Vocational/VESL teacher collaboration: some substantive issues

Abstract

In an increasing number of programs in the United States, in both secondary and postsecondary settings, vocational ESL (VESL) teachers address technical content-related language learning needs of their students of limited English speaking ability by forming working relationships with their vocational counterparts. In a study supported by the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, the author and her research team addressed questions related to the establishment of these relationships, and their impact on vocational instruction. The questions were investigated by means of teacher interviews and video- or audiotaped classroom observations. Most of the data were collected at six highly recommended vocational programs in the United States; the rest were collected at other sites prior or subsequent to the main study. Underlying the establishment of collaborative relationships that produce instructional improvement are issues pertaining to philosophical and professional orientation, attitudes, authority in the school, and integration of knowledge. The study's main unexpected finding was that the most effective vocational instruction came about not as a result of vocational/VESL teacher collaboration, but from the vocational teachers' participation in language-oriented staff development. Researchers observed teachers who had undergone staff development both by making sure students understood them, and by creating opportunities for the vocational students to speak with their teachers and peers in meaningful and sustained conversations. With such colleagues as these, VESL teachers might enter into truly productive working relationships. These, in turn, should foster greater language and conceptual growth for students of limited English-speaking ability. Such relationships can come about, however, only if a vision of good vocational education and good language instruction is shared. This paper highlights conceptual issues surrounding the formation of this vision.