| Abstract This is an ethnographic study conducted in an urban primary school, aiming at examining the teachers’ professional growth in school settings through Demonstration Class - a common teacher development mechanism in Chinese schools. This paper is divided into three sections. The first section introduces the research question, basic concepts and methods for the study. The second section describes and analyzes the preparation process of the Demonstration Class by using Irving Goffman’s theatrical theory, illustrating its dramatic, systematic and ritualistic characteristics. The third section explores the theoretical and practical implications of the Demonstration Class on teachers’ professional growth on the basis of the above description and analysis. The major conclusions are: The Demonstration Class is a way of conveying the will of the state to individual teachers. Although it can enhance teachers’ professional growth by making their tacit knowledge explicit and reflected critically by teachers themselves, it is overly dramatized in real school settings under the bureaucratic pressure from educational authorities. As a result, it has impaired its positive impact on teachers’ professional growth, and entrenched upon teachers’ professional autonomy. To conclude, this paper points out that since teachers’ professional growth is embedded in the school culture, any efforts to enhance it should be undertaken with a purpose for fostering a school culture that is conducive to teachers’ daily professional development. |
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