| The key to improving the quality of education lies in teachers.In September 2013,the Ministry of Education of China promulgated The Professional Standards of Teachers in Secondary Vocational Schools,which makes clear the professional standards of teachers and throws light on the direction of professional development of teachers in secondary vocational schools.To speed up the professional development of English teachers in secondary vocational schools is an important prerequisite and basic guarantee for the implementation of English Syllabus for Secondary Vocational Schools and the enhancement of the quality of English teaching.Based on the theories of teachers' professional development,supported by the professional standards of teachers,focusing on the issue of the professional development of English teachers in secondary vocational schools in the city of Yuxi,this research aims to probe into the three questions as follows:(1)What is the current situation of English teachers' professional development in secondary vocational schools?(2)What are the key factors influencing the English teachers' professional development in secondary vocational schools?(3)How can the English teachers' professional development be promoted in secondary vocational schools?Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted in data collection and analysis of this study.The researcher collects data by surveying 52 English teachers from three secondary vocational schools in Yuxi with the help of questionnaires and by interviewing 11 of them later,the results of which are analyzed with SPSS 17.Through data analysis,the findings of this study are as follows:(1)On the current situation of the English teachers' professional development,the professional concepts and ethics of the teachers are highly qualified but there is space to be developed;the level of professional knowledge of the teachers is relatively high but diverse among different teachers;the professional competence of the teachers is relatively weak,which shows that their current professional competence is not optimistic.(2)The factors influencing English teachers' professional development include extrinsic factors and intrinsic elements.The extrinsic factors are involved in the imperfect incentive mechanism and management system of the superior administrative departments and schools;the students' poor academic performance and lack of interest in studying;rare training opportunities for English teachers in secondary vocational schools;teachers undertaking strenuous tasks that are irrelevant to English teaching;English course being not valued.The intrinsic elements are that their personal efforts are not enough and that they fail to self-reflect when they encounter difficulties.In comparison,far more teachers attribute the influencing factors to extrinsic factors,which shows that the teachers' intrinsic driving force is not strong enough.(3)The professional development of English teachers in secondary vocational schools can be facilitated by training.According to the data,the training contents that most of the teachers need are about the improvement of the ability to implement scientific research;theories of teaching English to students in secondary vocational schools;advanced teaching models and concrete teaching methods;the improvement of teaching practice as well as the knowledge about students' psychology in secondary vocational schools.As far as the forms are concerned,most teachers are expecting to have opportunities for training.In addition,they hope that they can be guided by experts and excellent peers and that they can attend lectures and lecture evaluation and participate in teaching contests,etc.In general,the teachers are willing to study further to promote themselves,which is encouraging and promising.Finally,on the basis of this research,some implications for future research are drawn and some suggestions are put forward on how to promote the professional development of English teachers in secondary vocational schools in this study... |
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