A Study On How To Design Training Materials For Teachers

In-service training of teachers, as an important component of teacher education, promotes teachers'professional development. In-service training materials for teachers, which have been developing rapidly in recent years, play an essential role in the curriculum for teacher education. However, the in-service training materials for teachers in China cannot adapt to the changes of teacher education, the requirements of curriculum reform, and the needs of self-learning and teachers'professional development. The inflexibility of materials may be caused by the defects of training materials design. To solve the problem, it is necessary to make a thorough and systematic research on the design of training materials. This study aims to draw lessons from successful experience and effective strategies of domestic and overseas training materials design, investigate the current situation of training materials design in China, discuss the existing problems and causes, find out the concepts, models and strategies of training materials design from a practical-reflective perspective, and guide the scientific and standard development of training materials design in China.The philosophy of the research is as follows. Based on the theories and methods of materials design, the researcher determines the framework for the analysis of training materials design. Second, through questionnaires for the materials users and interviews with materials designers, the researcher finds out the existing problems of training materials in China and discusses the causes. Finally, the researcher proposes the model of training materials design based on the practical-reflective perspective.The thesis consists of seven parts.The introduction discusses the research background, the significance of the research, the research questions, the current situation of the research, and the research methods.Chapter one presents the core concepts concerning the thesis and gives a literature review on the features of teacher knowledge, the features of teacher learning, and the theories of training materials design. This contributes to and facilitates the research in the following parts.Chapter two is divided into two sections: international perspectives and domestic development. It summarizes the features of overseas training materials design and provides reference for domestic training materials design, then goes on to discuss the stages of training materials design and summarizes the trends of the training materials design in China.Chapter three investigates the current situation of training materials design in China, discusses the existing problems and causes, and draws the conclusion: Practical-reflective perspective of teacher professional development is an effective method to solve the existing problems in training materials design.Chapter four proposes the model of training materials design based on the practical-reflective perspective. The model illustrates that questioning leads to thinking and thinking leads to study. The elements of the model are questions, knowledge, thinking and action. The model follows the following phases: introducing problems, explaining theories, reflective thinking and experiencing, and practicing and expanding.Chapter five puts forward the strategies of training materials design based on topic identification, goal design, contents selection, contents organization, contents presentation, and assessment design from the practical-reflective perspective. This chapter also brings forward the strategies of optimizing network curriculum design for remote training on the basis of video-case.Chapter six makes conclusions and suggestions.The conclusions are presented as follows.First, training materials design in China is now in the period of transformation. From the perspective of teacher professional development transformation, training materials design shows the development trends in the aspects of concepts, goals, models of presentation, carrier format, etc. One of the most obvious trends is the goals of the design, which divert attention from logic construction of subject knowledge to the resolution of real problems. Typical overseas training materials for teachers provide reference for training materials design in China. One of the most important implications is the design concept, which focuses on the practice and reflective thinking activities of teachers.Second, the existing problems of training materials design are mainly represented in the following three aspects: material designers, administrative management, and culture and society. The major cause is the designers'philosophy of designing materials, which concentrates solely on providing information, meeting the teachers'needs for theoretical knowledge, thus neglecting the reflective thinking of practical knowledge. To solve the problems, it is highly suggested to promote the reflective thinking of experience and combine theory with practice. Therefore, it is an effective way to employ the practical-reflective perspective in teacher professional development.Third, the study establishes the concepts and modes of training materials design based on the practical-reflective perspective and proposes a series of strategies of training materials design, including: 1) to identify the topic according to training requirements; 2) to set down an explicit and specific goal; 3)to select contents according to the development of practical knowledge of teachers; 4) to organize contents according to problems; 5) to present contents according to the features of teacher learning; and 6) to make formative assessment of training materials design.The research makes suggestions for improving training materials design. Firstly, we should adopt new designing philosophy, making full use of practical-reflective perspective and strategies. Secondly, we should construct a designing team of appropriate team members and different expertise. Thirdly, we need to get feedback on the materials and make improvements in teachers'action learning. Fourthly, we should make a study of theory, to ensure scientific material design. Fifthly, we should work hard to perfect checkup system to improve the quality of in-service training materials before coming into use.