Research On Critical Friends Group Model For Teachers' Professional Development In The U.S.

In China,there is a considerable number of in-service primary and secondary teachers,whose professional development levels impose direct and significant influence on the quality of fundamental education.Teachers have been benefited a lot from the Subject Teaching and Research Group which is a traditional teacher professional development model in China since the 1950s.But omens have been shown that this traditional model requires reform imperatively driven by both the internal and external dynamics.Thus,in order to offer related suggestions to enhance the efficiency of teachers' professional development,to understand the design and implementation of professional learning community and provide targeted inspiration for the traditional model,the thesis focuses on Critical Friends Group,a professional development model in the U.S..Having been implemented for over two decades,it has been proved to be effective enough to influence teachers' practical behavior and help to develop the culture of cooperation.Using the methods of analyzing,comparing and case studying,the paper studies the model from the macro,medium and micro levels and makes accurate and targeted suggestions to improve our Subject Teaching and Research Group model under the basis of profound comprehension.The paper includes six parts.In the introduction part,study cause,meaning topic,core concepts,research ideas and methods are explained.In Part One,it introduces the background information of how and why the Critical Friends Group model came into being and developing at the macro level.In Part Two and Three,a medium research perspective is used to explore the theory and practice of this model.Five key words are explained,including focus on students' learning,enhance school reform,teachers' learning community,reflection and inquiry and facilitative coaching.Then,to detail the implementation process,it shows the rules,roles,activities and condition guarantees of the model.In Part Four,the paper depicts how the Critical Friends Group led by Kelley had developed in Eisenhower High School,Houston,Texas and what contributed to its success and failure.In the final part,it returns to the dilemmas faced by Subject Teaching and Research Group model,and makes such suggestions as setting up mutual learning mindset,deepening the reforms of group management,internal cooperation and external communication mechanism and adjusting the focus of the traditional model from how to teach to how to learn.