Jorge Torres Almazán, Academic Coordinator of the Languages Division at The American School of Tampico. TESOL International Association Board of Directors member (2025-2028). He has presented at prominent conferences, including TESOL, IATEFL, and MexTESOL. A U.S. Alumni Global Community member. Jorge has been an EFL teacher for more than 20 years. Email: jtorres@ats.edu.mx 

Victor M. II Arizabalo Navarro, Director of the Languages Division at The American School of Tampico, holds a BA in International Business and an MSc from SUNY. Certified by ETS, Cambridge, and CENNI, he participated in a prestigious training program at UT Austin, sponsored by Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education. As a MEXTESOL and TESOL member, he frequently shares his expertise at international conferences, reflecting his commitment to educational excellence. Email: varizabalo@ats.edu.mx 

 

Abstract

Publishing for professional development empowers TESOL practitioners in Mexico to grow, yet cultural barriers often limit participation. While expert-driven CPD frameworks predominate, self-directed models allow teachers to shape their development, emphasizing collaboration, sharing, and publishing to enhance teaching practices. MEXTESOL Press exemplifies a glocalized approach, adapting international professional development standards to the Mexican context and offering a supportive platform that demystifies academic publishing. Research by Roux and Mendoza (2007) shows high interest among EFL teachers in classroom research, though publishing remains underutilized. This chapter explores MEXTESOL Press’s origins, mission, and impact on local teacher participation, highlighting publishing as a valuable form of self-directed CPD. By tailoring global strategies to local needs, MEXTESOL Press demonstrates how publishing can become a practical and impactful tool for ongoing growth in the Mexican TESOL community.

 

Publishing for professional development

Cirocki et al. (2023) argue that despite the crucial importance of CPD in the TESOL field, there is no clear set of parameters, policy, or format to define it, nor how it must be implemented. Some authors suggest two categories/approaches; expert-driven and self-directed, being the first the most common one. Expert-driven or top-down refers to formal instruction by education authorities as well as other external bodies or organizations.

Diaz Magglioli’s (2004) teacher’s choice framework relates updated knowledge and awareness of socializing, sharing, observing, modeling, and guiding as the variables to guide teachers in selecting the professional development activities that resonate with their contexts and interests. The self-directed approach aims to motivate teachers towards the same variables. The Framework mentions the opportunities that publishing may also offer; socializing expertise, sharing ideas with colleagues, observing and giving feedback to others.

DeBlase (2007) states that there is “a political and educational climate that conspires to silence and dismiss teachers´voices” regarding publication. They decide the how, when, and what PD teachers need. Self-directed approach, in contrast, offers teachers the opportunity to create and pursue their own.

Publishing matches some of the key attributes of effective CPD suggested by Cirocki et al. (2023), being purposeful, supported, impactful, ongoing, job-embedded, context-specific, reflective, and evaluated. Back in 2019, MEXTESOL national secretary proposed creating a magazine or publication platform  dedicated to Mexican EFL contexts, inclusive at the same time. The aim was to increase local teacher participation and provide a voice for novice and experienced educators. MEXTESOL Press would serve as a prime example of how collaborative efforts can support teachers in publishing their work. We wanted to offer a fresh option in which teachers would self-direct, share, and socialize ideas.

Publishing, as a key form of effective professional development,  also resonates with MEXTESOL´s objectives, focusing on these three:

- Promote the professional development of English teachers

- Assist teachers in updating their teaching methodology and in expanding their repertoire of teaching techniques in all areas of ELT

- Disseminate, through its professional publications, the results of research and a discussion of classroom practices

Publishing for professional development is a tool that needs to be analyzed and reviewed as a strategy. Publishing can give teachers a positive new approach and vision regarding CPD and discover the best teaching practices within themselves and others.

Seeing themselves as individuals capable of contributing to their field has been mentioned before “When teachers position themselves as authors, they are then in a position to claim “authority.” They “recognize the insights and understandings they have built over time” and “come to see that authority need not always come from outside” (Wood & Lieberman, 2000, p. 266).

EFL teachers in Mexico face challenges and cultural barriers when considering publication as part of their Profession, Roux, R. and Mendoza, J. published their research on the views and willingness of EFL teachers in Mexico to engage in classroom research. According to the results, more than 80% of the responses reported that classroom research is necessary for professional development when asked about their views. However, no responses mentioned publishing. Back in 2007, during a presentation on research and publishing at a MEXTESOL International Convention in 2015, the presenter passionately encouraged the audience, mainly Mexican EFL teachers, to engage in publishing. At one point, an attendee stood up and expressed frustration, stating, “My last name isn’t Smith or Johnson, so my proposals are never accepted.” While this claim is not accurate, it reflects a common belief among Mexican EFL teachers / NNESTs.

