A Narrative Inquiry Of An Expert English Teacher's Contextual Knowledge Construction

It is noted that teacher development in Chinese context has its own features that are quite different from those in the literature that heavily focus on the West. How English teachers in China perceive and understand their context of life and work has thus become a hot topic, though few data-based studies have been reported so far in the field.This qualitative study is conducted to explore a retired EFL teacher'contextual knowledge construction through narrative inquiry. The purpose is to examine how this expert teacher perceives his contextual knowledge developed over time and space, and how he actually constructs his contextual knowledge in the classroom, in the school and in the broader sociocultural settings in which he lived and worked. The study also intends to find out the features of his contextual knowledge construction. The data in this study are mainly collected from semi-structured interviews and case documents. The major findings of the study are summarized as follows:Firstly, the study shows that this expert teacher's overall contextual knowledge development is a continuous, dynamic and interactive process, which confirms what has been found in the literature of teacher development in general. What he learned earlier as a learner affected his later practice as a new teacher and an expert teacher. His active interaction with his students and colleagues as well as with many social historical and educational events in his life also shaped his understanding of the different contexts. The overall development of his contextual knowledge is like a dynamic continuum progressing from the past to the present and the future. Secondly, the study also unveils the concrete process of this expert teacher's contextual knowledge construction in different settings. In the classroom, he constructed his contextual knowledge through adapting and creating teaching materials, balancing relationship with students and trying out innovative teaching methods. In the school, he did it through winning school support and pursuing cooperation with colleagues. In the broader sociocultural settings, he did it via his smart adaptation to the changing historical, political environment and the creation of conditions for his own learning and colleagues'development.Thirdly, the study indicates three distinctive features of this expert teacher's contextual knowledge construction throughout different stages in his professional life. The first is effective coping with the context, the second is active use of resources for development and the third is the joint contribution of his personal attributes as well as rich educational and sociocultural learning experiences in contextual knowledge construction.In light of the above findings, the researcher makes some suggestions for better understanding contextual knowledge in teacher development research and practice, including creating more favorable social political environment for teachers'self-directed learning and taking teachers'earlier education experience and personal attributes into consideration in teacher development program design and further research.