Discuss the Methods of Secondary School English Teachers’ Self—development in China’s Rural Areas

樊港

China has made significant progress in its education over the past 30 years， particularly in English teaching in rural area due to the improvement of the English teachers overall English level. Despite these encouraging facts， the current conditions of English teaching in Chinas rural areas is not optimistic and still faces challenges （Peoples Daily Online， 2009）. Owing to a structural shortage of specialist English teachers， the poor schooling facilities， the Chinese government provides very limited training approaches， training recourse and funds for the teachers. Taking ECP for example， up to now， there are only about 1500 primary and secondary English teachers having been accepted the oversea training all over the country in the past 10 years. Whats more， the majority of the trainee teachers are from urban China instead of rural areas. Therefore， as to the rural English teachers， it is more difficult to attend the “government-or-school-sponsored on-the-job training activities”. Nevertheless， the rural teachers should know their weaknesses because they are the main part of English teaching force， and spontaneously choose a different path to improve their English level. The following will be discussed is the effective ways to help rural area English teachers to achieve self-development.

First of all， reflective teaching is an effective way to audit knowledge， which can help teachers obtain targeted approaches to achieve self-development. As Johnson （1998）asserts that English teachers should“identify the areas of strength and weakness for themselves”（p5）， and also Johnson （1998）claims that， “the purpose of the audit：to identify areas of strength and weakness for yourself. ”However， how to audit knowledge？ Whats the effective way to audit knowledge？ I think reflective teaching is the best way. According to Wikipedia， “Reflective teaching is a process where teachers think over their teaching practices， analyzing how something was taught and how the practice might be improved or changed for better learning outcomes. ”`And also， as Randall（2001） said， it “involve helping the trainee teachers to learn to take responsibility and manage their own learning. ”（p42）

Feedback is an effective reflective teaching. Randall and Thornton（2001）state， “There is usually a general consensus that teaching is best learn ‘on the job. ”， which is quite often happens in the classroom and takes place during the whole process of teaching practice， which involves more than the lesson in the classroom. Therefore， we can get direct feedback from students and indirect feedback from colleagues. There are two kinds of feedback：direct and indirect feedback.

On the one hand， teachers can get direct feedback-from their own students and benefit a lot through this way. There is a common practice which teachers can take：After a lesson or activity or at the end of the class， ask students to briefly and honestly describe what they learned and what， if anything， didnt work well in the lesson. That is， the teachers should get timely response from their students about what was taught， and to which extent the students understand the material. They should make sure whether or not the students need more time to digest what theyve learned. Meanwhile， teachers also need to know whether the assignment appropriate or not. Teachers should take flexible ways to allow their own students to provide the feedback anonymously. The responses can be either positive or negative. Whatever they are， make a note， use a journal， and have a deeper thinking about the whole teaching procedure， in a word， reflect on all the information you can get from your students for improving or changing your teaching practices.

On the other hand， teachers can get indirect feedback from their colleagues. According to Randall and Thornton（2001）， “in the ideal supervision cycle the role of the observer is to provide information to the post-lesson feedback session as data on which to work.” This is indirect feedback more than the lesson in the classroom， which requires an expert or a colleague who is superior to you in teaching to give you comments or suggestions. In that case， you can sincerely invite one of your colleagues who is experienced and professional in both classroom management and your subject， to your class and observe a session. From this process， you can get direct and frank feedback， which always benefits you a lot.

Secondly， teachers should promote common development through collaborative learning， which in turn helps teachers achieve self-development efficiently. According to Wikipedia， “collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem， complete a task， or create a product. ” Gerlach claims that， “Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves（1994）. It is throughout the talk that learning occurs. ”

