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Double Standards: Teacher Education in the Expanding Circle
Author(s) -
Seidlhofer Barbara
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/1467-971x.00136
Subject(s) - exploit , ideology , work (physics) , perception , sociology , mathematics education , pedagogy , face (sociological concept) , resource (disambiguation) , simple (philosophy) , public relations , political science , psychology , epistemology , computer science , social science , engineering , law , mechanical engineering , computer network , computer security , neuroscience , politics , philosophy
This paper describes some of the dilemmas which non‐native teachers of English worldwide face as they are exposed to the competing discourses of educational ideologies and market forces and have to somehow reconcile the contradictory demands of global claims and pressures with the local conditions in which they work. It is argued that it is vital to resist a simple transfer of teaching approaches and attitudes originating from the Inner Circle to the Expanding Circle, where quite different conditions obtain. The status and role of non‐native speaker teachers is explored in this paper, drawing on an empirical study of the self‐perception of Austrian teachers, and suggestions are made as to how teachers can take advantage of their non‐native speaker status and develop it as an important resource for asserting the needs and preferences of their specific Expanding Circle settings. Teacher education plays a crucial role in making teachers aware of their non‐native assets and in preparing them explicitly to exploit these assets in the development of an appropriate pedagogy.