Professional Identity, Career Planning and Professional Development Among Middle School Teachers

This paper was intended to find out the professional identity, career planning and professional development of more than 400 middle school teachers in China. The final research results showed that majority of the respondents were male, 26-35 years old, bachelor’s degree holders, and have been serving the school for 21 years and above. Middle school teachers generally have a positive cognition of their professional identity, especially in terms of professional behavior and professional cognition. They generally have a positive cognition of career planning, especially in terms of continuing learning and career exploration as well as in their professional development, especially in terms of professional affection and competence. Sex, age, educational attainment, and length of service have varying impacts on professional identity and professional development. Significant correlations are identified among three variables and indicate that the higher the professional identity. The study proposed a Proposed Training and Development Plan to help Chinese Middle School Teachers improve their professional identity, career planning and professional development. This study mainly discussed the role of middle school teachers’ professional identity and career planning in career development as it provided a certain basis for better promoting the development of middle school teachers.