| Teachers are the first resource for education development and the fundamental force for building a high-quality education system and implementing high-quality education.The General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that ‘only with highquality teachers can there be high-quality education.’ With the widespread implementation of competence-based courses,the integration of theory and practice teaching skill has become the key content of vocational education teacher evaluation.Vocational education teachers need to master not only theoretical teaching skills,but also practical teaching skills,which greatly tests teachers’ ability to explain knowledge and skills.Why are some teachers able to complete their work well but unable to explain the knowledge behind their work clearly? What does a teacher’s explanation skill include? How to train teachers with high explanation skills? Answering these series of questions is a key link in improving the quality of classroom teaching in vocational education and promoting the professional development of teachers.This study mainly includes three parts: the first is the research on the content framework and connotation of vocational education teachers’ explanation skill,the second is the research on the relationship between vocational education teachers’ explanation skill,and the third is the research on the training strategies of vocational education teachers’ explanation skill.In the first part,this study uses grounded theory as a methodology,classroom observation and in-depth interviews as data collection methods,selects 109 classes based on the four dimensions of "the major of the course","the level of the course","the category of the course",and "the teaching experience of the teacher." It conducts a three-level coding of the teacher’s explanation behavior and interview content,and deeply explains and analyzes the connotation of the teacher’s explanation skill.Finally,three dimensions of teacher’s explanation skill were formed,and their internal relationships and formation mechanisms were analyzed in turn.In the second part,this study analyzes the relationship between the three dimensions of explanation skill,and proposes significant differences in explanation skill between novice teachers and expert teachers.In the third part,this study uses the case study method to select two novice teachers for a two-month(8 weeks in total)explanation skill training,and summarizes the training strategies for vocational education teachers’ explanation skill through multiple circular observations and interviews.This study believes that teachers’ explanation skill can be divided into the following three dimensions,including:(1)Knowledge analysis and judgment skill,which includes the skill to understand teaching,build conceptual frameworks,construct situations,judge knowledge,expand knowledge,design problems,and explain practical issues.The skill to understand teaching is a prerequisite for mastering other skills.The skill to build a conceptual framework can promote the mastery of other knowledge skills.The skill to design problems is the result of the comprehensive application of other knowledge skills.The skill to explain practical issues is unique and relatively independent of other knowledge skills.There are two typical paths to the formation of knowledge skills,namely theoretical learning and empirical knowledge accumulated during the work process.(2)Language control and expression skill,which includes the skill to transcode text,simplify language,complex expression,repeat key points,and provide feedback to students.Text transcoding skill is the core skill of teachers’ language skills,which has a radiating effect on other language skills.There is a dialectical relationship between simplified language skill and complex expression skill.The key to the skill to repeat key points and provide feedback to students lies in the quality of teacher-student interaction.The formation of language skill depends on daily language training and the role of personal cognition.(3)Strategy cognition and use skill,which includes the skill to use attentional strategies,the skill to use memory strategies,the skill to use understand strategies,the skill to use rhythm strategies,and the skill to use interactive strategies.Various strategy skills are relatively independent and are affected to varying degrees by the teaching field.The formation of strategy skill relies on extensive reading and self perception,and its effectiveness is tested through practice.Based on the above analysis,this study further proposes the relationship between the three dimensions of vocational education teachers’ explanation skill.The three dimensions of explanation skill are relatively independent,but they also affect each other.Knowledge skill is the foundation of language skill and strategy skill.From the perspective of the relationship between knowledge and language,speech is the expression of a conscious process.Thinking shapes the speech structure,and knowledge structure is transformed into language structure through a professional discourse system.Therefore,language skill is greatly influenced by knowledge skill.The strategy skill is a kind of auxiliary skill,as well as a supplement to knowledge and language skills.It can maximize the effectiveness of explanation and promote knowledge and language skills to maximize their role in teachers’ explanation skill.This study proposes that there is a clear distinction between novice teachers and expert teachers in key aspects of explanation skill.Expert teachers are significantly stronger than novice teachers in knowledge judgment,thinking logic,language organization,and the use of unconscious strategies.With the help of two cases,this study proposes strategies for training vocational education teachers’ explanation skill in China.The training of vocational education teachers’ explanation skill is divided into entity level,content level,and resource level.At the entity level,it is necessary to develop training courses,and the training courses should meet the conditions of all aspects,ladder style,and systematization.All aspects refer to the training courses for vocational education teachers’ explanation skill should provide training on the all three dimensions.Ladder style refers to the training courses should be arranged in the order of knowledge skill,language skill,and strategy skill.Systematization requires that the training course should appear as a compulsory course in the vocational education teacher post-service training system.At the content level,theoretical learning should be taken as the main training way,problem design templates should be taken as an important learning form,and reflective training should be taken as the core means to enhance teachers’ explanation skill.At the resource level,it is first necessary to cultivate more research personnel capable of conducting training work,secondly,it is also necessary to develop a large number of excellent cases as learning materials,and finally,it is necessary for enterprises to provide practical resources for teachers.At present,there is still a lack of systematic conditions for the training of vocational education teachers in China,which is because the teaching theory of vocational education in China has not yet formed a research system.The research on vocational education teachers’ explanation skill is an important component of the research on the teaching theory system,and its results can be transformed into courses and applied to teacher training.The vocational education research should pay more attention to micro classroom teaching research,make contributions to the establishment of a localized vocational education teaching theory system in China,and provide theoretical basis for the professional development of vocational education teachers. |
