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Teacher Development Essay The term â€Å"teacher development† (TD) was first coined in the 1980s. Only in the past decade has TD emerged as an identifiable area of study and ever since then much has been written on the concept of TD? teacher knowledge? teachers new role and respnosibilities. There have been many studies on the concepts of TD from many different perspectvies since 1990s. TD is a term used to describe a process of continual intellectual, experiential, and attitudinal growth of teachers. It is a ligelong growth both before and throughout a teacher’s entire career (Lange,1990;Crandall,2000;Wu Yian,2008). TD connotes continuance, it does not end when the degree is given or the certification achieved. Even superior teachers have weaknesses which should be improved. Teachers takes on different roles and responsibilities in programmes which center on TD. Teachers’ voice increasingly are being heard in literature on TD. The teacher is no longer in a subservient or subordinate role, passively awaiting guidance direction and suggestions for change and improvement. The teacher is an investigator of his or her own classroom(Richards,1989). The teacher assumes the responsibilities for inquiry into classroom practice and analysis of their experiences. The recent rise in â€Å"action research† (e. g,. Elliott, 1991; Nokffke,1989; Wu Zhongjie,1995) is the best illustration of how teachers involve them in the interpretation and representation of their teaching practice. Much research has explored the teacher knowledge and emphasized the need for constant updating of knowledge for TD. Shulman (1987) pointed out the framework of teacher knowledge: Content Knowledge(CK)? Pedagogical Knowledge(PK)? pedegogical content knowledge(PCK) and Support Knowledge(SK). Much of the work stresses the change and value of foreign language PCK: such as attitudes toward teacher control in the classroom? instructional goals for daily lessons and considerations for resopnding to student needs(Watzke, 2007). Freeman Johnson’s (1998) position that teacher knowledge should be rooted in teachers’ actual practice. They discuss the FL teachers’ concerns about how to develop their PCK through teaching practice.