Post-method pedagogy into foreign language didactics

Post-method pedagogy proclaims that foreign language didactics needs to free itself from the unattainable goal of defining an optimal method and should focus on finding an alternative to method instead (Kumaravadivelu 2003: 32–33). Resting on three key principles of particularity, practicality and possibility, the post-method condition ti es in with post-modern anti -deterministi c and anti -positivist thinking (Bell 2003; Kumaravadivelu 2001, 2003, 2006), posing considerable challenges to teacher education programmes. An interesting and fruiƞul way of trying to identi fyprioriti es in university or college teacher educati on in the post-method/ post-modern era seems to be by viewing them through the lens of chaos theory. The unpredictability, instability, and non-linearity typical of complex adaptive systems off ers some useful insights into the nature of teacher educati on. It also helps to adequately defi ne the goals to be reached in teaching teachers and to identify useful techniques to be used to achieve the aims. The ulti mate objecti ve seems to be to assist student-teachers in becoming open-minded individuals, who will be ready to generate new knowledge, teach in a context-sensiti ve, creative, and innovative way and embark on a life-long learning programme (Kwiatkowska 2008).