A Case Study Of Secondary School English Teacher Researchers’ Resilience

In recent years,teacher resilience has been widely studied in the general education field.Previous empirical studies have proven the importance of teacher resilience and mainly focused on how it is influenced by individual and environmental factors.However,scant attention has been given to the development of teacher resilience.An in-depth exploration of the developmental process of language teacher resilience is still lacking.To address this gap,this study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the development of six secondary school English teacher researchers’ resilience and its contributing factors.Data resources included semi-structured interviews and case documents.The findings are summarized as follows:Firstly,the resilience development of six excellent secondary school English teacher researchers presents two patterns:"low-to-high" and "W-shaped recovery".Each participant draw a timeline graph of their resilience and was interviewed based on the timeline graph and previously designed interview questions.Analyzing data from the interviews and case documents,the researcher found that these teachers’ resilience was dynamic and developmental over time.The patterns of their resilience development,however,differed in terms of shapes.This showed how individual teachers’ teaching and research experience wielded influence on their resilience development.Secondly,individual and environmental factors jointly contributed to the six secondary school English teacher researchers’ resilience.Individual factors such as personal traits,professional reflection and growth,coping skills,self-efficacy,and teaching skills,played key roles in promoting resilience.Meanwhile,school leaders,mentors,peers,and students provided material and mental support for their resilience development,while family members and friends provided emotional support.These teachers’ academic training in pre-service programs also laid a good foundation for their resilience development.In addition,this study also highlighted the coexistence of the individual factors of secondary school English teacher researchers and the "protective factors" in the environmental factors.They promoted each other and their interaction was conducive to their resilience.Based on above-mentioned findings,this study provides insight for Chinese English teachers,teacher educators and school administrators.First of all,this study encourages English teachers to develop personal emotional intelligence,hone tenacity,reflect actively,improve self-efficacy,strive to cultivate coping and teaching skills,and seek external help when necessary.Teacher educators are suggested to familiarize pre-service and in-service English teachers with the concept of teacher resilience,such as its different definitions and conceptual models;meanwhile,they should also educate English teachers regarding the ways through which they can individually and autonomously increase their resilience literacy by engaging in action research projects,subscribing to teacher professional development journals and reading the most recent research findings on teacher resilience.Specific strategies for school administrators are recommended,such as promoting a collaborative school culture,setting up mentors and collaborative teams,and maximizing formal and informal staff interaction through activities such as academic sharing sessions and experience exchange meetings.