Abstract:

Since 2003, the Puerto Rican Department of Education’s Curriculum has recognized critical theory’s potential for the strengthening of literary analysis and for the reinforcement of linguistic skills and competence. However, there are currently no university-level programs that include in their curriculum a theory course, nor do programs exist devoted to the aforementioned field. In that context, a new editorial project –Editora Educación Emergente– interested in promoting learning communities through blogs, websites and other Web 2.0 platforms, organized the First Professional Development Academy for Spanish Teachers on Literary and Cultural Theories. Held in June 2011, the Academy was designed using three of the theories covered in the beginners’ manual "¿Quién le teme a la teoría?".

This presentation seeks to analyze the results of the assessment instruments used during the Academy. I will focus especially on the general assessment instruments of the first and last day of the Academy, as well as on the planning exercises performed by teachers. The analysis will be primarily concerned with determining the teachers’ acquisition of knowledge during the intensive period of time –five working days– through which the Academy was held and with assessing the potential such a format has for professional development programs for teachers in general. My presentation will also make proposals for further replications of such a format, as well as for the development of future initiatives to reinforce Puerto Rican high school Spanish teachers’ acquired knowledge. Finally, I will present the blog designed for the development of this learning community (https://sites.google.com/site/academiademaestrxseee/), and will analyze the materials already shared on the site as well as their possible use in a more global Spanish-speaking context.

Keywords:

Critical theories and Language Teaching, Professional Development and assessment, Spanish Teaching and Web 2.0.