A Study On Critical Incidents Of Pre-service English Teachers’ Professional Development

Under the background of having been a heated research topic, teachers’professional development has now been explored from the perspective of critical incidents. As a special teacher group, pre-service English teachers’professional development has also been given great attention. Most of the studies, however, focus on pre-service English teachers’professional skills and the relationship between their professional development and the curriculum reform. Accordingly, few studies center on critical incidents of pre-service English teachers’ professional development.Teaching practicum is a significant approach for pre-service English teachers’professional development. It is certain that during this critical period, some events will have great effects on pre-service English teachers’professional development. In some studies, critical incidents have been divided into four main categories:successful events, failure events, inspiring events and moving events (Zheng Rong&Gong Hui,2005; Liu Yingying,2010). In addition, critical person is also taken as a kind of critical incidents in other studies (Tripp,1993; Griffin,2003; Mu Yuanzhen,2011). Taking pre-service English teachers (senior four English majors) as research subjects, this study tries to answer the following questions, based on the lifelong education theory as well as the affective event theory.(1) What major critical incidents influence pre-service English teachers most during the teaching practicum?(2) How do these critical incidents influence their professional development?This study adopted a quantitative-qualitative method. At first, in order to have a basic understanding of the critical incidents in pre-service English teachers’teaching practicum, a questionnaire was conducted among52pre-service English teachers who had experienced a one-month-long teaching practicum in different junior and senior middle schools. Then, based on the results of the questionnaire,5pre-service English teachers were chosen for in-depth interviews.Based on the research results, this study concludes with answers to the research questions:Firstly, it is found that some major critical incidents influencing pre-service English teachers during the teaching practicum are mainly a successful class, setbacks in teaching, conflicts between teachers and students, classroom observation in classes of experienced teachers, students’respect and love, unselfish assistance from teammates, as well as instructors’suggestions and help.Secondly, the critical incidents influence directly pre-service English teachers’professional development. These critical incidents, to some degree, have promoted pre-service English teachers’reflective thinking ability, renewed their teaching concepts and enriched their professional knowledge. At the same time, these critical incidents have had some effects on their future occupation choice.This study has enriched the researches on critical incidents and has bridged a gap in studies on relevant researches. It may also shed light on pre-service English teachers’professional development.