Facilitating In-Service L2 Teacher Peer Coaching and Metacognition through an Online Tool

The importance of ongoing professional development for in-service second-language teachers lies in its direct impact on teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes. Two activities that may facilitate this process are teachers engaging in peer coaching and metacognition. This article reports on a practitioner research study that was conducted in fall 2024 by two in-service university-level English-language teachers in Tokyo, Japan, who also served as the researchers. The teachers engaged in peer coaching and metacognition throughout the term using an online tool developed by the lead author to further develop themselves and the online tool. Data sources included the tool’s database records, research journals, and field notes. The findings show that: (1) the tool structured the peer coaching process by organizing reflections, feedback, and post-observation goals, and by promoting accountability; (2) the tool fostered metacognition by supporting reflection, anticipatory planning, self- and pedagogical awareness raising, and post-observation goal-setting and achievement; and (3) AI-generated summaries mainly helped to reinforce existing pedagogical awareness. This study demonstrates the potential of online tools, supplemented by AI, to facilitate the peer coaching and metacognitive processes of second-language teachers. The tool represents a teacher-designed, AI-supported model of professional learning that foregrounds bottom-up, practitioner-led innovation. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.