Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education (Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education) 9811628017, 9789811628016

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Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education

Xudong Zhu Huan Song   Editors

Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education

Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education Series Editors Zhongying Shi, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China Shengquan Yu, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

This book series brings together the latest insights and work regarding the future of education from a group of highly regarded scholars around the world. It contributes to the interdisciplinary and international discussions on the possible future demands on the education system. It serves as a global forum for scholarly and professional debate on all aspects of future education. The book series proposes a total rethinking of how the whole education process can be reformed and restructured, including the main drivers and principles for reinventing schools in the global knowledge economy, models for designing smart learning environments at the institutional level, pedagogy and related curriculums for the 21st century, the professional education policy analysis for the education development, new approaches to cognition and neuroscience as well as the disruption of education sectors. It also brings a specific lens to explore globalization and internalization trends of education development from multiple perspectives. The series provides an opportunity to publish reviews, issues of general significance to theory development, empirical data-intensive research and critical analysis innovation in educational practice. It provides a global perspective on the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the implementation of certain approaches to the future of education. It not only publishes empirical studies but also stimulates theoretical discussions and addresses practical implications. The volumes in this series are interdisciplinary in orientation, and provide a multiplicity of theoretical and practical perspectives. Each volume is dedicated to a specific theme in education and innovation, examining areas that are at the cutting edge of the field and are groundbreaking in nature. Written in an accessible style, this book series will appeal to researchers, policy-makers, scholars, professionals and practitioners working in the field of education.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14177

Xudong Zhu · Huan Song Editors

Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education

Editors Xudong Zhu Faculty of Education Beijing Normal University Beijing, China

Huan Song Beijing Normal University Beijing, China

ISSN 2366-1658 ISSN 2366-1666 (electronic) Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education ISBN 978-981-16-2801-6 ISBN 978-981-16-2802-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface

Background Due to the synergy of science, engineering, technology, and comprehensive information, the world is undergoing rapid changes and the world is gradually getting smaller. Teachers who are able to actively meet the challenges of globalization and modern technology can better grasp the opportunities, so the rapid development of globalization and modern technology requires the transformation and expansion of pre-service and post-service education institutions for teachers. Teacher educators are part of the creation of a learning society, taking on the important task of promoting the sustainable development of knowledge and human resources. This book is based on the current social development trend and provides a new understanding and vision for teacher education from an international perspective. This edited book is a collection of papers adapted from keynote speeches in the 3rd Global Teacher Education Summit (3rd GTES) in Beijing Normal University from October 14 to 16, 2017. This conference is aimed to arise international response in the field of teacher education to the enduringly changing education policy environment since the turn of the century (Ben-Peretz, 2001; Cochran-Smith, 2001). Recent changes within the field, however, are evolutionary—if not revolutionary—responses, stimulated by shifts in global attitudes and philosophies in relation to curricular paradigms, pedagogical innovation, and effective teaching practices. Changes in accountability practices cannot be ignored as the role of standardized testing as an international and domestic method of quantifying performance gains increasing traction. The waves of changes, which alter the ecology of education, require teachers and schools to adapt to the logic and rationale of the new order. For institutions and individuals concerned with the administration and provision of teacher education, the ever-changing educational climate compels these agents to be adaptive strategists—redefining goals and redesigning programs to respond to the demands and limitations of policy objectives, institutional missions, and notions of academic freedom. Teacher education plays a crucial role in the improvement of excellence and equity in education, which are definitional themes in current discourse

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of teacher quality (e.g. Auld & Morris, 2016; Cochran-Smith et al., 2016; del Carmen Salazar & Lerner, 2019).

Summary of the Book Multiple perspectives are needed in order to gain insights into teaching and teacher education for excellence and equity, as well as disentangle from rigid, inapplicable old paradigms. Keynote speeches of 3rd GTES on one hand typify global voices, and on the other hand contribute Chinese stories to this field. As Paine et al. (2016) note, China’s education manifests a tendency with stronger indigenous features related to the changing domestic climate and international geopolitical position (p. 740). We believe included chapters about teaching and teacher education in China can provide local evidence, intelligence, and revelations to global readers, and even voice indigenous epistemes (e.g. Zhu & Li, in this volume) within the non-Western platform. This book aims to build such dialogues between global perspectives and Chinese insights for heteroglossia in teaching and teacher education. This book consists of two parts: The first part is named “Envisioning Teacher High-Quality Preparation: Ideas, Policies, and Evaluations”. International scholars demonstrate their ideas on preservice teacher education. Hannele Niemi introduces an educational ecosystem consisting of interconnected parts, and illustrates the interconnectedness between teacher education and different sectors of this system by the case of Finland. Julia Gillen presents in Germany, how academic qualification procedures for prospective teachers to address the challenges of heterogeneity and diversity. Chris Davison demonstrates how to promote prospective teachers’ assessment literacy, the crucial competence to enhance students’ learning in the Australian context. Chinese scholars present studies, respectively, on: (1) the development of quality assurance mechanisms (Jia Li Huang); (2) the dynamism and complexity of policy implementation in teacher education institutions (Jun Li); (3) prospective teachers’ perceptions of teacher conduct and ethics (John Chi-Kin Lee); and (4) their preparedness to teaching profession and related factors during student teaching (Congman Rao and Zongjin Wu). The second part is named “Understanding Teacher Quality: Connotation, Factors, and Context”. Based on different philosophical foundations, scholars broaden visions of teacher quality: Adopting a Marxist materialism perspective, Xudong Zhu and Yuqiu Li coin teachers’ holistic professional consciousness; Shenghong Jin proposes intellectual emancipation as the fundamental pedagogical principle based on Rancière’s work The Ignorant Schoolmaster. Taking account of the discourse of teacher quality, Michael A. Peters uses Foucault’s concept of governmentality to discern how teacher quality systems (e.g. audit systems) works in neoliberalism. Christopher Day adopts a holistic perspective on teacher quality by examining which and how key factors influence teachers’ purposes, willingness, and capacity. Manabu Sato argues that teacher quality is manifested in their learning, and discusses School

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as Learning Community (SLC) developed by him in detail, including its innovative lesson study as the main learning strategy. Leslie Nai-Kwai Lo and his colleagues tell a Chinese story of Teacher Rotation Policy in China, and analyze how this policy fosters educational quality and equity by examining rotated teachers’ work-life qualitatively. Finally, in consideration of teacher supplement to maintain national education quality, Yuyou Qin and Xiaohua Zong ambitiously forecast China’s compulsory education teacher demand and provide valuable methodological reference. Beijing, China

Xudong Zhu Huan Song

References Auld, E., & Morris, P. (2016). PISA, policy and persuasion: Translating complex conditions into education ‘best practice’. Comparative Education, 52(2), 202–229. Ben-Peretz, M. (2001). The impossible role of teacher educators in a changing world. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 48–56. Cochran-Smith, M. (2001). Higher standards for prospective teachers. What is missing from the discourse? Journal of Teacher Education, 52(3), 179–181. Cochran-Smith, M., Ell, F., Grudnoff, L., Haigh, M., Hill, M., & Ludlow, L. (2016). Initial teacher education: What does it take to put equity at the center? Teaching and Teacher Education, 57, 67–78. del Carmen Salazar, M., & Lerner, J. (2019). Teacher evaluation as cultural practice. Routledge. Paine, L., Bloemeke, S., & Aydarova, O. (2016). Teachers and teaching in the context of globalization. In D. H. Gitomer, & C. A. Bell (Eds.),Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 717–786). American Educational Research Association.

Contents

Envisioning Teacher High-Quality Preparation: Ideas, Policies and Evaluations Teacher Education in at the Crossroads—Educational Ecosystems for Equity and Quality of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hannele Niemi Heterogeneity and Diversity as Educational Requirements: The Academic Qualification Procedure for Teacher Trainees in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Gillen

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Enhancing Teacher Assessment Literacy: One Approach to Improving Teacher Knowledge and Skills in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Davison

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The Development of Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education in Taiwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jia Li Huang

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Educational Improvement for World-Class Teachers? A Critical Analysis of Policy Implementation in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jun Li

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Professional Ethics and Conduct: Perspectives of Chinese Pre-Service Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yibing Liu, Caixia Sun, Li Tao, and John Chi-Kin Lee

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A Study on the Impact of Teaching Practice on Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Congman Rao and Zongjin Wu

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Contents

Understanding Teacher Quality: Connotation, Factors and Context On the Materialist Basis of Teachers’ Holistic Professional Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Xudong Zhu and Yuqiu Li The Ignorance Teaching and Intellectual Emancipation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Shenghong Jin Discourses of Teacher Quality: Neoliberalism, Public Choice and Governmentality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Michael A. Peters and Benjamin Jonathan Green Developing, Sustaining and Retaining Teacher Quality: Factors That Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Christopher Day Learning to Teach in Professional Community: Enhancing Teacher Knowledge in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Manabu Sato Rotating for Quality and Equality: A Study on Teachers as Borrowed Talents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Leslie N. K. Lo, Yani Zhong, Juyan Ye, and Shenji Zhou Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural Compulsory Education Teacher Demand Forecast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Yuyou Qin and Xiaohua Zong

Envisioning Teacher High-Quality Preparation: Ideas, Policies and Evaluations

Teacher Education in at the Crossroads—Educational Ecosystems for Equity and Quality of Learning Hannele Niemi

Introduction The field of education is facing enormous pressures. Changes in societies, knowledge, and work are a reality in Europe, as well as across the globe. The Council of the European Union (2014, p. 22) has noted: In a fast changing world, the role of teachers—and the expectations placed upon them—are evolving too, as they face the challenges of new skills requirements, rapid technological developments and increasing social and cultural diversity, and the need to cater for more individualized teaching and special learning needs.

Teachers and teacher education (TE) play a key role in ensuring high-quality learning outcomes. However, the responsibility is not only for narrow learning objectives but also for much wider societal issues which promote democracy, equity, and human rights locally and globally. As Cochran-Smith et al. (2018) propose that teachers and teacher educators also need to challenge the structures and processes which reproduce inequity and sustain multi-layered collaboration with diverse communities. Teachers and TE have high responsibilities, but the work happens in a bigger picture of educational systems and is part of the changes which happen in local and global contexts. TE and teachers operate in a very complex and moving picture. As Hargreaves (1994) described in the 1990s, that picture is like a moving mosaic. Often, it is difficult to even clearly define the changes and how the picture challenges teachers’ work, as well as TE. In a complex world, many different parts are interconnected and interdependent, but it may also happen that some parts of the system are isolated or contradictory to other parts of educational ecosystems. The Finnish case, as an example of the actions which strengthen the interaction between TE and the H. Niemi (B) Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_1

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whole educational system, will be introduced. At the end of the chapter, reflections on TE in the educational ecosystem will be summarized.

Global Challenges in Education There has been a massive expansion in schooling globally over the last few decades, and it is impressive by previous standards (World Bank Group, 2018). However, while access to education has increased, millions of students still do not have access, or they drop out in the very early stages. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2018) states that, according to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), about 263 million children, adolescents, and youth worldwide—one in every five—are out school, a figure that has changed little over the past five years. However, an even more serious issue is that the quality of education has not improved. In many cases, it has declined. Globally, we now have an increasing recognition of a learning crisis—a term coined by UNESCO in its Global Monitoring Report in 2014. In the changing picture of education, many challenges in education problems focus on two serious issues: (1) equity and access to education and (2) the quality of education. Even though children may have access to primary education, they do not have the opportunity to continue after their primary years (normally 5–6 years of education) to the secondary levels, or children drop out of school even in the initial stages. The reasons are often political decisions, system-wide deficiencies in the educational structures, family poverty, or attitudinal factors, such as parents who do not recognize the value of schooling or do not believe that females need an education. From an equity point of view, access to education is not enough, though it is a necessary and basic condition. The quality of the education has become an urgent challenge. We have data which show that, in many countries, half of the children do not achieve minimum standards in math or reading, which means that they cannot read or count after 4–5 years of schooling; this has grave consequences for the future of learning (World Bank Group, 2018, p. 5). Questions of equity and quality of learning relate to each other and are burning issues, particularly in lowincome countries, but they are also present in many mid- and some high-income countries, causing growing gaps between social classes and dividing societies. Both issues are linked to the entire educational eco-system. Recently, the ecosystem concept has emerged (Niemi, 2016a) and is used in many disciplines and discourses. The ecosystem concept has its roots in biology, where typical ecosystems are forests, ponds, and grasslands, and all the plants and animals which live in an area together maintain a complex relationship between themselves and their environment. The most important feature of an ecosystem is the interconnectedness of its constituents. Species closely interact with one another to survive. They are interdependent, and information flows throughout the system, both of which are basic conditions for survival. While warmth, water, and energy

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sources all contribute to the ecosystem, the system does not function well without interconnectedness. The concept has recently been expanded to include more human contexts, especially social structures (Niemi, 2016a). The systems of human actors or companies and organizations can also be described as ecosystems. The term innovation ecosystem refers to a dynamic, interactive network which fosters innovation. In practice, the term can refer to local hubs, global networks, or technology platforms (Moore, 2006). A high level of interconnectedness and the interdependence and flow of information are the most important features of the ecosystem concept. Mars et al. (2012) analyzed the value of this concept, noting that the metaphor inherent in it provided a fresh lens through which to view a dramatically altered world. However, they also offered some caveats. There are some central misguided assumptions: that biological ecosystems are both communal (supported by individual commitment to the greater good) and stable. Biological ecosystems emerge, function, and collapse organically, without the aid or intervention of purposefully designed strategies and structures. However, human organizations can design and plan systems and networks. Human actors may create conditions which can potentially have an impact beyond the local setting. This is an important foundation and postulate: TE is part of the structures which can be modified by human beings and developed by human decisions. Niemi (2021; 2016a) noted that an educational ecosystem has complex connections and processes which interact with different levels of society and different social structures. We can refer to a macro-level ecosystem which consists of all the structures of an entire educational system from childhood to adult education, national curriculum, and educational evaluation systems, as well as life-long learning strategies for ensuring competences throughout the course of life. TE is part of this entirety. However, on its own, TE cannot change the whole education system. It must establish connections with other sectors of the educational system and other societal stakeholders. Educational ecosystems also have meso- or mid-level units which consist of structures and social practices, such leadership and the roles and responsibilities at the institutional and community levels. These include universities and other higher education institutions, as well as schools. These units are also ecosystems, even though they are smaller-case forums, they still need interconnectedness and sharing within and partners outside of the unit. In discussions about successful organizations, it seems that a commitment to common goals and a shared culture are critical for success. TE impacts how teachers and principals create a collaborative and sharing culture. In education, we can also observe micro-level ecosystems, where individuals, such as students in the classroom and teachers as representatives of their profession, are influenced by characteristics, such as prior knowledge, skills, motivation, and attitudes, which represent the learner’s cultural background, as well as interactions with other people and artefacts (Säljö, 2010, 2012; Vygotsky, 1978). This micro level happens in the students’ and teachers’ own learning environments. Thus, an educational ecosystem consists of many interconnected parts, both horizontally and vertically (Fig. 1). We can learn from earlier studies (e.g., Walpole et al.,

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An educational ecosystem consists of a large number of subsystems which should be interconnected

Other sectors in society, e.g., - Health - Families - Housing - Business - Employment

Educational Macro-level System

Institutions Schools

Learners

Complex connections and processes which interact with different sectors of society and different social structures

Fig. 1 The educational ecosystem

2016) that the health of an ecosystem is based on interconnectedness and information flow; the system functions well when its different parts work together. However, in educational ecosystems, that is not always true. Many sociologists, notably Habermas (1987), have described how systems in a modern society can be separated from each other and can become colonized through hierarchy and lack of communication. As in society, so it is in education: the subsystems can become separated into segmented territories with their own aims, social practices, and power structures, and, eventually, collaboration among the parts vanishes. An educational ecosystem is not a stable system. In complex and moving systems, as in education, many of the components undergo their own change processes, and this information needs to be analyzed, updated, and shared when working toward common goals. Interaction and communication and the flow of information are basic conditions necessary for maintaining commitment from partners. When reflecting on TE’s role in education systems and its responsibility for equity and quality of learning, we must note (Niemi et al., 2014) that an educational ecosystem has multilevel complex connections and processes which interact with various levels of society and various social structures.

Teachers and TE at a Macro Level of Educational Ecosystems Professional Status and Attractiveness TE is part of national policies in education. The length, structure, and content vary enormously globally (Darling-Hammond & Lieberman, 2012). Worldwide, e.g., in

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the USA, many providers of TE indicate that it is difficult to even define what TE is and who the teacher educators are (Cochran-Smith et al., 2018). Also, trends to de-professionalize TE attest to the fact that TE, as well as schools, are under intense scrutiny (e.g., Milner, 2013). By summarizing many international reports (e.g., European Union, 2013; UNESCO, 2015; World Bank Group, 2018), we can determine the major macro-level challenges which threaten the equity and quality of learning and are connected directly or indirectly with TE: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Lack of teachers and low attractiveness of the teaching profession, Low quality of pre-service TE, Deficiencies in teachers’ career-long development, and Poor teacher working conditions.

All of these issues are dependent on each other and related to all levels of the ecosystem. However, they all are dependent on the macro-level decisions. Many countries (Darling-Hammond, 2010; European Union, 2013; OECD, 2014; UNESCO, 2015) face the situation where teaching is not perceived as an attractive profession, and TE is not a desired academic path. TE institutes do not have motivated, high-quality candidates, and the dropout rates can be high. The EU launched a broad survey of teachers and student teachers from thirty-four member countries on the factors which make teachers work attractive. The study consisted of the qualitative data from interviews of national educational experts. The report concludes (European Union, 2013, p. 10): In most European countries, the teaching profession has lost much of its capacity to attract the best candidates. Among the main reasons: decline of the prestige of the teaching profession, deterioration of working conditions and relatively low salaries compared with other intellectual professions. But in some countries (Ireland, Finland, Scotland) the teaching profession is still very much appreciated by the best students.

Attractiveness is generated from many sources, and the processes are selfreinforcing. In many countries (European Union, 2013, p. 10), the growing shortage of teachers is addressed by longer working hours for teachers, higher pupil-teacher ratios, and an increase in the retirement age. Keen competition among schools, regions, and even countries aggravates supply and demand imbalances with respect to qualified teachers. Attractiveness is not solely a European problem. It is a burning issue in most African countries, as well as in the USA. The World Bank Group (2018) reminds us that many governments do not publish detailed data about the shortage of qualified teachers in their countries or information on their strategies for tackling the problem. One serious issue in low-income countries is the teachers’ absence from school (World Bank Group, 2018, p. 11). The teachers cannot live on their salary. UNESCO (2015, pp. 10–15) mentions several aspects needed to make the teaching profession attractive. One is to predict the number of teachers needed. Knowing how many teachers are needed in a system is crucial to advancing the system’s success. Predicting the number of teachers is based on the estimated demand for schooling, the school-age population, gross enrolment rate, and the average pupil-teacher ratio. A shortage, as well as an oversupply, of teachers, are both damaging to the teaching

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profession. A shortage will lead to the use of unqualified teachers, and an oversupply leads to unemployment, which again lowers the value of the profession and its ability to attract desirable teachers. Teachers’ work has been reflected from the viewpoint of the criteria of professions since the 1970s (Howsam, 1976). Professional status is based on certain criteria, and respected professionals, such as medical doctors and judges, must meet these specific criteria. Commonly, the following criteria are at the core of a profession (e.g., Professional Standards Councils of the Australian Capital Territory, 2015): 1. 2. 3. 4.

Important tasks without which the society cannot survive (e.g., a medical doctor, judge), Long academic or corresponding education and high educational standards for achieving skills and competences needed for the demanding task, Professional code and ethics, and Professional autonomy and responsibility.

Symeonidis (2015) introduces findings from the survey which indicate that teacher status is related to aspects of quality education and, more specifically, to sociocultural and economic contexts, job security, salary, working conditions, teachers’ professional development, representation of the teaching profession, professional autonomy, social dialogue, and involvement in decision-making. We can conclude that teachers’ professional status cannot be defined just by a political decision; however, political decisions can create conditions for teaching being perceived as a valuable profession. The status requires that all professional elements are real and available, and that there are policy-level decisions which allow these criteria to be met. Teachers’ autonomy is dependent on macro-level conditions: to what degree teachers have actual opportunities to influence their own profession and working conditions in schools. Many teachers are tied into the national or local bureaucracy. However, if there are unqualified and low competence teachers, it is impossible to allow them to be independent. TE is between two opposing forces: how to prepare for the demands of teachers to be autonomous while they simultaneously work in schools which are strictly regulated. In many countries, teaching does not fulfil professional criteria. Teachers may have a very little education or no training; often, in cases such as these, work is regulated by high-stakes testing which narrows the curriculum and limits professional autonomy. We also have evidence that, in theory, teachers have autonomy; in practice, they are forced to accept reforms without contributing to them in the preparatory phases (e.g., Harford & O’Doherty, 2016; LeTendre, 2018; Smith, 2016)

Quality of TE TE institutions and teacher educators are working in contexts which are highly dependent on other macro-level decisions. In countries where TE is wanted and teachers are

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satisfied with their professions (e.g., Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, and Ireland), there are strong investments in TE and ambitious aims for the entire educational system, and there is systematic follow-up on how TE serves prospective teachers and how teachers are supported in career long development. The relationship is not one directional. TE institutions and teacher educators also actively respond to future needs by internalizing the idea of how the teaching profession has long-range influences on society and people’s lives. How TE prepares teachers to coach a new generation for the future’s demands is a common theme globally, not only in Europe (Gu, 2018; Lee & Tan, 2018; Low, 2018). A book about teachers’ role in different countries (Niemi et al., 2018) evidences that curricula are in the process of reforming toward 21st-century competences almost everywhere. Lee and Tan (2018), in their analysis of required future competences, summarized these as creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving capability, communication skills, collaboration, information and digital literacy, conflict resolution, and social and inter-cultural skills. These competences are often labeled as twenty-first century skills or competencies, core competencies, or transversal or generic skills and competencies. These types of curriculum reforms push teachers into a new position. They are expected to teach academic content; at the same time, they are responsible for broader, more complex, and often multidisciplinary objectives. This is an enormous new task for TE. Teaching is a changing process. In the European TE context, teachers’ broader competences are seen as key elements in the Education and Training 2020 strategy (European Union, 2013, p. 18): Work with others: They work in a profession which should be based on the values of social inclusion and nurturing the potential of every learner. They need to have knowledge of human growth and development and demonstrate self-confidence when engaging with others. They need to be able to work with learners as individuals and support them to develop into fully participating and active members of society. They should also be able to work in ways which increase the collective intelligence of learners and cooperate and collaborate with colleagues to enhance their own learning and teaching. Work with knowledge, technology and information: They need to be able to work with a variety of types of knowledge. Their education and professional development should equip them to access, analyse, validate, reflect on and transmit knowledge, making effective use of technology where this is appropriate. Their pedagogic skills should allow them to build and manage learning environments and retain the intellectual freedom to make choices over the delivery of education. Their confidence in the use of ICT should allow them to integrate it effectively into learning and teaching. They should be able to guide and support learners in the networks in which information can be found and built. They should have a good understanding of subject knowledge and view learning as a lifelong journey. Their practical and theoretical skills should always allow them to learn from their own experiences and match a wide range of teaching and learning strategies to the needs of learners. Work with and in society: They contribute to preparing learners to be globally responsible in their role as EU citizens. Teachers should be able to promote mobility and cooperation in Europe and encourage intercultural respect and understanding. They should have an understanding of the balance between respecting and being aware of the diversity of learners’ cultures and identifying common values. They also need to understand the factors that create social cohesion and exclusion in society and be aware of the ethical dimensions of the knowledge society. They should be able to work effectively with the local community and

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H. Niemi with partners and stakeholders in education—parents, teachers, education institutions, and representative groups. Their experience and expertise should also enable them to contribute to systems of quality assurance.

The teachers’ role has expanded dramatically, and today their work entails much more than transmitting knowledge; thus, it requires new forms of TE. Schools have become more complex, and the heterogeneity of students is increasing. TE providers must meet many new challenges coming from macro-level demands and contexts, but must also meet demands coming from within their own institutions.

Connections Within Schools and Cooperation in TE Institutions—The Mid-Level of the Ecosystem The macro system creates structures, but TE is also linked with the mid-level of the educational system, the TE institutions and local schools in which educational services are provided. These mid-level parts of the educational ecosystem have common themes which challenge TE: 1.

2.

3.

How TE recognizes schools’ needs has been a critical discussion for decades. The debate is often around pedagogical content knowledge, as well as effective teaching practice (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2010). Interaction beyond the TE institutes is becoming even more critical because of changes in societies and unequal conditions in schools for different learners (e.g., Robinson, 2017). There is an increasing need to add interactions among TE providers, local schools, and other stakeholders to make teachers more prepared to meet the needs of different learners. Cooperation among teacher educators can be weak in the TE structures of universities and colleges and may lead to a situation where all components of TE are taught separately and without real coordination. The continuum of teachers’ professional development requires more cooperation among the providers of the initial TE, induction, and in-service training (e.g., Bahr & Mello, 2016; Conway et al., 2009)

These challenges are related to teachers’ professional development. During TE time, this means that student teachers have program supervision throughout the TE program to support their development as professionals. This requires more opportunities to learn collegial dialog, based on working together with colleagues and sharing experiences. This kind of collegian model should also be in schools where teachers are working after graduation. The idea of schools, as well as TE institutes, as learning communities has become a crucial theme. The idea is not a new one, presented in the 1990s as Senge’s learning organization in his The Fifth Discipline (Senge et al., 1994). However, with a new understanding of learning as a co-creation process, studies of collaborative knowledge creation and evidence of a collaborative culture for teacher’s professional development have made learning communities a goal and imperative for future teachers and

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TE. Many school and institutional level conditions should be reconsidered because there may exist structures which prevent collaboration (OECD, 2014). We have evidence that educators often find it difficult to regularly dedicate the necessary time to professional development activities. Finding time for professional development may be particularly challenging for traditionally low-performing schools in which teachers, principals, and district officials spend more of their working time on student guidance and may feel burdened by increased reporting and testing requirements. Furthermore, a lack of qualified substitute teachers, as well as the costs associated with providing substitute teachers, may discourage teachers from participating in professional development activities which are scheduled during the school day (European Commission, 2019). At the mid-level of the educational ecosystem, school leadership is essential Department heads in TE institutions, principals, and local authorities have a great responsibility to ensure that teachers can learn and work in real learning communities. TE has a double role: to prepare teachers for a collaborative culture in pre-service time and to strengthen this type of working culture in schools. In both cases, either in pre-service or in different modes of in-service time, teachers need to experience what it is to be in a learning community.