As a teacher， we can apply collaborative learning into lessons preparation effectively which in turn helps teachers achieve self-achievement through the cooperative preparing for lessons. Lets take the 15 English teachers in Tongnan Middle School for example. The ways of collaborative learning are as follows：First， before giving lessons， the 15 English teachers in the same grade should spend time（on average 2 hours a week）analyzing the coursebook， discussing teaching methods， ticking out important and difficult teaching points etc. This collaborative preparing for lessons can help teachers involved and engaged in teaching activities more effectively and efficiently，which helps the teachers have a good understand of the coursebook， build up self-confidence， achieve self-development. In addition， through preparing for classes collaboratively and adopting the coursebook jointly， they can compile their own high quality teaching materials， which is more suitable for the rural students. In turn， teachers can put their theoretical knowledge into practice ability according to this process. Then， the 15 English teachers participate in the teaching competition. Through competing with each other and sitting in on each others class， colleagues may have an easy and quick access to some fresh information and new style in English teaching which is time -saving and efficient. Finally， the 15 teachers sit together discussing and commenting the lessons they have attended， exchanging experience in teaching. From different perspectives， they have a full discussion about the lesson， exchange ideas in the collaborative learning setting. Therefore， the 15 teachers have the opportunity to converse with peers， present and defend ideas， exchange diverse beliefs， question other conceptual frameworks， and be actively engaged， In that case， the teachers are gradually making improvement.

Finally， teachers can achieve their self-development through peer-teaching. According to Educatonscotland. gov. uk. ， “Peer education is a term widely used to describe a range of initiatives where young people from a similar age group， background， culture and/or social status educate and inform each other about a wide variety of issues. ”Peer teaching， exactly to say， for teachers training， peer coaching， can be wildly used to help achieve teachers self-development.

Teachers can benefit a lot from peer-teaching. Peer teaching encourages teachers to ‘teach each other according to their own understanding of information， which leads to a deeper understanding of topic material， and helps them acquire the teaching skills and professional knowledge. Peer teaching has a strong influence on Chinese English teachers personal development as follows：Firstly， peer teachers can reinforce their own learning by instructing others. Lets take Chinese ECP teachers studying in Brighton University for example. The ECP members are from different schools in different areas in China， once they finish their training in the United Kingdom and go back to their schools， they will become the greatest resources of their colleagues. In turn， through peer teaching， these teachers can reinforce what they learned. Secondly， through various ways of peer teaching， like giving lecture， having a public lesson， the teachers， who have no access to overseas training experience can fully participate in educational activities and acquire a wider range of teaching techniques. In that case， it has a huge effect on both their theory knowledge improving and their teaching skills obtaining， which contributes not only to their positive attitudes to teaching but also building their confidence. Thirdly， as Chinese English teachers， who teach the same subject in the same school， share the same teaching background， and have similar ability can reach common goals through peer teaching， which help them improve themselves in a harmonious and economical way.

As globalization is speeding up and the world today is becoming increasingly competitive， English is playing a more and more important role in all kinds of fields in China. Therefore， English teaching should meet the needs the development of society. Meanwhile， better-informed teachers are urgently needed due to the new developing circumstances in modern China. Especially for the rural secondary school English teachers， because as the main body of compulsory education， their English level is directly related to the quality of secondary school English teaching in rural areas. Therefore， Chinese secondary teachers should take responsibility for their own self-development to embrace the changing world. They should receive continually new ideas， obtain modern means of education， to be creative， to improve their practical abilities. All Chinese English teachers throughout their career need to meet the challenge of improving their proficiency constantly in English. Reflective teaching， collaborative learning， peer teaching， I think， are effective ways to achieve rural secondary school English teachers self-development.

References：

[1]Education Scotland，How Peer Teaching Improves Student Learning and 10 Ways To Encourage It.[online].Available at：http：//www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningandteaching/approaches/peereducation/.

[2]Gerlach，J.M.（1994）Is This Collaboration？ In K.Bosworth，and S.J.Hamilton，ed.1994.Collaborative Learning：Underlying Processes and Effective Techniques，New Directions for Teaching and Learning No.59.

[3]Lord，T（2001）101 reasons of using cooperative learning in biology teaching.The American.

[4]Johnson，A.and Harrison，C.，1998.English for Secondary Teachers.London：Letts.

[5]Peoples Daily Online，2009 China Vows to Improve Teacher Quality in Rural Area.[online].Available at：[Accessed 1 11 September，2009].

[6]Randall，M.and Thornton B.，2001.Advising and Supporting Teachers.Cambridge：Cambridge University.