Rooted in the need to confront the pervasive and harmful effect of the myth of the native speaker and affiliated language ideologies, this article shares the findings of a research study conducted in two public Colombian universities. The study examined participants’ self-perceived (non) nativeness as speakers of Spanish and English. Using surveys and interviews within a mixed-method approach, the study found that participants perceived themselves as over-empowered in their being native Spanish speakers. Conversely, as speakers of English, most prospective teachers feared the disadvantages of not achieving native-like abilities, but they were confident in their university programs and their previous experience as English learners to achieve their language learning education goals.

Master degree programs have rapidly increased in Colombia to the point where they are one of the most favored options for English teachers seeking to bolster their professional development. This survey study characterizes eighty participants, their five master programs, and their perceptions concerning the influence these graduate courses exerted on their teaching. While participants' pedagogical and research work seemed to have benefited the most from their studies, their practices involving language policy and administration were regarded as distant from what they learnt. Findings suggest that innovation, reflection, and collaboration permeated participants' overarching categories of development. Challenges to respondents' integration of their newly acquired education with their teaching included competing ideologies and agendas exhibited by stakeholders in school communities.Key words: Colombian English teacher education, English as a foreign language master programs, English teachers' graduate education, English teachers' professional development.Los programas de maestría en Colombia han aumentado rápidamente convirtiéndose en opciones preferidas para el desarrollo profesional de profesores de inglés. Empleando encuestas, se caracterizaron cinco programas de maestría, ochenta participantes y la influencia de sus estudios de maestría en su enseñanza. Mientras la pedagogía y la investigación fueron aparentemente los aspectos que más se beneficiaron de sus estudios, sus prácticas en política lingüística y administración fueron las menos favorecidas. Los hallazgos sugieren que la innovación, reflexión y colaboración permearon en general el desarrollo profesional de los participantes. Los retos que enfrentaron los participantes al integrar la educación posgraduada con su enseñanza incluyeron ideologías y agendas opuestas de los varios actores educativos en las escuelas.

The preparation of student-teachers to face the beginning in their profession requires from us, teacher educators, enriching discussions to share what we know and to build more solid grounds in our area. On the following pages, I describe how, in the specific context of a public university, I have designed and implemented a set of tasks within a reflective framework to support student- teachersʼ learning in their practicum. In this regard, a detailed explanation of how journal writing, conferences, focused reflection on tasks and responses to observation notes is included. Likewise, the experience of a student teacher working with tasks to solve a difficulty in the practicum, contributes to illustrate how reflective exercises support her development.

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