A Study On The Professional Development Of College English Teachers From The Perspective Of Learning Organization

English teacher professional development plays a vital role in improving English teaching quality, and is closely related to the success of English educational reform. Thus, how to better promote English teacher professional development turns out to be the focus of this field.The theory of learning organization is one of the most successful management theories in the world today, and it has become the ideal one for teacher professional development. Teacher professional development from the perspective of learning organization refers to the process of teachers’achievement of personal mastery through improving mental models, establishing shared vision and team learning, and cultivating systems thinking. In China, the theory of learning organization has been widely applied to studies on primary and middle schools. However, studies of applying the learning organization theory to higher education are less and far from enough and thorough. Even more importantly, from the perspective of learning organization, rare is the study on the current state of College English teacher professional development in China.Taking the College English teachers in Hunan province as the subjects and by means of questionnaire investigation and interview, the present study, under the theoretical framework of learning organization theory, attempts to explore the ideal environment of the professional development of College English teachers, their current state and the factors influencing their professional development.65College English teachers, coming from5colleges and universities in Hunan province, took part in the questionnaire investigation, and7of them were interviewed to gain further information. Based on the data analysis and the results of interviews, the major findings of the present study can be summarized as follows:(1) The ideal environment and organizational culture promoting the professional development of College English teachers are concluded as below: teachers’own strong desire for self-development; the essential support, encouragement and guidance from school leadership; relaxed academic environment and atmosphere; regular school-based academic activities; and frequent communication among teachers.(2) At present, College English teachers have relatively high perception of learning organization; College English teachers have comparatively strong consciousness about their professional development, innovation and the ability to do systems thinking; however, the harmonious and unified relationship between individual goal/vision and team goal/vision is not fully established.(3) Besides "teacher factors","training outside","bonus and welfare fund" and "promotion of professional technical titles" are the main factors that influence College English teacher professional development. The present study has provided some authentic and reliable data for studies on the professional development of College English teachers, which is helpful to well understand the vision of College English teacher professional development and its real current state. On the basis of the major findings, some implications are put forward to better promote the professional development of College English teachers by cultivating a culture characterized by learning organization at colleges and universities.