TE for the Micro-Level System TE also has connections to the micro-level of education systems. This level consists of what happens in the students’ learning and, even more widely, in their lives. Teachers need the knowledge and understanding of how to make a school more inclusive and offer learning opportunities to different learners. This micro-level is highly dependent on macro- and mid-level structures and cultures. In this sense, TE alone cannot change the situation. However, at the individual level, teachers have a high impact. Research-based evidence exists which indicates that teachers really matter. There is substantial evidence (UNICEF, 2009, 2013) that some groups are more at risk of low performance than others. Even if socio-economic status is a stronger predictor of educational success, the students’ personal factors also have an impact on the likelihood of low educational achievement and the risk of dropping out. Failure is often not the fault of the child or the parents. The system and the school itself can be held accountable because of an irrelevant curriculum, a language which learners do not understand, absent teachers, or unaffordable formal and informal school fees. Sharing the responsibility for failure—understanding that children are more often pushed out by the system rather than dropping out of their own accord—has significant implications for how a ministry responds to, programs for, and financially supports excluded groups and learners. The OECD has reported (2012, pp. 19–23) that student dropout does not happen overnight. Dropping out is usually the result of a lengthy process of student disengagement (Lyche, 2010). When combining the findings of several studies, six key

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predictors can be identified. These predictors are a combination of macro- and midlevel factors, and students’ opportunities to be engaged and achieve good learning outcomes are rooted in many of these factors. These predictors can be summarized (OECD, 2012, pp. 19–23): 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Educational performance is the highest predictor for dropout. Students’ behavior matters for success in school. Students who are engaged, both in academic and social matters, and who value schooling, tend to stay in school. Students from families with little education, negative attitudes toward schooling, the inability to support their children, or poverty-stricken single parents have a higher likelihood of dropping out. School structures, resources, and practices are important. These include the way learning is delivered, extra-curricular activities, discipline, relations with peers and teachers, and pedagogic practices, all of which have a strong impact on students’ learning, motivation, and sense of belonging. Educational system-level policies, including early tracking, grade repetition, the lack of sufficient apprenticeship places, or school violence, affect dropout rates. Labor market conditions have an impact on dropout rates.

UNICEF has recommended child-friendly schools (CFSs). This model advocates for and promotes quality education for every child. The model can be viewed as a holistic instrument for developing a comprehensive range of interventions to achieve quality education. The CFS framework promotes child-seeking, child-centered, gender-sensitive, inclusive, community-involved, environmentally friendly, protective, and healthy approaches to schooling and out-of-school education worldwide (UNICEF, 2009, 2013). This approach sets high standards for TE and requires the cooperation and information sharing which are basic elements of ecosystems.

The Case of Finland A Unifying Value Basis Finland has received much international attention as being, for several years, one of the best performing education countries in the world. It is considered an example of a high-performing education system which successfully combines high quality with wide-spread equity and social cohesion through reasonable public financing (Niemi et al., 2016; Sahlberg, 2011). Many studies have sought the reasons for this and concluded that there is no single factor behind the good learning outcomes. In many analyses, high quality teachers have been seen as one of the main reasons, and this is linked with high quality TE, school working conditions, and the society’s respect for the teaching profession. Teaching as a profession is very desirable in Finland,

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and the entrance criteria for university TE programs demanding (Sahlberg, 2012). In the next analysis, the Finnish TE will be considered from the viewpoint of the educational ecosystem and the interconnections of TE with different levels of the systems. Finally, the future trends will be introduced. The ecosystem means connections between different levels. Finnish TE is provided by autonomous universities. However, TE policy is part of a national evaluation policy based on a strong value basis, and it unifies different levels. The central principle is equity and education as a basic right for all (Laukkanen, 2007). Equity in education means the clear objective of offering all citizens equal opportunities to receive education, regardless of age, domicile, financial situation, gender, or mother tongue. A large reform of Finland’s education system started in the late 1960s. The entire system changed to be one common comprehensive school for all children, providing nine years of basic education totally free of charge. The system put a strong emphasis on inclusiveness, special needs support, and students’ holistic wellbeing. The main principles of equity and life-long learning have been implemented now for over 40 years, and, during that time, there have been many sub-reforms, but equity and life-long learning remain the predominant guidelines. Teachers are responsible for the quality of different students’ learning, but they are also responsible for much more than simply providing teaching content. Students must be ready to continue studying at the next educational level and to learn new skills, and schools must support their personal growth (Niemi & Isopahkala-Bouret, 2012). In basic education (grades 1–9), there is no streaming or tracking, and teaching occurs in mixed-ability groups. Teachers must consider different learners and identify what type of special support students need. An inclusion policy and special needs education have extremely important roles in promoting the rights of all students to learn. The basic principle is that all students with learning difficulties must be given help and support to overcome their learning difficulties. The Finnish educational system has developed a structure which allows continuing one’s education, even in the case of failure, and there is a high level of education for the entire population. Life-long learning is integrated into all levels of the system, from early education to adult education.

Enhancement-Led Evaluation Policy In Finland, the systems for evaluation and support have been integrated (Kumpulainen & Lankinen, 2016). Globally, controversy exists over what is the best way to use assessment as a tool to achieve high learning outcomes. Some countries have chosen standardized testing, which stresses competition among schools and focuses on measurable performances. The Finnish choice has been enhancement-led evaluation at all levels of education. The National Board of Education outlined already late 1980s that the focus is placed on the overall effectiveness of the service provider.

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Instead of the quality of specific products, attention is now paid to the entire organization’s capacity to produce services of high quality. The interest in this is not a separate or temporary phenomenon, but is a part of the larger macro-level trends. Local education providers (municipalities) are responsible for the quality of educational services and assessment methods. Teachers also implement enhancement-led evaluation in student learning. This means that formative evaluation methods are used to decide how to support various learners. No high-stakes testing exists.

Decentralized Curriculum Policy Finland’s national curriculum system provides values for the entire educational system and defines learning objectives for each educational level. Local education authorities and schools are granted wide autonomy in organizing education and implementing the core curriculum. Teachers have freedom in how they conduct their teaching duties and support student learning. At the same time, they are expected to take responsibility for students’ learning outcomes as well as students’ holistic wellbeing. They must be able to recognize learning difficulties and identify special support needs as early as possible, which requires a high degree of pedagogical competence and the acceptance of a broad professional role. The curriculum processes are interactive and participatory, inviting the teachers’ union, principals, parents’ association, companies, teacher educators, and other experts to contribute to a new national core curriculum (Halinen & Holoppa, 2013; Vahtivuori et al., 2014). Over the past several decades, research studies (e.g., Vitikka et al., 2016) have indicated that local curriculum processes have inspired and empowered teachers and principals to develop the local curriculum and to increase the overall quality of education. Education authorities and national-level education policymakers trust professional teachers who, together with principals, headmasters, and parents, know how to provide the best education for children and adolescents in a specific district. These values exist throughout the educational system, and teachers are expected to adopt them. TE programs are five-year programs (BA: three years and MA: 2 years) which are based on the ideology that teachers are high-level professionals, and this aim is supported by clinical practice and a strong research orientation in the studies. The structure of TE offers several options to become a teacher in terms of scheduling, majors and minors, specialization, and choosing professional career paths.

Research and Practice-Oriented TE The studies provide the cultural, psychological, and pedagogical features of teaching and instruction (Niemi, 2016b). Content knowledge is approximately half of the program and has many connections with pedagogical content knowledge. Almost

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one-fifth of the program is dedicated to research studies to develop a proper understanding of knowledge creation and the critical mind to process different information sources. Research studies are also part of professional development, and they aim to provide tools to observe, analyze, and conclude, based on evidence involving issues in the human sciences. A primary student teacher also conducts an extensive master’s thesis as an authentic research in educational sciences. Secondary teachers major in their own subject matter but also complete a BA level thesis in education. Teachers’ pedagogical studies include supervised teaching practice. The aim of guided practical studies is to support student teachers in their efforts to acquire professional skills in researching, developing, and evaluating teaching and learning processes. In addition, student teachers should be able to reflect critically on their own practices and social skills in teaching and learning situations. The main principle is that practice should start as early as possible and support student teachers’ growth toward expertise. University level teacher training schools (so-called normal schools) play a crucial role in Finnish TE. The teachers have a dual role: on one hand, they teach pupils, and, on the other, they supervise and mentor student teachers. Many of the normal school teachers are active in research and school development. Even though the general picture shows a well-functioning ecosystem, evaluations and research projects have revealed several areas where reform and improvements are needed in TE (Husu & Toom, 2016): Teacher’s work is knowledge intensive expert work, and demanding interactive work in changing contexts. The current challenges in a teacher’s work include e.g., increasing diversity of pupils/students and families, changing working contexts due to the availability and usage of knowledge and digitalisation, and learning-focused emphasis in instruction. For this demanding work, a teacher needs versatile pedagogical skills and content knowledge, especially capabilities related to learning and instruction, interaction, well-being and school development. Teacher competence is the major factor influencing on student learning. The most important task of TE is to support learning to teach throughout the career. Finnish academic TE provides solid basis for a teacher’s work, although in-service TE requires significant developments.

Finland, as are other countries, is in the middle of determining how to provide teachers with competencies which they can use to guide students in classrooms now and into the future. As a part of education-related key projects in the current Finnish government program, a Finnish Teacher Education Forum was established by the Ministry of Education in February 2016 to foster the renewal of TE (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2016). The aims of the Teacher Education Forum are to prepare a development program for teachers’ pre-, induction, and in-service education (life-long professional development). The Forum is based on collaborating and sharing. It consists of nearly 100 teacher educators from various higher education institutes and disciplines, teachers, principals, and stakeholders, including experts from municipalities and from teacher and student unions. The Forum has organized several meetings, both with the whole Forum and with smaller thematic groups. It has analyzed the research outcomes related to TE, benchmarked strategies, and policy documents in other countries and organizations, and organized a national web-based brainstorming platform related

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to the renewal of TE. It published the reform program, Development Program for Teachers Pre- and In-service Education (life-long professional development) in early October 2016. The Forum also has launched and financed almost 50 research and development projects in which teachers, teacher educators, principals, companies, and local municipal authorities can be contributors for developing TE for the future. The Forum program (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2016) has introduced six main actions for the development of TE for 2017–2019: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Holistic view of TE To identify what is common in teachers’ pedagogical competence throughout the educational system from kindergarten to vocational training, more closely connect pre- and in-service education, and develop a well-functioning induction phase. Selection and anticipation To forecast demands of teachers and balance the number of teachers needed and educated in all areas and levels of the educational system. Supporting the development of competences needed in generating novel ideas and innovations To renew TE programs and their teaching and learning culture toward twentyfirst century competences and strengthen leadership, networks, and development operations for and together with local school sites. Collaboration culture and networks To promote and strengthen cooperation among all TE actors in universities: subject departments, department of TE, and teacher training schools; and further, to ensure cooperation among the different TE programs: kindergarten, primary, secondary, and vocational TE. Supportive leadership To promote schools as learning communities with high-quality pedagogical leadership: goal orientation and interaction, strategic planning, and quality culture. Research-based TE To enhance TE programs and teaching practices and to ensure that they are based on research and that student teachers learn to: (a) employ research skills and research orientation, (b) assess their practices, and (c) reflect on professional tasks and development independently and collaboratively.

These aims are very much in line with the earlier TE objectives of several decades ago. However, in changing contexts, the TE programs must be updated from a perspective of future needs and ensure that teachers have competences needed in schools and society today and in the coming years. In addition to TE pre-service revisions, teachers’ in-service training is also undergoing a cultural change (Niemi, 2015). In previous years, Finnish in-service training was based on training days and short courses. These types of courses are still being offered to teachers, but the trend is toward a more holistic and integrated approach. The new trend is to see teachers as developers in the whole school community. Teachers encounter a research-based orientation in pre-service TE, and this should be used as a resource.

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This would make teachers capable of designing school-based projects and their own professional development as it relates to school development. Collaboration within the school community, as well as with external partners, especially parents, is part of teachers’ professional development, and they need support for this, especially in the beginning of their careers. Teachers’ work is becoming more and more complicated, and working with multi-professional cooperation is important, especially when students need special education. Finnish TE has grown in the political and historical context in which equity and life-long learning have been leading educational principles, and teachers’ highstandard professional roles are seen as the main factors in achieving these goals. These have been continuously upheld in a national educational agenda. It has not been intended to establish a status quo; rather, it has been, more or less, a continuous process in which enhancement-led quality assurance, decentralization of the educational system, and TE programs are mutually interactive.

Toward Educational Eco-Systems for Equity and Quality of Learning TE cannot solve the huge challenges of equity and quality of learning outcomes alone or without interconnectedness with other actors in the educational ecosystem. It should be proactive to lead prospective teachers, as well as in-service teachers, to grow as to the role which is leading toward the future. But, without broader connections to schools and macro-level partners, TE cannot change the world. In the ecosystem, interconnectedness and information flow are the key factors. Linda Darling-Hammond (2010, pp. 279–324) proposed four policy principles for quality and equality in school reforms: 1.

Meaningful learning goals means rethinking what is relevant for students and what they need in the future. High-stakes testing narrows curriculum to loworder rote skills and memorizing pieces of information (2010, p. 281). Assessment and evaluation policies have a clear connection to students’ learning and teachers’ work (p. 301): If education is actually to improve and the system is to be accountable to students, accountability should be focused in ensuring the competence of teachers and leaders, the quality of instruction, and the adequacy of resources, as well as the system to trigger improvements.

2.

Equitable and adequate resources are partly linked with the challenge of how to obtain qualified teachers and keep them in the schools. Salary policy is one of actions and also all those arrangements that are needed for providing induction, mentoring, extensive professional development for all teachers. The ultimate goal is that resources would cost-effectively promote all children’s learning: “Our society must finally renounce its obstinate commitment to inequity and

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embrace full and ambitious opportunities to learn for all of our children” (2010, p. 309). Strong professional practice with increased recognition that expert teachers are perhaps the most important resource for improving student learning and the most inequitably distributed—it is imperative that the USA develop policies for recruiting, preparing, and retaining strong teachers, especially in high-need schools (2010, p. 313). This requires the reinvention of teacher preparation and professional development so that teachers can meet the demands of twenty-first century learning and develop sophisticated skills. Local policies need to create a continuum of professional learning for teachers. Schools organized for student and teacher learning means that leaders need the vision, capacity, and policy support to create more productive schools. Schools have to be places that support good teaching, and the work that students and teachers are asked to do needs to be work worth doing (2010, p. 324).

TE plays a crucial role in how equity and the quality of learning can be connected. Many macro-level decisions steer teaching and TE, particularly in the curriculum and evaluation systems. We can also refer to other actors at a macro level. On its own, education cannot create the future. There must be connections with other sectors, including health care, housing, business, and employment. An educational ecosystem is not a stable system. For an educational ecosystem to be sustainable, its participants must intentionally share joint aims and act to ensure interconnectedness, interdependence, and open and transparent mutual communication among all partners. In complex and changing systems, many of the components undergo their own change processes; thus, this information needs to be analyzed, updated, and shared when working toward common goals. Interaction and communication with the flow of information are basic conditions for maintaining commitment from partners. When referring to partnerships in education, we must acknowledge that collaborators must set an intentional aim to ensure that the ecosystem works to realize joint goals and objectives. The solutions can be sustainable only if the complex issues have been discussed and various involved partners seek joint solutions to education-related problems. In educational institutions, commitment to principles which promote equity and high-quality learning are key factors for providing inclusive and life-long learning opportunities for all learners. Eco-systems also cross borders. Connections between formal and informal learning environments are becoming resources for institutions and individuals, and technological tools and digital learning environments are more and more crucial for equitable and quality learning. TE is at the crossroads as to how it will lead in the future and how the whole educational ecosystem will function interactively for joint purposes to ensure high quality learning opportunities for all learners.

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Heterogeneity and Diversity as Educational Requirements: The Academic Qualification Procedure for Teacher Trainees in Germany Julia Gillen

Introduction What are the current central challenges for schools and schoolteachers in Germany, and what should the central topics of teacher education be if future teachers are to be prepared for them? This article explores this question. On the one hand, teacher education should deal with inclusion and heterogeneity or diversity. Thus, specific academic subjects are particularly helpful in teacher education. However, we should also consider which standards teacher education in Germany follows and how, especially in the academic phase of teacher education, universities can implement these standards.

Heterogeneity and Diversity: What Do These Terms Mean in Germany’s Education System? If one reflects on the central discussions of educational policy in Germany over the past ten years, the question of inclusive education and, more generally, how to grapple with heterogeneity in schools has played a decisive roll. Inclusive education has been almost omnipresent since the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CITATION), whose principles came into force in Germany in 2009. Particular attention must be given to Article 24, which states that the signing parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. With a view to realizing this right

J. Gillen (B) Institute of Vocational Education and Adult Education, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_2

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without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, parties should implement an inclusive education system at all levels, which provides lifelong learning directed at: • The full development of human potential, a commitment to the dignity and selfworth of all, and the strengthening of respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and human diversity; • The development of the personality, talents and creativity of people with disability, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential; • The preparation of people with disabilities to participate effectively in a free, democratic society. This discussion of inclusion concerns diverse areas of schooling and educational research. However, one can by no means assume that the same—or at least similar— facts are always invoked when different actors discuss inclusion. In some cases, the discussion of inclusion concerns children, adolescents or adults with a claim to integration assistance or special educational needs; in other cases it is about all people, regardless of ability or disability. Additionally, inclusion is discussed at the level of human rights as well as at the level of country-specific implementation and concrete implementation in individual schools (cf. Werning, 2014). Artiles and Dyson (2005) speak of inclusion as a “slippery concept” (Artiles & Dyson, 2005, p. 43), which can mean different things in different systemic, socio-economic and cultural contexts in the field of education. A distinction can be made between a narrow and a broad understanding of inclusion. The narrow conception of inclusion is aimed at the joint education of people with and without specific educational difficulties. The second, broad conception focuses on the development of educational institutions. In light of this distinction, a concept of inclusion that encompasses people with disabilities and their places of learning and that is more normatively explicit in terms of what constitutes just educational policy is being developed by, for example, Werning et al. (2016). Inclusion here describes the “principle of minimising discrimination in and exclusion from educational institutions with the aims of (1) maximising social participation and the optimum development of human possibilities, (2) the development of the dignity and self-esteem of all persons and (3) the cultivation of the ability to participate effectively in society within the framework of a general school system irrespective of their personal need for support” (Werning et al. 2016, p. 225). This conception of inclusion demonstrates that there are essential indicators of inclusive vocational education and education. Zoyke (2016) observes, for example, that some of these indicators are “accessibility, individualisation, connectivity and permeability” (p. 8). Accessibility refers to the basic idea of inclusive education as “education for all” without excluding characteristics. This can be achieved through individualised learning (individualisation). Connectivity refers less to educational content and qualifications, but rather to the strengthening of professional as well as social and personal competences and resources for future (vocational and personal) success. To this end, experiential spaces in schools and companies are important, i.e. spaces in which young people can try out different modes of thought and action, in a positive culture of error, in order to learn from their experiences and their mistakes

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and ultimately develop important problem-solving and critical thinking skills relevant for their profession. Permeability refers to the design of transitions between school and work so that young people with disabilities have a realistic chance of educational advancement. Since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CITATION) promoted the goal of inclusive education almost ten years ago, the concept of heterogeneity has become increasingly important in educational policy discussions. Parallel to this, the issue of migration and flight has had a clear impact on the educational system in Germany. Even though German schools have been home to sizable contingents of students from different countries since the 1960s (at that time, so-called guest workers were brought to Germany to help bring about the industrial upswing), the year 2015 contributed to a marked change in the perception of heterogeneity in schools. Because of this historical development, discussions of heterogeneity should not be conducted in a vacuum, but understood in its proper historical and geopolitical context. In addition, we should be wary of using “heterogeneous” as a category with which to classify people: “Defining the concept of heterogeneity in valueneutral terms as difference first, implies a certain point of view: namely to regard difference as variety and thus as a pedagogical and social leitmotif ” (Boller et al., 2007, emphasis added). Grappling with diversity has thus become a central theme in education - be it in schools, research or educational policy (cf. Vock & Gronotaj, 2017). It is clear that children and young people differ in their learning requirements. Diversity exists, for example, with regard to age and gender, ethnic, cultural and social origin, but also with regard to interests, motivation and performance. Heterogeneity is both a reality in schools and classrooms as well as a challenge for school learning, pedagogy and the organisational form of learning groups. Not least the international school performance studies have made the need for action obvious: In Germany, origin plays an important role in school success. Despite the different school types, the differences in performance in classes are still comparatively large. The promotion of both weaker and better performing girls, for example, could be more successful. These findings have led to heterogeneity becoming a key concept in the current educational discourse in the German speaking world. Whether attempts to grapple with heterogeneity are successful is largely decided in schools themselves, but the structure and organisation of our education system is also of great importance. It therefore makes no sense to see school structure and teaching quality as in tension with each other, as was observed after the first PISA publications. Both have their specific meaning, both can cause problems, but both can also help to solve them. Both must therefore be considered together. For schools in Germany, heterogeneity is not only a reality and a challenge, but also an opportunity: it offers the unique opportunity to make a contribution to the cohesion of society and to the consolidation of democracy and civil society through an educationally conscious approach to diversity. Heterogeneity is also an enrichment for lessons that aim at learning together from and with others.

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Standards for Teacher Education in Educational Research: How Should We Preparing Young Teachers for the New Challenges? An essential element in further developing the quality of school education—and thus also in dealing with diversity in schools—is the introduction of standards in teacher education. Here the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) has had an important influence in the German education system. The KMK is the oldest conference of ministers in Germany and plays a significant role as an instrument for the coordination and development of education in the country. It is a consortium of ministers responsible for education and schooling, institutes of higher education and research and cultural affairs, and in this capacity formulates the joint interests and objectives of all 16 federal states. With the standards for teacher education, the KMK defines requirements that teachers should fulfil. The KMK in this context also refers to the educational objectives formulated in the school laws of the member federal states. The “standards” thus formulate the competences for the areas of teaching, upbringing, assessment and innovation. Specifically, it has develop the following schedule of competences (cf. KMK, 2014):

Teach • Competence 1: Teachers plan lessons in a professional and appropriate manner and carry them out in a professional and correct manner. • Competence 2: By designing learning situations, teachers support the learning of pupils. They motivate pupils and enable them to establish connections and use what they have learnt. • Competence 3: Teachers promote pupils’ abilities to learn and work independently. Educate

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• Competence 4: Teachers know the social and cultural living conditions of pupils and influence their individual development within the school framework. • Competence 5: Teachers convey values and norms and support students’ selfdetermined judgement and action. • Competence 6: Teachers find solutions to difficulties and conflicts in schools and lessons. Evaluate • Competence 7: Teachers diagnose learning conditions of pupils; they specifically support pupils and advise learners and their parents. • Competence 8: Teachers record student performance on the basis of transparent assessment criteria. Innovate • Competence 9: Teachers are aware of the special requirements of the teaching profession. They see their profession as a public office with a special responsibility and obligation. • Competence 10: Teachers see their profession as a constant learning task. • Competence 11: Teachers participate in the planning and implementation of school projects. At the beginning of 2015, the KMK also adopted the joint recommendation “Teacher Education for a School of Diversity”,1 which provides concrete information on how the expectations associated with teacher education for inclusive teaching can be implemented in universities. Teacher education in Germany is divided into two phases: university education and preparatory internship. Both phases contain both theoretical and practical components with different weightings. Starting with a focus on theory and educational research, the first, academic phase introduces students to pedagogical practice in the university environment. The second, post-university phase reflects on the practical experience gained from a teaching internship in school. The relationship between university education and vocational education is coordinated in such a way that a systematic, cumulative build-up of experience and competence of future teachers can be achieved.

Conclusions for Pedagogy How can the standards of teacher education be implemented in academic teacher education and how can the competences identified therein be promoted among future teachers? The competences described in the previous chapter, which are to be promoted in both phases of teacher education (university education and preparatory 1

Englisch version: https://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2015/ 2015_03_12-KMK-HRK-Empfehlung-Vielfalt-englisch.pdf.

