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Chapter OneLiterature Review

This chapter makes a brief review of definition of pertinence and national teachertraining, and relevant studies about teachers’ professional development and in-serviceteacher training. In addition, studies on pertinence of national teacher training programare reviewed. Meanwhile, the author expounds theoretical foundations of the paper.

1.1 The Constructivism Theory
Constructivism is a theory of learning and a way to Education which is a branchof cognitive psychology.Someone says，world exists objectively, but its understanding and meaning isgiven and decided by each individual. Due to the fact, learning is not the thing thatteachers transmit the knowledge to students simply. It should be the thing that studentsconstruct knowledge forwardly and meaningfully. Students do not receive informationpassively and construct knowledge forwardly, which can not be replaced by others.The basic content of constructivism contains two aspects, the meaning andmethods of learning. With regard to the meaning of learning, it refers to the fact thatlearners obtain knowledge with the help of teachers and partners in a certain situationby making use of necessary learning materials and constructing the meanings, not fromteachers directly. So there are four factors existing in the constructivism theory,including situation, cooperation, conservation and meaning construction.Under the guidance of teachers, learning is taking learners as center. In otherwords, it stresses the main role of the learners’ cognitive, without neglecting the guidingrole of teachers. Teachers are helpers and facilitators of meaningful construction, ratherthan transporters and irrigators of knowledge. Students are the subjects of processinginformation and constructing meanings, but not the recipients of external stimuli and theobjects being taught.As for the methods of learning, it is believed that learning focuses of learners withteachers’ guidance. Generally speaking, not only it stresses cognitive subject of learners,but also teachers’guidance.
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1.2 Teacher Training
The report of World Yearbook of Education releases the theme of teachers’professional development in 1980, showing greatest concern to the teachers’ issue, afterthe theme of education and training of teachers in 1963(Guo Qihua, 27).Later, a articleof Help! Teachers can’t Teach published in times magazine caused public concernsabout the quality of teachers which views teachers’ professional development as a coreof education reform in 1980 (Normal Education Department of Ministry of Education,23). With regards to teachers’ professional development, some scholars think it refers toa process of mastering the knowledge and skills which are necessary to a goodprofessional practice. (Hoyle, 40-45). Besides knowledge and skills, Hargreavesconsiders that teachers’ professional development also takes morality, politics andemotion into consideration (9-34). On the other hand, Day puts forward a definition thatteachers’ professional development includes all natural learning experiences and variousactivities consciously organized. Individuals, groups and schools would benefit fromthese experiences and activities, both directly and indirectly, to improve educationquality (50-199). They describe teachers’ professional development from differentangles. One focuses on the direction, the other one focuses on the process. Subsequently,Evans cl