Case Study:College English Teachers’Professional Development

Teachers are the leading factors in the educational process. The teachers’ quality determines the success or failure of education. High standards have been set for the teachers’professional development in our country according to Outline of Medium and Long-term Program for the National Educational Reform and Development and Several Views Concerning Improving the Overall Quality of Higher Education. Under this background, the systematic study on college English teachers’professional development is of both theoretical significances and practical implications.Based on such theories as Content-Based Incentive Theory, Career Self-Efficacy and Teacher Profession Career Cycle, this paper, on a two-year basis, individually explores the professional growth process, the professional progress and the present professional status of three teachers in a non-key university by analyzing the three teachers’talks, questionnaire, peer observation, survey, teaching journals, assessments given by students and etc. The case study revealed that comprehensiveness, complexity and dynamism are characteristic of college English teachers’ professional development.This paper consists of five chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces the research background and significances of this study. The second chapter describes the study’s theoretical basis:Content-Based Incentive Theory, and Career Self-Efficacy. In Chapter III, the paper introduces the objectives, the subjects of the study, the methods and processes taken in the study. The fourth chapter analyzes the results of the case study. Chapter Five draws a conclusion about common features of college English teachers’ professional development. Finally, the author points out the limitations of this paper and directions for future research.