Multi-interactive Model Of School-based English Teacher Education: Theory And Practice

With the rapid development of international exchanges, English as a globallanguage has become a crucial factor in promoting a nation’s economic developmentand international competitiveness. In China, English is taught as a foreign languageand the lack of language environment makes classroom teaching the primary sourcefor the learners to receive language input and improve their language skills. The resultis that teachers have become a key factor affecting the overall quality of Englishteaching in China. Therefore, how to build up an open and effective system ofEnglish teacher education and enhance their ongoing professional development hasbecome a focus of attention in the research of English teaching in China, andin-service teacher education, which is an indispensable part of teacher education, hasalso become a top issue in the field.In view of the problems in the present in-service English teacher education inChina—the separation of theory and practice, the lack of exchange of ideas andinteraction, the neglect of teacher cognition and reflection and the short-term effect oftraining programs, this research chooses the school-based English teacher educationas its specific field of research and puts forward the Multi-interactive Model ofSchool-based English Teacher Education, aiming at the development of teacherreflectivity. After laying a solid theoretical foundation for the model, this researchalso uses the application of the model in a school-based English teacher educationprogram in a junior middle school as a case to inquire into the effectiveness of themodel in enhancing teacher reflectivity, analyses potential problems with theapplication and suggests solutions to the problems. In so doing, we aim to providehelpful experience and implications for the exploration of models of English teachereducation, broaden the perspectives in the research of the field and try to find out away of in-service English teacher education with great applicability and replicablity.In the present research, theoretical speculation and case study are used asresearch methods to address the following three research questions:1. What forms of interactions are included in the Multi-interactive Model of School-based English Teacher Education? How are they related to each otherand what are their respective roles in the development of teacher reflectivity?2. Is the Multi-interactive Model of School-based English Teacher Educationeffective in developing teacher reflectivity in practice?3. What are the problems with the application of the Multi-interactive Model ofSchool-based English Teacher Education and what solutions can besuggested?The Multi-interactive Model of School-based English Teacher Educationincludes four main types of interactions, namely, self-reflection, teacher-studentinteraction, peer collaboration and professional guidance. Self-reflection is the core ofthe system and the innermost driving force and teacher-student interaction providesfeedback, peer collaboration establishes a learning community and professionalguidance offers scaffolding for the development of teacher reflectivity which is thegoal of the joint efforts of the four types of interactions.Besides theoretical construction, this research also applies the model to athree-year school-based English teacher education program to find out ways ofimplementation and the effectiveness of the model in improving teacher reflectivity inpractice. Researchers divide the teacher education program into three stagesaccording to the concrete situation of the experimental school and the specific needsof the experimental teachers: platform establishment stage, scaffolding establishmentstage and community establishment stage. It is revealed from the teachers’ teachingjournals and work summaries, the students’ weekly diaries and the interviews with theteachers and the administrators that the teachers have enhanced their reflectivity inthe three-year school-based English teacher education and made progress in bothteaching inquiry and professional learning. This research attributes the success of theprogram to the use of multiple interactive teacher education strategies, the integrationof theory and practice in the implementation, the focus on the teachers’ professionaland psychological needs and a positive and supportive school environment.On the basis of the case study, this research makes some modification to theoriginal model and identifies four major problems that might be typical in the implementation of the model: the relationship between professional guidance andteacher autonomy; the establishment of teachers’ learning community; thecontradiction between the test-oriented education system and the teachers’professional development and the applicability of the model in school-based Englishteacher education at different levels and in different situations. Besides, solutions tothese problems are also suggested from the perspectives of professional guidance,peer collaboration, teacher-student interaction and self-reflection.Although this research has just tested out the Multi-interactive Model ofSchool-based English Teacher Education in one specific teacher education programand has its limitations, we believe it will provide experience and implications forfurther theoretical modifications and practical implementation of the model so as toimprove and enrich the model, optimize the present situation of in-service Englishteacher education and promote the professional qualities of the English teachers atdifferent levels and the overall quality of English teaching in China.