This paper argues that teachers' mental lives represent
the ‘hidden side’ of teaching. It examines how teacher
learning and teacher knowledge, as central attributes of
those mental lives, have been conceptualized and studied
since 1975 and traces connections to similar work in
English language teaching (ELT)In this paper, I use the phrase ‘English language teaching,’ or
(ELT), to refer to the teaching of English as a second, additional,
or foreign language, known in the US as TESOL. I recognize
that the phrase ELT is a bit problematic in that in the United
States it can be taken to refer to English as mother tongue or first
language instruction (language arts), while in Europe it would
seem to be more accurately applied in this case.. While the majority
of literature reviewed is drawn from the north American
perspective, parallels are sketched in some of the emerging
research in ELT teacher education. The analysis
examines four broad families of issues: how teachers
learn content and teaching practices, how teachers' mental
processes are conceived, the role of prior knowledge in
learning to teach, and the role of social and institutional
context. Taken together, research in these areas suggests
implications for the design and practice of teacher training
and professional development in Second language
teacher education.