A Comparative Study Of School Teachers' Professional Standards In The Context Of China And Canada

Teachers' professional standards are of increasing interest on the landscape of both school education and teacher preparation practice around the world since developing professional standards for teachers are widely regarded as a fundamental precondition for teachers' professional development and standardization to answer the demand of quality teachers in this changing era.The reform of teachers' professionalization in 1980's triggered the developing and implementing of teachers' professional standards in many countries and this practice has been rapidly growing since then.Like other educational authorities around the world,Chinese central government has developed and implemented professional standards for teachers in kindergartens,primary and middle schools(K-12)since 2012 as a mechanism for ensuring and enhancing the quality of teaching in schools.However,there still exist plenty of challenges in the reform,such as,how could government educational authorities make efficient evaluationof teachers against the standards with the purposes of improving teaching? How could school teachers be encouraged to fully understand and completely accept the standards and conduct their professional practice following the standards? What should be done next to make teachers internalize the standards and become active participants in improving professional standards in the changing world? All these questions are demanding answers.This research aims to compare teachers' professional standards from a historical and cultural perspective in the context of China and Canada in order to find out the similarities and differences of origin and evaluation,values and purpose,structures and contents,implementation and influences,and teachers' personal beliefs of teachers' professional standards of two countries,to find out an idealized approach in application of teachers' professional standards,especially for China to provide a practical solution to address the root problems in teacher professionalization,and to offer Chinese experiences to other countries which have long admired the wisdom of Confucius and witnessed the rapid development and great achievements of basic education in recent years in China.The research consists of seven parts as followed:The Introduction part highlights the importance of the research with the consideration of the current challenges in teachers' professional standards reform in China,the experiences gained in western countries in this field,and cooperation established by the researcher and scholars in Canada by an international reciprocal learning project.And the concept of Professional Standards is redefined form the perspectives of "factual standards" and "written standards".Literature review,research methods,and the significance of the research are also presented in this part.The First Chapter focuses on historical development of standards for school teachers of China and Canada,and identifies the different developing stages and the different features of each stage with the purpose to find the traditional and cultural factors promoting the development of teachers' professional standards.It has been found that the development of teachers' professional standards of both countries went through the similar procedures,and started from singular requirements to systematic standards,and gradually became part of teacher education and management policies of two nations.The current teachers' professional standards in China reflect the requirement of the international society on school teachers,while teachers' professional standards in Canada attach more attentions on what Canadian school teachers should be in the context of Canadian social and cultural development.The Second Chapter makes an analysis and comparison on current policy documents,files,and working papers about teachers' professional standards employed by educational authorities and teachers' organizations of China and Canada,focusing on the contents,structures,words and expressions in these documents,and intending to explore their value and practicality.And comparatively speaking,Chinese teachers professional standards are more complete and integrated,but less specific and targeted than Canadian teachers professional standards,based on the document analysis.The Third Chapter explores the values and beliefs on teachers professional standards of both countries.Chinese teachers' professional standards are designed with the emphasis of teachers morals,subject knowledge,teaching skills,students achievement;while Canadian teachers' professional standards are developed focusing on teachers' ethics,knowledge of students,teaching performance and life-long learning competency,and students development.The Fourth Chapter moves onto the implementation of teachers' professional standards of both countries,and compares the management modes and current status of implementation under the guidance of different policy application approaches.Chinese central government plays the leading roles in standard application,and other professional bodies follow the direction,and carried out implementation plans as requirements;while in Canada,provincial government and major teachers organizations cooperate and collaborate with each other in order to provide service for teachers' professional development according to teachers' professional standards.And up to now,guided by the central government,the requirements of the standards has been informed to school teachers across China,and how could teachers improve their teaching behaviors and practice and in what way the evaluation would be made are still need to be discussed.In Canada,the provincial standards have been well-developed and efficiently-employed,but the conflicts between government and teacher organizations still exist,which hinders the development of provincial teachers' professional standards and also brings challenges to establishing teachers' professional standards at the federation level.The Fifth Chapter discussed the result of an investigation on school teachers' understanding and practice of professional standards in China and Canada.In Chinese school teachers' eyes,professional teachers should be knowledgeable and skillful in teaching,and treat students' learning and achievements as their first responsibilities,and they are also very obedient to government and schools,and are willing to participant training programs as required,however,what school teachers think necessary for professional teachers is not sufficient according to current Chinese teachers' professional standards.On the contrary,what Canadian teachers regard important is reflected in the government standards which more or less formed and confirmed by accompanying policies and regulations employed to guarantee teachers professional performance.The Sixth Chapter is the conclusion of the research.Based on the comparison of the first several chapters,this chapter presents the findings of the research and provide suggestions and advice to the reform of school teachers' professional standards in China.It could be concluded that the starting point of teachers professional standards development and implementation is to ensure students' development in an all around way.It should be agreed that the desitination of teachers' professional standards implementation is not just for teachers' improvement,but students' development and growth.Therefore,it is highly recommended for policy designers and practitioners to keep students in mind when they are planning to make standards for professional teachers.School teachers need to recognize the specialties of their careers,and manage to meet the needs of students in this changing world,and they have to equip themselves with some academic knowledge and competencies to conduct professional practice and fulfill professional responsibilities.Apart from that,the government and the public should also make investment to assist teachers and increase their confidence,satisfication and self-esteem in daily teaching work.The point is that all the teachers should be respected and treated as real persons who have their own decisions not just as tools for students development.School teachers should be provided opportunities to learn and develop by themselves,and government officials,university professors,teacher educators and school principals also need to reach agreement in providing assistance to teachers' development.It is necessary to create an idealized environment for teachers to grow like all the healthy plants and creatures in the world.Based on the analysis above,suggestions are provided for Chinese teachers' professional development in the future professional standards reform: Trace Chinese teachers' development history,and find more valuable and suitable references other than learn more from western world;Improve and Implement standards from practice other than theories;Pay more attention to teachers personal development in an all around way other than skills improvement;Attach more emphasis on teachers working environment and pay attention to teachers job-embedded development;Assist teachers in personal learning plan making according to standards,establish and improve supporting mechanism for teachers learning.