Core Changes and Enhancement Strategies in the Career Development of High School Teachers

: Education at every stage should be regarded as sacred and solemn, and high school, as the final stage before college, is particularly important. However, in the context of the popularization of higher education, high school education faces a series of problems, including uneven distribution of educational resources, the need to improve teachers' professional skills, and the neglect of other aspects of education while focusing on intellectual education. Meanwhile, with the changing times, the core motivation of teachers has also changed from meeting societal expectations and behavioral norms to professional self-consciousness. The professional development of high school teachers should be guided by professional philosophy, professional ethics, professional self-awareness, and creative teaching. Effective strategies should be implemented to enhance their professional development, including teachers' autonomous development and school strategies. Through these efforts, teachers' professional competence and skills can be improved, leading to an overall enhancement of the quality of high school education.


Introduction
As the backbone of education, the development and professional competence of teachers are crucial to improving the quality of education.Especially in high school, the role of teachers is particularly critical.They not only need to impart knowledge but also need to cultivate students' comprehensive qualities and abilities, laying a solid foundation for their future development.However, with rapid social changes and evolving educational demands, teachers face new challenges and opportunities.To address these challenges and ensure that teachers can adapt to the ever-changing educational environment, professional development strategies for high school teachers are particularly important.By continuously improving their professional skills, teachers can enhance teaching effectiveness and improve teaching quality.

Unequal Distribution of Educational Resources
With the growth of China's population and policy adjustments, the number of students in China has gradually increased.Each high school also received more resource allocation and investment from local education bureaus.However, looking at the entire country, especially in some counties and townships, the growth rate of educational investment is relatively lagging behind compared to the growth rate of student numbers.Therefore, in the distribution of educational resources, there are significant disparities in terms of teacher resources, student quality, and hardware facilities.Generally speaking, in kindergarten, primary school, and junior high school, the overall mobility is relatively low.Students tend to choose schools nearby, so the uneven distribution of educational resources does not have a significant impact at this stage.However, when students enter the university stage, they face the national unified standard for college entrance exams.At this point, some students with relatively poor educational resources are at a significant disadvantage.

The Need to Improve Teachers' Professional Skills
For high school students, a more scientific and open teaching approach is needed.Due to early exposure to the Internet, these students are more likely to develop their own ideas that need timely guidance and correction from teachers.At this stage, students' personalities are more prominent, their thoughts more rebellious, and they are more difficult to manage compared to elementary and junior high school students.Therefore, it is crucial for teachers to be experienced, resourceful, professional, and effective.
Many teachers, in order to improve the college enrollment rate of their classes, gradually turn their teaching objectives into utilitarian pursuits.This may involve selectively abandoning underperforming students and not adhering to educational principles.In order to secure more time for exam preparation, they may accelerate the pace of teaching, covering the curriculum of three years in just two years, leaving some students unable to keep up, which hampers their learning interest and efficiency.

Overemphasis on Intellectual Education and Neglecting the Implementation of "Wuyu" Concept.
The concept of "Wuyu" encompasses five aspects: morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor.The integration of these five aspects implies the comprehensive development of education, treating them as an organic whole.Moral education, intellectual education, and aesthetic education focus on the psychological dimension, while physical education emphasizes the physiological dimension, and labor education involves practical education.There exists an inherent logical connection among these aspects.
However, in high school teaching, it is common to excessively emphasize intellectual education at the expense of neglecting the other four aspects.Teachers often prioritize actions aimed at improving test scores, leading to the neglect of non-academic subjects such as art, physical education, and music.Additionally, actions like extending class hours and increasing homework assignments have left many students overwhelmed and frustrated.This significant disregard for implementing a well-rounded five-dimensional education hinders the promotion of students' learning enthusiasm and learning quality.

Changes in the Core Motivation of Teachers
Influenced by the Times.

