Curriculum reform and professional development: a case study on Chinese teacher educators

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes a study on teacher educators' professional development in the context of national curriculum reform in China. It explains the background of the implementation of the new curriculum of basic education and its impacts on teacher education. Also, it reviews the professional standards of teacher educators in some developed countries, and develops an analytical framework of teacher educators' professional development. Based on the data collected from the faculty, administrators and pre‐service teachers of a national normal university in China, the paper illustrates the current curriculum of teacher education and highlights significant teacher educators' professional practices. After analyzing the major issues emerging from the investigation, the author suggests further research regarding the development of a sustainable curriculum of teacher education and steering standards for teacher educators' professional development. Acknowledgements I sincerely acknowledge the critical input and editing of Dr Dianne Stevens and the academic assistance from Dr Ruth‐Anne Fraser. I also thank sincerely Dr Tony Bates and other anonymous scholars for their insightful comments and advice, which have helped greatly to enhance the quality of this study. Notes 1. The names of institutes and persons are pseudonyms, to preserve confidentiality.