The Current Situation Of Junior Geography Teachers’ Professional Development In Hulunbeier And The Way To It

With the development of elementary education reforms, how toadapt to the changes of geography course among the teaching aims,structure and contents, and how to meet the challenges caused bypracticing new geography course have become realistic problems, whichare faced by geography teachers in Hulunbeier who have been in a verydisadvantageous position. However, the fact is that geography teachersin Hulunbeier have just paid attention to the professional developmentand they are restricted by many factors. Therefore, using the researchmethods of questionnaires and interview to survey professionaldevelopment of the junior geography teachers in Hulunbeier, theresearcher found out the fundamental reasons after analyzing theproblems and then offered the corresponding solutions and guidance.The paper may also be a useful reference for educationaladministrations.The results of survey show that there are three deeper problemswhich made the level of professional qualities relatively low. First, theproblem is the contradiction between urgent needs to improve theprofessional qualities and lack of subjective initiative. Secondly, juniorgeography teachers can not grasp the nature of the professiondevelopment. Thirdly, geography teachers are not able to improve their professional qualities on their own initiative because their self-reflectiveabilities are very poor. In professional qualities: First, though juniorgeography teachers agree to the course theory, they need to strengthenpracticing; Second, junior geography teachers are willing to add andchange some new professional knowledge on education research; Third,junior geography teachers are in great need of raising their teachingability.In awareness of professional development and ability: First, in theoryon professional development, raising themselves in professionaldevelopment has not become a main way to develop themselves, theystill depend on being trained. Second, wholly, junior geography teachersare short of plans and not clear in aim; Third, junior geography teachershaven’t had high ability in their professional development. Firstly, mostteachers seldom reflect their teaching because they haven’t realized theimportance of teaching refection in professional development, or theyare not clear how to reflect their teaching effectively. Only a small partcan do it (about36%), even only8%of them are able to practice theirreflective achievements and according to the effect, adjust their teachingconstantly. Secondly, teachers seldom exchange their ideas deeply toeach other, seldom judge their teaching each other, and seldom cooperate,which reflects the alones and misunderstanding to each other, shortageof active cooperation. Besides, they think little of teaching research, have weak ability to research, and they are unable to write good essays,so they have difficulty in making good achievements in teachingresearch and leading to excellent essays on teaching.The cause leading to the problems above lies in follows: First, theview affected long by “examine education” is dislocated, and seeking forthe utility in education one-side becomes a main standard on education,which affects teaching in class very long. Secondly, because “subjectdiscrimination” exists widely in present teaching work, that juniorgeography teachers often feel unimportant leads to laziness in work.Thirdly, the one-sided view of knowledge leads to the fact that TeacherEducation ignores teachers’ theory through work and doesn’t trainteachers’ reflective thought of their work and their creative ability andignores the main role of basis knowledge in teachers’ professionaldevelopment, and takes away the main part of teachers during thedevelopment.The way to settle the problems in professional development faced byJunior geography teachers: we should insist on professionaldevelopment in two ways—inherent and extrinsic, and finally dependon teachers’ own professional development; We should also make twochanges: we should begin with “Practical Knowledge” and realize thechange of pattern of junior geography teachers’ professionaldevelopment; we should finally change individual development to each other’s development.In order to advance teachers’ professional development inHunlunbeier, we should try our best in these ways: a protective systemof teachers’ professional development should be set up, and a forceshould be formed to push the development; Educational theory shouldbe renewed and the inner force should be strengthened; The educationalorganization should be perfected and a good teacher culture should beformed; Training support should also be strengthened.