Trujeque, E. et al. (2015) report that a small but growing number of scholars in Mexico have opted to develop professionally through presenting, developing curricula, designing materials, publishing, and more. Their article also introduces a theoretical model that explains professional development from an authorship development perspective, how this relates to their experiences, and the types of articles often published: reports, projects, articles, memoirs, biographies, and more. Another common belief in Mexico is that only research can be published. Many teachers develop their own activities, lesson plans, and tips for their classes that could be shared to enlighten others. But they are not shared anywhere.

In Mexico, one of the best well-recognized journals for EFL practitioners and researchers is the MEXTESOL Journal. It is published by The Mexican Association of Teachers of English (MEXTESOL) four times a year. It is an open-access publication. It publishes articles dealing with both practical and theoretical topics of interest to the EFL teacher. It is indexed by Latindex, SCOPUS, and ERIC. What common Mexican teachers think is that this publication is aimed at international researchers or SNI (Mexican National Researcher Network) members. To become a SNI member teachers need to meet requirements such as; a PhD, publications, and a long process to be accepted.

In the last decade MEXTESOL, the largest Teachers Association in Mexico and Latin America, has gone through an innovation process ignited by voices demanding changes. The association seems to have been doing the same since its creation in 1974; an annual conference and a journal. In order to diversify and better serve its members and non members, a new publication option has been launched, MEXTESOL Press, and two interest groups were created; Pronunciation Interest Group and Neurocoaching Interest Group.

The national ministry of education holds a series of workshops and conferences for EFL professionals per state. In the state of Tamaulipas, the workshops and conferences are organized per region; north, central, and south. The format is the same every time they gather, presentations, workshops, material demonstrations. Attendants comment these are good quality events. However , there is no invitation or a push for teachers to go out of their comfort zone and be in charge of their own professional development.

The U. S. Regional English Language Office in Mexico is constantly sponsoring projects and professional development sessions in almost all states. They have funded some publishing projects in collaboration with Mexican universities. Most of them are books and external participation is minimized or null.

 

Challenges  

One of the biggest challenges is the few role models, regarding authorship, Mexican teachers have had over the years. As mentioned above, our own publication, MEXTESOL Journal, seems not to inspire local participation anymore. Many Mexican universities have their own Journals, most of them published in Spanish and not open to external participants. International journals seem to be more demanding, aimed for research only and at the same time we see few Mexican names.

Other challenges include:

- Going against the predominant, top-down approach, belief among EFL teachers  in Mexico that attending conferences, webinars, and workshops are the main source of professional development.

- Making teachers aware and conscious that their experiences are as valuable and enriching as the ones of NESTs. Therefore, something worth sharing and being published. Becoming content and knowledge producers, rather than only consumers.

- It is also known that in Mexico in ELT and other areas it is easier to wait for others to decide for you what is the correct or best path towards professional development. The official education system in public schools dictates what is valid and what is not. In private schools, directors and coordinators are in charge of such decisions. Top-down approaches seem to be more relaxing.   

Challenges do exist, some of the most relevant for us as novice authors and MEXTESOL Press committee, is how participants perceive us, who we are, are we  qualified or authorized as reviewers? Most of us have more enthusiasm than experience.  At the moment MEXTESOL Press Committee was created, only 3 of the members of the committee have published. No one in the committee had previous experience as editors. The committee agreed on having the aim of encouraging teachers rather than demanding in-depth or super innovative articles.

The first call for contributions was for  articles resembling a lesson plan “Games and Activities for the Mexican Contexts”. The contributions had to include information teachers commonly include in lesson plans. In the guidelines for the contribution authors were asked to use a lesson plan-like template; name of activity, level, age of students, time for different stages, material, procedure, wrap up, and variations if any.

This project wants to “invite” teachers to come out of their comfort zone and start sharing knowledge, showing how valuable their contributions are, and of course give them authorship status.

 

Learning journey

As mentioned above, the idea of having a new Mexican context style publication was born in March 2019 in a meeting with the MEXTESOL president. We talked about the MEXTESOL mission and vision and what else could be done in order to support teachers' professional development. At that time the MEXTESOL´s main products were the annual International Conference and the MEXTESOL Journal.

