrecycles throughout the program so that the knowledge, awareness,skills and attitudes deepen and expand as the course progresses.Reflective PracticeReflective practice forms the foundation of the training of trainersprogram. Trainers are guided to use the ExperientialLearning Cycle(ELC) as a framework for systematic, data-driven reflection on theirpractice. Maria Helena Meyer, an SIT TOT course graduate fromBrazil, explains the process in the following way:In my institution, reflective teaching has always beenencouraged. However, ‘reflection’ has always seemed a verysubjective term to me, and Ifelt Iwas not very successfulinhelping teachers reflect on their practice for their ownimprovement. The ExperientialLearning Cycle as applied in theSIT course provides a systematization of the process, in whichparticipants describe a teaching experience they had, theninterpret this experience and derive their own theories about it,and finally they plan what actions can be taken regarding theevents in the experience described. Icould notice how thissequence guarantees that reflection can turn into substantialimprovement if it is based on concrete experience andsystematic analysis of practice.As Maria so eloquently describes here, a step-by-step process ofreflection based on Kolb’s ELC is explicitly taught and assessedduring the course. In order to be successfulon the program trainersmust be able to reflect on their teaching and training by (a)assessing their performance (strengths and areas to improve) basedon evidence of learning; (b) providing details of what participantsdid and what they themselves did and felt related to significantissues or events; (c) analyzing what happened in order tohypothesize why it happened and generate theories, and (d)articulating realistic, achievable and concrete steps towardimprovement. In addition, trainers are expected to demonstrate awillingness and ability to make purposefulchanges and improveskills based on reflection and feedback from TOTs, programparticipants and other key stakeholders.Workshop Design and DeliveryAnother key content area of the SIT TOT course is workshop designand delivery. The course not only uses the ELC in teaching reflection,it is also used as a framework for experientialworkshop design. Thisdesign makes the process of delivering workshops as important asthe content of the workshop. Workshops are always followed by“processing” or reflection time where the trainer guides courseparticipants to step back and analyze what happened during theworkshop experience, how this relates to their previous knowledgeand what they learned from their shared experience. The processgives teachers a chance to experience the relevant content and thenstep back and think about their own beliefs and how the contentmay or may not be relevant to their own teaching philosophy andpractice. Face Mhamdi, an SIT TOT graduate from Tunisia, describeshis own struggle to reconcile this relationship between content andprocess when designing workshops:My challenge in designing workshops was not thepurpose/objective but it was how to guide the trainees torethink some of their assumptions and support them in settingassumptions of their own. Workshops should exceed thedelivered content and should foster a different way of seeingour own practices.Experientialworkshop design asks that trainers be able to supportteachers’ understanding of the content while also asking them toexplore the content as it relates to their own beliefs and practices. Pilgrims Ltd. 2018 Allrights reserved.

Vol 32 No 2 The Teacher Trainer 7www.tttjournal.co.ukObservation and FeedbackCourse ApproachTeacher development on SIT courses comes in the form of ongoingformative feedback on written work and performance duringworkshops, lesson planning, teaching lessons and post-teachingfeedback sessions. Trainer feedback is primarily developmentalandfocuses on supporting teachers in reflecting systematically on theirexperiences during the course. Alejandra, an SIT TOT graduate fromGuatemala, describes learning to give feedback as a trainer in thefollowing way:Articulate stepstowards trainerimprovementArticulate stepstoward teacherimprovementProviding feedback based on the ELC, makes something thatstarts with perception (which is extremely subjective) objective.There willalways be concrete evidence to base one’s feedbackon; something that happened, not something Ithink happenedduring the lesson.As Alejandra describes above, the SIT TOT course works with trainerson how to use the ELC to structure their observations and feedback.The date-driven nature of the ELC framework provides a systematicway for trainers to give objective feedback to teachers based onthings that actually happened in the teachers’ lessons.Hypothesize andgenerate teacherlearning theoriesA good trainer is not only a guide, a facilitator, a reflectivepractitioner, a decision maker, a coach, a traditionalteacher, buton top of allthat s/he should be a human being; one that listenscarefully, and shows empathy and understanding towards peopleand offers emotionalsupport whenever