| During the last two decades, especially in English-speaking countries, a lot of efforts in both theoretical researches and practice have been taken to foster school-based teacher professional development. However, there seems to be few studies concerning school-based teacher professional development under the unique context of Chinese schools. This study, choosing a primary school as a case, aims to investigate how a school tries to improve the professional development of their teachers by change of school management under the framework of educational culture in China and how these strategies actually affect teachers in this school.Case study is the main research method employed in this study. The case chosen in this study is the No.l Primary School of Dahushan Road in Shanghai (the Case School), from as early as 1990, this school has been undertaking a series of changes in school management to improve school-based teacher professional development. Data was collected in different ways including interview (with teachers, students and the principals), on-site observation, participative observation, and documents analysis. Finally, data were categorized into three inter-related parts for further analysis, that is: (1) concepts and concepts sharing, (2) regulations and change in professional behavior, and (3) school custom and self-development.Concepts of school values are deeply related to the practice of teacher professional development, sharing values among teachers in the same school is one of the most important factors influencing the effectiveness of school-based teacher professional development. Based on the context of local education reform and the situation analysis of itself, the Case School has gradually constructed a set of unique school values and tries to share these values among all the teachers through multiple aspects of change in school administration.Establishing certain regulations is always the most effective way to transform educational ideals into reality when a school tries to improve teachers' professional development by change of school management. The Case School has undertaken several important changes of school regulations in order to improve the professional behaviors of teachers. By strengthening regulations of professional research and loosening regulations of compulsory professional behaviors, the Case School tries to regulate, direct and change teachers' professional activities from inside and gradually nurture teachers' intrinsic motivation of professional development. The shift of emphasis in these changes reflects not only the change of concepts on 'good teachers' and 'teacher professional development' among decision-makers, but also the change of concepts on the role of school management in the whole process of schooling.Most of the process of teachers' career cycle takes place in the context of a unique school, under the 'school custom' that a school has constructed during a certain period of time. School custom is the reflection of certain school's educational values and offers the platform for any teacher's professional development in this school. The Case School is clearly aware of the importance of school custom and has established certain strategies to adapt or renew school custom in order to facilitate school-based teacher professional development.Based on the analysis of the Case School's data under the three categories described above, this study investigates the actual influences of changes in school management on the teachers' professional development, and the actual changes of teachers' concents and professional behaviors during this process.Some issues concerning school management reform are also discussed in the paper, such as how principal's values influence the process of school-level changes, elements of teaching profession, 'defect' in regulation and 'null administration', difficulties teacher-researchers may encounter in school, and nature of school custom which may improve school-based teacher professional development.The study conclud...
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