The Impact of County-Level Open Classes on Teacher Professional Development

Teaching-research officers, with strong Chinese characteristics, are an important force in promoting teachers' professional development. This study employs the Activity Theory as the analytical framework to investigate the process mechanisms and outcomes by which teaching-research officers influence teacher professional development during county-level open class activities. Qualitative analysis was conducted based on in-depth interviews with 20 teachers. The study revealed that teaching-research officers, by providing teachers with expert knowledge and sharing educational value orientations with teachers, enabled the open classes to largely achieve the student-centered instructional objectives, empowered teachers to construct a competence-oriented professionalism, and offered strong support for their professional development. However, the power techniques inherent in the guidance of teaching-research officers, and the unique mission of county-level open class activities as demonstrations of 'best teaching practices' and official requirements for new curriculum reform also required teachers to conduct research within the framework set by teaching-research officers, leading teachers to construct a performance-oriented professionalism. Consequently, teaching-research officers and teachers respectively become the designers and the implementers of the localization of the national curriculum. The research further proposes recommendations to make county-level open class activities better support teachers' professional development. These include constructing a tiered and categorized mechanism for open classes, strengthening school support systems, and enhancing teachers' professional autonomy, and so on.