Paths to Professional Growth for Teachers (Case Studies of 30 Outstanding Teachers)

Author: Zhang Wanshang, edited by Wan Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: How to achieve teachers' professional development, or how to reconstruct the role and image of teachers, may not have fixed models or routines, nor a uniform evolutionary process. However, there are at least some common characteristics involved. The Pathways of Teacher Professional Development—Cases of 30 Outstanding Teachers presents these characteristics to us through case studies, helping us understand the current role of being a teacher and how teachers progress from competent to excellent, and from excellent to outstanding. Improvement comes through reflection. Some say education is an industry heavily influenced by experience, and those involved in it are often tied by past experiences. Growth comes through research. Former teachers did not necessarily need to see themselves as researchers, as conventional practices and accumulated experience could adequately address challenges from teaching or students. Their task was simply to integrate students into the teaching routine and convey knowledge within a given time frame. Sublimation through practice. Progress through exploration. "Accumulating knowledge leads to wisdom." The 30 teachers featured in this book share their heartwarming journeys during the new curriculum reform, revealing the origins of their confusion, the emergence of their problems, the development of their methods, the sources of their joy, and the birth of their wisdom. This allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the principle that "accumulating knowledge leads to wisdom."