ABSTRACT
Taking on the notion of the reflective practitioner as a model of successful teaching, this chapter explores the experiences of two in-service English as foreign language (EFL) teachers in Japan and delineates the process of their becoming successful teachers even in an isolated environment. It also attempts to examine how they built a mutually supportive community of practice, and how they shared and re-constructed their expertise through interacting with each other. The results show that participation in an online collaborative community of practice enabled them to reflect on and adjust their teaching practices. In both cases, the role of the diagonal mentor, somebody with similar professional experiences, was considered to be profoundly important. The results also imply the building of collaborative relationships with peer teachers within and beyond their work contexts can support the development of professionalism in teachers.