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Fig. 1 Outcome-oriented optimisation of learning and educational processes. Based on Sloane and Dilger (2005)

internship), show that a certain idea of learning and educational processes is being pursued. With the promotion of competences, an outcome-oriented perspective is taken, which represents the starting point for pedagogical considerations. The idea of competence orientation goes back to the basic idea that in learning and educational processes as well as in production processes, the four phases (1) input, (2) process, (3) output and (4) outcome must be distinguished and that the overall process can be optimised or corrected in each of the four phases (Sloane & Dilger, 2005) (Fig. 1). In the input-oriented perspective on educational processes, content and knowledge are taken as a starting point. The focus is on the question: Which knowledge should learners acquire? In the outcome-oriented perspective, the challenges, application opportunities and processes of the subsequent context—i.e. the pedagogical situation for which we train and learn - are regarded as the starting point. The focus is on the question: Which skills should be promoted among learners? The promotion of competences is then decisive for the selection of content and its structuring in the learning process. In practice, the outcome-oriented perspective can be seen, among other things, in the fact that teachers are aware of what a learning situation can achieve and how a given learning object can support this aim in several different contexts (e.g. work, education, society). Klafki captures this idea with his notion of the “question of the present and future significance of content” (cf. Klafki, 1980, 31f.). If curricula—as envisaged in the standards for teacher education—are designed to be competence-oriented, the focus is on the question of how the continuous development of teachers’ competences can be supported in teacher education. The basic idea here is that central areas of competence are cultivated several times and at steadily higher levels in the course of teacher education and that the content required for this cannot be mapped in a linear but rather only in an “action-systematic” way. A central structuring principle of competence-oriented curricula conceived in this

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way is defined by the term “spiral curriculum” (cf. Bruner, 1980). The spiral orientation and arrangement of the learner within a curriculum occurs in the form of a spiral, so that individual subject areas, skills and abilities recur several times in the course of educational and learning sequences, each time at a higher level. This structural principle is applied in particular to interdisciplinary or project-oriented teaching and learning. Here connections to Dewey’s ideas of experiential learning can be made. Dewey (1986) stresses that experience and its processing are necessary for the construction of new structures at a higher level. The process of constituting experience is circular and takes place through interaction and continuity. The concept of interaction stands for the necessity of referring to existing experiences which the learners have already acquired and the concept of continuity for the inner reference and the reciprocal influence of experiential processes which take place in different situational contexts. The competence-oriented perspective also focuses on the question of how the development of teacher competences can be supported pedagogically. Approaches to competence orientation that take up this focus essentially look at the methodological design of teaching and learning processes. Theoretically sound findings from vocational and business education and related disciplines are available for this purpose, which can be summarised in six key guiding criteria (cf. Gillen, 2006): 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Subject reference: Subject reference as the first design criterion of competence orientation refers to the fact that competence cannot be seen detached from the individual and can only be developed by the subject him- or herself. Development reference: Another criterion of competence orientation is the development reference of competence. This criterion is based on the recognition that competences develop during the entire lifetime and career. Interaction: A third design criterion for competence development is the criterion of interaction (3) and the interaction structure. This takes account of the fact that competence proves to be effective in coping with concrete situations of action and is developed within these situations. Thus, contradictions and disturbances that cannot be dealt with on the basis of routine structures can be identified as causes for competence development. Cooperation: Another special form of interaction is interpersonal interaction with other persons, here referred to as cooperation as a further design criterion for competence development. Cooperation with other persons as well as the situational framework of this cooperation occurs in the competence theoretical literature as a convergent aspect and is regarded as constitutive for the development of competences. Experience: Experience is named as a further design criterion for competence development. If one follows Dewey again at this point, competence development is the result of adaptive and constructive action processes of the subject with its environment and is understood as the result of the interaction between individual and environment (cf. Dewey, 1986, 291ff.). The importance of experience and experiential learning for learning at work is also emphasised in various

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experiential learning approaches (Bauer et al., 1999; Dehnbostel, 2010; Lisop & Huisinga, 1994). Reflection: The final design criterion for competence development is the criterion of reflection. It can be seen that reflection plays a central role in the development of competences. Since it creates the possibility of making people aware of informal learning processes and thereby raising the level of competence, it must be understood as a central aspect of competence development.

For the promotion of the competences mentioned above and especially for dealing with heterogeneity, approaches such as situated learning, case orientation, problem-solving strategies, project organization of learning or biographical-reflexive approaches come into question in teacher education. In this way, future teachers should learn that teaching and learning contain both instruction and construction (Reinmann-Rothmeier & Mandl, 2001) and the shift away from lectures towards coaching in school is necessary. In this sense learning at school becomes individualized and cooperative at the same time and puts “Learners in the drivers’ seat” (Watkins, 2019). Beyond these concrete approaches, it also seems sensible for teacher-education universities to develop an overarching conceptual foundation. In this sense, teacher education at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) follows the idea of Reflektierte Handlungsfähigkeit, which can be translated as “reflection-in-and-on-action” (cf. Schön, 1987) or, somewhat more loquaciously, the “capacity to act reflectively and to act on the basis of one’s reflection”. While reflection-in-and-on-action is continuous with similar reforms in teacher education occurring across the country, it is unique in its selection of the notion of reflection-in-and-on-action as the founding and the guiding principle of its reform efforts. When seen from the perspective of developing pedagogical reflectiveness, the various disciplinary cultures with which students come into contact at university can become so many resources for understanding the complex reality of the student-teacher interaction in classrooms. Rather than choosing between them, the various approaches the disciplines offer are each potentially useful perspectives for developing professional expertise in teaching. This is one of the central reasons why we have chosen reflection-in-anon-action as the key element of the vision for teacher education at the LUH. The cultivation of reflection-in-and-on-action in pre-service teachers means in this sense to meet some of the central challenges of the contemporary educational landscape while cultivating this reflective quality in pre-service teachers. If a sensibility for heterogeneity, individualization and collaboration in teaching are to be achieved, this reflective capacity should be a central element of teacher education.2

2

https://www.leibniz-prinzip.uni-hannover.de.

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References Artiles, A. J., & Dyson, A. (2005). Inclusive education in the globalization age: The promise of comparative cultural-historical analysis. In D. Mitchell (Hrsg.), Contextualising Inclusive Education: Evaluating old and new international perspectives (pp. 37–62). London: Routledge. Bauer, H., Boehle, F., Munz, C., & Pfeiffer, S. (1999). Erfahrungsgeleitetes Arbeiten und Lernen. In P. Dehnbostel (Hrsg.), Erfahrungslernen in der beruflichen Bildung. Boller, S., Rosowski, E., & Stroot, T. (2007). Heterogenität in der Sekundarstufe II. Einleitende Bemerkungen zum Thema. In S. Boller, E. Rosowski, & T. Stroot (Hrsg.), Heterogenität in Schule und Unterricht. Handlungsansätze zum pädagogischen Um- gang mit Vielfalt (pp. 12–19). Bruner, J. (1980). Der Prozess der Erziehung. Dehnbostel, P. (2010). Betriebliche Bildungsarbeit. Dewey, J. (1986). Erziehung durch und für Erfahrung. Gillen, J. (2006). Kompetenzanalysen als berufliche Entwicklungschance. Eine Konzeption zur Förderung beruflicher Handlungskompetenz. Klafki, W. (1980). Zur Unterrichtsplanung im Sinne kritisch-konstruktiver Didaktik. In E. Koenig & N. Schier, & U. Vohland (Hrsg.), Diskussion Unterrichtsvorbereitung – Verfahren und Modelle (pp. 13–44). KMK. (2014). Standards für die Lehrerbildung: Bildungswissenschaften. https://www.kmk.org/fil eadmin/Dateien/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2004/2004_12_16-Standards-LehrerbildungBildungswissenschaften.pdf [19 May 19] Lisop, I., & Huisinga, R. (1994). Arbeitsorientierte Exemplarik. Reinmann-Rothmeier, G., & Mandl, H. (2001). Unterrichten und Lernumgebungen gestalten. In A. Krapp & B. Weidenmann (Hrsg.), Pädagogische Psychologie (S. 601–646). Beltz. Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey-Bass. Sloane, P., & Dilger, B. (2005). The Competence Clash – Dilemmata bei der Übertragung des ‘Konzepts der nationalen Bildungsstandards’ auf die berufliche Bildung. bwpat, Heft , 8, 1–32. https://www.bwpat.de/ausgabe8/sloane_dilger_bwpat8.pdf [19 May 19] Vock, M., & Gronostaj, A. (2017). Umgang mit Heterogenität in Schule und Unterricht. Netzwerk Bildung. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/studienfoerderung/13277.pdf [19 May 19] Watkins, C. (2019). Learners in the driving seat. Teaching Times, 1.2, pp. 28–31. https://chriswatk ins.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Watkins-09-4-lnr-driven-SLT.pdf [19 May 19] Werning, R. (2014): Stichwort: Schulische Inklusion. In Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 17.4, (S. 601–623). Online verfügbar unter: http://springer.com/home?SGWID=o-0-10030-00&agld=2731279&download=1&checkval=5b6423b7b5145e14a93ce09422d844f8. Werning, R., Gillen, J., Lichtblau, M., & Roback, S. (2016). Inklusive Bildung im Lebenslauf. In H.-C. Koller, H. Faulstich-Wieland, H. Weißhaupt, & I. Züchner (Hrsg.), Datenreport Erziehungswissenschaft 2016. Schriften der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft (u.a. 211–230). Zoyke, A. (2016). Inklusive Bildungsgangarbeit in beruflichen Schulen – Herausforderungen und Perspektiven. In bwp@ Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik – online, 30, 1–20. www.bwpat.de/aus gabe30/zoyke_bwpat30.pdf [19 May 19]

Enhancing Teacher Assessment Literacy: One Approach to Improving Teacher Knowledge and Skills in Australia Chris Davison

Introduction Teacher assessment literacy is regarded as one of the most influential factors in improving student learning in the classroom, in particular a teacher’s ability to collect, interpret and use a range of assessment information to help students monitor and evaluate their learning needs, set achievable goals, and use targeted feedback from teachers and peers to improve their learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2008). This paper will first unpack some of the key concepts underpinning teacher assessment literacy and the development of an assessment for learning culture, building on the author’s work in Hong Kong, Singapore and Brunei. The paper will then focus on a case study of one Australian collaborative approach to building teacher assessment literacy, the Tools to Enhance Assessment Literacy for Teachers of English as an Additional Language (TEAL) project, see http://teal.global2.vic. edu.au/, which is designed to help teachers of students with English as a second or additional language (ESL/EAL) to use assessment tools and techniques more effectively so as to improve learning and teaching. The tools include four main components: first, a set of sequenced teacher professional learning resources about English language learners and assessment designed for small group or self-directed study; secondly, an assessment tool bank containing a range of assessment tools and tasks, including computer-adaptive tests, organized around the three broad macro-skills (oral, reading and writing), three macro-functions (informative, persuasive, imaginative), three stages of schooling (early elementary, mid to upper elementary, and lower secondary) and a range of English language proficiency levels; thirdly, a range of assessment-for-learning and teaching exemplars including a selection of annotated units of work across a range of subject areas and year levels showing assessment tasks with formative feedback embedded within a teaching/learning cycle, and finally, an C. Davison (B) School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_3

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online teacher discussion forum, including a password-protected area for teachers to share problems and strategies and to moderate work samples in order to build a community of assessment practice. The paper discusses the rationale for the selection of the resources for teacher assessment literacy in English language education and their potential to make a difference to teachers and students. The implications in terms of the process of defining and describing teacher assessment literacy for other systems and settings will also be discussed.

What Is Teacher Assessment Literacy (and Why Is It Important)? Teacher assessment literacy is regarded as one of the most influential factors in improving student learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie, 2008), however there is no common definition of assessment literacy among researchers and policy-makers. Some see it as data literacy, in particular, the ability to interpret results of standardized tests, others talk about it as the possession of knowledge about sound assessment principles and practices, for example, as in New Zealand schools (http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Assessment-in-the-classroom/Assessment-forlearning-in-practice/Assessment-literacy): Assessment literacy is the possession of knowledge about the basic principles of sound assessment practice, including its terminology, the development and use of assessment methodologies and techniques, and familiarity with standards of quality in assessment.

Why is assessment literacy seen as the “new” holy grail? Or as Popham (2009) ironically describes it, a bona fide ‘magic bullet’ for education? Much research evidence suggests assessment is the key to improvement in learning. Black and Wiliam (1998) have convincingly demonstrated the learning gains that can be achieved through well focused teacher-based formative assessment enhance students’ learning more than any other strategy across age levels and in different contexts. Hattie (2008) in a study of major influences on educational achievement (using 800+ meta-analyses) found that formative practice, in particular self–assessment and feedback, had the highest effect sizes (i.e., impact on student outcomes) out of more than 100 different instructional and contextual factors. For these reasons worldwide there has been a push to improve teachers’ assessment literacy, as well as that of other stakeholders, in part due to concerns that teachers may lack sufficient training in what educational assessment entails and/or may lack the confidence or skills required to perform their assessment duties competently (Engelsen & Smith, 2014). As Popham (2009) says “assessment-literate teachers will typically make better decisions …because we want students to be better taught, it should be obvious that today’s teachers must acquire more assessment literacy” (pp. 4, 6). This raises the question of what kind of “assessment” we want teachers to be literate in? Perhaps not surprisingly, given the traditional and high-stakes role of assessment in educational systems, researchers do not agree on how assessment

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literacy should be defined nor what it might comprise. Although many have attempted to describe this construct (De Luca & Klinger, 2010; Malone, 2013; Mertler, 2009; Plake, 1993; Popham, 2009, 2011; Siegel & Wissehr, 2011; Volante & Fazio, 2007; Xu & Brown, 2016), long ago Stiggins (1991) convincingly argued that the meaning of assessment literacy varies due to “the needs of the decision maker and the practical realities of the decision context” (p. 537). This implies that each educational system needs to develop its own definitions and descriptions of teacher assessment literacy to suit its own particular assessment context, as there is so much variation in what constitutes assessment knowledge and skills (for example, see Black & Wiliam, 2005; Brookhart, 2011; Davison, 2004, 2013). Only then will we know what needs to improve. This is the case for the Australian school context, in which teacher-based assessment accounts for most evaluation that takes place. In terms of its assessment demands and practices, Australia is very different from other contexts, as it tends to sit in the middle when comparisons are made between it and other countries, both in terms of its performance on international assessments; and in terms of its assessment system which is balanced between classroom level assessment and standardised assessment, with a strong focus on classroom assessment, and a long history of prioritizing assessment for learning over assessment of learning. In assessment for learning cultures, research suggests that teachers spend from one-quarter to one-third of their professional time on assessment-related activities, so assessment literacy needs to focus more on a teacher’s ability to collect, interpret and use a range of assessment information to monitor and evaluate learning needs, provide targeted feedback and help students set achievable goals than in interpreting and using the results of standardized tests, though that is still important. For example, in New South Wales (NSW) the largest and most diverse state educational system in Australia, the syllabuses advocate assessment for learning: This is a type of quality assessment that has had world-wide success in enhancing teaching and improving student learning. Assessment for learning gives students opportunities to produce work that leads to development of their knowledge, understanding and skills. Teachers decide how and when to assess student achievement, as they plan the work students will do, using a range of appropriate assessment strategies including self-assessment and peer assessment. Hence assessment for learning emphasizes the interactions between learning and manageable assessment strategies that promote learning, clearly expresses for the student and teacher the goals of the learning activity reflects a view of learning in which assessment helps students learn better, not just achieve a better mark provides ways for students to use feedback from assessment, helps students take responsibility for their own learning, and is inclusive of all learners, see http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/7-8/assessment-for-lea rning-in-years-7-10/.

Hence, research shows that NSW teachers are more likely to use formative assessment (including feedback to students) than the average of OECD teachers (and) teachers are encouraged to use a variety of assessment techniques that are valid, reliable and appropriate to the age and stage of learning. Nonetheless, there is evidence that Australia has some way to go to ensure that teachers understand how to interpret and understand assessment data and effectively embed assessment within a framework of teaching and learning. A 2013 Staff in Australia’s Schools (SiAS) survey

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reported that 25.7% of primary teachers identified the need for more professional learning in making effective use of student assessment information. The findings were similar for secondary teachers (CESE, 2015, http://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/ima ges/stories/PDF/Re-assessing_Assessment_v6.pdf). So in Australia, concerns have been raised about the trustworthiness and reliability of teacher assessment decisionmaking processes and teachers’ ability to be both “accurate” and “fair”; but also about teachers’ capacity to be able to collect and use appropriate information to improve learning. However, they are not mutually exclusive—both are important for effective assessment, with the teacher equally, if not more, accountable to individual learners, not just systems, and systems highly motivated to improve learning, not just rank learners.

Teacher Assessment Literacy in English Language Education The concept of teacher assessment literacy has only relatively recently been widely discussed and promoted in the English language education field (for example, see Davison, 2017, 2019; Inbar-Lourie, 2008; Lam, 2015; Scarino, 2013; Taylor, 2009; Tsagari, 2011; Tsagari & Vogt, 2017; Xu, 2019). This is partly because of the traditional dominance in the field of large-scale standardized externally set and assessed tests, but also because assessing English as a second or an additional language (ESL/EAL) learners is a particularly challenging area for most teachers. Recent surveys and reviews of language teacher assessment literacy have focused on the range of ‘components’ that comprise this literacy. Tahnanen and Huhta’s (2011) survey, for example, asked respondents to select the five most important features (in terms of skills, knowledge and abilities) addressed in assessment (p. 135). Tsagari (2011) undertook a large-scale questionnaire survey of the assessment practices of EFL teachers to inform the design of pre- and in-service teacher training programs in Greece. Inbar-Lourie (2008) provides a comprehensive description of the range of components in assessment literacy and proposes the notion of a framework to capture a holistic and integrated understanding of assessment. Taylor (2009) questions the mix among the technical know-how, practical skills, theoretical knowledge, understanding of principles and the context of assessment within education and society. In contrast to those researchers who try to define the construct itself, Scarino (2013) argues for a sophisticated form of assessment literacy that goes well beyond notions of defining the professional ‘knowledge base’ and ‘best practice’. She highlights the processes through which assessment literacy is developed, and teachers’ interpretive and reflexive frameworks that can be used to shape their own understandings, preconceptions and practices of the ways they conceptualise, interpret, decide upon possibilities and make judgments in assessment for learning. Scarino (2013) argues that teacher assessment literacy “requires… teachers to examine, in a critical way, their own conceptions of the assessment process and the conceptions of others” (p. 314).

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However, in Australia, the primary focus in English language education until relatively recently has been on developing more accurate, consistent and transparent descriptions of EAL development to improve reporting systems, especially definitions of the target groups for funding purposes. Much less attention has been paid to improving teacher assessment literacy at all levels, despite the growing emphasis on benchmarking student performance against standardized assessment outcomes which has created particular difficulties for teachers working with learners from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds generally, especially those teachers with a variable level of language knowledge and assessment literacy. In Australian schools about 30% of students require systematic and regular English language support, hence increasingly all teachers—not just EAL teachers—need access to appropriate and useful assessment tools and advice to enhance assessment literacy in order to support learning and teaching (Davison & Michell, 2014).

TEAL: One Approach to Improving Teacher Knowledge and Skills in Australia To respond to this need, researchers at the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, in partnership with the Victorian education system and Educational Assessment Australia (EAA), developed an innovative online assessment “tool-kit” to help all teachers develop pedagogically sound approaches to assessing the English language development of all students, http://teal.global2.vic.edu.au/. Drawing on Assessment for Learning (AfL) principles and Vygotskian theory, TEAL is for use by all Victorian school teachers to help assess the stage of development for EAL students in speaking and listening, reading and writing, to improve learning and teaching. All tools are aligned against the Victorian EAL curriculum, with potential for alignment to other standards by other jurisdictions. Following a practice what you preach model (Hill et al., 2014), TEAL was developed by adopting the same principles and promoting the same practices for teachers that needed to be implemented with students in Australian schools, that is, • by finding out initially where teachers were in terms of their assessment literacy • sharing learning intentions, setting clear and coherent success criteria and achievable timelines, modelling desired outcomes and leading—by example—to sustainable improvements in assessment, learning and teaching • putting the learners and teachers at the centre of the change process • involving students, parents and the wider school community in understanding and supporting reforms • maintaining confidence in the assessment system, and striving to be theoretically and philosophically consistent. At the beginning of the project development, over 150 experienced EAL teachers were surveyed to gather their own perceptions of their assessment literacy, using

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a suitably contextualised description of teacher assessment literacy developed by Alonzo (2016), in collaboration with this author, which prioritized collaboration and student engagement: Teacher assessment for learning literacy (comprises the) knowledge and skills in making highly contextualised, fair, consistent and trustworthy assessment decisions to inform learning and teaching to effectively support both student and teacher learning. Teachers aim to build students’ and other stakeholders’ (such as parents and school leaders) capabilities and confidence to take an active role in assessment, learning and teaching activities to enable and provide the needed support for more effective learning. (p. 51)

The survey showed that the EAL teachers participated in professional development related to assessment and many were undertaking further education/training in assessment. The majority demonstrated a belief in the ability of every student to improve, and felt confident they could identify appropriate teaching methods and tailor lessons to available resources, maintain confidentiality in dealing with assessment results, develop an environment of trust, use assessment to build students’ interest to learn, and reinforce the positive learning attitude of students. However, somewhat unexpectedly the same group of teachers indicated very low self-efficacy in a number of key components of assessment for learning, with a confidence level below 60% for the following very common assessment activities: • • • • • • • •

Gathers a range of evidence of student learning, 2.36 Designs English language assessment tasks, 2.45 Engages students in peer-assessment, 2.45 Engages students in self-assessment/reflection, 2.68 Involves students in the development of learning outcomes, 2.87 Gives feedback related to criteria, 2.87 Assists students in using feedback to feed forward, 2.98 Collaborates with family to establish home activities to support students, 2.98.

This survey informed the ongoing development of the online teacher-mediated ESL assessment resource centre through a process of researcher-teacher collaborative action-research. At the core of the assessment resource centre was an assessment tools bank, consisting of a range of assessment tools and tasks organized around macro-skills cross-referenced by assessment type, EAL stages and year levels, as well as the development, trialling and validation of an innovative computeradaptive test for vocabulary and reading assessment. Perhaps even more important though was the collection and provision of teacher professional learning resources to enhance teacher assessment literacy, including background material on assessment for learning principles and processes, and video and text-based resources to showcase various aspects of assessment literacy. In addition, the site included a selection of annotated units of work across a range of subject areas and year levels, showing assessment tasks with self and peer assessment and formative feedback embedded within a teaching/learning cycle, and, most importantly, an online teacher discussion forum—a password-protected area for teachers to share problems, strategies and work samples and engage in moderation/benchmarking.

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The development of TEAL was a bottom-up process over a three year period, involving the active input and training of hundreds of EAL specialists from selected government, Catholic and independent schools in Victoria and over 10,000 EAL students and their families. practicing teachers, teacher researchers, and other stakeholders, who co-constructed the format and criteria for each assessment, elicited feedback at different stages in the writing process, and trialed and validated each new assessment. Teachers were also involved in collecting, evaluating, and developing exemplar school-based assessment materials, tasks, and strategies; in writing and critically trialing professional learning activities; and in providing feedback on existing and recommended assessment policies and practices. The action-research involved the collaborative collection of detailed video and documentary records of over 1500 exemplars of student language use in authentic primary and secondary classroom settings, and the trialling and validation of over 60 different oral and written assessment tasks, and associated rubrics. The involvement of practicing teachers in the conceptualization, design, and development of the assessment toolkit is public recognition of their position as key stakeholders in the assessment process and experts in how assessments influence what happens in classrooms (Winke, 2011). More than four years after its official launch in 2015, this process of building an EAL assessment community has resulted in a sustainable teacher-based assessment system aligned with the EAL curriculum to provide longitudinal data and reports to all key stakeholders on students’ English language and literacy development over time, but at the same time innovative and dynamic scaffolding for the continuing development of teacher assessment literacy. The underpinning Vygotskyian framework of teacher assessment literacy as activity system and scaffold is described in Michell and Davison (2019). In the final stages of the project implementation, a pilot professional learning program was developed to evaluate and enhance the capacity of schools to use the TEAL website to improve their learning and teaching of EAL students, and assess and report on their progress. It also functioned as a field trial to refine and improve the TEAL website, and to track any changes in teacher assessment literacy over time and identify areas requiring improvement. From February–November 2016 there were six rounds of professional learning with 10 groups of three teachers from each school (EALD, content-area, leader), funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET) Victoria, and taught by UNSW, consisting of 6 × 3 h or 3 × 6 h modules, focusing on: – becoming familiar with TEAL, its rationale and aims, in particular, developing an understanding of the philosophy of Assessment for learning and giving appropriate feedback to students – developing a clear understanding of the materials and assessment advice on the website – reflecting on how to incorporate TEAL materials into the assessment of EAL learners – having opportunities to give feedback on the TEAL website.

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All sessions incorporated time for professional dialogue and for sharing of strategies to enable school-based implementation, plus action-oriented activities in the form of between-session tasks, such as trialing and evaluating TEAL common oral and written assessment tasks, experimenting with feedback or self and peer assessment, as well as readings and online reflections. Overall, a total of 182 teachers enrolled in the professional learning programs—a mix of primary and secondary government, Catholic and Independent schools, along with some teachers from P-12 Colleges and intensive English language centres. Teachers were asked to complete a pre-and post—program survey which showed that that over the course of the program all teachers gained a greater understanding of TEAL as well as feeling more ready and confident to implement it in their schools. Comparison of pre/post program feedback showed a doubling of participants’ understanding of the TEAL website (Q1), assessment for learning principles (Q2) and their use in their classroom (Q3) as well as significant improvements in their confidence in improving teaching and learning for EAL learners in their school (Q4) and their understanding of EAL learner needs (Q5) as well as their knowledge and skills in providing EAL students with feedback (Q7) and understanding of how to implement student peer and self-reflection with EAL students (Q8). In the post program survey, teachers identified the most useful aspects of the TEAL resources, including the actual assessment tasks, the criteria sheets, assessment samples, advice on feedback and self and peer assessment, the readings and resources, the links to the EAL Curriculum and the sample unit planning formats. Participants also provided feedback on the professional learning program, indicating that they gained most from: 1.

