A Study Case On School-based Teaching Research Improving Primary School English Teachers’ Professional Development

With the further development of the new round elementary curriculum reform anddeeper understanding of educational importance, teachers’ professional development hasbeen a topic of general interest in educational circles. Teachers’ professional developmentis the process of the teachers mastering the necessary knowledge and skills of theirprofession practice at every stage in their teaching occupation．This study selects the English teaching research group in one of the ExperimentalPrimary Schools of Gusu District, Suzhou as a case. Based on the theory study ofschool-based teaching research and teachers’ professional development, with theschool-based teaching research carried out by the teaching research group as a startingpoint, this study explores the school-based teaching research system, school-based researchform and teachers’ professional development especially how to do school research in orderto promote the teachers’ professional development by using multiple methods such as deepinterview method，literature analysis method, etc.Firstly, the study teases out the research on school-based teaching research andteachers’ professional development, on the basis of which, it analyzes the concepts such asschool-based teaching research, teachers’ professionalization，and teachers’ professionaldevelopment, thus provides a theoretical base for this study. Secondly, starting from therelationship between the school-based teaching research and teachers’ professionaldevelopment，this study does a research on the theory of the school-based educationalresearch to promote teachers’ professional development by utilizing the school-basedteaching research theory, the learning theory of constructivism and the theory of teachers’ professional development. Thirdly, the study selects the English teaching research group inone of the Experimental Primary Schools of Gusu District, Suzhou as a case and itresearches and introduces the development of school-based teaching research and theprofessional development of teachers in detail combing with some vivid cases. Then itsummarizes the promotion function of school-based teaching research to stimulateteachers’ professional development through the cases. In recognition of the results of theschool-based teaching research, it lists out some problems existing in the process ofschool-based teaching research. Finally, it puts forward operational ideas and suggestionson how to develop school-based teaching research effectively on the basis of the researchresults.