Professional Development In China Research Articles

What are the core features of professional learning community in Chinese preschool teachers' perspectives: based on grounded theory analysis.

Professional learning community (PLC) has been concerned as an effective way to promote teacher professional development in China. However, PLC must be optimized due to Chinese culture and education system. This study aimed to explore the features of PLC in preschool teachers' perspectives and provided theoretical basis for PLC localization practice. Twenty-eight preschool teachers were engaged in a PLC, their interview data and personal reflection diaries were collected and analyzed based on grounded theory analysis. Five core features of PLC in teachers' perspectives were extracted in this study, including a common vision, a read-practice-share flow, continuous reflection, distributed leadership, peer and organizational support. PLC's common vision is to promote teachers' professional development and children's development. Teachers learn and reflect in the process of "reading-practice-sharing," peer support and leadership empowerment play an important role in a sustainable PLC.

Professional Development Progress of Rural Aesthetic Education Teachers in China —Visual Analysis Based on CiteSpace

Rural teachers are a crucial driving force behind the development of China's rural education, and their professional development has a direct impact on its progress. However, there exist significant challenges that hinder the development of rural aesthetic education, including a shortage of qualified teachers and low-quality instruction. This paper analyzes the current state of rural aesthetic education teacher professional development in China based on papers published in CNKI database core journals from 2012 to 2022. The results indicate that while research on rural teachers' professional development has shown steady growth in terms of volume, it has yet to develop into a comprehensive research system. Moving forward, future studies should focus on addressing the deep-seated issues facing rural teachers' professional development using innovative technological tools, as well as exploring new methods for conducting research on this topic.

Key Features of the Integration in Pedagogical Education and Teachers’ Professional Development in China

Key Features of the Integration in Pedagogical Education and Teachers’ Professional Development in China

Perceptions of ESP Lecturers’ Professional Development in China: An Ecological Perspective

The teaching of English for Special Purposes (ESP) has become the mainstream of English teaching in Chinese universities. This article, from a perspective of Educational Ecology, explored ESP lecturers’ professional development in Chinese universities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 13 ESP lecturers who were in the interim of transforming from teaching of English for General Purposes (EGP). It was found that there existed an imbalance in the ESP lecturers’ professional development in terms of internal and external ecology. In order to resume the ecological niche, this article proposed a quadruple symbiosis of ESP lecturers’ professional development, namely an integrity of ESP lecturers’ autonomy, management support, ESP teacher community, and ESP teacher training and enterprise cooperation internship.

Grow up with the City: Master Teachers’ Experience of Teacher Professional Development in Shanghai

ABSTRACT This study aims to portray Master Teachers’ experience of teacher professional development in post-1976 China. Interview data were collected from 22 Master Teachers from Shanghai in 2019–2020. Analyses of the findings revealed that these Master Teachers experienced three historical stages of teachers’ professional development in China: a pre-professional stage at the end of the Cultural Revolution, a modern professional stage following the 1978 economic reform, and a late 1980s’ curriculum decentralisation reform stage in which teachers gained more autonomy. This study suggests a ‘state-individual-collective group’ framework for understanding Master Teachers’ experience of teacher professional development in China.

A KSA system for competency-based assessment of clinicians’ professional development in China and quality gap analysis

