Common Ground, Contested Territory: Examining the Roles of English Language Teachers in Troubled Times

This is an inspiring and enlightening book for all teachers. Who is really in charge of lesson plans and of organizing classroom activities? Who places students in classes? Who selects books and tests? How are students are evaluated? Who determines this? How much weight does teacher opinion have in decisions about student progress in school? "Common Ground, Contested Territory" examines each of these questions. Although teachers should have the final say in all of these cases, and their opinion should weigh heavily in all of them, this is not the reality for today's teachers. Current educational practices driven by a confluence of social and political issues, including testing policies, seem to be influencing teaching and learning more than teachers themselves. The essays in this book consider many serious issues facing today's teachers and urge teachers to seek common ground with others in the field of education. The book also urges teachers to become reflective practitioners, seeing themselves as theorists, philosophers, action researchers, and political activists.