Teaching with Intentionality: Language Educators as Transformative Intellectuals and Reflective Practitioners

Abstract

The fall 2022 issue of GATESOL Journal provides its readers with insights into how language educators could create meaningful learning experiences for their students. The papers are connected with the core idea that language educators are vested in intentionally using pedagogical approaches that could have an impact on how and what students are learning. The papers position language educators as both transformative intellectuals (i.e., educators who strive not only for educational advancement but also personal transformation) and reflective practitioners (i.e., problem-solvers possessing “the ability to look back critically and imaginatively, to do cause-effect thinking, to derive explanatory principles, to do task analysis, also to look forward, and to do anticipatory planning” [Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 10]). This issue will showcase teachers’ intentions through their roles as transformative intellectuals and reflective practitioners.