ABSTRACT Background We aim to create a holistic competency-based assessment system to measure competency evolution over time – one of the first such systems in China. Method Two rounds of self-reported surveys were fielded among the graduates from the Shantou University Medical College: June through December 2017, and May through August 2018. Responses from three cohorts of graduates specializing in clinical medicine – new graduates, resident physicians, and senior physicians – were analyzed. Gaps between respondents’ expected and existing levels of competencies were examined using a modified service quality model, SERVQUAL Results A total of 605 questionnaires were collected in 2017 for the construction of competency indicators and a 5-level proficiency rating scale, and 407 in 2018, for confirmatory factor and competency gap analysis. Reliability coefficients of all competency indicators (36) were greater than 0.9. Three competency domains were identified through exploratory factor analysis: knowledge (K), skills (S), and attitude (A). The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the fit of the scale (CMIN/DF < 4; CFI > 0.9; IFI > 0.9; RMSEA ≤ 0.08). Within the cohorts of resident and senior physicians, the largest competency gap was seen in the domain of knowledge (K): −1.84 and −1.41, respectively. Among new graduates, the largest gap was found in the domain of skills (S) (−1.92), with the gap in knowledge (−1.91) trailing closely behind. Conclusions A competency-based assessment system is proposed to evaluate clinician’s competency development in three domains: knowledge (K), skills (S), and attitude (A). The system consists of 36 competency indicators, a rating scale of 5 proficiency levels, and a gap analysis to measure competency evolution through 3 key milestones in clinician’s professional career: new graduate, resident physician, and senior physician. The competency gaps identified can provide evidence-based guide to clinicians’ own continuous development as well as future medical curriculum improvements.

Integration of Digital Technology into an Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program in China

The rapid development of technologies has complicated its adoption and integration into early childhood teacher professional development in China. The government of China has developed policies and provided financial support to improve preschools’ ICT infrastructure. Whereas various studies have examined the digital technology development provided to preservice educators around the world, relatively little is known about technology professional supports for early childhood (EC) preservice teachers in China’s universities. In this research, we focus on a university in the central part of China as a case study to explore preservice teachers’ technology use and self-efficacy while engaged in their field-based student teaching experiences. We collected data through an online questionnaire from 55 participants. Despite preservice educators’ positive attitudes toward digital technologies, the results identified several issues that undermined EC preservice teachers’ self efficacy for technology use and limited their instructional practices integrating technology in the field. Nonetheless, with adequate supports, preservice teachers were more likely to develop high confidence in their practice, suggesting the importance of improving and upgrading the current teacher preparation program and opportunities for field-based implementation.

Understanding university English instructors\u2019 assessment training needs in the Chinese context

In the past decade, language assessment training has increasingly become a key research agenda in language testing and assessment, particularly within the Chinese context. Studies have explored the training of language instructors who provide language testing and assessment courses, the efficacy of assessment training courses, and assessment training needs of secondary school teachers. However, little attention has been paid to assessment training needs of university English instructors. To address the gap, we adopted a mixed-methods study to examine university English instructors’ assessment training status, their training needs, and the factors that influence these needs. Based on the data from 68 questionnaire respondents, eight interviewees, and two national English course syllabi, we found that a majority of university English instructors lacked sufficient assessment training in classroom-based practices to meet the requirements set by the official documents. Despite this, they did not prefer having advanced training (e.g., workshops lasting at least three days) in assessment due to a variety of personal and contextual factors. The findings have implications for a need to revisit assessment training courses provided in teacher education programs and to review institutional policies that guide teacher professional development in China.

Teacher participation in school-based professional development in China: does it matter for teacher efficacy and teaching strategies?

ABSTRACTAlthough Chinese teachers commonly participate in school-based professional development activities, there is a remarkable scarcity of large-scale quantitative research into the effectiveness of teacher professional development in China, which is characterised as an institutionalised practice. Based on a conceptual framework applying recent research knowledge, this study investigates the relationships between teacher participation in school-based professional development and its individual and school contextual antecedents and effects on teachers and teaching in the context of mainland China. A total of 1506 secondary school teachers responded to a questionnaire survey. The results show that teachers’ willingness to attend teaching research activities and supportive principal leadership facilitated teacher participation. Among the three dimensions of teacher participation, it was collective lesson planning and teacher collegiality, not the frequency of participation, that improved teacher efficacy and the adoption of desirable teaching strategies. These results enrich the knowledge about the characteristics and effectiveness of teacher professional development in China. The implications of the findings are discussed.

