The scholars declare the purposes of educational reformation are to integrate the curriculum and to cultivate students to have basic learning abilities. If the curriculum development can be established on the base of teachers'' development, and let the teachers debate the educational theories and practical teaching in the process of constructing curriculum, the teachers will reconstruct their teaching knowledge, teaching belief, community relationship and get professional growth. Thus, the purposes of the study were: (1) to understand the process of thematic integrated teaching designed by the elementary school teachers, the outcomes of administration, and the transformative learning process of teachers'' professional growth; and (2) to construct a suitable "cooperative reflective professional growth model" for the teachers to explore the curriculum.
Four second-grade female teachers participated in the current study during the ten months period. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to evaluate teachers'' professional development. The qualitative data included teaching research meeting records, teacher journal reviews, teacher self-assessment reports, teachers and students interviews. The quantitative data included the results from survey instruments of parents and students, and students'' scores of mandarin and mathematics. The process of designing the thematic integrated teaching included devising term plan, drawing teaching network diagrams, developing teaching subjects, and planning formative evaluation inventory, learning sheets, and team teaching activities. The results of administering the thematic integrated teaching were : teaching activities became more vivid and students'' learning interests were promoted; teachers'' teaching styles connected their experiences and the development of students'' cognition and affection were enhanced; the changeful learning sheets could offer students to think independently; and the authentic assessments could help students to understand themselves.
The teachers'' professional growth is a transformative learning process. The growth in teaching knowledge was revealed in designing more living and systematic lectures, more creative assessment methods, more sensible classroom regulations. The growth in teaching beliefs was revealed in more integrated teaching concepts, more synthesized learning activities, more efficient teaching styles. The growths in community relationships was revealed in more cooperation with the colleagues, better interactions with the parents, and applied other social resources to increase varieties in teaching activities.
The "cooperative-reflective professional growth model" contained the following procedures and professional growth activities：
During the first stage (planning stage), a research team was formulated for group discussion on the thematic integrated teaching. The teaching plan was developed based on cognitive development theory, social constructivism, and multiple intelligence theory. And then, the teachers developed teaching network to design integrated teaching. During the second stage (action stage), teachers were provided curriculum integration methods, peer coaching, and reading teaching theory to reform mental habits. During the third stage (revision stage), experts for confusion and modifications assisted teachers in their teaching plan. During the fourth stage (evaluation stage), teachers prepared self-assessment reports to reflect teaching behaviors and received feedback on their teaching performance. During the fifth stage (reflection stage), teachers arranged growthfolio to link their new practical knowledge to previous beliefs to formulate personal theory and achieve professional growth.
The authors discovered the effective professional growth model must contain systematic professional activities to help teachers become self-directed researchers. Also, a warm and cooperative network and free time for professional dialogue are important for interactions between teachers to construct personal teaching. Several strategies were found to enhance reflective thinking, transformative learning, and developing integrated curriculum. Finally, the applications of the thematic integrated teaching and several suggestions for the future studies on teacher professional growth model were offered.