Getting to know and use the TEAL website, e.g. • Spending time exploring the resource and implementing it into my program. If we’d merely been told about it, it would still be sitting untouched in a folder somewhere; • As a school leader, TEAL is useful for leading other staff and delivering general EAL advice and PD. The site has some great resources for this; • Great opportunity to try out a range of assessment tasks, criteria sheets, readings and resources

2.

Networking with colleagues and sharing ideas and expertise, e.g. • Good to have all this professional learning with a large group of EAL teachers and learning from the presenters; Time to talk with others, share ideas and make connections; • The time to sit with colleagues and discuss assessment issues and structures within the school; • Ability to take this information back to inform whole-school planning going forward and to provide PD for teachers

3.

Knowledge about assessment for learning and how it empowers EAL learners and maximises their learning, e.g.

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• A wake up call about assessment for learning and not just data collection. I can do much better! • Promoting success for those who need it most. • Strategies and awareness of assistance to EAL students will benefit the entire cohort of students by catering for all needs • The program has inspired me and helped me recognise the need to develop a whole school vision and implement less formal yet consistent and varied forms of assessment for our EAL learners.

Conclusions TEAL is seen as an important resource for building teacher assessment literacy and professional learning in English language education, not just in Australia but internationally, attracting more than 10,000 pages views per month from over 20 countries. It demonstrates that with support and collaboration, teachers and researchers can build an assessment “system” which puts the learners and at the center of the assessment process. External validations have found the system to be theoretically and philosophically coherent, to be able to model desired outcomes and scaffold and support sustainable improvements in assessment, learning, and teaching, building an assessment-literate community of not just teachers but students, parents, and other key stakeholders. Results of backwash studies and other external evaluations show that the resources help teachers adopt differentiated contextualized tailor-made assessment practices that also have commonality, consistency, and public confidence. TEAL also provides an innovative mechanism for the process of defining and describing teacher assessment literacy and a model of what could be developed by other systems and settings wishing to develop their own unique support structures for the improvement of assessment literacy in their context.

References Alonzo, D. (2016). Development and application of a teacher assessment for learning (AfL) literacy tool (Doctoral dissertation). Sydney: UNSW. Retrieved from http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/ datastream/unsworks:38345/SOURCE02?view=true Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Lessons from around the world: How policies, politics and cultures constrain and afford assessment practices. Curriculum Journal, 16(2), 249–261. Brookhart, S. M. (2011, Spring). Educational assessment knowledge and skills for teachers. Educational Measurement, 30, 3–12. Centre for Evaluation and Statistics. (2015). Re-Assessing Assessment. Sydney: New South Wales Department of Education. Davison, C. (2004). The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary schools. Language Testing, 21(3), 305–334.

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Davison, C. (2013). Innovation in assessment: common misconceptions and problems. In K. Hyland & L. L. Wong (Eds.), Innovation and change in English language education (pp. 263–275). Routledge. Davison, C. (2017). Enhancing teacher assessment literacy in English language education: Problems and pitfalls. In Plenary presented at the applied linguistics conference (ALANZ/ALAA/ALTAANZ). Auckland. Davison, C. (2019). Using Assessment to enhance learning in English language education. In X. Gao (Ed.). International handbook of English language teaching (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Springer. Davison, C., & Michell, M. (2014). EAL assessment: What do Australian teachers want? TESOL in Context, 24(2), 51–72. DeLuca, C., & Klinger, D. A. (2010). Assessment literacy development: Identifying gaps in teacher candidates’ learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(4), 419–438. Department of Education (NSW). (2008). Assessment for learning in the new years 7–10. Syllabuses, 2 February 2016. http://arc.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/sc/afl/ Engelsen, K. S., & Smith, K. (2014). Assessment literacy. In C. Wyatt-Smith, V. Klenowski, & P. Colbert (Eds.), Designing assessment for quality learning. The enabling power of assessment (pp. 140–162). Springer. Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analysis relating to achievement. Routledge. Hermansen, H. (2014). Recontextualising assessment resources for use in local settings: Opening up the black box of teachers’ knowledge work. Curriculum Journal, 25(4), 470–494. Hill, M. F., Ell, F., Grudnoff, L., & Limbrick, L. (2014). Practise what you preach: Initial teacher education students learning about assessment. Assessment Matters, 7, 90–112. Inbar-Lourie, O. (2008). Constructing a language assessment knowledge base. A focus on language assessment courses. Language Testing, 25(4), 385–402. Lam, R. (2015). Language assessment training in Hong Kong: Implications for language assessment literacy. Language Testing, 32(2), 169–197. Malone, M. E. (2013). The essentials of assessment literacy: Contrasts between testers and users. Language Testing, 30(4), 329–344. Mertler, C. A. (2009). Teachers’ assessment knowledge and their perceptions of the impact of classroom assessment professional development. Improving Schools, 12(2), 101–113. Michell, M., & Davison, C. (2019). Bringing the teacher back in: Toward L2 assessment praxis in English as an additional language education. In M. Poehner & O. Inbar-Lourie (Eds.), Toward a reconceptualization of L2 classroom assessment: Praxis and researcher-teacher partnership (pp. 23–40). Springer. Plake, B. S. (1993). Teacher assessment literacy: Teachers’ competencies in the educational assessment of students. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 6(1), 21–27. Popham, W. J. (2009) Assessment literacy for teachers: Faddish or fundamental? Theory and Practice, 48(1), 4–11. Popham, W. J. (2011). Assessment literacy overlooked: A teacher educator’s confession. Teacher Education, 46(4), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577536 Scarino, A. (2013). Language assessment literacy as self-awareness: Understanding the role of interpretation in assessment and in teacher learning. Language Testing, 3(4), 309–327. Siegel, M. A., & Wissehr, C. (2011). Preparing for the plunge: Preservice teachers’ assessment literacy. Science Teacher Education, 22, 371–391. Stiggins, R. (1991). Assessment literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(7), 534–539. Stiggins, R. (2014). Improve assessment literacy outside of schools too. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(2), 67–72. Taharnen, M., & Huhta, A. (2011). Foreign language assessment and feedback practices in Finland. In D. Tsagari & I. Csépes (Eds.), Classroom-based language assessment (pp. 129–146). Peter Lang. Taylor, L. (2009). Developing assessment literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 29: Language policy and language assessment, 21–36.

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Tsagari, D. (2011). Investigating the ‘assessment literacy’ of EFL state school teachers in Greece. In D. Tsagari & I. Csépes (Eds.), Classroom-based language assessment (pp. 169–190). Peter Lang. Tsagari, D., & Vogt, K. (2017). Assessment literacy of foreign language teachers around Europe: Research, challenges and future prospects. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 6(1), 41–63. Volante, L., & Fazio, X. (2007). Exploring teacher candidates’ assessment literacy: implications for teacher education reform and professional development. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(3), 749–770. https://doi.org/10.2307/20466661 Winke, P (2011). Evaluating the validity of a high-stakes ESL test: Why teachers’ perceptions matter. TESOL Quarterly, 45(4), 628–660. Xu, Y. (2019). English language teacher assessment literacy in practice. In X. Gao (Ed.), International handbook of English language teaching (2nd ed., Vol. 1). Springer. Xu, Y., & Brown, G. T. L. (2016). Teacher assessment literacy in practice: A reconceptualization. Teaching and Teacher Education, 58, 149–162.

The Development of Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education in Taiwan Jia Li Huang

Introduction Since 1980s, many countries have implemented such strategies to control the teacher quality and to adopt new management models and quality control standards to improve public confidence in teacher profession (Whitty et al., 1998). The continuity of neoliberalism prevalence, leading to widespread marketization, competition, accountability, and privatization, has led to the provision of teacher education through a variety of channels. The experience of teacher education policy reforms from other countries affects the policy making in Taiwan (Huang, 2015). Taiwan’s Teacher Education Act of 1994 changed the teacher education model from governmentfunded and assigned to schools by planned training models of normal education to incorporate the elements of diversification and market-oriented training. This new model of teacher education allows comprehensive universities with teacher education program to train elementary school and secondary school teachers thus creating market competition that will enable schools to hire high quality teachers in Taiwan. Quality, as Pring (1992) points out, is to the fitness for purpose and quality assurance is to signify the implementation of the management system including ascertain managerial procedures and results. Just as Market-driven school reform requires the empowerment of principals and teachers, and suggests that decentralized schools are a valid choice for the creating of future better teachers teaching and students learning (Goodlad, 1991). Schools and teachers have to apply the notions of choice and management from “new public managerialism” to have a concrete effect on student achievement in a market-driven model (Bottery, 1996). This is known as “new public management,” which involves “empowering consumers” and “managing producers” to improve efficiency (Fergusson, 1994). Moreover, to achieve sustained customer satisfaction, a producer must adopt managerial measures such as quality assurance to J. L. Huang (B) College of Teacher Education, Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_4

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develop products of solid quality and increase consumers’ confidence (Feigenbaum, 1982). The similar logic for teacher education, government also uses the new public managerialism, such as evaluation of accreditation, license, and certificate, to prompt the quality on procedures and results of teacher education. Many countries have enhanced teacher quality by implementing advanced certificates,1 license, curriculum standards, alignment,2 accreditation, as well as by establishing professional development schools and appointing state standards boards (Wise, 2001). Quality assurance may entail allowing relevant individuals to collaborate in defining necessary competencies for teachers, overseeing the relationships between educational courses and their practical application, and formulating managerial strategies for teacher training and evaluation (Whitty, 1992). The more specific teacher quality management is the “three-legged stool” system that encompasses accreditation, license, and certificate (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1996). This system ensures the quality of teachers by accrediting or evaluating attendees of teacher education programs, administering teaching qualification license to them, and assessing the performance of in-service teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2002). In today’s globalized world, imitation among countries easily restricts the understanding of the sociocultural context of individual regions or countries (Luke, 2011), and the factors affecting policy implementation or change (Baumgartner et al., 2009). Ingvarson and Rowley (2017) analyzed teacher education quality assurance mechanisms with respect to mathematics achievement performance in international tests and reported the best performance of the pre-service teacher quality assurance mechanism in Taiwan among all 17 sampled countries. On the basis of this finding, the present study investigated the process in which teachers in Taiwan undergo preservice teacher education and proceed to be certified. Taiwan, with a convergence of Eastern and Western cultures, has a unique sociocultural environment in which developing and implementing a local teacher education quality assurance system involves analyzing the nation’s sociocultural context. This analysis is required to elucidate the system’s origin and evolution, and to apply quality assurance to create social closure for teachers and establish their professional status. The results of analyzing the history of Taiwan’s teacher education quality assurance system can inform its establishment and application in other similar nations.

1

Certificate refers to an official document that states that the information on it is true; or the qualification that a person receives when he is successful in an exam in Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/%E8%A9%9E%E5%85%B8/%E8% 8B%B1%E8%AA%9E/certificate); License refers to give someone official permission to do or have something in Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/zht/%E8%A9%9E%E5% 85%B8/%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E/license). Teacher certificate in this paper will be someone passes the regulations of being a teacher and teaching license will be someone can do teach in schools. 2 Alignment refers to a teaching quality assurance system comprising the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

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Taiwan’s Teacher Education Quality Assurance Mechanism’s Shift from an Institution-Based to an System-Based Institution-Based Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education Before the Teacher Education Act (TEA) of 1994 In Taiwan, the teacher education was institutionalized during the ruling of the Qing Empire. Till today, it continued to operate for selecting those would-be teachers, providing publicly funded teacher education, and developing course requirements (Chou, 2014; Chu, 1979; Sun, 1963). From the perspective of professional attributes, teachers receive extensive training and specialize in different expertise areas related to their teaching. Thus, teaching should be defined as a profession. However, this constitutes a network of a normal education (composed of 12 normal colleges/universities), and within this network, the cultivation institution serves as a quality assurance mechanism for its teacher education. Enacted in 1979, the Normal Education Act (NEA) ensured that teacher education focused on providing sound training to teachers and other relevant professionals, required a bachelor’s degree as the minimum educational qualification to promote academic research into education, and led to a closed normal education network by stipulating that teacher education be implemented only by normal universities and colleges established by the government, whereas courses in education had to be provided by normal colleges and schools, schools of education, and universities that offered programs in education (Wu & Huang, 2002). Normal education network disseminated and generated knowledge of education and equipped their students to meet social norms and expectations by providing them with contextual and life education that spans life training, moral education, and character development (Tang, 1995; Tsau & Liang, 2002). Similar to its equivalents in other countries, the normal education network in Taiwan has prepared a great number of teachers but encountered several challenges because of an ever-changing global landscape and political factors.

An Uneven Distribution of Teacher Education Market Planned and government-funded teacher education operating under the NEA failed to meet the demand for secondary school teachers of vocational subjects (Wu & Huang, 2002; Chou, 2003). Normal colleges/universities did not foster enough teachers specializing in vocational subjects, such as nursing, maritime affairs, agriculture, and commerce. Moreover, 38.4% of teachers prepared under the system ‘teach at public senior high schools’, whereas a mere 13% work at private senior and vocational high schools, indicating that teachers prepared by the system are disproportionately distributed (Chang et al., 1989). This led to the adjustment of school subjects and the recruitment of extra teachers, and subsequently, doubts about teaching quality

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in secondary education. However, during the amendment of the NEA, specifying the number of teacher students was not an objective for managing teacher education; after all, teacher shortages can be addressed by allowing alternative channels of teacher education (Chi, 2002). In addition to the planned, government-funded initiative, normal colleges/universities in Taiwan offer credit-based programs at the students’ own expense. Between 1946 and 1998, taking Taiwan Normal University for example, it enrolled 80,899 students; of which 52,571 were government-funded, and 28,328 were self-funded (Huang, 2015). This suggested that some teacher students pay to enroll in evening programs or postgraduate credit-based courses to obtain teacher certificates. All these forms of teacher education are implemented at normal education network; requiring students to meet government-stipulated criteria for certificate that are intended to ensure teacher quality. Therefore, to place teacher quality under the government oversight, the quality of teacher education hinges on how teacher students are prepared and is typically assured by institutions providing such training. By contrast, the number of teacher students does not seem to be a concern.

The Willingness to Teach of Teacher Students Was Challenged with Government-Funded Teacher Education In 1996, the Educational Reform Review Committee suggested the openness of the domestic teacher education market because “excessive protection over time has led teacher students to lose their competitiveness and learning motivation, teacher profession to stop improving, and teacher quality to fail to meet expectations” (Educational Reform Review Committee, 1996, p. 46). After all, teacher students with guaranteed job security don’t need to plan for their future; an action leading to a lack of learning motivation, achieving limited mental growth, and weakening teaching passion (Chang et al., 1989). Moreover, the rapid grow of the Taiwanese economy at that time prompted some teacher students to pursue further studies at public expense to improve their career prospects and earn higher compensation. This made teaching a less desirable occupation and lowered teacher students’ willingness to teach (Syong & Chi, 2002; Liu, 1990; Liu & Wu, 1997; Wang & Wu, 1984). An empirical study by Chang (1983) indicated unsatisfactory outcomes regarding improving teacher students’ professionality, and suggested that teachers exhibited low identity related to the teaching role and low willingness to teach for a living. Liu and Wu (1997) argued that even after openness of the Taiwanese teacher education market, selffunded teacher students’ willingness (related to the actualization of their ideals) to teach decreases as they pursue further years of study, and the same applies to their government-funded counterparts. Moreover, they suggested that the mediators involved in teacher students’ passion to teach demand further investigation. Accordingly, rather than ascertaining whether teacher students want to teach after they have enrolled in a teacher education program, further efforts should be exerted to ensure

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that they are competent and willing to teach before they are certified, and to create an environment wherein they are encouraged to teach.

The Influence of Global Trends in Teacher Education The increasingly opening up of the Taiwanese society led to amendments of the NEA. Many policymakers who had been to study in foreign countries examined the unitary normal education network in a broad-minded manner. For example, the book comparing teacher education systems in advanced countries (including Japan, France, Germany, and the United States), published in Taiwan in 1991, states policymakers to contribute to opening up the Taiwanese teacher education system. Moreover, drawing upon teacher education experiences from USA, UK, Germany, and Japan, Chang et al. (1989) conducted a survey of views on the amendment of the NEA and proposed that Taiwanese teacher education in needed to be provided through various avenues at both comprehensive higher education institutions and normal colleges/universities. In addition, they recommended reviewing and approving education professional subjects and certifying teachers through examinations. Huang Ping-Huang, a scholar dedicated to diversifying the Taiwanese teacher education institution, introduced the diversified nature of teacher education programs in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. He defined teacher education as encompassing formal or informal experiences or activities intended to equip a person to perform the duties of a competent teaching professional, or enable that person to execute those duties more effectively (Huang, 1989). Moreover, Huang argued that those who intend to help others learn should receive teacher education and obtain teacher certificate. In line with global trends, the Taiwanese teacher education system has opened up to allow teacher education to be implemented through various institutions. Nonetheless, at the time of opening up the teacher education market, policymakers neither seemed to be aware of the teacher education quality assurance systems taking place in other countries, nor seemed to notice the neo-managerialism prevailing in those countries. Thus, the aim of the opened teacher education market should be refocused to establish the professional status of teachers and improve teaching quality. In 1994, the TEA succeeded the NEA to address the lack of teacher students receiving planned teacher education, open the teacher education system to competition to improve the teacher students’ willingness and capability to teach, allow teacher education—in line with global trends—to be provided through various means, and shift the responsibility for ensuring teacher education quality from training institutions to the system.

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System-Based Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education After the TEA The laws legislated with respect to the TEA are as follows. Enacted in 1995, the “Regulations for establishing teacher education centers at university” stipulate that higher education institutions intending to run teacher education centers must hire at least five teachers specializing in the subject matters. The main mission of these five teachers is to teach those subjects, prepare necessary library resources and research facilities, recruit teacher students, and select students for internships. Promulgated in the same year, the “Regulations on administering teacher qualification approval and education internship3 to teachers of secondary, elementary school, and kindergartens” divide the teacher qualification approval into first and second stages reviews. If student teachers pass the first stage of the review (i.e., they complete the required courses and credits after receiving pre-service teacher education), they are deemed to be qualified for a 1-year education practicum. If they pass the second stage review (i.e., when their internship performance is deemed acceptable), their universities with teacher education must register with local governments to grant them teaching licenses. After one year of the amendment of the TEA in 2002 led to abolishing these regulations and were renamed as the “Guidelines for teacher education institutions to implement education practicum” which specify preparations (including eligibility criteria, forms of internship, task to undertake in an internship, and internship assessment) for arranging half-year education practicum. Since 2004, the teacher qualification mechanism has been replaced by a paper-and-pencil examination and if teacher students past the examination after graduating from university, then in turn attended a half-year education practicum. The “Guidelines for establishing the review committee on teacher education” also took effect in 1995. They were renamed as the “Regulations on establishing the review committee on teacher education” in 2003. According to the regulations, the Review Committee is a government-appointed group tasked with reviewing policies on teacher education, measures the development of teacher education, and the reform and revoke the qualification of a teacher education institutions, disciplinary action related to teacher education, teacher education centers established at universities, courses on education, and criteria on approving pre-service courses attended overseas. The committee also evaluates and coaches teacher education programs. Regulations on “Education professional courses and credits for secondary and elementary school teachers during pre-service teacher education”, “Education professional credits and courses for special education teachers during pre-service teacher education”, and “Education professional courses and credits for kindergarten teachers during pre-service teacher education” were all enacted in 2003, followed by “Education professional courses and credits for elementary and junior high school 3

The concept of practice teaching is different with education practicum in Taiwan. Practice teaching refers to the course with 2 or 4 credits in education professional curriculum in pre-service. Education practicum refers to a half-year of student teachers staying at a school to learn be a teacher after graduation from university.

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teachers during pre-service teacher education” in 2004 and “Guidelines for implementing a checklist of education professional courses for pre-service teacher teacher education and their credits” in 2012. All these regulations stipulate incorporating education theories, educational methodologies, instructional materials and methods, practice teaching, and credits of all relevant courses into pre-service teacher education programs. These courses, if even in different universities with teacher education program are limited by the regulations. In 2010, the “Guidelines for arranging to issue certificates to teachers of secondary, elementary, and kindergartens” were implemented, with a review team established to formulate the procedures for issuing the certificates and punitive measures against teacher education institutions that violate relevant regulations. The teacher education evaluation was implemented to assess teacher education institutions operating since 1996. Integrated with the government’s plan to regulate the number of teacher students in 2004 and the system includes grading and evaluation criteria and operates as an accountability-based evaluation. Furthermore, the results affect the number of teacher students the programs are allowed to recruit. According to “Guidelines for evaluation of universities with teacher education program”, universities with teacher education programs receive an ‘A’ grade are allowed to retain the original number of teacher students they aim to enroll; those receiving a ‘B’ grade are required to reduce the number of teacher students by 20% for the next academic year; and those receiving a ‘C’ grade are required to terminate the programs. In 2012, the second phase of teacher education evaluation was conducted on the basis of an accreditation mechanism to evaluate various items related to the performance of teacher education programs and to ensure teacher education quality (Wu et al., 2011). In summary, when normal education institutions are no longer deemed to be a benchmark for teacher education quality, teacher education undergoes marketization, leading to different mechanisms intended to ensure teacher education quality. These mechanisms are the Review Committee on Teacher Education, the mechanism managing teacher education programs, the education practicum, and the regulations on teacher qualification examinations. Review agent, evaluation, assessment/or exam, and certificate form the system-based quality assurance in Taiwan.

Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Pre-Service Teacher Training After the Amendment of TEA in 2017 In 2010, teacher education institutions argued that the TEA imposed restrictions on education professional courses for teacher qualification examinations, specified excessive details on the review of specialized courses, and created a considerable gap among the recognized subjects of prior learning granted toward teacher certificates. Therefore, by citing the autonomy of higher education, universities with teacher education program suggested that the teacher education policy, which emphasized

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diversified teacher preparation, should be realigned with market competition and allow universities to develop their respective strengths in teacher education. Accordingly, the TEA was amended in 2017. Clause 4 stipulated that teacher students shall be “equipped, on the basis of the Guidelines for Teacher Profession, with educational knowledge, professional spirit, moral enlightenment based on students’ learning, enhanced respect for individual differences and various ethnic cultures, caring attitudes toward others, and global awareness” and stated that universities with teacher education program should implement pre-service teacher preparation in accordance with “Standards for teacher professional competences” and “Standards for pre-service teacher education courses”. This amendment included the replacement of the “Guidelines for implementing a checklist of education professional courses for pre-service teacher training”. In addition to altering regulations on pre-service teacher education, the amendment of the TEA in 2017 reversed the sequence of teacher qualification examinations and education practicum, requiring teacher students to participate in a qualification exam before undertaking a half-year education practicum. After the amendment, Clause 10 of the act regarded teacher qualification examinations and education internships as parts of teacher certificate. Accordingly, teacher certificate now spans the following criteria: completing pre-service training courses (including general, specialized, and education-related courses), passing a teacher qualification examination, and undertaking an education practicum. Furthermore, the TEA is in line with global trends in terms of implementing education practicum to prepare student teachers to teach. It impacts on student teachers’ learning outcomes and practical performance to determine their eligibility for a teaching license and reduces the social costs associated with schools by eliminating those who failed the teacher qualification examination. Amended in 2017, the TEA ensures teacher education quality by granting autonomy to universities to develop their respective teacher education programs and implement standards for teacher professional competences as well as guidelines on teacher education courses to replace the stringent “checklist of education professional courses for pre-service teacher education”. Furthermore, it lets universities to adjust the teacher certificate procedures to elevate the significance of education practicum and allow implementing them in the same manner nationwide. This amendment was adopted to allow universities to provide teacher education in more distinct manners than those of the unitary model dictated by the original TEA (Huang, 2015) and to develop the autonomy of universities. However, whether the amended act meets its intended objectives and improves teacher quality still requires investigation in future.

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The Context of Quality Assurance Mechanisms Development After TEA to Market Competition: Conflict Between Teachers’ Quantity and Quality Whether the TEA, approved in 1994, helps address the teacher shortage in Taiwan and improve teacher quality by promoting market competition remains to be visible; time is required before the regulations legislated in response to the opening of the teacher education market replace those of normal colleges/universities. The act was hastily promulgated after the deliberation by various sectors of society (Chi, 2002; Chou, 2009) to ensure that the domestic teacher education market conformed to global trends, counteracted normal education network’s monopoly in the market, eased the teacher shortage, and aligned publicly funded teacher students’ attitudes toward teaching with social expectations. Considering its development, the teacher education market, which permits teacher education to be provided through various avenues, will not likely revert to the sole approach to teacher education in the future. However, the diverse approach has led to a surplus of teacher students and inconsistency in quality in teacher education programs; thus, additional mechanisms of teacher quality assurance should be incorporated into the market. As above-mentioned, such mechanisms change over time. In a sense, the development of Taiwan’s quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education points out to some conflict between the quantity and quality of teachers.

Changes in the Size of the Teacher Student Pool Since the TEA took effect in 1994, the opened teacher education market has had a surplus of teacher students. This phenomenon can be examined using data of the number of teacher education institutions and teacher students. Following is a brief report of each case.

Increasing and Decreasing of Teacher Education Institutions After the opening of the teacher education market, the number of teacher education institutions increased from 12 (the normal education network) to as high as 75, but as of 2017 this number had dropped to 51. This decrease in the number of teacher education providers was due to the following reasons: • Some higher education institutions withdrew from the teacher education market. They paid excessive costs for teacher education, compared unfavorably with their competitors in the market, or failed the evaluations of their teacher education programs.