A review of secondary school EFL teacher professional development in China

A review of secondary school EFL teacher professional development in China

Exploring Different Needs of Digital Immigrant and Native Teachers for Technology Professional Development in China

This study examined if professional development needs of digital native and digital immigrant teachers differed in order for them to successfully integrate technology into teaching in the Chinese education setting. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 500 teachers in six schools in the southwest of China. The digital native teachers and the digital immigrant teachers were compared in terms of their different technology use behaviors and integration skills. The findings indicated that even though the digital native teachers had greater comfort with basic technology than the digital immigrant teachers, they still required training for integrating technology effectively in their teaching. The digital immigrant teachers needed more basic technology operations training as well as connections between technologies and teaching. Future technology professional developments in developing countries should 1) consider the different needs of digital native teachers and digital immigrant teachers; 2) prepare them to make meaningful connections between technologies and their teachings; and 3) adopt individual coaching with on-site designated specialists.

Critical Factors in English Teachers’ Professional Development in China – A Case Study

0

A Prospective Study on the Application of MOOC in Teacher Professional Development in China

Teacher professional development is the process of constantly strengthening professional attainment, broadening academic knowledge, enhancing the professional skills, and improving teaching ability. With the reform of learning science and the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the traditional mode of teacher professional development is confronted with challenge, and the new emerging MOOC system provides a new path for teacher professional development. The MOOC system is an important tool for teacher professional development because of teacher's professional characteristics, teacher's needs, and the cost of promotion. The application of MOOC system to teacher professional development, however, is still in the trial stage, and we need to carry on emphatically analysis on the policy, quality and value of the application of MOOC to teacher professional development. Coursera carried out projects of teacher professional development actively, and developed a series of teacher education curricula in cooperation with institutions of higher education and social culture institutions, which can be regarded as the pioneer and model in the field. At present, the application of MOOC system to teacher professional development is still in the stage of empiricism studies, and data-driven research in this field is needed, so as to deal with various potential obstacles, overcome different difficulties and solve possible problems.

College English Teachers&amp;apos; “Content-Based” Professional Development in China

This paper mainly discusses the necessity of, and the way to college English teachers' content-based professional development in China, one of the main conclusions drawn from the case study of a provincial education department-funded project (see footnote). It draws on the pilot project on college English teaching reform which, with action research employed, aims to figure out the problems exposed to college English teaching and looks to put forward effective ways of college English teachers’ professional development fitted into Chinese educational and economic globalization.

Policies and Practices of Professional Development in China: What do Early Childhood Teachers Think?

This paper focuses on early childhood teachers’ professional development in China. It reports a study which aims to elicit twelve in-service early childhood teachers’ perspectives of the values and issues of professional development policies and the learning opportunities they experienced. Two themes arising from the study are addressed, namely the teachers’ positive responses to the government aspirations for enhancing teaching in early childhood education, and the complexities of the organizational and role structures of the early childhood community in ChangChun where the study took place. An important aspect of the teachers’ perspectives of their professional development, which connects up to the early childhood environment in ChangChun, is the view that professional development was oriented to their own employment continuity. Teachers’ learning was perceived as a useful means to offset the insecurity of their careers, but not closely related to children’s learning.

Promoting teachers’ mathematical and pedagogical awareness

Mathematical and pedagogical awareness is crucial for a teacher to notice, articulate, interpret aspects of classroom practice, and make on the spot decisions. Awareness is related to teacher knowledge and is rooted in the context of the actual classroom practice. Mason (2002) talks about different levels of awareness both in mathematics and in mathematics teaching and relates them to the process of noticing that involves systematic reflection on acts or issues. A number of studies at both pre-service and in-service levels that have been published in this Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education [JMTE] focus on what the teachers ‘‘notice’’ in a classroom while teaching or reflecting on it and investigate ways that can support them in the process of developing this ability (e.g., Mellon 2011; Scherer and Steinbring 2007). Approaches that seem to be effective in teacher education and professional development for supporting the development of teacher awareness include teacher interaction and collaboration and the use of theoretical tools in analyzing and studying mathematics teaching. This theme of teacher awareness is reflected in the articles of this issue of JMTE. The three articles in the research category and one article in the Mathematics Teacher Education around the World category provide further insights into the nature and development of mathematics teachers’ awareness or noticing during practice. The article by Jimmy Sherrer and Mary Kay Stein and the article by Shari Stockero and Laura Van Zoest focus on teachers’ noticing of critical classroom interactions that involves students’ contributions and teachers’ reactions. Sherrer and Stein propose and evaluate an intervention where a coding scheme was given to the teachers to analyze teaching while Stockero and Van Zoest examine teachers’ actions and decisions in the context of actual teaching when pivotal teaching moments emerge. The article by Jennifer Tobias focuses on the development of prospective teachers mathematical awareness related to the fraction concept in the context of a teaching experiment that allowed mathematical communication and argumentation. Finally, the article by Su Liang, Sarah Glaz, Thomas DeFranco, Charles Vinsonhaler, Robin Grenier, and Fabiana Gardetti reports on mathematics teacher education and professional development in China and indicates ways that mathematical and pedagogical awareness of

