Key Events And Nursery Backbone Teachers' Professional Growth

Based on deep interview with 9 backbone teachers from 4 kindergartens in Nanjing, this research analyzes the influence of critical incidents on backbone teachers' professional growth, and generalizes the characteristics of backbone teachers.Critical incidents which influence backbone teachers' professional growth can be divided into two kinds: normal ones and abnormal ones. Normal critical incidents include professional ones and familial ones. Learning from old teachers, teaching research, scientific research, participation in competitions, promotion of the titles of professional posts all belong to professional ones. The familial ones mainly refer to child-nurturing incidents and abnormal critical incidents mainly include interpersonal conflicts and abrupt accidents in the teaching.Significant others and critical phases are two core elements of critical incidents. The significant others, including the master, the headmaster of the kindergarten, the copartner and experts, play the part of the leader, the supporter, the participator and the mentor of the backbone teachers and have great influence on their professional growth. The critical phases include extrinsic phases (initial stages, three years later), intrinsic phases (phases for kindergartens to upgrade themselves and consummate the system of teaching and research), and personal phases (after bearing).Most backbone teachers consider: their professional growth as success which will come when conditions are ripe, which is based on the following four reasons. Firstly, the kindergartens supply good conditions for the backbone teachers' professional development. Secondly, the backbone teachers insist on doing everything seriously. Thirdly, the intrinsic motivities of the backbone teachers' going on with their professional growth are strong duty-consciousness and go-aheadism. Fourthly, studying and reflecting are the main ways of the backbone teachers' achieving their professional growth.