English language teaching and educational reform in Western China: A knowledge management perspective Daguo Li * , Viv Edwards University of Reading, UK article info Article history: Received 7 September 2012 Received in revised form 1 September 2014 Accepted 15 September 2014 Available online Keywords: English language education Chinese teachers Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Knowledge management (KM) Knowledge creation abstract This study examines the impact of a large-scale UK-based teacher development pro- gramme on innovation and change in English language education in Western China within a knowledge management (KM) framework. Questionnaire data were collected from 229 returnee teachers in 15 cohorts. Follow-up interviews and focus groups were conducted with former participants, middle and senior managers, and teachers who had not participated in the UK programme. The results showed evidence of knowledge creation and amplification at individual, group and inter-organizational levels. However, the pre- sent study also identified knowledge creation potential through the more effective orga- nization of follow-up at the national level, particularly for the returnee teachers. It is argued that the KM framework might offer a promising alternative to existing models and metaphors of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in education inter- nationally and teachers' professional development is seen as crucial to educational reform and sustainable global develop- ment (Day & Sachs, 2004; Kennedy, 2014; Swaffield, 2014; Villegas-Reimers, 2003). Traditional approaches to CPD in education, often known as in-service training or INSET, have been criticized for their static nature (e.g. as one-off events) (Smith, 2014) and narrow focus on the transmission of knowledge and skills. Some models of CPD, for example, the Training Model and the Cascade Model, as described in Kennedy (2014), reflect the focus on knowledge transmission from the “ex- perts” to teachers or from the centre to the periphery. Current models of CPD, however, tend to emphasize teachers' pro- fessional development as a long-term process in which teachers actively participate in the collaborative construction of understanding to promote transformative practice and autonomy (Kennedy, 2014; Smith, 2014; Villegas-Reimers, 2003). However, as observed by Rose and Reynolds (cited in Smith, 2014), the long term impact of CPD is rarely assessed. The present paper aims to fill this gap by evaluating the impact of a UK-based CPD programme for Chinese teachers of English within an innovative analytical framework e knowledge management (KM). The study is part of a larger joint evaluation project be- tween a British University and the China Scholarship Council, with research funding from the British Council, looking at the impact of overseas training on Chinese teachers' return to China (Edwards & Li, 2011; Li & Edwards, 2013; NCLL, 2010). * Corresponding author. National Centre for Language and Literacy, University of Reading, 4 Redlands Road, Reading RG1 5EX, UK. Tel.: þ44 (0) 118 3782703; fax: þ44 (0) 118 3782759. E-mail address: d.li@reading.ac.uk (D. Li). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect System journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/system http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.09.019 0346-251X/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. System 47 (2014) 88e101