The new option, MEXTESOL Press would meet global trends and standards with a local hint. A publication dedicated to Mexican contexts. The goal is to increase participation and involvement from colleagues teaching in Mexico. Especially the ones who are inspired to share, but feel shy or lack motivation. This project also wanted to give experienced teachers a voice and publishing opportunities. After a few meetings with the Board, we look for volunteers to form a committee.

The project was launched with 7 committee members from 5 different states in Mexico.

The idea and the first call for contributions was socialized through different platforms, making sure our inclusive concept was understood so as to encourage and invite teachers to contribute. MEXTESOL local chapters shared the information in more than 10 different states in our country.

To enhance inspiration we contacted the Regional English Language Officer for Mexico and Central America, Ruth Petzold to ask her to comment about our project, saying something that could motivate classroom teachers participating. RELO officers have always been popular and recognized by teachers in Mexico, so reading Ruth's comments and invitation to participate inspired many others, including students.

We follow the process that most international journals have.

-The editor reviews to check topic and format.

-The article is sent to a reviewer.

-The reviewer comments and suggests corrections, and sends it back to the editor.

 -The editor contacts the author, and agrees on a new due date to turn in the new draft.

-The editor receives the draft and makes the final decision.

-The editor informs author of acceptance

 

Achievements

Most of our efforts worked well, the reviews about the project by the RELO and some other recognized authors and teacher trainers gave a boost to our project. For the first call for contributions we received almost 100 hundred proposals. We received proposals from 14 different states in Mexico, from teachers, students, and NESTs teaching in Mexico (there are 32 states in Mexico). More than 80% of authors were doing it for the first time.

Our project participated in the ELTons Awards 2021 in the “Local Innovation” category. We were successful in the first round of judging, we shared the news on social media and this gave more visibility to our publication and it became more attractive to authors.

The fact that a publication made for the Mexican context with articles by teachers teaching in Mexico, most of them first-time authors contesting at international level, created a sense of “our contribution is valued and important” “we can also write for publication” among teachers in Mexico.

Another event that put our project in the limelight was the opportunity to showcase MEXTESOL Press at the TESOL Affiliate Network Professional Council webinar 2021 “Affiliates Standing up for Advocacy” and at the TESOL Advocacy & Policy Summit 2021. This gave authors, mainly Mexican teachers, more confidence, reinforcing our philosophy that we all have something to share.

In 2023 after some talks with the MEXTESOL Board we were authorized to apply for a DOI, www.doi.org through Crossref. The digital object identifier was welcome by former and new authors. Now it is easier to find, cite, and reuse our publication. At the same time we got the Creative Commons License. Authors are now confident that their articles and contributions are attributed to them.

 

Failures

In the beginning, in 2019, the process of getting the copyrights for the name and logo was complicated. In Mexico all this paperwork is to be completed in Mexico City, none of the members of MEXTESOL Press committee lives there.

As a result of no significant changes in almost 50 years, MEXTESOL national office staff were not aware of how to proceed with paper work. It became even more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first attempt was a failure because we and staff were not familiar with the forms and documents needed, so our application was rejected. We tried for a second time and got the copyrights for the name and logo.

In MEXTESOL and MEXTESOL Press we are all volunteers and there are times we come up with new projects or tasks and have to leave or take less responsibilities. In 2021 MEXTESOL National Board appointed a new team to lead the publication. The original team was dissolved and the new team seemed to be ready to continue. The transition process was successfully completed. The new team was strong and with new and original ideas.

Suddenly, after the first publication of their tenure, they decided not to continue with the project. It seemed the magazine´s end was imminent, no call for contributions, no new issue, and internal problems. The National Board invited the original editor and team to come back. The committee became stronger with the addition of two new members.

 

Stronger come back

By the 3rd year of our publication it was noticed that some of the first time authors, the ones who published lesson plan-like articles, were submitting longer and thoughtful essays. They shared experiences about using AI in class, their professional path, how to deal with attention deficit and other disorders, and more. We can say they found a self-directed way to continue their professional development. Some others have transformed their articles into presentations and presented at MEXTESOL International Conventions and other International conferences in Canada and Italy.

Every time a MEXTESOL Press issue is about to be released a post in social media recognizes the authors. Seeing a post with Mexican names and faces, colleagues, students, or teachers teaching on their own, a nearby university or school has inspired more teachers to contribute and wait for the following call.

It is distributed to 30,000 potential readers through MEXTESOL´ s Social media, Newsletter, and website. The other channel is our DOI, via www.doi.org. Monthly reports have shown that more than 500 readers look for it through our unique number the very first days after being released and it decreases with time. When the new volume comes out the numbers are similar.

