Dilemma And Growth: A Narrative Study On The Professional Growth Of New Primary School Teachers Under The Mentoring System

With the growing number of primary and secondary school teachers in China,how to help novice teachers become competent teachers as soon as possible is a problem that schools need to think about.Mentoring system is a school-based teacher training method which is often used in schools to improve novice teachers' educational and teaching abilities.Previous studies have shown that the mentoring system plays a significant role in promoting the professional development of novice teachers.Therefore,the study of mentoring system is of great value and significance to the improvement of the quality of teachers.To explore how to improve the effectiveness of the mentoring system in the professional development of novice teachers,it is necessary to go deep into the education and teaching practice of novice teachers.This study presents the growth process of novice teachers in primary schools under the background of mentoring system from a micro perspective,analyzes the factors affecting novice teachers' professional growth,and puts forward relevant suggestions according to the influencing factors,so as to put forward countermeasures and suggestions for promoting the professional growth of teachers in the Corps.This study adopts the narrative inquiry method,selects three novice primary school teachers in a high-quality primary school of the Corps as the research objects,explores their difficulties and coping processes in the professional growth process under the background of mentoring system,and narrates their growth story with time as the main line.This paper sorts out the origin and development of mentoring system,and on this basis makes a review of relevant research,and analyzes the growth process of three novice teachers by using the theory of extended learning.Combined with the existing theory of teacher professional growth,this paper summarizes the growth results of three novice teachers from three aspects of professional knowledge,professional skills and professional affection.It is found that in the context of mentoring system,the factors that affect the professional development of novice teachers include internal and external factors.Internal causes include novice teachers' personal growth background and individual subjective initiative,while external causes mainly come from school teachers' cultural atmosphere and relevant school systems.In addition,the corps culture has an indirect impact on the implementation of the mentoring system.First of all,with the help of the cultural force of the Corps,the school leaders formed the campus culture of "hard struggle,pursuit of excellence".Through top-down propaganda,teachers' educational beliefs were strengthened and teachers' determination and confidence to root in the border area were established.Secondly,under the guidance of the Corps spirit,a cultural atmosphere of solidarity and mutual assistance has been formed among teachers,and the conscientious help and support from masters to apprentices has gradually become a kind of cultural inheritance.According to the research results,the mentoring system plays an important role in the professional development of novice teachers,but there are still some problems that need to be further improved.In this study,the following suggestions are proposed to promote the professional development of novice teachers under the mentoring system:At the individual level,the establishment of good interpersonal relationship between teachers and apprentices should be emphasized.First of all,novice teachers should establish a good personal relationship with their teachers,take the initiative to communicate with their teachers,show the initiative to learn,and selectively accept the suggestions put forward by their teachers after reflection.At the teacher level,while paying attention to the education and teaching of apprentices,we should also pay attention to providing emotional support to help them establish their teaching efficacy and identity.At the school level,the harmonious and mutually supportive school cultural atmosphere is helpful to alleviate the psychological impact caused by the transition of novice teachers from students to teachers.Schools should attach importance to the creation of a cultural atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance among teachers,and provide institutional guarantee and incentive mechanism for the operation of the mentoring system,so as to improve the enthusiasm of outstanding teachers to lead apprentices.In view of the current situation that primary school teachers are extremely busy,it is suggested that schools should reduce the occupation of time and energy by some irrelevant affairs on education and teaching as far as possible,so that teachers can have more time and energy to instruct their apprentices,and apprentices can have more time to reflect on their own educational and teaching practice activities and educational concepts.