“Working with learners”: shaping and contextualizing a teacher education methodology course in the U.A.E. (Pre-published version)

Abstract

Language teacher education programs have traditionally focused on transmission, product-orientated approaches that are applicable to any teaching context. However, there is a growing shift towards a constructivist, process-orientated perspective where student teachers are active participants in learning to teach. This article discusses the rationale behind shaping and contextualizing a teacher education reading methodology course in the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) B.Ed program in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through the HCT’s Program Quality Assurance (PQA) process – using course evaluations and observational analysis – it was suggested that approaches such as microteaching, reciprocal teaching, modeling and problem-based learning might better maximize opportunities to practice the teaching of reading in a foreign language context. These findings could have important implications for teacher education programs in the UAE, by establishing the importance of building concrete links between theory and practice.