For some of our issues we have had special guests, which has also encouraged authors and sparked interest in readers. In an attempt to bring the global context to our readers we have had authors such as 2024 TESOL Teacher of the Year, Luis Javier Herrera Penton, whose contribution added inspiration to Mexican and Latin-American teachers. Seeing a name you can read in your language means a lot in our contexts.

Another guest was Eric Hagley, lead coordinator of IVE Project. Eric brings students from all over the world together via this project. His participation has impacted in a way that teachers can see and learn how global or international projects can fit our local contexts, how our students can participate, and how we can bring it to our classrooms.

In March 2025 we presented our project at TESOL 2025 International Convention as part of the Affiliate Network Communication Workshop. The goal was sharing the project with TESOL Affiliates so they could replicate it in their own context. So the MEXTESOL Press project would go local-global-local.

Having this kind of guests and showcasing our magazine in local, national, and international forums is giving it a boost and more reasons for teachers to contribute and participate.

 

Lessons learned

Lesson number one, it is not easy. It is a path full of obstacles, frustrations, delusions. One needs lots of stamina, resilience, and enthusiasm to kick off, fall down, get up, and continue. At some times it seemed we were going toward a dead end. Self-determination and support from colleagues is crucial and paramount to continue.

Second thing we learned is that this kind of project becomes relevant and brings a positive impact in contributors' professional development as well as personal growth. As members of the committee we also need to grow, so we are constantly learning from other similar publications.

The episode of the new committee gave us some insights, so in order to prevent any situation that may impede the continuity of the publication, we have drafted a policy handbook stating not only what to do in case the editor or members of the committee quit, but also who resolves any dispute or in the worst scenario, what to do if the whole committee resigns. We included the mission and vision, which resembles MEXTESOL´s, the description of the activities performed by the editor and members of committee, the place of our publication in the MEXTESOL family, and attending MEXTESOL Board annual meetings.

We have learned how this project has positively impacted some authors´professional paths, here are two testimonials.

Ms. Mendoza is one of the contributors on our first issue, the one with lesson plan -like articles. For our third issue she submitted a longer article, an anecdote. This experience catapulted her to explore new forms of professional development; not only presenting and collaborating at local, national, and international level, but she has also completed several teacher training courses.

 This is what she says about our project.

“Participating as a contributor for MEXTESOL Press was a truly transformative experience in my professional journey. Seeing my article published represented my efforts and gave me the confidence to explore new possibilities in academic writing and collaboration.

This opportunity expanded my professional network and inspired me to aim higher. I now aspire to continue contributing to my country and beyond the frontiers. Thank you, Mextesol Press for opening your doors to the teaching community and igniting a passion in all of us to keep growing and impacting others through each one of its editions.”

Another contributor that has been benefited by this activity is Ms. Ortiz. Her participation has enabled her and her university to fulfill requirements for accreditations needed in her faculty.

“The experience of writing and publishing articles for MEXTESOL Press has been profoundly impactful and transformative for my role as an English teacher at the university level. Initially uncertain about the benefits that academic writing could bring, I soon discovered that contributing to MEXTESOL Press enhanced my professional profile while aligning perfectly with institutional expectations.”

“At the Universidad where I teach, there is a clear emphasis on faculty participation in conferences and publication of research articles. This engagement is crucial not only for obtaining important certifications for academic programs but also for advancing our careers within the institution.”

“ Reflecting on my involvement with MEXTESOL Press, it reveals a lasting impact on both my career trajectory and teaching practice. The skills I've developed in research, writing, and critical thinking have significantly enhanced my effectiveness as an educator while expanding my professional network within the field.”

 

References

 

A. Cirocki et al. (eds.), Continuing Professional Development of TESOL Practitioners,

Springer Texts in Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42675-9_1 

Almazán J. T. (2022) Encouraging Local Material Writers, Humanising Language Teaching. https://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr22/encouraging-local-material-writers 

DeBLaSe, G. (2007). Learning to speak in a political voice. English Education, 39(2), 3.

Díaz Maggioli, G. (2004). Teacher-centered professional development. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Maggioli, G.D. (2020). Continuous Professional Development: The Seeds of Professionalism. In: Coombe, C., Anderson, N.J., Stephenson, L. (eds) Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34762-8_21

Roux, R. & Mendoza, J. (2014). Professional Development of Mexican Secondary EFL Teachers: Views and Willingness to Engage in Classroom Research. English Language Teaching; 7 (9), 21–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n9p21

 

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