needed. It is amazinghow my TOT worked her magic to make a group of 13 totalstrangers feelso close in such a short time span. The group reallyfelt like a family, where everybody cared about the others.Therefore, trainers require a number of characteristics and skills thatenable them to deliver the course in a way that supports a positivelearning environment. They are able to impart information throughwelldesigned workshops and constructive feedback, but moreimportantly, they have the characteristics and skills of leaders whoempower teachers to discover what is to be learned by actingprimarily as facilitators, guides, models and coaches. They havequalities often seen in “support” roles: those involving observation,listening and empathy.Professional AttitudeFinally, skillfultrainers need to serve as role-models for the teachersthey are working with. Therefore, they need to demonstrate apassion for teaching and learning that can inspire and motivateothers. Sumer Salman Abou Shaaban, an SIT TOT graduate fromGaza demonstrates this wellas she describes her approach tolearning on the course:During the TBT process Iwas always a learner and Ifelt proudand satisfied to be learning. This feeling motivated me to learnmore and reflect on my performance to find areas fordevelopment. Ifrequently asked the TOT for her opinion andfeedback. Itried to learn from participants’ performance. Ialsowrote a personalreflection every day. Itried to change some ofmy philosophy in life, not only as a TBT.On the SIT TOT course trainers are asked to demonstrate respect forthe learning process, have a positive attitude toward receivingfeedback on performance as a trainer, be committed to continuedprofessionaldevelopment as a teacher and trainer and be an activemember of a broader e andgenerate languagelearning theoriesDescribe detailsof studentperformanceDescribe detailsof teacherperformanceAnalyzeperformancebased onStudent learningInterpersonal QualitiesIn addition to developing knowledgeable and skillfultrainers in theareas mentioned above, the SIT TOT course aims to foster ahumanistic approach to teacher training. Wided Sassi, an SIT TOTgraduate from Tunisia, describes this aspect of becoming a trainer inthe following way:TrainingexperienceAnalyzeperformancebased onteacher learningFigure 5: SIT TOT Course ApproachIn order to train trainers who are reflective, humanistic, open tolearning and dedicated to an experientialapproach to teachertraining the SIT TOT course is designed in a way that the approachto training trainers directly mirrors the teacher training approach.You can see from Figure 5 that the same cycle is followed by bothtrainers and participants during the course. During the teachertraining course, trainers ask participants to go through the ELC toexamine their own motivations, beliefs and assumptions about theteaching–learning process. They ask participants to explore howthese inform the decisions they make when teaching, and then toevaluate their choices. The conclusions they draw about their ownteaching practice are then challenged and/or validated in the light ofthe learning of their students. In the same way, TOTs guide TBTs togo through the ELC to examine their own beliefs and assumptionsabout the training-learning process. TOTs ask TBTs how these informthe decisions they make when training and then to evaluate theirchoices. The conclusions they draw about their own training, just asin the example above, are then challenged and/or validated in thelight of the learning of their teachers. In both the teacher trainingand the TOT course, learners (whether teachers or trainers) areempowered to come to their own conclusions about training,teaching and learning. In this way a core guiding principle of thecourse values learning over teaching or training. FaycelMhamdi,quoted earlier, explains the course in this way:SIT TOT program is a state of mind that values a purpose,“teaching is subordinate to learning” [Gattegno] and yet it isflexible enough to let trainers decide on the best course ofaction to fulfillthat purpose. It is this flexibility and sense ofpurpose that make the whole program a fertile ground forprofessionaldevelopment and change.The SIT TOT program provides a simple yet powerfulapproach toreflective trainer development. By mirroring the content and processof the teacher training approach in the approach to training trainers– the program provides a systematic approach to training,development and assessment. The focus on process over producthonors previous professionalknowledge that teachers and trainersbring to the program while providing them with a framework forbuilding on that knowledge. This allows trainers to work witheducators from diverse backgrounds and contexts.continue

By 1997 at SIT a new program was created for teachers wishing for short, non-degree initial qualification, and this became the SIT TESOL Certificate course. The course is unique among TESOL certificate courses as it was created by adapting the core of an already existing MAT program. The SIT TESOL Certificate course can be seen as a