Ancient Times: Societal Expectations.
In primitive societies, all activities were primarily focused on labor and production.Education gradually emerged later, but it was closely linked to productive labor.Because education itself could not provide people with basic necessities and fulfill their basic life needs, its status in the early stages was not high.In primitive societies, teachers were primarily selected from experienced elders and highly respected individuals.Towards the end of primitive societies, educational institutions with meaningful purposes began to emerge, and the role of teachers started to separate from productive labor, forming a specialized profession dedicated to education and knowledge dissemination.Subsequently, during the long periods of slave and feudal societies, schools gained status and prestige as institutions for nurturing talent for ruling classes.Many children from impoverished families changed their lives by achieving top rankings in higher-level examinations.Therefore, in ancient times, there were many praises and metaphors for teachers.Titles such as "gardener," "silkworm," and "peaches and plums fill the world" were used to praise teachers.

Modern Era: Code of Conduct
Later, in the 18th century, with the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution, the modern era began, and modern education followed suit [1] .In order to better promote the development of education, various laws and regulations emerged one after another.The emergence of these laws not only regulated the teaching profession but also marked a milestone in its development.This represented the recognition of teaching as a professional occupation by society, signaling new avenues for growth and advancement.Consequently, the core driving force for the development of the teaching profession shifted from societal expectations to industry standards and regulations.

Contemporary Era: Professional Awareness
Through the analysis above, we can conclude that the core of teacher development in ancient and modern times lies in societal expectations and industry standards.However, it is evident that both societal expectations and industry standards essentially serve as external forces for promoting the development of the teaching profession, leaving teachers in a relatively passive state [2] .However, if the core of teacher development gradually shifts towards "professional awareness," that is, spontaneous subjective consciousness, it can better address this contradiction.

Professional Ideals Provide Rational Support for Teachers' Professional Competence
Professional ideals provide a rational anchor for the professional competence of teachers.For teachers, it is essential to possess a set of professional ideals that align with their occupation.Only by adhering to professional ideals can one truly become a professional practitioner.Therefore, for those who are engaged in the teaching profession, professional ideals should be embodied in their educational philosophy.Educational philosophy refers to the concepts and rational beliefs about education formed by teachers based on their understanding of the essence of educational work [3] .

Professional Ethics Provides Emotional Experience for Teachers' Professional Competence
Every profession requires the possession of professional ethics relevant to their respective fields.For teachers, professional ethics refers to the rational evaluation of their teaching work.It greatly influences their values and serves as a significant factor in demonstrating their professional competence.Therefore, professional ethics is considered an important indicator of whether a teacher's professional development is mature.

Professional Selfhood Provides Self-Worth for Teachers' Professional Competence
With the continuous development of China's education industry, the teaching profession is also evolving.The teaching profession is gradually becoming more specialized, and more teachers are pursuing self-awareness and self-worth.An excellent teacher must be a scholar with a sense of progress and innovation.Even if the school has no mandatory requirements, teachers should maintain the belief of "learning as long as they live".

Creative Teaching is the Core Competence of Teachers' Professional Development
Technology is advancing, the economy is developing, and education is also undergoing reforms.With the advent of the new education era, Information 2.0 has arrived as well.Traditional classrooms no longer have complete control over the comprehensive development of students.To promote the holistic development of students' collaborative skills, communication skills, critical thinking abilities, and creativity, it is necessary to combine new technologies with traditional methods, innovate, and upgrade [4] .Therefore, creative teaching should be the pursuit of every teacher, considering it as the ultimate goal to enhance their own professional competence.This will lead to continuous classroom reforms and teaching innovations.

Creative Teaching is an Expression of Teaching Autonomy's Value
Teachers must have sufficient autonomy in their teaching for teaching innovation to become possible [5] .Teachers need to have a voice in order to flexibly innovate classroom forms and organize more meaningful competitions and activities.This allows for the distribution of power in the classroom to students, giving them more opportunities to enjoy learning and experience the beauty of knowledge [6] .