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• Some normal colleges merged with other higher education institutions. For example, Chiayi Teachers College merged with Chiayi Institute of Technology in 2000 to form Chiayi University; Taipei Municipal University of Education and Taipei Physical Education College merged in 2013 to establish the University of Taipei; and Pingtung University of Education and Pingtung Institute of Commerce merged in 2014 to become Pingtung University. • Some normal colleges were incorporated into nearby universities. For instance, Hualien University of Education was incorporated into Dong Hwa University in 2008, and Hsinchu University of Education was incorporated into Tsing Hua University in 2016. • Some normal colleges were upgraded to become comprehensive universities. For example, Taitung Teachers’ College was upgraded to become Taitung University in 2003, and Tainan Teachers’ College was upgraded to be University of Tainan in 2004. • Some normal colleges/universities retained their respective names and reshaped their structures. For instance, five teachers’ colleges and universities of education exist in Taiwan: Taiwan Normal University, Changhua University of Education, Kaohsiung Normal University, Taipei University of Education, and Taichung University of Education. All these are comprehensive universities. With the introduction of the TEA in 1994, normal education network no longer focused solely on teacher education nor deemed to be the sole quality assurance mechanism for teacher education. From the perspective of social closure, developing teacher profession and acquiring a teaching license are difficult; after all, teacher professionalism helps a teaching to gain social trust (Huang, 2016). However, because the market was opened to allow teacher students to achieve certificate through various avenues, acquiring a teacher certificate has become easier. When this occurs, social trust in teachers may decline. When the teacher education market operated on the basis of planned, governmentfunded teacher education, normal colleges/universities were the sole guardians of teacher education quality. High school graduates who aspired to become teachers had to undertake a stringent and then lenient recruitment procedure: being selected on the basis of their colleges/universities entrance examination results to enroll in a normal colleges/university. To address a teacher shortage and meet global trends, the market was opened to allow other higher education institutions to provide teacher education and to implement a lenient and then stringent recruitment procedure. This allowed the adoption of measures required to ensure a high entry barrier to teacher certificate and the teaching profession. However, as normal colleges/universities continue to decline in the teacher education market and teacher education is simply an approach for universities to nurture their students, teacher education institutions effect on the environment for preparing teachers and the development of teacher professional knowledge is failed. An institution should be premised on its core objective and value. Quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education have complicated functionality; they are

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intended to ensure that teacher students develop professional competencies and attitudes. Although the cultivation of teachers’ profession is based on the professional knowledge gained through teacher education, what constitutes professional knowledge for teacher education and how to develop it as normal colleges/universities continue to transform themselves remain to be answered. Specifically, as normal colleges/universities evolve, the institutions and experts, those are necessary to continually develop professional knowledge resources for teacher education, may decrease because of reasons such as policymakers’ neglect. Moreover, cultivating professional attitudes requires considerable time, and as normal colleges/universities transform themselves, environments conducive to focused interaction and mutual encouragement are getting scarce. Because teacher education can be obtained at a variety of institutions, there is a limit to the social cognitive resources and opportunities required to qualify teacher students to become teachers. Additionally, although education professional courses, credits, and other specialized courses provide adequate knowledge for teacher students, they have imposed excessive restrictions, such as the name of course has to fit correctly to regulation; thus, universities have limited autonomy to develop on their own (Chou, 2015). Therefore, whereas teacher education is implemented in various forms, all teacher students are required to complete education professional courses, undertake an internship, and participate in a teacher qualification examination (Huang, 2015). Distinct from the sole approach, this diverse approach to teacher education helps to maintain the professional status of teachers. Accordingly, how teacher education institutions balance between professionalism and marketization depends on how the policymakers consider and clarify the meaning and system of teacher education quality assurance.

Increasing of Teacher Students Taiwan had 17,362 certified teachers in 2005 and 18,726 in the following year. After restricting the number of teacher students by government, certified teachers decreased in number. Table 1 shows such a decrease in certified teachers for a decade starting from 1994 until 2012. The number of teacher students eligible for teacher education was 10,615 in 2007, showing a 50% decrease from 21,805 in 2004. This decrease met the objective set in the government’s plan to regulate the number of students enrolled in teacher education programs. In 2002, the TEA was amended to shorten the length of education internships from 1 year to 6 months and define teacher qualification examinations as the final stage of teacher certificate. Taiwan had a total of 188,511 teachers in 2016, compared with 192,035 in 2015. Between 1994 and 2016, 193,764 students received teacher education; 66.83% of them (109,851) performed teaching (19,640 of whom worked as substitute teachers at public schools). By contrast, of the 64,273 certified teachers without a teaching job during the period, 33.17% did not do teaching (Ministry of Education, 2017).

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Table 1 The number of teacher students and certified teachers since 1994 until 2012 Year

Number of approved student Number of intern teachers Number of certified teachers teachers

2004 21,805

17,362

2005 16,658

19,853

18,726

2006 14,342

13,999

16,941

2007 10,615

10,311

13,136

2008 8,866

10,690

8,315

2009 8,245

8,740

6,932

2010 8,615

8,333

6,853

2011 8,493

6,218

5,641

2012 8,131

6,907

5,608

For further clarity, Table 2 presents the percentages of certified teachers in the teaching profession since 1994 until 2016. Table 2 Certified teachers percentages since 1994 until 2016 (Unit: n, %) Type of teacher education program attended

Total

Data period: 1994–2016

193,764

Type of teaching job

Number of reserves

Percentage of teachers with a teaching job

In-service

Substituting at public schools

109,851

19,640

64,273

66.83

Undergraduate 57,947 programs offered by normal colleges

38,079

2,826

17,042

70.59

Teacher education offered by universities

38,087

23,331

1,884

12,872

66.20

Domestic or overseas universities recognized by the Ministry of Education

14,157

10,074

669

3,414

75.88

5,983

727

3,445

66.08

Colleges of 10,155 education, undergraduate or graduate programs in education

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As Table 2 indicates, most teacher students who entered the teaching profession completed undergraduate programs offered by normal colleges/universities (34.66%, n = 38,079), followed by those enrolled in teacher education programs offered by universities (21.23%, n = 23,331). Of all 64,273 reserve teachers, 26.52% graduated from normal colleges/universities (n = 17,042) and 20.02% received teacher education at universities (n = 12,872). These data indicated that since the implementation of the TEA, over one-third of teachers completed undergraduate studies at normal colleges/universities and over one-fifth undertook teacher education at comprehensive universities. Notably, those graduating from normal colleges/universities but not teaching outnumbered those from comprehensive universities. Furthermore, the number of teachers prepared by normal colleges/universities who entered the education market decreased from monopoly levels to just one-third of the market, suggesting that the teacher education market was sufficiently liberalized. Consequently, the normal education network no longer serves as the sole guarantor of teacher education quality. This shift in the responsibility for teacher education quality assurance from institution-based to the institution-based requires that teacher education is consistent across various providers will be determined by who will be the one develop the system and specify the rationale (or the rationality of governance) beyond the system.

Teacher Certificates Value Decline After Opening the Teacher Education Market As Table 1 mentioned above indicates, the teacher shortage caused by the implementation of public teacher education was successfully resolved after the TEA took effect in 1994. Although the teacher education market was opened, the number of students receiving teacher education in 2007 suggested that teacher students increased excessively because of declining birthrates. Consequently, numerous schools downsized their teaching pools and hired teachers only when necessary. Increasingly, fewer students enrolled in teacher education and certain teacher education programs provided by teacher education institutions were terminated. In 2008, the number of teacher education programs at the secondary level decreased by five, those at the elementary level by two, and those at the preschool level by four (Lee, 2008). In addition, the United Kingdom had increases and decreases in the number of student teachers in the 1970s. The increases in the number of British teacher education made it difficult to ensure teacher quality, and accordingly underlined the need for direct government intervention (Taylor, 1984). The TEA in Taiwan did not influence on the shrinking of the teaching workforce caused by declining birthrates, and neither did it ascertain whether inadequate capabilities or scarce teaching jobs were responsible for some qualified teachers failing to undertake teaching. Consequently, the teacher education market attracting promising teachers and teacher education

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institutions strengthening their ever-weakening morale have become dramatically less likely to occur. Even after the Taiwanese teacher education market was opened, it remained plagued by a persistent imbalance between the supply and demand for teachers (Chang, 2002; Huang, 2014). This gap has led to credential inflation. Specifically, as the number of teacher certificates grows, certified teachers find securing a teaching job to be dramatically difficult, the opportunity cost increases, and teacher certificates no longer guarantee job security for their holders (Brown, 2001, 2003; Collins, 2013). Such problems arose from increases and decreases in the number of teacher students; as a result, teacher certificates have become less likely to create social closure. The absence of this social closure, which distinguishes competent teachers from their less competent counterparts, as well as the availability of teaching jobs limited by an excessive number of teacher certificates issued, is not because of inadequate capabilities but due to a shrinking teaching market, which can undermine social trust in teachers’ professional status (Chou, 2015; Huang, 2016). However, the declining value of teacher certificates caused by their growing availability underlines the need to investigate whether teacher education appeals to promising students, how likely and how much time and money are entailed to secure a teaching job, and how incentives associated with the job—if they are awarded in limited numbers—underline teachers’ professional status.

Teacher Education Quality: Behind Control On the basis of social closure as explicated by Neo-Weberian theory, all professions may deliver distinctive and crucial services under market competition (which corresponds with the perspective of professional traits) and transform themselves into new industries (e.g., high-tech and Internet engineering industries). Thus, judging from professional traits for social divisions of labor, as well as ongoing workplace and social changes (e.g., teachers being banned from punishing students physically and national healthcare insurance imposing restrictions on physicians), the boundaries across levels of occupations have increasingly been blurred. This has raised questions as to whether maintaining or improving teacher profession is necessary, and what exactly quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education are supposed to assure. The Taiwanese teacher education market evolved from government-funded teacher education to diverse teacher education, with the number of teacher students decreasing in line with falling birthrates from 1.775‰ of 1995 to 1.170‰ of 2016 (Ministry of the Interior, 2018). Furthermore, normal colleges/universities as quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education transformed to an system-assurance mode characterized by teacher “license” and “certificate.” A teacher certificate is obtained by completing teacher education program and passing a teacher qualification examination, and certificate is implemented across numerous countries and professions. Although the teacher qualification examination is a mechanism through which a teaching license can be obtained, it is not without limitations. For example,

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it does not cover teacher students’ representing the knowledge base for teaching, and lack criterion-related validity evidence supporting their use, or their professional attitudes (Darling-Hammond, 2001; Yeh, 2004). Moreover, the test contents and items covered in the paper-and-pencil examination dictate the knowledge and skills that a teacher must develop. Therefore, whether education professional knowledge is the exact professional knowledge a teacher has to require is still open to debate. Evaluation criteria of teacher education programs at Taiwanese universities differ in accreditation both literally and conceptually. It focuses on how well teacher education programs are implemented and the results influencing the number of teacher students is allowed to get recruit by the programs. Teacher education evaluation aims to identify the quality level of teacher education program and number of teacher students. The goal of regulating the number of teacher students launched in 2004 to reduce numbers by 50% was successfully executed in 2007 (Wu et al., 2011). Teacher education evaluations were initially intended to reduce teacher student numbers. However, when the second phase was implemented in 2012, it aimed at improving the quality assurance system for teacher education instead of decreasing the amount of teacher students, the teacher education evaluation should encourage teacher education institutes to develop their respective strengths, stabilize the number of teacher students they enroll, and fulfill the requirements of today’s diverse avenues to teacher education (Huang, 2013). But these goals whether or not achieved still is unanswered by evidence.

Developments and Limitations in Taiwan’s Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education In response to an increasingly democratized Taiwan, the TEA was implemented in 1994 to transform the normal education institutions-based quality assurance mechanism for teacher education into system-based mechanisms. This system-based mechanisms included pre-service teacher education and the first and second stages of the qualification examination, which were implemented between 1994 and 2003; the teacher qualification examination and teacher education evaluation system, which were put into effect in 2004; and standards of teacher professional competences, the standards for pre-service teacher education courses, teacher qualification examination, education internship, and teacher education evaluation, which were adopted in 2017. Taiwan compares favorably in teacher education quality to many countries; however, the development of its quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education is highly susceptible to political and social factors. An analysis of the mechanism’s development suggested that the Taiwanese teacher education market was opened to comprehensive universities in response to global trends and changing government-funded perception to address limitations in teacher education arising from the monopoly of the normal education network in the market. After the market was opened, the number of certified teachers grew uncontrollably

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because policymakers did not appreciate the implications of declining birthrates or excessive issuing of teacher certificates. Excessively issuing teacher certificates met with public opposition for reasons such as: (a) the quality of teacher education provided by comprehensive universities was subject to public doubt; (b) numerous teacher certificate holders could not secure a teaching job; and (c) teaching license, although not difficult to obtain, inspired weaker public confidence. Several conclusions were drawn from the aforementioned analysis and are presented in the following subsections.

Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education Change with Their Immediate Social Context Marketised teacher education policies emphasize recruiting outstanding teachers through competition as well as selecting teacher students through various means. Teachers prepared under a monopolistic education system are often deemed to hold conservative attitudes or espouse certain political beliefs. This is understandable in a society where only authorities prepare teachers. For example, during the World War II, the United Kingdom imposed “indirect rule” on teachers to implement a certificate system that invested them with “licensed autonomy,” which is a form of “licenses professionalism” (Lawn, 1996). This indicates a unique relationship between a state and its teachers in which the state places its trust in teachers and creates an environment conducive to professionalism to earn their trust (Hoyle & John, 1995). However, when a society continues to change, social trust is no longer concentrated in the authorities. When Taiwanese society became democratized, individual rights received widespread attention, prompting the domestic teacher education market to be opened to comprehensive universities. Quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education began to adopt measures regarding courses and teacher qualification examinations. A diverse approach to teacher education was implemented in response to global trends in teacher education. However, Taiwan’s teacher education policymakers overlooked declining birthrates at home, and although the TEA compensated for the teacher shortage, it still led to issuing excessive numbers of teacher certificates through a lack of control measures and a growing pool of teacher students. This problem raised several questions that are worth to do research: (a) whether it is necessary to regulate the number of teacher students and why doing so does or does not matter; (b) whether the social closure of teaching license, as characterized by their role in determining teacher professionalism, can be replaced by market competition; (c) whether it is crucial to maintain teachers’ professional status; and (d) whether increasing the difficulty of obtaining a teacher certificate and limiting their availability helps to establish their professional status.

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Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education and Teacher Students’ Reduction: Incomplete Intended Benefits The number of teacher students halved within three years after the original preservice teacher education courses, the teacher qualification examination, the teacher education evaluation, and measures for transforming normal colleges were adopted. When these policies were implemented, numerous teacher certificate holders could not secure a teaching job and the backbreaking experience of competing to enter the teaching profession for teacher students received wide press coverage. Thus, the credibility of teacher certificates was subject to public doubt and their value declined. Quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education were initially intended to reduce the number of teacher students, although they also eliminated less capable students, including those at normal colleges and universities with teacher education program. Because the mechanisms were developed to reduce teacher students, their function of improving teacher education quality was not adequately designed. Specifically, the mechanisms should have included not only written tests, but also authentic assessments of teaching professional competences. Moreover, rather than using the same criteria of fitting to all to assess teacher education programs, the teacher education evaluation mechanism requires improvement in a manner encouraging teacher education institutions to develop their respective strengths.

Teacher Education Institutions Reflect the Teacher Profession that They Once Did When the TEA was implemented to open up the Taiwanese teacher education market, the criteria for starting a teacher education program became loose, whereas those for teacher certificate became strict (Educational Reform Review Committee, 1996). Consequently, many universities launched teacher education programs or established teacher education centers without proper concern for the quality of their teacher educators, campus environments, or facilities (Wu, 2006). This negatively influenced comprehensive universities that provided teacher education as well as normal colleges/universities. An analysis of reforms to American normal colleges indicated that when the teacher education objectives and training courses of a normal school gradually decrease, the school’s status as a specialized agency for teacher education is downgraded to a “teachers’ college.” After these teachers’ colleges began to focus more on academic research than teacher training, they pursued domains that were irrelevant to primary or secondary education but lost their original strengths, compared unfavorably with comprehensive universities, and became “second-class citizens” compared with the agencies (Hwang, 2003). Although comprehensive universities with teacher education programs that appoint teacher educators to teach various

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subjects, conducting sustained and comprehensive research into teacher education is not necessary because these teacher educators differ in specialization. Accordingly, normal colleges/universities must transform themselves and assign responsibility for undertaking teacher education research to faculty members interested in this area. If such a faculty member does not exist, teacher education research becomes less critical. Moreover, whether normal colleges/universities can evolve into unique and high-regarded agencies in a competitive higher education industry depends on their development. Teacher education institutions embody teacher profession; however, they play an increasingly weaker role in the higher education sector.

Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education Do Ensure the Teacher Quality Under Market Competition Market competition underlies diverse approaches to teacher education and allows numerous universities across Taiwan to provide teacher education. It helps to ensure the quality of professionals because it provides incentives, such as fame and financial rewards, which contribute to cumulative assets, but it may not guarantee the effects of such policy in real world of teacher job (Apple, 2001). What a teaching job can have to offer pay or incentive to attract people? In Finland, for example, the selection of teacher students is fiercely competitive because the Finnish hold teaching in high regard (OECD, 2010). Similarly, competition in industries can improve quality because it enables individuals to amass their economic assets. Compared with other occupations, teaching is not a high-paying job; therefore, efforts must be made to attract more individuals to the profession. Industries can gain enormous fame and favorable public opinion; however, no system exists to specify job titles or promotion paths for teachers in Taiwan. Only when they earn a position as an administrative director or principal can they achieve high prestige. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are required to attract outstanding individuals to teaching. Therefore, because teaching does not reward high pay or prestige, public trust or the motivation to self-actualize may encourage individuals to enter the profession. Whereas numerous occupations have the benefit of pay rises, what makes teaching attractive is the opportunity of self-actualizing. However, how to attract promising teachers through market competition into this highly competitive profession remains to be answered. The opportunity to self-actualize constitutes a strong motivation to work hard in pursuit of a teacher certificate. Additionally, those seeking a job security may undertake teaching in times of economic recession. Because the teaching profession has its limitations, market competition alone may not encourage outstanding teachers to undertake teaching or promising individuals to pursue teacher jobs, unless a system plan for career development is put in place.

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Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education and the Actual Teaching Performance When normal colleges/universities monopolized the teacher education market, they provided basic, specialized, and education professional knowledge. Even after the market was opened, the Taiwanese government based teacher education programs on reviewed specialized subject matter and officially formulated education professional knowledge. To acquire knowledge about education professional knowledge, teacher students are required to attend relevant courses, earn a requisite number of credits, and pass a teacher qualification examination. Therefore, the amount of education professional knowledge attained depends on the number of courses attended, number of credits earned, and result of the qualification examination. However, attending courses, earning credits, and participating in written assessments do not indicate whether a professional teacher can actually teach, similar to how these criteria are not applicable to determining whether a physician can treat patients capably. Accordingly, assessing the profession of teacher students requires a diverse, continuous approach that considers not only the courses attended, credits earned, and results of written tests, but also an evaluation of teaching performance to determine how well they can teach during an internship and what their teaching attitudes are (Shulman, 1988). Teaching performance assessments can be implemented in teacher education programs for all subjects. They play a critical role in an education practicum. As Shulman (1988) suggested, the performance of student teachers can be assessed over time. However, education practicum performance cannot reflect the actual teaching performance of student teachers or predict whether they are capable of teaching (Huang et al., 2017). Thus, both procedures for assessing internship performance and guiding student teachers throughout their practicum should be made more rigorous. Furthermore, an amendment to the TEA in 2017 stipulated that teacher qualification examinations precede education practicum, making education practicum performance as a criterion for success in obtaining a teacher certificate, and that leading teacher education institutions across Taiwan should align their assessment of practicum performance with the same standards of consistency, reliability, and validity, adopting internship performance as a criterion for teacher certificate.

Quality Assurance Mechanisms for Teacher Education Ensure the Development of Teacher Professional Knowledge Considering the increasingly weak role of normal colleges/universities in the teacher education market linked to their transformation and improved university autonomy because of amendments to the TEA in 2017, pre-service teacher education programs are no longer reviewed in accordance with criteria for reviewing specialized courses or the checklist of education professional courses for pre-service teacher training and

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their credits. This underlines the need to revisit the fundamental knowledge provided by teacher education. Today’s education professional courses are mostly those dictated by normal colleges/universities, such as philosophy of education, sociology of education, educational psychology, curricula and instruction, learning testing and assessment, class management, instructional materials and methods, and teaching internships. In the 1960s, education research received scant attention among universities in the United States, suggesting that educational knowledge is a pragmatic, not esoteric; subject that is based on a parent discipline and offers no practical value. Educational researchers need to address such a burning problem. Teacher students should be aware of why they are required to develop theoretical knowledge, whether they must learn all educational theories, what role such knowledge has in teachers’ beliefs about teaching, and whether they can develop beliefs about teaching and teacher identity at university. Therefore, within an opened teacher education market, authorities and universities should ponder what knowledge and attitudes the teachers of prospective should develop, how to prepare teacher students for their examinations, what theoretical and practical knowledge they should acquire so that these examinations can be selective, and how to equip them to develop professional attitudes.

Conclusions One basic principle of comparative education research is to avoid formulating generalizations about participants from various sociocultural backgrounds and analyzing the implications of a system in the participants’ own sociocultural contexts. This study discussed the implications of Taiwan’s teacher education system in the sociocultural milieu, the limitations in the development of the system, and the challenges facing the system. The valuable and useful experiences of quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education in Taiwan are the attention to teachers quantity and quality in the context of demographic change, consistent system of quality assurance mechanisms, the position of teacher education in higher education, focus on the core of quality assurance mechanism for forming teacher job in higher regards, authentically assessment design for certificate bases on social trust, and sustained development of teacher professional knowledge by teacher education institutions. By presenting an improved understanding of the development of quality assurance mechanisms for teacher education in Taiwan, this paper is expected to inform the design of quality assurance mechanisms and systems for teacher education in other countries.

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Educational Improvement for World-Class Teachers? A Critical Analysis of Policy Implementation in China Jun Li

Puzzles of Educational Improvement Educational improvement is a wide concern for long (Jacob, 1855), and in recent years it has been problematized globally with the introduction of improvement studies or so-called improvement science (Berwick, 2008; Bryk et al., 2015; Langley et al., 2009; Lewis, 2015). Distinct from educational change, reform, development, betterment or innovation, the term educational improvement is often defined as a process as well as an approach of advancement in education at individual, institutional, systematic, national and/or global levels, in terms of such desirables as direction, intensity, extensity, velocity, sustainability, and/or other dynamics, through which challenges are taken and problems are solved. These desirables may vary in many things, such as vision, mission, values, objectives, equality, quality, quantity, diversity, effectiveness, efficiency, governance, policies, structure, mechanism, financing, planning, strategies, curriculum (programs), performance, accountability, impact, status, stakeholders, networking, uniqueness, to name some, and they are focuses of educational improvement studies (EIS) or educational improvement science. It is noteworthy that EIS has origins in health and business studies in the past few decades (Berwick et al., 1991; Langley et al., 2009). Since the early 1990s China has continuously provided a complex, dynamic case for the observation on how teacher education institutions (TEIs) may be improved to achieve world-class status, with various initiatives launched by the Chinese central and local governments (Li, 2012, 2016). Although recent studies have emerged

This chapter is partly adapted with permission from Springer from Quest for World-Class Teacher Education? A Multiperspectival Study on the Chinese Model of Policy Implementation (Springer, 2016). J. Li (B) Western University Faculty of Education, Canada, London, ON, Canada e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_5

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on China’s national initiatives, the dynamism and complexity of the improvement process implementing them by TEIs still remain as puzzles, especially at a micro-institutional level. How have Chinese TEIs responded to the national call for improvement? What might its higher expectation of teacher educators entail more profoundly? What has it reshaped the daily work and life of teacher educators and their administrators? And what are lessons of educational improvement that can be learned from individual contexts such as China in a global age?

Policy Context of China’s Improvement of Teacher Education Institutions China has several specialized systems of higher education, including those for teachers, languages, agriculture, medicine, ocean, forests, geosciences, or military, under the administration of respective ministries. Represented mainly by normal universities, TEIs are the largest system among them, and almost each of the 34 provinces, autonomous or directly governed regions has at least one of these TEIs. The latest wave of teacher education reform was speeded up by The Guidelines for Education Reform and Development (The Communist Party of China Central Committee [CPCCC] & the State Council, 1993, February 13) and The Teachers’ Law, both of which were enacted in 1993. It has been intensified since the mid1990s, with a series of key national initiatives, such as The Opinion on Adjusting the Structure of TEIs (1999), The National Training Project for Elementary and Secondary School Teachers (Guopei Jihua) (2010), The Curricular Standards for Teacher Education (2011) and The Opinions on Fully Deepening the Construction and Reform of Teaching Force in the New Era (2018). These policy documents have continuously served as initiatives for the reform of teacher education institutions in China since the early 1990s. Central to them was to improve TEIs’ performance in preparation for better teachers, based on such ideological assumptions as the modernization theory and human capital theory (Paine & Zeichner, 2012), in addition to Confucian pragmatism of education for individual and societal development.

