Therefore, this paper would mainly focus on the situation of English senior high school teachers in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province where education reform are heatedly conducted。 Under this changeable and challengeable circumstance, what are the reactions and attitudes of those English teachers towards their professional identities and how would they develop in further process? Experts in this area of research have concluded at least four views on TPI, namely, a psychosocial view, a discursive view, a narrative view and a dialogic view。 However, most studies so far have been one-view centered types rather than integrated ones。 Therefore, the necessity has been sensed here to restudy the topic of professional development from more than one angle to figure out how a teacher’s growth flowers in the pursuit of career。 

2。 Background

So far research has not yet presented a very clear comprehensive account of the development of teachers’ professional identity。 What is TPI? Truly in previous years, this field has been studied by researchers from perse perspectives。 

However, especially in recent years, as the education reform in China has been carrying out actively and steadily, and Zhejiang province even took the first step in the reform of college entrance examination last year, the concept TPI has been renewed to some extent and this renewal illustrates the necessity of restudying TPI so as to make the teaching work more effective and efficient。

Before we start exploring, several questions should be made clear。

2。1 The concept of identity

First, what is identity?

The word “identity” is defined as the qualities and attitudes that a person or a group of people have which make them different from other people in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English。 It is a broad and complicated concept, and as the time goes by, new dimensions are explored and added to the original notion such as social identity, professional identity and local identity。 These sub-braches coexist and constitute the identity of a person as a whole。 And in this study, we will mainly focus on professional identity, taking English senior high school teachers as an example。

2。2 The concept of ETPI

Then what is TPI?

Shortly speaking, TPI is how teachers define their professional roles and integrate them with personal roles while becoming and being a teacher。

The writer has made a collection about major definitions that have been put forth toward English teachers’ professional identities at home and abroad。

Table 2。1 Definitions about ETPI at home and abroad

Researchers Definitions about ETPI

Duff&Uchida (1997) In the different circumstances, English teachers and students will naturally present a series of social culturally characters and identities, such as teachers, students, cultural and gender inpiduals, etc。

Norton (2000) People’s identities are concerned with how they perceive and construct the relations between ego and the world, and also how they see issues of the future world。

Gee (2000) Identity is about how people act in the society, and also an important analytical tool through which they try to make sense of school and the society。

Pennycook (2001) Identity comes as a result of constant negotiation between the world and us。

Johnson (2003) Identity is formed or constructed based on common experience and negotiatory interaction, and changed through the way how we treat each other。

Morgan (2004) 高中英语教师职业认同发展研究(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_195837.html