Intellectual Dimension
Teachers in this industry need to keep learning throughout their lives, constantly keeping up with the times and updating their thinking.They should abandon outdated traditional ideas and arm themselves with more advanced ideological weapons in order to stay true to their original aspirations in this era of materialistic desires.Teachers should actively learn from the advanced ideology of the Party and continuously improve their knowledge and skills in their professional theories.They should also strengthen their understanding of educational theory and encourage teachers to pursue further education and improve their academic qualifications.Teachers should adhere to a strategy of autonomous development, grounding themselves in the present while having a forward-looking vision.They should open up their perspectives, develop autonomously, face challenges, and go against the tide.It is important for them to maintain independent thinking and a spirit of learning, constantly reflecting, summarizing, cultivating themselves, and enhancing their professional competence and ethical standards.

Professional Skills Aspect.
As the mainstay of teaching and education, teachers bear the important responsibility of cultivating talents for China's socialist construction.Therefore, the professional skills of teachers have a significant impact on the quality of education, which requires every teacher to continuously learn and explore based on their teaching experience.
Being a teacher is a highly comprehensive profession.It is not enough to excel in a particular subject to become a good teacher.An excellent teacher should not only master teaching methods but also understand how to help students understand and digest knowledge.To achieve this goal, teachers need to thoroughly understand the difficult points, key points, and focus of the curriculum.They also need to understand students' psychology and grasp their developmental characteristics at different stages, so as to provide targeted teaching and achieve the best teaching effect.Different teachers may have different teaching styles, but whether they are strict or lively, it should be based on specific situations and should not remain unchanged.It should be upgraded and adjusted according to the needs of students.
High school students have their own thoughts and personalities more than primary and middle school students.Therefore, high school teachers need to delve into the psychological activities of adolescents in this age group, prescribe the right medicine, alleviate students' rebellious psychology, and maintain regular contact with parents to understand students' performance and situations at home.This helps to achieve a good situation of cooperation and harmonious coexistence between the school and the family.

Building a High-Quality Teaching Team through Multidimensional Approaches.
Schools can cultivate a high-level teacher team based on the characteristics of each subject and teaching field.By selecting outstanding teachers to participate in various educational training and learning activities, and passing on the knowledge and skills they have learned to other teachers, the overall quality and professional competence of teachers can be improved.Schools should actively build a learning-oriented organization, encourage teachers to grow in learning, and improve in work.By regularly organizing online courses, cross-disciplinary seminars, and experience sharing, teachers can have opportunities for learning and communication.Schools should regularly organize teachers to participate in various academic conferences, seminars, and education forums, so that they can understand the latest educational concepts and technologies, and improve their professional level.Schools should organize regular teacher exchange meetings to provide a platform for teachers to share and discuss teaching issues, seeking solutions and suggestions.This helps promote communication, cooperation and interaction among teachers, and enhances team cohesion.

Creating a Favorable Academic Culture Environment and Atmosphere.
In order to create a favorable academic culture and atmosphere, high schools can take a series of measures.Firstly, establish an academic exchange platform, such as organizing academic seminars, teacher lectures, and subject exchange activities, to promote academic exchange and collaboration among teachers.Secondly, encourage teachers to participate in academic research, provide relevant resources and funding support, motivate them to actively engage in academic research, and enhance their professional competence.In addition, regularly hold teaching exhibition events, providing teachers with opportunities to showcase their teaching designs, classroom instruction, and student works, promoting mutual learning among teachers, and encouraging continuous improvement and innovation in teaching methods.Furthermore, the establishment of an academic mentoring system, assigning experienced and outstanding teachers as mentors, to guide other teachers in their academic research and teaching practices.Simultaneously, encourage teachers to participate in academic conferences and training, sponsoring them to stay informed about the latest academic trends and research findings, and enhance their academic literacy and teaching quality.Through these measures, schools can foster a strong academic atmosphere, stimulate teachers' academic enthusiasm and innovation capabilities, and improve the overall quality of education and teaching in the school.

