A Study Of English Teachers’ Professional Development In Secondary Vocational Schools

Teacher development plays a vital role in education development. Higher requirements have been put forward for the teachers’ professional quality by the nature and the task of the curriculum in English Syllabus for Secondary Vocational Schools published in 2009. To meet the requirements, a key factor is to improve English teachers’ professional development. However, the current status of English teachers’ professional development is not optimistic. What’s more, the present domestic study on the professional development of secondary vocational school English teachers is insufficient. To improve the professional development level of English teachers and promote the process of English teaching reform in secondary vocational schools, the author carries out the study on English teachers’ professional development of Sanming secondary vocational schools in Fujian Province.With the methods of literature, questionnaire and interview, the study aims to investigate the current status of English teachers’ professional development, the influencing factors and the approaches to promoting the professional development, and put forward the relevant feasible suggestions on the basis of the problems existing. The subjects are 115 English teachers in Sanming 12 secondary vocational schools.Through the data analysis, the study shows the following results: First, the age structure and the title structure are not reasonable for the English teacher team, because the vast majority of the English teachers are the middle-aged and lecturers. Second, the English teachers’ overall professional development level is not high, especially for their professional ability. Thirdly, the English teachers’ professional development is affected by both external factors and teachers’ personal factors, but it is restricted more by the personal factors. Fourthly, English teachers think that there are many ways of improving their professional development level, such as teaching reflection, reading professional books or periodicals, participating in teachers’ skill contests, attending the backbone teacher training, communicating with or cooperating with colleagues, continuing to complete higher degrees or records of formal schooling and so on. Lastly, there is the significant positive correlation between the current status of English teachers’ professional development and the influencing factors, and there is the same correlation between the current status of English teachers’ professional development and the approaches.Thus, the relevant suggestions are put forward for individual teachers, secondary schools and competent departments of education to improve English teachers’ professional development in secondary vocational schools.