Speaker
Description
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) among students in Vietnam has grown rapidly. However, 69.2% of teachers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest city, reported that they rarely incorporated AI tools into their teaching practices (Trong, 2024). This huge gap regarding the use of these advanced tools among teachers and students calls for more effective training programs for GenAI usage in educational contexts. This current paper examines the perceptions and experiences of secondary EFL teachers in Ben Tre city and a teacher trainer who participated in a recent GenAI training program. Understanding this training through the lens of Timperley’s (2010) teacher professional learning (TPL) definition and Guskey’s (2021) six principles of effective professional learning, the paper explores whether GenAI training has effectively transformed into teaching practices and improved students’ learning outcomes in real-world educational settings in Vietnam. Using a qualitative approach, which includes curriculum analysis and in-depth interviews, the results reveal only partial alignment of the course with Guskey’s (2021) six principles in the context under study. Specifically, gaps in policy guidance leave trainers to navigate GenAI integration largely on their own. Additionally, the findings indicate that collegial support and collaboration play a crucial role in teachers’ adaptation of GenAI to their specific contexts. Finally, the present study suggests that, particularly in Vietnam, designing training programs through the lens of TPL can help teachers continue learning to adapt new methods in their classrooms and prevent a reversion to previous practices.
References
Guskey, T. R. (2021). Professional learning with staying power. Educational Leadership, 78(5), 54–59.
Timperley, H. (2011). From Professional Development to Professional Learning. In Realizing the power of professional learning (pp. 1–24). Open University Press.
Trong T. M. (2024, July). Giải pháp nào khi học sinh “nghiện” công cụ AI? thanhnien.vn. https://thanhnien.vn/giai-phap-nao-khi-hoc-sinh-nghien-cong-cu-ai-185240719150610297.htm
Biography
Dương Phan Xuân An holds an MA in TESOL (Merit) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Over the past five years, she has taught English in both public schools and private language centers, and for two years served as a center manager. Having a passionate advocate of modern pedagogies and educational technology, she focuses on how to train teachers for integrating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into EFL teaching to boost student engagement and learning outcomes. She is also designing a GenAI training program for an English center to empower teachers to create interactive lessons and enhance learner achievement.
