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The Study on the Teaching Portfolio-based Professional Self-Development Strategies for College English Teachers

Author: YanXiaoNa
Tutor: ShiMin
School: Ningbo University
Course: English Language and Literature
Keywords: teacher professional self-development college English teacher teaching portfolio reflective teaching
CLC: H319
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2009
Downloads: 21
Quote: 0
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Abstract

With China’s entry into WTO and the further development of China’s educational reform, the importance of English has become the focus of the public. In such a fast developing 21st century, college English teachers have to pay more attention to their professional development in order to keep up with the times in their professional fields. With the enhancement of college students’ability to comprehensively use English as well as the influence of Internet technology on English teaching, colleges push forward a much higher demand towards teachers’overall qualities. Especially after the launch of College English Curriculum Requirements (2004) (For Trial Implementation) providing colleges and universities with the guidelines for English instruction to non-English major students, almost all colleges and universities are involved in deepening English teaching reform. As teachers are an essential part of higher education, teachers’professional development and the improvement of teachers’overall qualities are the keys to the success of the reform.As far as the current professional development strategies for college English teachers are concerned, they usually include teaching journal, peer observation, cooperative teaching, coaching and mentoring, action research, teaching portfolio and so on. What is the current situation of college English teachers’professional development? What kinds of development strategies are usually adopted by teachers in the course of their professional self-development? These questions are the concern of this study. The purpose of the study is to investigate current state of college English teachers’professional development and then put forward with a feasible strategy–teaching portfolio approach. Furthermore, the role portfolio assessment plays in the process of teachers’professional development is discussed in the last chapter.The teaching portfolio is generally defined as coherent set of materials including work samples and reflective commentary on them, with the aim to represent a teacher’s teaching responsibilities, philosophy, goals and accomplishments. Teaching portfolio could provide a direct and authentic situation for teachers in their teaching process. And teaching portfolios will help teachers reflect their teaching and then adopt the most suitable teaching strategy. During the process of preparing a teaching portfolio, a teacher may gain joy and happiness from the exploration of teaching and achieve great progress. Besides, teaching portfolio could be implemented in the teacher assessment. Compared with the traditional teacher assessment, teaching portfolio assessment is more authentic, more developmental, and more comprehensive. It is a kind of assessment that focuses on the process of teaching, which will help promote teachers’professional competence and self-development.Through varied study approaches like questionnaire, interview, case study, etc., a case study is conducted among fifteen college English teachers who keep compiling teaching portfolios during a school year, and the study mainly focuses on how to help teachers practice the use of "teaching portfolio" to improve their teaching effectiveness, at the same time to achieve their own professional development. The study shows that“Teaching portfolio”approach could help teachers improve their professional competence and the level of instruction, could promote teachers’interest in learning and research, could increase the level of teachers’reflection and judgments on their own teachings, and it could improve teachers’relationships with their students as well as their colleagues. Besides, the study finds out some problems existing in the process of developing a teaching portfolio and possible solutions.

The Study on the Teaching Portfolio-based Professional Self-Development Strategies for College English Teachers

Abstract

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