The Missing Implementation Studies There is a plethora of literature about teacher education reform in China, providing insights into various dimensions of the institutional changes taking place. For example, a recent special issue by the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education provides rich narratives on front-line teachers’ responses to China’s national reform of teacher education in contexts of challenge and change (Gu, 2013). In particular, Lo et al. (2013) offer the policy context where the dynamics of interacting societal forces have created the dilemmas for the teachers, and argue that while the continual

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implementation of the reform has caused much anxiety among teachers. In a similar vein, Peng et al. (2014) examine aspects of teachers’ work as experienced within the context of a fast developing emerging economy, emphasizing a link between individual and national development and the pressures due to changing societal patterns and the demands of far reaching curriculum reform. There are a number of other analyses that addressed the reform of teacher education at the institutional level in China. Zhu (2008) reflected on TEIs’ institutional transformations with the reconfiguration of teacher education related faculties, schools, colleges and centers, which was necessary to ensure the optimization of resources for teacher education programs and to bring about greater professionalism of teachers. Taking the three cases of East China Normal University (ECNU), Southwest University (SWU) and Yanbian University (YBU), Li (2010) argued that three different “logics” drive TEIs’ institutional development, i.e. the internal strategies of the institutions, the economic pressures of the socialist market economy and the political policies of the state. Studies on the implementation of China’s national initiatives at TEIs’ microinstitutional level are lacking and empirical research is particularly scarce, unfortunately. Meanwhile, applications of various policy analytic frameworks, such as those exemplified in the pioneering research about the Oakland Project of Social Development by Pressman and Wildavsky (1973), the Cuban Missile Crisis by Allison and Zelikow (1999), or the U.S. Federal Health and Transportation Policymaking by Kingdon (1984), are notably absent. This chapter attempts to address these gaps by looking into the dynamism and complexity of the implementation of China’s national initiatives for teacher education improvement at the micro-institutional level of one TEI, based on the case study approach from a critical framework.

The Critical Framework Teacher education reform is “often political and contentious among people with differing ideologies, perspectives or interests” (Wang et al., 2010, 5). Since the late 1980s, critical policy analysis, coined by Bobrow and Dryzek (1987), has questioned “the nature of relationships in social systems, with the purposes of eliminating those relationships that maintain privilege and oppression” (Ryan, 2001, 315–319). It views implementation particularly as a means to redistribute scarce social resources and transform conventional institutions (Bensimon & Marshall, 1997). The critical framework carries a number of important assumptions. First and foremost, policy implementation is a complex process (Honig, 2009), in which institutional improvement is driven by various power relationships. Throughout the powercontested, benefit-based interactions, the reality of inequality in terms of economic and political status, becomes the forefront for policy analysis. Economic and political tensions and conflicts in the process of implementation are seen as universal, pervasive and long-lasting, since policy players are “political creatures (a fact that

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too many policy analysts forget) in political communities” (Marshall, 1997, p. 5). From policy planning and implementation to policy outcomes and evaluation, interest groups, especially marginalized individuals or groups, fight against the status quo and strive for change in their socioeconomic status. Policy problems are identified as to how privilege is maintained and how the disempowered are kept that way, raising “serious questions about the role of schools” in the reproduction of social inequality (Anderson, 1989, p. 251). Problems are considered resolved if economic and political tensions and conflicts are eliminated. The critical framework provides an appropriate lens to interrogate the dynamism and complexity of China’s implementation process at TEIs’ level, thus meets the goal of this study ideally. Secondly, as TEIs used to be a relatively less prestigious group of higher education institutions (HEIs) in China, the critical framework provides an appropriate lens to examine how the implementation process has changed their institutional status. Finally, the critical framework helps simplify the reality of the implementation process and also identifies what is more significant and critical for analysis. By employing the critical framework, focus can be placed on such analytic units as economic and political tensions, contrasting roles of various stakeholders, and varied policy implications out of implementation process.

Method This research employs a case study approach, identifying a “common case” (Yin, 2014, p. 52) among provincial normal universities, which provide the largest base for teacher education in China. The representative case allows for an understanding of the implementation process that has broader relevance, in terms of institutional mission, administrative structure and the common curricular provision of its kind. As a result, the site of the case was limited to a medium-sized city in a mid-leveldeveloped province in inland China. Based on this criterion, the province of Yangtze (pseudo name used throughout, and also for individual interviewees) was selected as the site and the Yangtze Normal University (YNU, pseudo name) as the case for this study. YNU is situated in a busy inland metropolitan area in east China. Though it was a comprehensive national university at its early stage, it was reconstructed as a key provincial TEI in the early 1950s. By 2019, it had 20 schools on three urban campuses with a faculty-student ratio of one to twenty-four, offering around 90 undergraduate programs registering a total of 25,000 full-time undergraduate students, of which around 35% are receiving teacher education. YNU’s College of Educational Science (CES) was formed in 2000, aiming to prepare educators, psychologists, educational administrators and researchers in these fields. With over 80 faculty members, the CES has a total of 1,000 full-time undergraduate students in six programs of teacher education, plus 500 graduate students. The convenience sampling technique was used for identifying individual interviewees from YNU’s CES which was YNU’s core school providing teacher education

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programs. A total of 17 interviewees were successfully recruited from YNU’s CES, with 11 leaders or administrators, nine of whom were male, and six faculty members, five of whom were male. The interview process involved several approaches for open-ended interviews, i.e., the informal conversational interview, the general interview guide, and the standardized open-ended interview. The field work was mainly conducted between 2005 and 2009 and followed up in subsequent years up to 2016. To increase the reliability of this case study, a chain of evidence was maintained, and ethical codes, consent forms and triangulation were used consistently throughout the study. Meanwhile, about one-fourth of the transcribed drafts were sent back to their corresponding interviewees via emails for verifications.

The Jigsaw of YNU’s Policy Implementation From the critical framework, this study focuses on the dynamism of the implementation of China’s national reform by examining how YNU’s various policy actors engaged themselves in the process and how their respective statuses changed. These policy actors included implementers, mainly policymakers and administrators, and participants who were faculty members. Both the university and the national initiatives required leaders and administrators as implementers and faculty members as participants to get involved in the implementation process.

The Roles of Implementers YNU relied heavily on its administration team to implement the national reform. The administration team included primarily the university leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and other policymakers and administrators. The administration team was under the direct supervisory leadership of the university CPC secretary and committee. Their roles in the implementation mainly included: (1) A routine job to implement policies delivered from YNU’s upper administrative offices, such as the MOE and the Yangtze Provincial Bureau of Education (PBE); (2) a special involvement related to strategic planning for implementing national policies by organizing various meetings, workshops or discussions; and (3) continuous endeavors to integrate policy goals into YNU’s institutional missions, programs and courseware. The fundamental role the CPC leaders played in a leadership or administrative position was routinely taking actions to implement the national initiatives according to their respective positions and associated political power. Usually, the universitylevel CPC leaders enjoyed dominance in decision-making and planning on campus, while the college and department-level leaders played assistant yet substantial roles for carrying out whatever measures were demanded by their supervisors, the CPC leaders. For example, YNU made the decision to establish the new College of Teacher Education (CTE) as an important strategy for implementing the national initiatives of

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teacher education. A vice president in the capacity of YNU’s CPC committee member was assigned to take charge of the overall planning for the institutional initiative and acted as the dean of the proposed new college. The dean of the CES was called up to assist the VP’s preparations. Together, they worked on planning the establishment of the CTE, which included an examination of environmental conditions, review of challenges the new school may encounter, and proposals for specific guidelines, strategies and steps for its establishment. Several implementers interviewed had leading roles as CPC leaders in the policy implementation. For example, VP Jiqiang shared his responsibility of decisionmaking and planning for teaching affairs. When the national initiatives were delivered to YNU, he summoned key implementers such as deans, department chairs and office directors to discuss the needed planning and strategies. Generally, deans and department chairs were the major implementers at a lower, micro-level on campus. Chair Caifei detailed his roles in these words: “I have to get involved [as the chair]. When any policy comes, as both an administrator and a professor I must get to know it and carry it out.” In his dual roles as an administrator and professor, Chair Caifei’s comparison revealed the roles played differently between implementers and participants, which was affirmed by other participants. Dean Enwei detailed that, after joining the administration of the college, his role changed in at least two aspects—he had to look more intently into what the national initiatives required, and he had to take note of how people responded to it. This required Dean Enwei to act as a mediator in the implementation process, which, being a professor, he was not accustomed to doing. The second role the implementers played was to act as consultants for strategic planning or ad hoc meetings of policy actions, by participating in working meetings, workshops or joining strategic planning committees. Both Chair Beihua and Director Gangyang mentioned that they were often invited as consultant when the university needed to take key policy actions. The third role the implementers played was actively engaging in teaching one or two courses by themselves and thereby taking measures to reform teaching. This role was typical and common for policymakers, including presidents, deans and chairs or directors.

The Roles of Participants The participants, mainly faculty members responsible for teaching and research, played specific, limited roles, however. Generally, there were three ways, two formal and one informal, by which faculty members got involved. The first formal way was to officially participate in some critical implementation actions, such as being a part of the credit system reform the university implemented since 2003. Usually, only administrators were required to be involved, but some faculty members, especially policy specialists or senior professors, were also officially invited to participate in this process. Prof. Peishi recalled his involvement and

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was proud that his several proposals were adopted. Prof. Ningdong witnessed that he knew some colleagues who were invited to discuss teaching reform, including initiating new teaching plans for CES’s programs. The second formal way for faculty members to participate was by accepting a summons to join ad hoc meetings in order to comment upon some strategic plan or policy. The third channel of faculty participation was informal. This involvement depended on the relationship between a faculty member and leaders or administrators. If a professor had a close relationship with the leaders, he or she would be likely to get involved in university policy actions. Prof. Peishi reported that he was often invited to provide his consultancy for implementation strategies, because he had close relationships with the university leaders such as President, VPs and some directors of key administrative units. Although professors had multiple ways to play in the implementation process, their roles were de facto passive and limited. Prof. Peishi explained in details what a technical role was like: That is to say, we are only consulted about whether a statement [of a policy document] is reasonable or not. To see if a statement is reasonable or not is to check if the statement drafted by the leaders is inconsistent with national policies of teacher education reform, or if it fits the real circumstance of our university, and if it is consistent with the commonly accepted terminologies of educational theories.

Worse than that, some professors perceived the current administration system as a bureaucratic stronghold discouraging or even suppressing their involvement in the implementation. For example, Prof. Ouying experienced very limited opportunities to be involved in the process: Let’s talk about the issue of young teachers’ upgrading their higher degrees. Before [the national initiatives of teacher education reform were issued], I was not encouraged to do that. But now the university has made a 180-degree attitude change, for it needs a highlyqualified faculty [to meet the requirement of the national initiatives]. This change of attitude actually gives little options for teachers to make their own decision. I did not have any options when YNU did not encourage me to do that, and vice versa now….academics are just passive doers, instead of being active players in the implementation process.

Obviously tensions existed between implementers and participants with each side competing for their own benefits and power. Compared with the active, dominant roles the policymakers and other implementers played, Prof. Ouying’s negative experience challenged the rationality of the current administration system at YNU.

Tensions Between Implementers and Participants Driven by the hunger for individual benefit through the implementation process, it is observed that both the implementers and the participants fought fiercely against each other for better economic reward and political status. As usually found in any large institutions in China, leaders and administrators at YNU enjoyed overwhelming

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authoritative power in the process, resulting in strong economic and political tensions between participants and implementers. Economic tensions. The income of Chinese professors usually includes fixed, monthly paid salaries solely from government budgets and performance-based subsidies mainly generated from various training programs by individual universities. The latter often accounts for up to 50% of staff’s individual income. According to interviewees, much larger amount of subsidies at YNU was allocated to implementers because their performance was often over-assessed. Director Futang used the example of a cake to vividly describe the disproportionately allocated subsidies between the administrators and faculty. In his observation, more than 70% or even 80% of the cake went to university leaders (policymakers) and other administrators, while faculty members got only 20–30%, at most. There were more hidden benefits for implementers than participants, and those hidden benefits were always guaranteed in terms of perks and bonuses. For example, leaders and key administrators enjoyed more opportunities of obtaining external research grants, which allowed them to commission up to 10% as their regular salaries. Other hidden benefits included large sum of money available to them for personal use, legitimately or illegitimately, such as the regular reimbursement of expenditures, e.g., monthly cell phone bills, per diems. Additionally they were also provided with fixed post subsidies which could make up more than 35% of their total income, whereas faculty members did not have any such subsidies across the YNU campus. Professors had to live on their regular salaries, and some of them had to choose to earn bonuses by delivering extra courses. When talking about the annual increase of salary, five out of the six professors interviewed shared the same observation: “Faculty members’ actual income is often much lower than that of administrators”. The interview with Prof. Ouying provided such evidence: Q: A:

Q: A:

I have heard that the distribution of extra income, especially bonuses, is unfair to professors. If that is true, does it affect their motivation of work? I used to make a humorous metaphor – this was a joke five years ago and is still being quoted – that is, the social status of teaching staff at YNU is like that of farmers in China’s old times. Is that exaggerated? Absolutely not at all.…Well, we do get some remuneration out of our course teaching, but this is only a very small bit of student fees. The administrators get the most….The reform in recent years has greatly widened the gap.

Professors were greatly discouraged by the income gap, but also took it as a political opportunity for actions to confront the unequal reality. Some of them voiced their dissatisfaction with unequal treatment on YNU’s Bulletin Board System: Is the university an educational institution or an old Yamen?1 Director Futang noted further: 1

Yamen was a government building in ancient China, and typically refers to the office or residence of a county magistrate. The term is still widely used in China today as a symbolic connotation referring to the old style, bureaucracy-based political and economic power structure in social life.

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Every administrator has around 20,000 RMB as their annual post subsidy besides their regular official salary, whereas professors do not have any post subsidy. Under such a circumstance, professors started launching public opinions to fight against the status quo. As they say, since we don’t have any post subsidy, we don’t have any responsibilities either. These actions can be actually viewed as backfire.

The faculty members’ strategy of going on the offensive in cyber space helped change their economic status to a certain extent. For example, fearing that professors might not support their claims of achievement at the time of the MOE’s Teaching Assessment of Regular HEIs, YNU leaders began to compromise with an income adjustment plan, i.e., setting up post subsidies for faculty members, too. The victory faculty members finally won required courage, since they might have been placed at a great disadvantage, as their confrontation with the leaders could have threatened their job security. The battle of faculty members affected the implementation process positively, since the result made YNU a more equal institution. Political tensions. In addition to the serious economic tensions between implementers and participants, there were also political tensions between the two interest groups. According to China’s legislation on higher education administration, YNU leaders were required to be elected, de jure, by faculty representatives from departments through an officially organized process. In reality, this process was always manipulated through backdoor operations, with voters’ individual rights being disregarded. Some interviewees were very angry about this black box and adopted a strategy of disobedience and noncooperation to confront it. Chair Inling told about the strategy she adopted to invalidate the legitimacy of the official voting process in the following way: The official process for voting for a leader in our university seems to be very democratic. For example, it will allow us to vote and to participate….but the final selection of a university leader really has nothing to do with individual votes. Everybody knows it, and we all know our votes are useless. Therefore, we just take it easy – we just randomly pick up any name on the ballot. I know my careless vote may have a negative impact on those who were selected “secretly” in the black box.

Different from Chair Inling’s strategy of political disobedience, some faculty members adopted collective bargaining as an approach to fight against the unsatisfactory reality. For instance, in 2005, YNU leaders and administrators launched a new round of reform on health insurance, aiming at reducing the university insurance expenditures by cutting down the health benefits of most faculty members. Some senior faculty members, including those who were retired, collectively sent protest letters that expressed their deep concerns to the Yangtze PBE and the CPC’s Provincial Congress. YNU leaders were very much pressured, and the proposal was finally postponed, indefinitely. Many interviewees believed that the biggest problem in the implementation of the national initiatives was the university’s frustrating academic environment embedded in the official-centered bureaucracy. Such an environment made professors unable to focus on teaching and research: They were always eager to have a better political status on campus by getting involved in the administration system instead of teaching and research. In addition, the official-centered bureaucracy had a negative impact

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on teachers’ autonomy and academic freedom, in that implementers had stronger political and economic power to control a professor’s decision on how to teach and research, and the professor would feel threatened if he or she did not follow the imperatives passed down by implementers. It is observed that YNU’s faculty members took collective measures to “transform the fundamental nature of the conditions under which they work” (Giroux, 1988, xxxii). The strong economic and political tensions between implementers and participants showed that these conflicts were actually universal throughout the implementation process. In many cases, these conflicts were unavoidable problems in the policy implementation. But they also opened up more, ongoing opportunities for both participants and implementers to be positively involved and compromised, driven by the pragmatic struggle for their respective economic and political benefits, in addition to such Confucian values they both uphold as that teacher education should be attached to high importance for individual and societal development.

The Maze of Multileveled Process The implementation of China’s initiatives of teacher education reform has taken place at multiple levels, i.e., micro, meso and macro, which together created a maze of multileveled complexities. As a provincial key normal university, YNU usually receives national policies from the Yangtze PBE. Whenever a national policy is officially passed down, YNU would hold special working meetings to set up concrete policy goals and strategies. Such a policy flow is typical in Chinese socio-political context. At this micro level, the process touched on everybody’s professional life on the YNU campus and almost every dimension of the institution. Among others, implementers at YNU were the first and primary group who were involved since the national reform was launched and in the mid-1990s. The cadre included YNU leaders and key actors, such as the CPC Secretary, President, Directors of various administrative offices and units, Deans of Colleges and Chairs of Departments, and other administrative staff. In addition, faculty members and students as well were also involved or affected in one way or another in the process, as revealed earlier in this article. Various interactions and accompanying relationships emerged, developed and changed among these actors and participants, along with the unfolding of the national initiative at YNU (see Fig. 1). Without doubt, the micro level is interwoven in the meso level, i.e., PBEs. Although this level is not the focus of this study, PBEs catered for the implementation process at an intermediate level between the MOE and individual TEIs in China. Oftentimes, national policies were delivered either via the official channel from the MOE to TEIs directly or via PBEs indirectly. As a key provincial TEI, YNU usually received national policies from the Yangtze PBE. Once the Yangtze PBE officially passed down a national policy, YNU usually held one or a series of special working meetings immediately to implement it, and the implementation goals and strategies

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Fig. 1 The maze of multileveled implementation (From Li (2020), p. 997)

were put into place soon after these meetings. In this process, the Yangtze PBE served as a conveyor or a buffer agency at the meso level. It is very common that TEIs are generally under MOE’s supervision at the macro level, and the national initiatives of teacher education reform have been driven by the Chinese central government, that has adopted “soft authoritarianism” (Winckler, 1984) or “new authoritarianism” (Klein, 2010). Although local governments began to enjoy more freedom, the Chinese political system has remained highly centralized. Under such a sociopolitical context, the implementation was fundamentally shaped by the top Chinese policymakers to improve the overall quality of the teaching workforce and thus to enhance China’s national achievement and competitiveness.

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Implications for Educational Improvement When looking into the dynamism in the implementation of YNU’s teacher education reform, it is clearly observable that the institution experienced tremendous improvements for intended better status. The following policy implications can be teased out from the Chinese case by the critical lens employed in this study.

The Complexity of the Implementation Over decades, the research focus on implementation has evolved from “what gets implemented” to “what gets implemented over time” and finally to “what works”, as reviewed by Odden (1991). The current state of the field has called for deeper understanding of the complexity of various dimensions in the contested process, and how and why interactions among them shape implementation in particular ways (Honig, 2009, p. 336). The implementation of China’s teacher education reform has been a multileveled process, and these levels have created the unavoidable maze of complexities. The amorphous complexity of various factors in the multi-levels have interesting implications for the analysis of “what works”, a central concern for the so-called thirdgeneration studies on education policy implementation (Honig, 2009). Some theorists of complexity tend to assume that such a complexity may have negative impact on the effectiveness of implementation (Wheatley, 2006; Radford, 2006).The findings of this study have to some extent challenged this dominant view, however, and have revealed that it also has positive impact on the outcomes of implementation, at least within the Chinese socio-political context. For example, the hierarchical structure in these levels has worked effectively for the best outcomes possible and various actors in the three levels—including both implementers and participants—have been working “concertedly” with their varied roles for institutional development, which can be viewed as collectivism in a Confucian term. Through the examination of three policy movements for the U.S. schools, i.e., the Standard-based Reform, the Comprehensive School Reform and the District Level Reform, Datnow and Park (2009) found that it is the intersection of “culture, structure, and individual agency across contexts” that helps better understand how to build positive instances of educational reform (p. 359). Furthermore, Rueda and Stillman (2012) have proposed that “a cultural approach” is demanded for the reform of teacher education. In the Chinese case, the uniqueness of socio-political and cultural factors serves as a key feature of the Chinese model of policy implementation, which must be taken into account for the examination of what may or may not work.

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The Contested Battlefield in the Improvement Process The complexity of the jigsaw is also notable in the economic and political tensions between implementers and participants. To critical theorists, policy implementation per se is a dynamic process driven and contested by various actors and stakeholders, the “political creatures” (Marshall, 1997, p. 5) who seek only for their individual benefits, power and status, as manifested in economic and political tensions. The hunger for socio-political advantages, benefits and power is pervasive throughout the process and everywhere inside and outside the institution and its surrounding environment, though individual stakeholders and groups had to work together for many common policy goals. YNU employed what was believed to be the most efficient system to evaluate the overall outcomes of the implementation. But these improvements were evaluated and interpreted individually by the implementers and the participants due to their contrasting socio-political stances—some viewed them as ineffective, if not a failure, while others deemed them as successful. As a result, the economic and political tensions explained why the outcomes of the implementation at YNU were perceived as controversial. When the critical perspective is applied, the analysis of a policy implementation process is not limited to answering why intended outcomes are not strictly consistent with policy goals, as scientifically planned from a rational perspective, but to respond to the inquiry of who is doing and gaining what and how. Special attention is given to the dynamism in the process which is driven by various players who actively seek their diverse and individual interests. The critical perspective is therefore of great use to explore the contested process, full of aspects and intricacies that would be easily missed by any other lens (Malen & Knapp, 1997).

Limitations of the Study While the critical framework has its power in the interrogation of the dynamism and complexity of the politically contested ground of China’s national reform of teacher education, it is also confined by certain theoretical limitations. China’s initiatives have been driven by a number of ideological assumptions, e.g., those from the human capital theory and modernization theory. Such rational thinking, with a strong catchup mentality, has been widely and firmly held by Chinese leaders and policymakers across the country, by implementers and participants at TEIs, and by the general public. It is due to such a mentality of rational thinking, together with the positive factors of economic and political tensions, inter alia, that the implementation managed to achieve remarkable outcomes over two decades, as shown respectively in Shanghai students’ excellence in PISA 2009 and 2012, in the three “logics” found from her case studies of ECNU, SWU and YBU (Li, 2010), and in the nation-wide

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debate on the new reconfiguration of faculties and colleges of education within TEIs (Zhu, 2008). The critical framework may pay less attention to, if not totally ignore, the fact that public policy is nevertheless a rational, purposeful and collective course to achieve proposed goals (Fowler, 2013). The rational dimensions of demand-driven policy actions and unified endeavors are thus not fully capturable and illustratable—and sometimes missing—by the critical framework used to put together the jigsaw as a whole. It is expected that the findings presented in this article would have provided a more comprehensive, thicker account of the implementation process, if the critical framework had been employed in parallel with alternative perspectives such as rational, normative, organizational and/or symbolic frameworks (Malen & Knapp, 1997). Additionally, the single TEI selected as the only case for this study also limits the theoretical power of the interpretations of its findings. Although YNU was purposefully selected as an information-rich site to look into TEIs’ institutional transformations, it can at most offer typical information about provincial TEIs but not necessarily all TEIs in China. As Yin (2014) maintains, multiple-case designs have some obvious advantages, including the larger body of evidence, which makes them more compelling and robust, and thus can offer a more comprehensive picture of the studied phenomenon. It is desirable to have multiple cases, ideally selected from the top echelon of key national TEIs to low profile normal schools, to more comprehensively understand the momentum of institutional responses to China’s national call for an excellent teacher force. In addition, the alternative investigation of multiple cases will help further examine to what extent the Chinese cultural context of policy implementation is applicable.

Conclusion This study provides a somewhat eclectic interrogation, at the micro-institutional level, into the dynamic and complex implementation of China’s national initiatives for teacher education improvement since the 1990s. Facing the higher socio-political expectation for world-class teachers, China has remarkably transformed its TEIs into an open, hybrid system over two decades. When the critical framework is applied, the dynamic implementation process at YNU can be viewed as a benefit-driven, power-based redistribution of national and institutional resources. The often conflicting relationships between implementers and participants became the central terrain in the process, along tensions pervasive in the institution driven by the hunger for individual economic and political benefits. The respective roles played by them served as the main vehicle for battles for their respective better status on campus and outside the institution. As a corollary, various tensions between them were inevitable, and ubiquitous indeed. The improvements brought about by YNU’s implementation, were interpreted contrastingly by individual groups across its campus. Meanwhile, the unavoidable complexity of

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China’s reform for a world-class teacher education system at national, provincial and local levels explains “what works” in the implementation process, as concerned widely by policy analysts. Unlike the conventional view that often identifies such a complexity as a negative factor that “does not work” (Wheatley, 2006; Radford, 2006), YNU’s implementation has proved it as both “what works” and “what does not work” for intended educational improvements in China’s socio-political context. These findings challenge the predominance of instrumental rationality in the studies of implementation. Although significant improvements took place since the implementation, various challenges arising from YNU’s responses to China’s national call for excellence and accountability in teacher education still existed. In addition, there were some dimensions unexplainable purely from the critical perspective. Further studies are desirable to examine the phenomenon of educational improvement in a more balanced way with enhanced design and alternative perspectives. Nevertheless, through the interrogation of how a typical TEI responded to the national improvement of teacher education for world-class teachers in China since the 1990s, it is concluded that China has systematically improved its teacher education system to a new page of teacher professionalism over two decades. Its complex process is evident from the critical framework, featured with conflicting yet concerted dynamism, though its observable outcomes shown in PISA 2009 and 2012 results of Shanghai students need to be further examined with more solid evidence and complementary lenses. The evidence garnered from the China case provides invaluable opportunities for looking for improvement experiences about how national initiatives may be translated to institutional advancement throughout implementation. The implications revealed by this study on EIS shed new light on policy studies of teacher education improvement in particular and public policy actions more generally, which may serve as an alternative improvement option for other socio-political contexts seeking for world-class teachers in a global age.