Establishing a Dedicated Institution for Supporting Teachers' Personalized Growth in Schools.
The school can establish a dedicated institution or committee for teacher professional development, providing personalized career planning and development advice for teachers.By helping teachers set career goals and develop plans, the school can better meet their needs and expectations.Through this institution, teachers can receive comprehensive support and guidance to achieve personalized career development.They can receive professional career planning guidance, understand their strengths and potential, and determine their career objectives.Additionally, the institution can provide necessary training courses and development resources to help teachers continuously improve their professional knowledge and skills.This enables teachers to better adapt to the constantly changing educational environment and enhance their teaching abilities.Furthermore, the school should actively support teachers' participation in further education programs, workshops, and professional training to further enhance their expertise and competitiveness.Collaboration between the school, government, and social organizations can also provide more opportunities and resources for teacher professional development.Through such collaborations, teachers can engage in various professional exchange activities and project collaborations to broaden their horizons and enrich their teaching experiences.By establishing an institution for teacher professional development, providing personalized career planning and comprehensive support, the school can promote the career development of teachers and enhance their professional proficiency.This not only benefits teachers' needs and expectations but also has a positive impact on improving the quality of education in the school.

Improving Benefits and Incentives to Motivate Teachers to Strive for Excellence.
In order to motivate teachers to continuously improve and enhance their work motivation and enthusiasm, schools should take measures to improve teachers' treatment.Doing so can not only directly motivate teachers' personal development but also indirectly enhance the overall quality of education.
Firstly, schools can establish a fair and transparent evaluation and promotion system, linking teachers' outstanding performance to salary and position promotion.Through such an evaluation and promotion system, schools can objectively assess teachers' work performance and provide corresponding rewards and promotion opportunities.This will stimulate teachers' enthusiasm and initiative, driving them to constantly pursue excellence in teaching and research.
Secondly, schools can establish research projects and teaching innovation funds to reward teachers' achievements and efforts.By encouraging teachers to participate in research and teaching innovation, schools can cultivate teachers' spirit of innovation and promote educational development.This spirit of innovation not only has a positive impact on the quality of education but also holds significant importance for teachers' professional development.
Furthermore, schools should pay attention to teachers' living needs.Schools can establish dedicated teacher dormitories or transitional housing for young teachers, providing them with safe, clean, and convenient living environments to ensure their basic residential needs are met.Additionally, school cafeterias can provide meals for teachers, addressing the issue of dining in their fast-paced work.Schools should also improve teachers' working conditions by providing them with suitable spaces for work and lesson preparation, ensuring that teachers can efficiently complete their teaching tasks.
In addition to improving material incentives, schools should also arrange teachers' working hours reasonably, avoid excessive fatigue, and establish a sound vacation system to safeguard teachers' physical and mental well-being.Furthermore, schools can provide benefits and social security for teachers, such as medical insurance, pension insurance, and housing provident fund, to alleviate their financial pressure and enhance their sense of stability and security.
By improving teachers' treatment and linking it to the evaluation and promotion system, schools can better attract and retain outstanding teaching talents, enhance teachers' work motivation and happiness, and thus improve the overall quality of education.This sustained incentive mechanism will create a positive and dynamic educational environment, making greater contributions to students' growth and future.

Summary
Strengthening the professional development level of high school teachers is not only a requirement for quality education but also an important component of building China's spiritual civilization.Moreover, the professional development level of high school teachers has a reciprocal effect on the development of the education industry in our country.As key figures in this field, high school teachers not only bear the responsibility of reflecting the quality of higher education but also play a direct role in interacting with higher education students [7] .Therefore, enhancing the professional development level of high school teachers is beneficial for promoting students' individual, comprehensive, and integrated development, thereby raising the overall level of quality education and cultural development in China.