Exploring The Experienced Teacher’s Piloting Of A Newly Published Textbook ——A Case Study

The textbook plays a central role in College English education.In education reform,the textbook embodies the abstract curriculum and pedagogical philosophy,serving as the primary source for practitioners to organize the instruction and for learners to grasp knowledge,skills,and learning strategies.As the static object,the function of the textbook could only be realized through interaction with teachers,students,and instructional realities by its end-users’ interpretation and utilization.Without heeding the end-user’s opini,ons,needs,questions,and pedagogical philosophies,the value of the textbook and the teacher’s professional development will be dwindled.Textbook piloting is an essential part prior to its formal publication and distribution.The piloting project empowers practitioners with roles and authorities to explore and assess the textbook design,and to offer practice-based feedback and insights for textbook revision.Nevertheless,research dwelling upon the experiences of front-line teachers participating in the textbook piloting has remained scarce.To this end,this case study pivots upon how an experienced College English teacher piloted the trialled textbook situated in a textbook piloting project launched by a key publisher.Data collected includes semi-structured interviews.classroom observations,field observations on the meetings and collaborative lesson designs in the piloting project,documents（feedback,teaching plans,reflection logs,etc.）,so as to comprehensively depict the process and mediating factors of teachers’ piloting of trialled teaching materials through the Socio-Didactical Tetrahedron lens.Findings demonstrate that,playing the dual role as the practitioner and materials developer,the teacher analyzed,adapted,evaluated,and appropriated the material through the reinterpretation of,reflection upon,and reconstruction of the classroom instruction in a context-responsive manner,mirroring a transition from "teaching the material" to "teaching with the material".Facing the challenges and pressures during the piloting project,the teacher’s continuous self-reflection and perseverance are the fundamental driving forces.Furthermore,the flexibility of the material and the support from the editorial team in the piloting project do play an important role.