Sessions /
Workplace Collegiality in ELT #1283

In the field of ELT, collegiality in the workplace is a sparsely discussed and under-researched topic. In fact, other than Breen’s (2006) seminal article on collegial development, little documented information can be found in the ELT literature. Consequently, this presentation aims to generate interest, debate, and dialogue on collegiality in the ELT workplace, especially at the higher education level. Initially, the definitional problem of collegiality and my position on it are made known. Thereafter, collegiality types of varying quality identified in an ELT department at one Japanese university are introduced as a means to encourage audience reflection on the state of collegiality in one’s employment environment. This is followed by a discussion on some of the barriers to achieving high quality collegiality in the ELT workplace before providing suggestions on how to break these down.