Guest Talk by Professor Thomas Farrell: The Art of Burglary and Learning to Teach

Abstract

The transition from the teacher education institution to life in a real classroom can be somewhat of a shock for first year teachers and unfortunately teacher education programs have not had a successful history of being able to adequately prepare pre-service teachers for this transition. Because learning to teach in the first year has been described as a somewhat idiosyncratic activity, novice teachers going into the classroom for the first time after their teacher education programs may have experiences much the same as the old Chinese way of handing down to Art of Burglary from father to son: they learn to survive on the job, or end up in jail!. In this talk, I suggest that teacher education programs should and can better prepare teachers for their first year of teaching in a real school regardless of the context. I point out that in order to better prepare preservice teachers for the reality of what they will face in their first years, teacher education programs should engage in a novice service approach to teacher education that includes engaging pre-service teachers during the course, introduce a course on the first years of teaching and maintain contact with graduates in their early career years.

Bio

Thomas S.C. Farrell is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Brock University, Canada. Professor Farrell’s professional interests include Reflective Practice, and Language Teacher Education & Development. Professor Farrell has published widely in academic journals and has presented at major conferences worldwide on these topics. He is recognized in the World’s Top 2% Scientists top-cited in their respective fields (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), with over 20,000 citations and 68 h-index. His most recent books include Reflective Language Teaching (2022: Cambridge University Press, UK). Insights Into Professional Development in Language Teaching (2022: Castledown, UK). Doing Reflective Practice in English Language Teaching (2022: Routledge, US). TESOL Teacher Education: A Reflective Approach. (2022: Edinburgh University Press, UK). Surviving The Induction Years of Language Teaching: The Importance of Reflective Practice. (UK: Equinox); Reflective Practice For Language Teachers. (2024, UK, British Council). Reflective Practice For Early Career Language Teachers. (2025, Cambridge University Press, UK). A selection of his work can be found on his webpage: www.reflectiveinquiry.ca