188 / 2021-06-30 14:30:06

A Narrative Inquiry of Five Exemplary Teachers’ Professional Development in Respose to the Education Reform in China

teachers professional development, narrative inquiry, education reform

The study reports on the life history narratives of five exemplary ESP teachers working in higher education in China mainland. An interpretive analysis of the narrative inquiries complemented with classroom observation and curriculum\teaching documents\syllabi not just reveals divergent career trajectories of the teachers, but also offers a nuanced and complex picture of these teachers’ lives in critical phases of their learning and teaching. In so doing, it challenges and expands prevalent TESOL education theories that do not fully address the confusions and transitions in ESP teachers’ professional trajectories. The narrative inquiries of the study reveal the following aspects: 1) how individuals mobilize external available resources to facilitate their transformation; 2) how individuals exercise agency to overcome challenges in different institutional contexts; 3) how their prior experiences, social and institutional contexts mediate their professional trajectories.