Blended Language Learning in a Colombian Tertiary Context: A Narrative Inquiry of Teacher Change and Curriculum Innovation

Abstract

This study, from a narrative epistemological and methodological perspective, explores curricular innovation and teacher change by examining how a blended learning program was put into action in a language teaching department of a Colombian tertiary institution. In particular, the study aimed to identify and interpret the experiences lived out by a group of eight ELT teachers, each of whom held different positions within their community, as they grappled with and managed the changes brought about by their involvement in the implementation of the program. It also sought to establish how these personal and collective experiences were influenced by broader organizational and institutional contexts of reform. Data were gathered in a natural setting for a period of sixteen weeks through regular contact with teachers, leaders, administrators and students. Data included narrative interviews, field notes from classroom observation, student questionnaires and official documents. Data were analyzed for evidence of the impact of the adoption of blended learning on teachers‘ feelings, beliefs, perceptions and practices. I specifically examined how the participants interpreted and handled the challenges and opportunities motivated by blended learning and how, in doing so, they came to confront or avoid the behavioral and conceptual implications of the change. Findings revealed that switching to blended learning is a complex enterprise that goes far beyond getting the mix right as many individual and context-specific situations come to shape the implementation experience. Depending on the extent to which their aspirations, beliefs and actions were consistent with the reality of their professional context, aligned to the expectations of influential others and influenced by external factors, participants in this study found it more or less difficult to develop ownership of their practice, feel emotional congruence and perform stable professional identities. In concluding my account of the inquiry, I therefore discuss the ways in which tensions can be managed so as to help language teachers and leaders deal more effectively with the contradictions and tensions arising in their practice as a result of the change to blended learning. On the whole, I believe that the results of this inquiry contribute to a better understanding of what adopting blended learning models involves in the context of English language teaching, particularly from the perspective of those who implement them.