Principal Professional Development in China: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies

This article examines the essential role of school principals in China's “Quality-Oriented Education” national reform movement. Keeping China's cultural and historical context in mind, and taking into consideration the impact of political and societal forces on the nation, we discuss the major challenges faced by Chinese schools, specifically the rising demand for a new generation of school leaders. To address this issue we conduct a critical review of the existing principal evaluation and training systems in China. From this data we then propose a framework of strategic directions for systemic professional development for school leaders.

Teacher career motivation and professional development in special and inclusive education: perspectives from Chinese teachers

Limited evidence is available from the existing literature that relates teachers' career motivation to their attitudes towards special and inclusive education and their motivation for professional development in China. A mixed-method approach was used to investigate teachers' perspectives in this respect. A sample of teachers at seven mainstream schools (N = 326), two special schools (N = 36) and student teachers from one university (N = 565) in a city in China was identified. Triangulation of data collected from questionnaire surveys, interviews and observations facilitated the identification of cases for narrative enquiry. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) was applied in data analysis and discussion. The key findings indicate that teachers researched were largely extrinsically motivated. Some were amotivated (unwilling) and were regretful of their career choice. Low teaching competencies influenced teacher attitudes towards inclusive education. Despite a high awareness of, and motivation for, professional development, many teachers were not taking an active initiative in engaging themselves in professional development. The paper highlights the impact of the multi-dimensional factors on teacher career motivation and professional development in special and inclusive education in China. It implies a correlation between the key themes and extends the discussion of the SDT model in terms of the continuum of extrinsic motivation.

Cultivation of Awareness of Life-long Professional Development for Pre-service English Teachers

The cultivation of pre-service English teachers is an integral part for teacher life-long education, and the pre-service cultivation should be based on the construction of the awareness of life-long professional development. Through 188 questionnaires and some interviews, this paper investigates into awareness of life-long professional development for pre-service English teachers in a local university in China, aiming at providing a basis for the study. Results show that their awareness of life-long professional development is rather weak. Then this paper analyzes the current literature, examines the researches on life-long education and teacher professional development in China and some developed countries. Finally it proposes strategies for cultivation of awareness of life-long professional development for pre-service English teachers, including drafting a Chinese national legislation for life-long education as soon as possible and establishing monitor institutions for life-long education, and then updating teaching ideology and content and adopting various devices for teaching reflection, and simultaneously constructing service-learning system and making use of contests of teaching skills and educational and scientific research in order to increase pre-service teachers' teaching competence and improve their all-around quality.

School knowledge management framework and strategies: The new perspective on teacher professional development

During the epoch of knowledge-based economy and knowledge management, teachers must learn in order to improve professional development. The paper discusses on the problems of teacher professional development in China, and analyze on the relationship among teacher learning, teacher professional development and school knowledge management. From the perspective of schools, this study develops school knowledge management framework to facilitate teacher learning and improve teacher professional development, in the basis of this framework, schools’ knowledge management strategies are presented, and provide references for administrators of schools. The result reveals the knowledge management strategies to improve teacher professional development, including school organizational reforger and knowledge leaders, constructing learning school and organization learning culture, establishing teacher knowledge management system of teacher professional development, encouraging team learning, teaching cooperation and knowledge sharing, establishing performance assessment mechanism of knowledge applications and development.