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of the economic development administration as told by two sympathetic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hopes (3rd ed.). University of California Press. Radford, M. (2006). Researching classrooms: Complexity and chaos. British Educational Research Journal, 32, 177–190. Rueda, R., & Stillman, J. (2012). The 21st century teacher: A cultural perspective. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(4), 245–253. Ryan, B. (2001). Identity politics: The past, the present, and the future. In B. Ryan (Ed.), Identity politics in the women’s movement (pp. 315–319). New York University Press. The Ministry of Education. (2002, February 6). Guanyu shiwu qijian jiaoshi jiaoyu gaige yu fazhan de yijian [The opinion on the reform and development of teacher education during the tenth fiveyear national plan]. Retrieved September 25, 2019, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A10/ s7058/200203/t20020301_162696.html Wang, J., Spalding, E., Odell, S. J., Klecka, C. L., & Lin, E. (2010). Bold ideas for improving teacher education and teaching: What we see, hear, and think. The Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1–2), 3–15. Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler. Winckler, E. A. (1984). Institutionalization and participation on Taiwan: From Hard to Soft Authoritarianism? The China Quarterly, 99, 481–499. Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage. Zhu, X. D. (2008). Liusuo shifansheng mianfei jiaoyu de daxue chengli jiaoshi (jiaoyu) xueyuan de jiazhi yanjiu [A study on the values of the establishment of schools of teachers (education) in the six universities with free programs for teacher education students]. Higher Education Research and Evaluation, 9, 10–18.

Jun Li is Chair and Professor of the Academic and Research Cluster of Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership at Western University Faculty of Education in Canada, and Vice President (and President Designate) of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). He served as Chairman of the Hong Kong Educational Research Association (2014–2017), President of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong (2012–2014), and Deputy Director of the Education Policy Unit of the University of Hong Kong. He is a founding editor for the CIES Book Series of Education in Global Perspective (2018–President), and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Comparative Education Review, the Editorial Board of Beijing International Review of Education, and as an advisory professor of various universities. He has worked with the UNESCO, the World Bank, and extensively published, with many academic books and over a hundred journal articles/book chapters in English, Chinese or Japanese, including his authored book Quest for World-Class Teacher Education? A Multiperspectival Study on the Chinese Model of Policy Implementation (Springer, 2016), co-authored book Portraits of 21st Century Chinese Universities: In the Move to Mass Higher Education (Springer/CERC, 2011), and co-edited books International Status Anxiety and Higher Education: Soviet Legacy in China and Russia (Springer/CERC, 2018) and Measuring up in Higher Education: How University Rankings and League Tables Are Reshaping Knowledge Production in the Global Era (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). He is often invited for keynote speeches around the globe, as well as interviewed on education and/or China by The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Global Times, China Daily, South China Morning Post, and China Central Television (CCTV), etc.

Professional Ethics and Conduct: Perspectives of Chinese Pre-Service Teachers Yibing Liu, Caixia Sun, Li Tao, and John Chi-Kin Lee

Introduction Teaching has been called both a vocation and a profession. Vocation and profession have certain broad similarities, such as recognition via registration, certification, and licensure. Carr (2000, p. 23) and Greenwood (1962, p. 206) both pointed to the existence of a code of ethics or a code of practice with an ethical dimension (Parhizgar & Parhizgar, 2005, p. 99) for professions. A call for teacher quality and quality teaching is gaining attention internationally, not only sound pedagogical practices but also associated teaching values and beliefs and professional ethics. The Chinese government has attached great importance to the construction of teachers’ team, and especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, have promulgated a series of teachers’ team policies, such as “Opinions on Comprehensively Deepening the Reform of Teachers’ Team”《关于全面深化新时代教师队伍建设改革的意见》 (Retrieved July 28th 2020 from http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/moe_1946/fj_2018/201801/ t20180131_326148.html》(Published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and The State Council of China) (中共中央国务院), “Action Plan for the Y. Liu Southwest University, Chongqing, China e-mail: [email protected] C. Sun Huzhou University, Huzhou, China e-mail: [email protected] L. Tao (B) Hubei Normal University, Huangshi, China e-mail: [email protected] J. C.-K. Lee The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_6

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Revitalization of Teacher Education(2018–2022)”《教师教育振兴行动计划 (2018– 2022)》 (Retrieved July 28th 2020 from http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A10/moe_1801/ ztzl_jsjyzx/mtbd/201804/t20180419_333635.html) (released by the Ministry of Education and other five departments), “Ten Guidelines for Teachers Professional Conduct in New Era”《新时代中小学教师职业行为十项准则》(Retrieved July 28th 2020 from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A10/s7002/201811/t20181115_354 921.html) (issued by Ministry of Education), and “Opinions on Strengthening and Improving the Construction of Teacher Ethics in the New Era”《关于加强和改进新 时代师德师风建设的意见》(Retrieved 7th August 2020 from http://www.moe.gov. cn/srcsite/A10/s7002/201912/t20191213_411946.html) (released by the Ministry of Education and other seven departments). All the polices clearly point that the construction of teachers’ ethics is a key task to improve teachers’ quality and a significant standard for evaluating the quality of teaching staff. That means the cultivation of teachers’ ethics and enhancement of teachers’ quality is a systematic construction and a long-term and arduous task for development of high-quality teachers’ team in the new era.

International Perspectives of Professional Conduct and Ethics China has had moral requirements on teachers since ancient times. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the “Government/Law officials as teachers” (以吏为 师) (Leung, 2019, p. 106) and the “Integration of officials and teachers” (官师 合一) required teachers not only to be proficient in the “Six arts” (六艺) (The Rites of Zhou), but also to possess higher virtues. Influenced by the Confucian moral and cultural traditions of “Be strict with yourself and be lenient to others” (躬自厚而薄责于人) (The Analects: Wei Ling Gong) and “Self-examining one’s conscience” (求诸己) (The Analects: Wei Ling Gong), as well as the ancient society’s inertia to worship “Heaven-Earth-Sovereign-Parent/Intimate” (天、地、君、亲) and teachers (師) (https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E5%A4%A9%E5%9C%B0%E5% 90%9B%E4%BA%B2%E5%B8%88) who were give lofty role expectations such as “Saint” and “Gentleman”. This role expectation has been internalized into the personality and bone marrow of Chinese teachers as a tradition (Liu, 2012, p. 52). Spranger (1951, pp. 406–409; Liang, 2005, p. 64) highlighted specific philosophical foundations and ethical criteria for teachers: (a) “Pedantismus”, or being pedantic, strict, or meticulous; (b) “Selbstbeherrschung”, or having self-control and keeping one’s temper; (c) “Gerechtigkeit”, being just and fair; and (d) “Menschenkenntnis”, having knowledge of human nature and the ability to accurately judge character. Sockett (1993) emphasized that teachers should possess the following professional qualities: “honesty”, “courage”, “care”, “fairness”, and “practical wisdom” (Liang, 2005, p. 65). Liang (2005, pp. 64-72) asserted that teachers’ professional ethics encompass five key aspects. The first relates to “basic ethics” such

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as those advocated by Spranger and Sockett. The second refers to “professional concepts”. The third pertains to “educational relationship”. The fourth connects with “instructional ethics”. The fifth touches upon “guidance ethics”. Wang and Hong (2009, p. 22) thought that the Chinese concepts of “teacher’s vocational morality” (教师职业道德 jiaoshi zhiye daode), “teacher’s professional ethics” (教师专业伦理 jiaoshi zhuanye lunli), and “professional ethics for teachers” could be used interchangeably. The shift from morality to ethics signaled the professional role of teachers, and the gradual pace of the change recognized that ethics are objective and applicable to collective groups such as teachers. In Taiwan, Frank Liang (2005, p. 62) pointed out that teachers’ professional ethics are closely connected with their professional development, which includes four main components, namely, general knowledge and competence (教师通用知能), subject knowledge and competence, professional knowledge and competence, and professional spirit (专业精神) (Rau, 1996, pp. 174-205; Yang, 1988, Sept 28). Teachers’ professional ethics is related to professional values in their professional knowledge, competence, and professional spirit. In England, the document “Teachers Standards” advocated that (Department of Education, 2011, p. 14): “Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behavior, within and outside school, by [partly extracted]: – treating pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position – having regard for the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions – showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others” The Queensland College of Teachers issued a code of ethics, including values underlying the teaching profession, which emphasizes “integrity, dignity, responsibility, respect, justice, and care”. (Retrieved 6 May 2014 from https://www.qct.edu. au/PDF/PCU/CodeOfEthicsPoster20081215.pdf) The Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong, published in 1990, stated that teachers are expected to show commitment to the profession and the community as well as to students, colleagues and other stakeholders such as parents, guardians and employers (The Council on Professional Conduct in Education, 1995). Tsai and Chen (2005) compared the codes of practice of Taiwan and western countries (e.g., England and the United States) and found that the codes shared commonalities such as the important function of teachers in national, cultural and societal contexts, the requirements to meet the expectations of the teaching profession, students and parents, the duty to protect students’ rights and to prevent them from being hurt, the treatment of students in a fair and equal manner, and the prohibition on exploiting relationships with students to achieve one’s goals. Nonetheless, Taiwanese codes tend to highlight heteronomy (based on the Teacher Law) instead of the autonomy promoted in England and US. The role of teachers in teaching, guidance, and assessment, and the norms and restrictions from tutoring students are highlighted in Taiwan, whereas

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confidentiality, avoiding conflict of interest, and peer relationships are encouraged in England and the US. Huang (2007) commented that the codes in mainland China tended to display normative ethics that aim to restrict and manage teachers’ behavior. By contrast, professional ethics in Hong Kong and the US (National Education Association, 1975) highlight virtuous or moral ethics. Hong Kong codes include professional rights of teachers, whereas mainland China’s codes highlight political orientation and legal responsibilities. Regarding obligations, both codes of mainland China and Hong Kong involve the students, peers (other teachers), the profession, parents, and community, whereas the US codes mainly entail commitment to students and the profession. In Finland, “ethical sensitivity in the relationship between teacher and pupil” (Tirri, 2010, p. 158) is emphasized. The teacher is expected to “understand the learner’s point of departure, thoughts and opinions, and to handle his or her personal and private matters tactfully… give special consideration to learners who need care and protection, and not to accept any form of exploitation or abuse of learners” (Tirri, 2010, p. 158). Teachers are also presumed to be role models for students for good citizenship. Student-teachers encounter rigorous entrance requirements and strict codes of conduct to be admitted into the teacher education program (Paksuniemi, 2013 November, Retrieved 11 February 2014 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teachereducation-in-finland-merja-paksuniemi). Boon’s (2011, p. 88) study on professional ethics in teacher education revealed that pre-service teachers have an understanding of ethics as “an ethos”, “professional standards”, and “relying on deontological arguments”. Tirri’s (2010, pp. 156157) study revealed teachers’ values in critical school incidents with the following themes: “leadership” with high personal standards “and emotional control”; “caring and respect”; “professionalism and commitment” to students; and “cooperation” in the school community. For teacher education practice, Clark (2004, p. 80) included a component of ethics in teaching in his course and advocated the following topics: “social ideals, institutional values, and the ethical teacher” (e.g., codes of ethics and ethical theories); “understanding teacher-student relationships” (e.g., respect for persons, trust, and privacy); “tensions in teacher-student relationships” (e.g., student freedom and teacher authority, discipline and punishment); and “pedagogical issues” (e.g., equality and grouping of students, fairness and assessment).

The Chinese Context In China, teacher ethics is regarded as a special “spirit”. Traditional Chinese teacher ethics is a kind of sage ethics of “experience” and “ideal”, emphasizing a noble, sacred, and ideological value concept, which are added to the depths of every teacher’s soul and made the outside manifest in the teaching behavior. (Jin, 2008, p. 240) “Personal morality” and “sage morality” have become the moral culture in the bones of Chinese teachers. Certain scholars in mainland China (e.g., Tan, 2005, p. 51) argue that the transition from “vocational (or occupational) morality” to “professional

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ethics” represents an important step in teacher professionalization and a shift from the cultivation of experience-based teachers to training professional teachers. Su (2013) analyzed in-depth the change in secondary school teachers’ professional ethics in mainland China from 1984 to 2012 in three phases. He commented that the first phase, from 1984 to 1996, represented a political-oriented approach that highlighted national ideology. The first policy document “Vocational Morality Requirements of Secondary and Elementary School Teachers (Trial)《中、小学教师职业道德要 求(试行)》 ”, issued by the National Teacher Union under the State Commission of Education of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1984, suggested six major requirements (translated and extracted partly from Su, 2013, pp. 5–6): To be patriotic to the Country, the Party, Socialism, and the people’s education cause To implement the educational policies, to follow education laws and regulations… and to cultivate students in all aspects To study Marxism-Leninism and Maoist thoughts, and make a thorough study of scientific knowledge and educational theories… To love and know the students… and to establish democratic, equal, and close teacher-student relationships To abide by the law and regulations, to love the school, and to care about the collective… To dress properly and behave decently… to make oneself an example, and to be a model of virtue for others

The “Teacher Law” was enacted in 1993, which demonstrated teachers’ professional status and identity, rights and obligations, legal responsibilities, and laid the foundation for future policies on teachers’ professional vocation or ethics. The second phase (1997–2009) emphasized the legal basis of teaching. In 1997, the National Committee of Unions under the Ministry of Education (Unions of Jiao Ke Wen Wei Ti, 教育部中国教科文卫体工会全国委员会) (1997, 2008) issued “The Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers” 《中小学教师职业道德规范》and its revised version respectively (Retrieved 2nd January 2016 from http://baike.baidu.com/view/2694207.htm) The Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (Revised in 2008) emphasized the following key points: be patriotic and law-abiding; cherish, respect, and devote oneself wholeheartedly to the profession; love and care for every student; respect every kind of personality and treat every student equally; adhere to the purpose of education, which is to impart knowledge to and educate people, and implement quality education; always pursue a lofty sentiment, have a sense of honor and shame, and be highly self-disciplined, practice what one preaches, act as a model of virtue; and advocate the scientific spirit and practice lifelong learning to broaden and update own knowledge of teaching and learning and unremittingly enhance one’s professionalism and educational level of teaching (Extracted partly and translated from http://www.edu.cn/jiao_yu_fa_gui_767/20080903/t20080903_ 322345.shtml).

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The third phase (2010–2012) was a period of professional accreditation with a goal of promoting teacher professionalization. Su (2013, p. 2) summarized the policy transformation in mainland China as “from slogan mobilization to legal safeguard; from abstract policy to specific policy; from general application to classification application; from vocational ethics to professional ethics”. In 2012, the “Professional Standards (trial) for Secondary School Teachers” 《中学教师专业标准 ( (试行)》 ) (Ministry of Education, 2012) were issued, highlighting basic concepts such as “proper teacher conduct first”, “student-centered”, “competence-oriented”, and “life-long learning”. Under the “Professional Rationale and Teacher Conduct” section, the following domains were emphasized: understanding and knowledge of the vocation; attitudes and behaviors towards students; attitudes and behaviors towards education and teaching; and personal cultivation and behaviors (partly extracted and translated from Retrieved 2nd January 2016 from http://baike.baidu. com/view/7071296.htm). In September 2013, the Ministry of Education issued “Opinions on Establishing a Long-term Mechanism to Build Sound Teacher Conduct in Primary and Secondary Schools”《关于建立健全中小学师德建设长效机制的 意见》 . (Retrieved 10th June, 2014 from http://www.moe.edu.cn/publicfiles/business/ htmlfiles/moe/s7085/201309/156978.html). The document had seven key objectives (translated and partly extracted): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

To innovate education of teacher conduct, and guide the teachers to establish long term vocational ideal To strengthen the publicity of teacher conduct and to create the social climate of respecting teachers and promoting education To strictly supervise the assessment of teacher conduct and to enhance selfconsciousness to reinforce cultivation of teacher conduct To highlight incentives for teacher conduct and to enhance the formation of a positive atmosphere of promoting and cultivating morality To reinforce the supervision of teacher conduct, and effectively prevent misbehavior To specify the punishment for teacher misconduct and keep within limits the spread of behavioral misconduct To emphasize the protection and implementation of the construction work of teacher conduct

Scholars Ren and Lin (2020) also divided the policy documents on teachers’ ethics and style into stages since the reform and opening up. They regarded 1984– 1993 as the first stage, and believed that the policy focus of this stage was to put forward requirements for teachers’ ethics and paid attention to basic requirements for teachers’ ideology and politics, words and behaviors, and job responsibilities. The second stage is from 1994–2009, and its focus is to strengthen the legislation for the construction of teacher ethics and move towards the rule of law, which reflects that the law has also become the main basis for the country to formulate policies on teacher ethics and style. The third stage is from 2010 to 2013, and its focus is on building a long-term mechanism for teacher ethics construction, emphasizing long-term effectiveness.

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In addition to the first three stages, Ren and Lin (2020) took the 2014 to 2019 policy documents on teacher ethics and style as the fourth stage. This stage strengthens the accountability of teacher ethics and pursues effectiveness.The refinement of the construction of teacher ethics by the policies of this period is clearly reflected in the definition of the boundaries of teacher ethics, the reward and punishment of teacher ethics, and the training of special teacher groups. In January 2014, China promulgated the “Measures for Handling of Violations of Professional Ethics by Primary and Secondary School Teachers”《中小学教师违反职业道德行为处理办 法》 , which clearly listed all violations of professional ethics, and stipulated that all teachers who have one of the listed circumstances must make corresponding sanctions based on the seriousness of the incident. In order to curb bad social trends, the Ministry of Education issued two copies of the “Regulations on the Prohibition of Teachers’ Illegal Acceptance of Gifts and Money from Students and Parents” 《严禁教师违规收受学生及家长礼品礼金等行为的规定》in the same year, and the “Regulations on the Prohibition of Paid Supplementary Lessons for Primary and Secondary Schools and in-service Primary and Secondary School Teachers” 《严禁中小学校和在职中小学教师有偿补课的规定》issued the following year. The documents list the prohibited behaviors in detail, and give specific punishment measures, and the management of teacher ethics is more detailed and strict. In 2018, the Ministry of Education issued the “Ten Guidelines for the Professional Behavior of College Teachers in the New Era”《新时代高校教师职业行为十项准则》and other three guidelines for teachers in universities, primary and secondary schools, and kindergartens, turning the guidelines into a code of conduct for teachers to teach, and establish teachers’ bottom-line thinking on key issues. By refining the code of conduct for teachers at different levels, teachers can have a clear understanding of their own behavior, thereby improving the actual effect of teacher ethics construction. In September 2019, the Ministry of Education issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Ideological and Political Theory Teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era”《关于加强新时代中小学思想政 治理论课教师队伍建设的意见》specifically for teachers of ideological and political theory courses and put forward corresponding requirements. Ren and Lin (2020) pointed out that this kind of documents with special application objects also reflects the accuracy and pertinence of the management of teachers’ ethics. In addition, in order to thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important exposition on education and the spirit of the National Education Conference, implement the “Implementation Guidelines for Citizen Morality Building in the New Era”《新时代公民道德建设实施纲要》and the “Opinions on Comprehensively Deepening the Reform of Teachers’ Team in the New Era”《关于全面深化 新时代教师队伍建设改革的意见》 , and improve the construction of teacher ethics and style in the new era, advocate the whole society to respect teachers, and seven departments including the Ministry of Education have researched and formulated the “Opinions on Strengthening and Improving the Construction of Teacher Ethics and Style in the New Era”《关于加强和改进新时代师德师风建设的意见》 . The policy intends to basically establish a complete system of teacher ethics and style construction and an effective long-term mechanism for the construction of teacher

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ethics and style through five years of hard work. It specifically covers the following contents: (translated and partly extracted) (Retrieved 7th August 2020 from http:// www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A10/s7002/201912/t20191213_411946.html) 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

Persist in thinking to shape spirit, and arm teachers’ minds with Xi Jinping’s thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era Adhere to value orientation and guide teachers to take the lead in practicing socialist core values. Adhere to the leadership of party building and make the teacher party branch and party member teachers work at full capacity. Highlight classroom ethics and improve teachers’ ethics in education and teaching. Highlight the typical virtues and continue to promote the selection of excellent teachers. Highlight rules and morality, and strengthen teachers’ education in the rule of law and discipline. Strict with recruitment and introduction, and manage a good entrance of the teaching team. Strict with assessment and implementation of the first standard of teacher ethics. Strictly supervise teachers’ ethics and establish a diversified supervision system. Strictly punish violations and govern prominent problems in teacher ethics. Strengthen the promotion of status and stimulate teachers’ enthusiasm for work. Strengthen the protection of rights and maintain the dignity of teachers’ profession. Strengthen the teacher-respect education, and cultivate the culture of teachers’ principle. Strengthen the linkage of all parties and create an atmosphere of respecting teachers and valuing education. Strengthen job security and strengthen responsibility implementation.

The promulgation and implementation of this policy will be a very important step in the gradual improvement of China’s construction of teacher ethics and style. Li (2010, pp. 31–32) argued that teacher conduct (师德 shide) comprised two main components. The first component entails teacher morality (教师道德 jiaoshi daode), or vocational morality (职业道德 zhiye daode) and collective or group morality. The second component refers to teacher’s individual moral character (教师德性 jiaoshi dexing), which highlights personal morality and its cultivation. Others claimed that teacher morality is the lowest threshold of morality generally expected in the profession, whereas moral character sets a higher standard or level of morality for personal development. In the context of China, Zhou (2010, pp. 69–70) pointed out that there were five types of teachers’ misbehavior such as rude corporal punishment, “insulting

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students”, “discriminating or unfairly treating students”, “inappropriate teaching behavior” and “inappropriate approach to management”. Certain cases of teachers committing molestation, abuse, rape, and other professional misconducts, such as accepting bribes or teaching after-school classes as a second job, have been reported in China and aroused public attention (Du and Cheng. September 4th 2013, Retrieved 3rd January 2016 from Xinhua http://english.people daily.com.cn/203691/8388276.html). A recent study in Shanghai revealed that there were correlations between preservice teachers’ perceptions of teacher morality and their political-civic competences (Ye & Law, 2019). The present study is part of a larger project focusing on the perspectives of pre-service teachers’ and in-service teachers’ professional identity, ethics and conduct as well as professional community (Lee, Tao & Huang, 2016). The study was conducted in a university in western China to understand the perspective of Chinese pre-service teachers on professional ethics and conduct. Two rounds of interviews were conducted. The first round involved 16 pre-service teachers in their final year who were receiving scholarships, from primary education and education (focus on secondary schooling) programs. The second round involved the same ten pre-service teachers participated in the first round interview. The interview questions include the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

What do you understand of the terms “professional ethics” and “teacher conduct (shide)”? What keywords or adjectives will you use to describe them? What are your views on the recent issuance of the document on elementary and secondary school teachers’ conduct by the Ministry of Education? What courses of teacher education program have you taken that taught you about professional ethics and teacher conduct? Do you consider yourself a pre-service teacher with good teacher conduct? What aspects could be further enhanced? What do you think are better ways to appraise teachers’ conduct? How should the following institutions foster professional spirit: (i) normal universities or faculties of education; (ii) government; (iii) schools; and (iv) society?

The interviews lasted about thirty to forty minutes, was conducted in Putonghua, and later transcribed. Inductive analysis of all interview data was conducted through a cyclical process which generated categorical patterns from the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

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Findings Professional Ethics Vaguely Linked with Morality Many pre-service teacher (or “student”) interviewees have not heard of “professional ethics”. Student 4 has previously heard the term, and remarked that it is related to ethics and morality in a specific profession. Student 5 commented that professional ethics is connected with a person’s thoughts, methods, and actions. Student 5’s definition actually refers to moral character (Li, 2010). However, professional ethics better befits the behavioral norms in a society. Nonetheless, though most students heard of “professional ethics” for the first time, they believe that it is related to a teacher’s vocational morality, which reflects group morality in the teaching profession (Li, 2010). Student 6 explained that a teacher should not have a romantic relationship with a pupil, whereas Student 7 commented that a teacher should guide them. Student 10 gave an example of a teacher having vocational morality as one who does not impose corporal punishment and avoids introducing “compensation classes”.

