ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a historical overview of language teacher education ranging from product-process approaches to constructivist processes; situated cognition; sociocultural approaches; and teacher’s prior learning and inquiry to professionalising language teacher education. The issue of reflective practice is also discussed. Theories of social and situated learning, ideas from Lave and Wenger (1991), are also explored, including legitimate peripheral participation. The heart of their theory lies in collaborative, supportive, and scaffolded dialogue and activity, which leads on to a discussion of communities of practice. Important features such as meaning-making, participation, identity creation, and issues of belonging to communities are examined before an overview of online communities of practice is offered, and what technologies can offer in terms of student teacher discussion and learning, reflection, affective engagement, and professional development.
