Abstract:

After having run for four years as a pure EAP course, the Programme was reviewed and revised. Part of the rationale behind the change stemmed from the assumption that students’ educational journeys can be enhanced if we, as teachers and teacher-researchers, understand that students are not blank slates (Cummins, 1996) and that the reality in our classroom only adds one layer to the manifold realities that students encounter and partake in their lives, and which make them who they are.
With the view of empowering students instead of aiming to ‘fix' them, it was decided that an approach that would draw on constructivism, experiential learning and reflexivity should inform the Programme.
Adopting an Academic Literacies approach to writing meant the Programme would change at its very core. What we were not expecting was to what extent we were asking teachers to change with it.
This presentation will explore how a radical change of approach may have threatened teachers’ identities, communities of practice, and self-­‐perceptions of expertise and professionalism, and will aim to understand the impact this may have had on both their teaching practices and their students’ learning experiences.