Research On Teacher’s Professional Development From The Perspective Of Life Story

Since 1980 s,research of teacher’s professional development has taken a narrative turn in the postmodern paradigm as the complexity of the research has deepened and narrative research thinking and methods have been introduced.In order to understand and contribute to teacher’s professional development,future research needs to focus on areas like: teacher’s self-directed learning,emotional experiences and life experiences,especially teacher’s life stories.Based on Mc Adams’ “life story model”,this paper selected six primary and secondary school teachers in Wuxi as the subjects of this study to trace the integrated progress of teacher’s professional development through sorting out their life stories,and seek to explore the secrets of teacher’s professional development from their life narratives and guide them to realize the transformation of learning from the outside to the inside,that is,learning from themselves.Firstly,this paper reviews domestic and foreign researches on teacher’s professional development,and it reveals that the traditional positivist paradigm of pursuing universal“patterns” neglected the practical needs of teacher’s development,and that the use of narrative models,represented by life stories,can provide meaningful interpretations of teacher’s behaviors and their educational events,and provide solutions to these complex problems.The main question in this study is: What is the relationship between teacher’s life stories and professional development? This paper divided the question into four sub-questions: 1.What are the life stories of teachers in the process of professional development? 2.How do teachers interpret their own life stories? 3.How does life story influence teacher’s professional development? 4.How to interpreted and used life story to promote teacher’s professional development?Secondly,this paper categorized the teacher’s life stories into four archetypes: the legendary story of self-fulfillment,the exploration story of self-breakthrough,the light story of self-gain,and the escape story of self-wandering.In terms of narrative structure and factors,narrative tone,attribution tendency,core plot development,story coherence,and story ending influence teacher’s narrative and interpretation of their life stories.The impact of teacher’s life story on professional development is endogenous,constructive,continuous,and radiant;life stories influence teacher’s own professional development in shaping their professional selves and developing their professional competence,including: enhancing self-awareness,strengthening teacher’s belief,and enhancing identity;generating story-thinking ability,guiding teacher’s self-learning,and enriching practical knowledge.Thirdly,teachers need to go through three steps to identify,practice,and reconstruct a good life story.The first step is the generation and awakening of the teacher’s professional self,which requires teachers to trace their life experiences and resolve their “myth”;to transcend their role expectations and awaken their professional self.The second step is the reflection and action of teacher’s professional development.Teachers should pay attention to narrative reflection,actively adjust themselves,explore reasonable identity,and establish self-identity.The third step is the construction and cultivation of teacher’s ideal self,which advocates teachers to pay attention to life experience,enhance self-awareness,construct ideal self,and enrich the meaning of life.Finally,based on the findings of the study,the article summarizes the following conclusions: First,teacher’s life story is the joint and meaningful intersections of self-selection and self-construction in teacher’s professional development.Second,the development of teacher’s life story ultimately points to teacher’s self-fulfillment;Third,teacher’s life story is the source of motivation for teacher’s future development.Fourth,rich educational life and reflective thinking are the soil and mechanism for teacher’s life story;Fifth,teacher’s life story guides the transformation of teacher’s learning: learning from themselves;Sixth,building self-identity and self-awareness are the key ways for teachers to construct “a good story”.