A Research On The Current Situation Of TOEFL/IELTS Teachers’ Professional Development In International Schools

Since the 21st century,the China’s private education has achieved rapid development with the flowering economy.At the same time,a large number of international schools have sprung up with the trend of education internationalization.The competitiveness of teachers become the core competitiveness of schools.These special groups need a good atmosphere of stability and professionalism to promote professional development.TOEFL and IELTS teachers dramatically influence the teaching quality of international schools.In fact,this kind of teachers is very different from the ordinary domestic public or private English teachers in primary schools,middle and college schools,for international education is different from traditional education in various aspects.In recent years,there has been little research on the professional development of TOEFL and IELTS teachers in international schools.To fill in the gap,this study analyzes the current situation of these teachers’ professional development and find out the factors influencing it,and put forward some strategies.The author surveyed 15 international schools in Shanghai,aiming at TOEFL and IELTS teachers in these schools,investigating their professional development,finding out their situation in their professional development and influencing factors,searching for effective strategies to improve TOEFL and IELTS teachers’ professional development.The conclusion of this study:Firstly,the current situation of TOEFL and IELTS teachers’ professional development:most teachers have a solid subject knowledge;Some teachers’professional competence and professional belief need improvement.Secondly,the factors influencing the development include:firstly,for internal factors,professional development consciousness is not strong enough;the teachers’ professional quality is poor;Secondly,for external factors,the management in school is not systematic enough;teachers lack research and training opportunities;government policies related are not compete;Based on the above findings,this study puts forward some strategies to improve TOEFL and IELTS teachers’ professional development:firstly,government should establish related policies to guarantee the development.Secondly,schools should provide more research and training opportunities.Besides,teachers need to improve their consciousness of professional development,professional knowledge,competence and belief.