Teacher Conduct (Shide) as Part of Personal Morality and Specific Morality for the Teaching Profession The interviewees generally considered teacher conduct as personal morality and/or specific morality for the teaching profession. Most emphasized personal virtues and morality. Student 2 commented that a teacher should care for pupils and facilitate holistic personal development, emphasized that a teacher should not act out of line or do anything improper, should not be moved by personal interests, and be principled. Student 3 remarked that a teacher should not have improper behaviors and bad habits, should care for pupils, and love their work. Student 5 thought that teacher conduct is morality characterized by strong responsibility, consideration of pupil’s emotions, love, and helping pupils resolve problems. Students 7 and 8 considered teacher conduct as conscience, morality and acting as a role model. A teacher cannot exert a negative influence on children and should set a positive example. Student 8 thought that in addition to knowledge, teachers should cultivate their pupils’ character and habits. Student 8 further remarked that theoretically, teacher conduct was understood as noble, but in practice, it is seen as a display of responsibility. A teacher could also be a model for both peers and pupils. Students 10 and 11 mentioned spirit and morality in connection with teacher conduct. Student 11 touched on the attributes of nobility, respectability, honesty, uprightness, fair-mindedness and responsibility. For some, teacher conduct is a combination of devotion to the profession and love for the students. Student 1 remarked that teacher conduct is vocational morality (zhiye daode) as well as passion for education and care for students. Student 1 further said,

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Teacher conduct refers to teaching as an undertaking that [one] loves beyond vocational morality. Before [teaching practice], I [viewed] professional conduct at [a] very high level, something [macro and far away]. Now, I do not find teacher conduct so distant; [it is] not something which you need to sacrifice, but [something present] in small incidents.

Other interviewees, although noting teacher conduct as an ideal model, do not regard it as one with very high standards. Student 4 remarked,“I feel that teacher conduct should not… require teachers to be perfect. [Our teachers] play mahjong after school… teacher conduct is exercised within a scope. In school, they love and care for students. They have an ardent love for the profession and are responsible. Their [professional] knowledge should reach [that] standard”. Student 12 suggested that teacher conduct was similar to the morality of an ordinary person, but teachers are expected to not treat students differently and love their profession very much.

Teacher Conduct with Adjectives or Keywords Such as Responsibility, Fairness/Justness, Conscience, Reflection/Self-Evaluation, Being Student-Centered The interviewees used different adjectives or keywords to describe the characteristics of an ideal teacher. Student 1 does not favor teachers who are muddling along, perfunctory, and portray themselves as highly moral. Student 1 prefers teachers who see teaching as an enterprise and exhibit love and patience, besides doing their job well. Student 2 described a teacher with conduct as one who is just and fair with students and strikes a balance between being gentle and affable, like a friend, and being dignified and authoritative, like a parent. Student 4 highlighted the importance of a teacher in delivering “good lessons” and having good interpersonal relationships, which can be difficult because teachers sometimes need to be strict to deliver “good lessons”, which pupils could perceive as cruel behavior. Student 6 suggested that teacher conduct is similar to good personal qualities. For teachers, being student-centered, loving, and caring for pupils are important. Teacher morality is best exemplified through respect for and understanding of pupils. Student 9 criticized practitioners without good teacher conduct. For example, some teachers beat and scold students and give additional lessons during recess, supposedly with good intentions. Some teachers do not have independent personalities and dare not speak up for their pupils or resist oppressive school policies. Student 13 perceived that a teacher should play an exemplary role, be responsible, and teach conscientiously. Student 14 highlighted that teacher conduct is related to responsibility for pupils, honesty and trustworthiness, being true to one’s word, reaching harmony between one’s inner and outer selves, and having the courage to take on important tasks. Student 14 also remarked that teachers should be able to learn, enjoy learning, and reflect and evaluate theirself and their pupils. Student

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15 remarked that teacher conduct refers to personal morality, such as being sincere and faithful, honest, fair and righteous, and patient. Regarding fairness and justness, Student 15 thought that although teachers might prefer pupils with good academic performance and those active in class, they should pay more attention to those with less favorable academic results and do not want to respond to questions. A teacher should also practice what they preach, teach by example, and influences others by their own words and deeds.

Perceptions on the Issuance of the Official Document on Teacher Conduct by the Ministry of Education Students 2 and 3 believed that official documents on teacher conduct were needed, and that issuance was necessary to help direct and restrain teachers’ behaviors. Student 6 appreciated the good intention of the government to publicize the importance of professional conduct and reinforce a standard of conduct for the teaching profession. Clearly, some problems of teacher conduct deserve attention and further action. The issuance also helps foster a climate for enhancing teacher conduct. Student 7 thought it was a positive move to restrain teacher misconduct, but is on a macro-level, so its implementation would require a long time and need the support of many departments. Student 10 echoed that although higher authorities exert policies on teacher conduct, localities use counter-measures. Student 16 remarked that after the issuance, the education bureau and schools exerted efforts to improve teacher conduct. However, this improvement could not be guaranteed by government policies. The success of the issuance truly depends on teachers’ internal accomplishment and cultivation. Certain interviewees, however, indicated negative perceptions on the issuance. Student 1 regretted that the government had to issue documents with legal statements to highlight teacher conduct. She felt angry and felt that using exceptional cases of misconduct to rule out the general status and level of teacher morality was inappropriate. Student 1’s statement allows us to reflect on the relatively inadequate treatment of teacher conduct in university education. Student 4 regarded cases of primary school teachers’ violence to be very few, which might be attributed to situations where teachers felt unsatisfied because they received low salaries and lived far away from their home and their parents. She remarked that the government should consider raising the salary of teachers and paying attention to their mental health. Student 9 said that the statements in the document were vague and tended to restrain teachers’ behavior. For example, teachers were not allowed to touch or even pat children lightly. He used a recent “unfair” case in the city of Nanchong in Sichuan as an example, in which although the pupils volunteered to kneel down in the playground for fifteen minutes instead of doing push-up exercises, the teacher was criticized by the media and the parents for punishing the pupils. He suggested that the teacher registration system should be enhanced to ensure that every teacher

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joining the profession would meet the professional standard. Additionally, teacher misconduct reflects the social and psychological problems of students to some extent; blaming such occurrences solely on teachers would be unfair. Student 12 worried that instead of having direct effects, the issuance would increase teachers’ workload through reading documents and writing reports. Student 14 echoed that the official documents served only as guidelines instead of legal regulations, which might not be conducive to changing or enhancing teachers’ behaviors.

Courses Related to Professional Ethics and Teacher Conduct in the Teacher Education Program The interviewees generally had vague ideas about course offerings related to professional ethics and teacher conduct because there were no specific courses on the topic. Some interviewees recalled that “Principles of Moral Education” briefly touched on teacher morality and conduct, whereas others mentioned that issues on teacher conduct are elaborated in courses on class teaching, educational management, education anthropology, curriculum and instruction, counseling and guidance, and MarxistLeninism in the teacher education program. The importance of teacher conduct would be occasionally highlighted in Yan Yang Chu’s (晏阳初) lecture and emphasized in the competition Teacher’s Exemplary Virtue Cup (师表杯), which covered teacher’s appearance, standard, norms, and interpersonal relationship.

Self-Assessment of Teacher Conduct and Aspects for Enhancement All student interviewees believed that as pre-service teachers, they exhibited qualities of teacher conduct. Many remarked that they could further enhance their professional knowledge in theory and practice. Regarding morality and attitude, certain interviewees hope to treat pupils equally and fairly in the future. Student 2 wants to learn to concern herself with facts and not individuals, and to equally care for her students. Student 4 reflected that she tended to ignore students’ affective concerns and underplayed affective relationships. Students 8 and 10 remarked that they needed more patience in teaching children.

Assessment of Teacher Conduct Although certain interviewees felt that assessing teacher conduct objectively was difficult, they suggested different assessment methods other than the current practice of filling in forms. Many opined that the assessment should be conducted primarily by students and peers (Students 2, 3, 5 and 8) and supplemented by assessment by

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line managers (e.g., school principals). Some suggested that peer assessments should be conducted anonymously. Hard and soft data could be collected by rap sessions or forums. Students 4 and 10 remarked that parents’ views could be solicited, and Student 1 thought that teacher’s self-evaluation could be considered. Students 6 and 7 regarded that assessments could be informal, focusing on classroom and daily practices.

Promotion of Professional Spirit Many interviewees remarked that they wished universities offer more courses on teacher conduct. However, the courses should not be assessed solely on memorization. Instead, the assessment should focus on how knowledge and values translate to daily and teaching practices. Student 1 lamented that university lecturers continue to emphasize examinations that require knowledge recall. Essay writing or debate could be considered alternative forms of assessment. Student 8 suggested that lessons on fine arts, such as music, could cultivate minds and morality. Meanwhile, Students 11 and 13 proposed requiring longer practical courses so they have more time for teaching practices that help cultivate morality. Student 15 commented that teacher conduct is abstract and its cultivation necessitates a positive ethos and self-discipline. Student 7 asserted that universities should act as gatekeepers and ensure the quality of entrants to teacher education programs. Student 9 suggested that teacher education programs should change conceptions on teaching and learning, and encourage analysis of different contexts for resolving problems. Using less restrictive language and avoiding treating pupils as subordinates could also be useful. Students 2 and 3 supported the issuance of detailed policies and regulations of teacher conduct. Students 1 and 5 suggested introducing evaluation mechanisms and incentives to enhance teacher morality. Student 15 believed the evaluation of pupils should also include moral conduct to increase teachers’ attention on morality. Students 12 and 13 thought that teacher conduct and professional spirit related to status and advocated higher salaries. Students 4 and 15 suggested that primary and secondary schools could provide regular training and visits to other schools with exemplary practices on teacher morality. Students 3 and 4 remarked that schools could incorporate the assessment of teacher morality into teacher evaluation systems with principals taking a leading role. Students 6 and 15 highlighted the importance of school ethos in promoting teacher morality. Students 7, 10, and 15 indicated a need for more publicity of positive messages and monitoring by the media of teachers’ misbehavior. Student 6 recommended enhancing teacher status and establishing a reward and punishment system for teachers, which will be more conducive to teacher morality.

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Discussion The findings provide implications for teacher education. How could we improve teacher education programs to enhance student-teachers’ understanding of professional ethics and conduct? Professional ethics education has been a relatively neglected area in teacher education in China. The interviews revealed that the elements of teacher conduct are incorporated in a scattered manner. Shao’s (2012) study echoed that teacher conduct was under-emphasized in teacher education programs in some Chinese universities. An Australian study also found that inadequate consideration was given to moral and ethics education in teacher education courses. (Tobias & Boon, 2010). Contrarily, the course “Ideological and Moral Education and Teacher’s Vocational Conduct” by Hangzhou Normal University (Shao, 2012, p. 48) covered such themes as life education and civic education and promoted student-centered enquiry. Assessments were usually in the form of “moral dilemmas” that encouraged students to raise and defend their own viewpoints. The interviewees tended to highlight keywords, such as responsibility, fairness/justness, conscience, reflection/self-evaluation, and being student-centered, as associated with teacher conduct. These views reflect some core Chinese traditional ethics, such as “Reflect on Oneself Several Times a Day” (吾日三省吾身) (The Analects: Xue Er), “Learn from them when you see the good people. Check yourself when you see the bad people”(见贤思齐焉,见不贤而内自省矣) (The Analects: Li Ren) and so on. To some extent, these keywords are broadly in line with Australian codes that encompass the core value of integrity, containing the virtues of “honesty, trustworthiness, accountability, dignity, honor, truthfulness, and impartiality”, and another core value of respect, containing “care, compassion, fairness, impartiality and acknowledgement of others, trust, valuing uniqueness, diversity and tradition, holding colleagues in high regard, and valuing the contributions of others” (Forster, 2012, p. 10). However, tensions could occur between notions of fairness/justness and being student-centered, depending on contexts, and moral decision-making and professional judgment. Teacher educators could consider clarifying these concepts to help to cultivate student-teachers’ ethical decision-making. Warnick and Silverman (2011, pp. 275, 281–283) suggested a mixed, multifaceted approach to integrate professional ethics into teacher education, which involves “ethical theory, codes of ethics, and case analysis capture”. They further proposed a framework for discussion-oriented case analysis that contains the following nine steps: compilation of information about the case, consideration of various participants, identification and definition of the ethical problem, identification of options, theoretical analysis of these options, consideration of the role as a teacher, education of the self within permitted time, decision-making, and evaluation and follow up on self-decision (pp. 281–283). Yang (2020, p. 71) thought the implementation of professional ethics education for pre-service teachers mainly presents two curriculum models,“integrated” and “independent”, and has formed a diverse teaching method. However, no matter what

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models and methods are adopted, the basic mechanism that can help pre-service teachers acquire professional ethics knowledge is inseparable from ethical reflection and dialogue. The present findings also highlight the need to recruit future teachers with the proper beliefs, personalities, and attitudes toward teacher conduct. The responses to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education seem to indicate that the interviewees tend to emphasize personal qualities and conduct, as well as pay less attention to the boundaries and parameters of professional ethics and conduct. More attention is given to the professional roles and responsibilities of teaching but less on interacting with peers and parents, who are also important educational stakeholders and partners. Cheng and Liu (2014, p. 19) remarked that concepts such as “to serve as a model of virtues for others; be worthy of the name of teacher; be a paragon of virtue and learning” (wéi rén sh¯ı biˇao) and “ardently love the students” (rè ài xuésh¯eng) tended to be vague and less operationalized, which make the guidelines unspecific and the implementation of teachers’ vocational morality difficult. The enactment tended to highlight obligations instead of rights. Ren and Wang (2013, pp. 36–37) compared the document “Vocational Morality Requirements of Secondary and Elementary School Teachers (trial)” in 1984, 1991, 1997, and 2008 and found that the recent version had more emphasis on actions teachers should avoid. In September 2013, the Ministry of Education announced an annual evaluation and reporting system of problem cases that would be implemented to put Chinese teachers under close scrutiny. Xiong Bingqi remarked on the need to formulate teachers’ ethical norms that could be “evaluated by teachers themselves” (Du and Chen, 2013 4th September retrieved 3rd January 2016 from Xinhua, http://english.peopledaily. com.cn/203691/8388276.html). The revised codes and the annual evaluation and reporting system seem to represent a top-down monitoring and compliance approach to teacher conduct. Certain interviewees expressed doubts on its effectiveness. A debate is ongoing on whether more studies are needed on training student-teachers and in-service teachers to become more moral and reflective professionals (Tobias & Boon, 2010). The studies currently available have led to different approaches, such as the cultivation of teachers’ moral competency by enhancing “ethical sensitivity, motivation to act morally, and skills to solve ethical problems” (Rest, 1994; Räsänen, 2000, p. 173). A holistic approach includes (based on Liu, 2012, pp. 54–55) the reinforcement of the elements of professional ethics, instead of merely ideological and moral education content, for teachers in both teacher education and general education courses, and enhancement of reflection on teacher ethical values through educational practices during field experience. The measures or strategies not only help link ethical values or theories with practices, but also equip teachers to become rational assessors of their peers’ professional conduct. Moreover, teacher education institutions (TEI), under the support of the Chinese Ministry of Education and local education bureaus, need to adopt strategies (based on Lin, 2011, p. 33) such as different vehicles for promoting teacher ethics and conduct, ranging from informal activities such as competitions and debates, to enhancing

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media publicity within and beyond TEI campuses and building a culture and mechanism of recognition and incentives to boost teacher conduct through autonomous and reflective practices. The latest “Opinions on Strengthening and Improving the Construction of Teacher Ethics in the New Era”《关于加强和改进新时代师德师风建设的意见》document further clarifies and clearly stipulates the above issues from 18 aspects, requiring government departments at all levels to follow the laws of education, teacher growth and development, and the construction of teacher ethics and style, and combine high-level leadership with the bottom-line requirements,attach importance to strict management and love, and continue to stimulate teachers’ endogenous motivation. On the basis of inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese teacher s’ principle culture, the document emphases on adapting to the changes of the new era and strengthen innovation. Making efforts to create an atmosphere of respecting teachers and education throughout the society. The document highlights specific measures to improve teachers’ professional ethics, such as classroom educating morality, model building morality, and rule-based establishing morality, as well as measures such as strict recruitment and introduction, strict assessment and evaluation, strict teacher ethics supervision, and strict punishment of violations recruit and introduct strictly, assess and evaluate strictly, strict with teacher ethics supervision and punishment of violations. It is required to run through the whole process of teacher management. (Retrieved 12th November 2020 from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A10/ s7002/201912/t20191213_411946.html) The present study is only an initial and exploratory look into student-teachers’ perceptions of teacher conduct and ethics. More studies need to be done in the future to fill the gap in the field. A survey could be conducted to gauge perceptions on teacher conduct and ethics in universities across China (e.g., Lai, 2013; Ye & Law, 2019). The literature review and findings showed that the ideals “to make oneself an example, [and] to be a model of virtue for others” or “always pursue a lofty sentiment, have a senses of honor and shame, and be highly self-disciplined [to] be the model to students, [to be worthy of the name of a teacher]” as espoused in past official documents such as “Vocational Morality Requirements of Secondary and Elementary School Teachers (Trial)” (1984) and “The Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (Revised in 2008)” (Ministry of Education, 1997, 2008), respectively, identify the exemplary role of a teacher as a professional (shifan) in the Chinese context. Qualitative studies could be pursued to understand student-teachers and beginning teachers’ understanding of the said ideals and keywords related to teacher conduct and ethics. Moreover, an analysis of how student-teachers translate their own beliefs and values into practice during field practicum, and how they encounter and resolve ethical dilemmas would be worthwhile. Acknowledgements The content of this paper was first presented at the 2nd Global Teacher Education Summit on Quality of Teacher Education and Learning: Practice, Innovation, and Policy, organized by Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. 17–20 October 2014. This study was organized by Professor Yibing Liu, former Dean of College of Teacher education, Southwest University and

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Professor John Lee in his personal capacity as Changjiang Chair Professor at Southwest University, China. The authors would like to thank the Asia-Pacific Institute of Curriculum and Teaching Studies (APICTS) at Southwest University, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the Institute of Teacher Education, Beijing Normal University (Project 14JJD88004) and the Teacher Studies & Development project, the Education University of Hong Kong for their support. Thanks are extended to the interviewees, Ms Zhu Lin, Mr Michael Chau and Mr Derek Chun for their help in this study. The views presented in this chapter are personal only and do not necessarily represent those of The Education University of Hong Kong, and do not commit the respective organisation.

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Yibing Liu is Dean of College of teacher education and Professor, Southwest University, China. Caixia Sun is Lecturer, Huzhou University, China. Li Tao is Lecturer, Hubei Normal University, China. John Chi-Kin Lee is Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong. He is also Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor conferred by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China.

A Study on the Impact of Teaching Practice on Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach Congman Rao and Zongjin Wu

Introduction Teaching practice curricula are an important module in the curriculum system of teacher preparation, an important carrier to integrate theory and practice of preservice teachers, and an important link in the development of professional knowledge and ability of pre-service teachers. Since the turn of the century, strengthening teaching practice and giving full play to its role in teacher preparation have become the focus and trend of teacher preparation reforms worldwide. The Curriculum Standards for Teacher Education (Trial) implemented in 2011 stresses the key role of practice in the reform of teacher education curricula in China. However, the location, length and focus of teaching practice vary due to different teacher preparation concepts and environments (Flores, 2016, p. 204). There are many discussions in the academic circle on the amount (how much practice is necessary for teacher preparation), kind (what kind of practice is appropriate for teacher preparation), and timing (when should teaching practice be arranged) of teaching practice in teacher preparation, and controversies and disputes exist. In addition, as the highlight of teaching practice and even the whole teacher preparation program, the quality of field teaching practice has always been the focus of the government and the academic community. To ensure the quality of field teaching practice, it is not realistic to extend the duration of practice indefinitely within the limited time of teacher preparation. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that interns can get enough field experience, especially teaching opportunities, in the limited time of field teaching practice; on the other hand, it is important to strengthen the field practice guidance for interns. But how many teaching sessions are appropriate? Is dual mentoring really more effective than single mentoring? These need to be explored through empirical research. C. Rao (B) · Z. Wu Institute of International and Comparative Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_7

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Since the 1990s, researchers began to measure the effect of teacher preparation programs or specific curricula using teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. (Darling-Hammond et al., 2002; Housego, 1990; Kee, 2012). According to Albert Bandura (1977)’s view of efficacy expectation, teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach can be regarded as teachers’ self-evaluation of their professional qualities, that is, teachers’ psychological expectation of or confidence in their professional qualities (Ashton & Webb, 1986, p. 4; Housego, 1990). The efficacy expectations of graduates in teacher preparation programs for their feeling of preparedness to teach cannot fully represent their true educational and teaching abilities, but are often built on their actual abilities. Such efficacy expectations will affect teachers’ efforts and persistence to complete specific teaching tasks (Clark et al, 2015; Housego, 1990; Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998), thus affecting teachers’ daily teaching behaviors, class management methods and teaching innovation (TschannenMoran et al., 2001, pp. 783–805). Novice teachers who lack confidence in teaching are more likely to leave their jobs (Darling-Hammond et al., 2002, pp. 286–302). Therefore, teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach can be used not only to represent teacher quality and effectiveness (Brown et al., 2015, pp. 77–93), but also as a key indicator to measure the effect of teacher preparation programs or curricula (Webster, 2011, pp. 105–128). From the perspective of efficacy expectation, this study reflects the effect of teaching practice in teacher preparation using pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, aiming to explore: (1) what is the contribution of teaching practice to the feeling of preparedness to teach? (2) what are the relative contributions of different types of teaching practice curricula to the feeling of preparedness to teach? (3) is there any difference in the feeling of preparedness to teach among pre-service teachers with different teaching hours and different mentoring methods (single mentoring and dual mentoring) during the field teaching practice?

Study Design and Implementation Selection of Survey Objects This study took D University for a case study, mainly considering that D University is a normal university directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education and undertakes the “Excellent Teacher Preparation Program.” Its reform in the field of teaching practice curricula, especially in field teaching practice curricula, has attracted the attention of the government, universities and academia, and has been followed by many universities. According to the Undergraduate Education Programs of 2011 of D University, pre-service teachers generally need to complete 155 credits in the four-year program, including about 50 credits for general education, 80 credits for subject matter education, and 25 credits for pedagogical education. The pedagogical education curricula consist of educational theory curricula (including no less

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than 5 credits of general educational theory curricula and 4 credits of subject didactics curricula), educational skills curricula (including 1 credit of microteaching), and educational practice curricula (5 credits of field teaching practice and 1 credit of school visit and classroom observation). Educational theory and skills curricula are relatively concentrated in the fifth and sixth semesters. Teaching practice curricula are arranged in the sixth and seventh semesters. As microteaching (simulated teaching) is highly based on practice, the teaching practice system of D University consists of microteaching, school visit and classroom observation, and field teaching practice. Microteaching, as well as school visit and classroom observation, is scheduled to begin in the sixth semester. Microteaching is a simulation of classroom teaching. Pre-service teachers can simulate classroom teaching practice in a controlled environment. The purpose of school visit and classroom observation is mainly to accumulate practical experience for pre-service teachers and deepen their understanding of educational theories. Pre-service teachers need to spend a whole week on classroom observation. Field teaching practice is usually arranged within the first 8 teaching weeks at the beginning of the seventh semester, and most pre-service teachers are uniformly assigned to the practice base for field teaching practice, so as to ensure the teaching hours of interns and implement dual mentoring.

Methodology This study was designed based on a mixture of quantitative questionnaire survey and qualitative interviews. The questionnaire-based survey mainly reflects pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach and the relative contribution of various kinds of teaching practice curricula from a macro perspective, and tests the effectiveness of guaranteeing the teaching hours of interns and implementing the dual-mentor system. The interview method is mainly used to understand the complex relationship between the individual learning experience of different pre-service teachers and the implementation of teaching practice curricula. The design is a sequential explanatory strategy.

Questionnaire-Based Survey The questionnaire-based survey was conducted in June 2016. The researchers sent questionnaires to all 1,024 undergraduate students majoring in secondary education (hereinafter referred to as “pre-service teachers”) who would graduate from D University in July 2016, and 736 valid questionnaires were finally recovered, with a recovery rate of 71.86%. The Questionnaire on the Feeling of Preparedness to Teach of Graduates from Normal Universities is composed of three parts: the basic information, the scale of feeling of preparedness to teach, and the ranking of the contribution of teacher

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preparation curricula to the feeling of preparedness to teach. (1) The basic information of the questionnaire includes the gender and major of the respondent, the type of school for field teaching practice, the study stage for teaching, the discipline taught, the content of field teaching practice, the teaching sessions and the practice mentoring method. (2) The scale of feeling of preparedness to teach is compiled according to the Professional Standards for Secondary School Teachers (Trial), with a total of 54 questions, including one on the overall judgment of feeling of preparedness to teach. According to the professional standards, teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach consists of three dimensions: professional concept and ethics, professional knowledge and professional ability. (3) The ranking of the contribution of teacher preparation curricula to the feeling of preparedness to teach divides the teacher preparation curricula of D University into general education curricula, subject matter education curricula, general educational theory curricula, subject didactics curricula, microteaching, school visit and classroom observation, and field teaching practice, in order to explore the contribution of various curricula to improving teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. Such a division, on the one hand, aims to understand the role of different types of teaching practice curricula in building teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, and on the other hand, seeks to find out the position of teaching practice curricula in the entire teacher preparation program. Pre-service teachers need to rank the above 7 types of curricula according to their contributions to teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach.

Interview The interview consists of semi-structured interviews and structured interviews. A total of 7 pre-service teachers from different majors participated in the semistructured interview. The contents of the interview involved two parts: the description of pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach and the contribution of teacher preparation curricula to the improvement of their feeling of preparedness to teach. When the interviewees described the changes in their feeling of preparedness to teach, the researchers prompted them to specify which curricula had led to the changes. This special tip was provided to organically combine the interview results with the results of the questionnaire-based survey, so as to have a deeper understanding of the relationship between the teacher preparation curricula and preservice teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. The structured interviews were conducted with 10 pre-service teachers from different majors who graduated in 2016 and 2017. The contents of the interview mainly involved the implementation, effectiveness and improvement of microteaching, school visit and classroom observation, and field teaching practice.

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Study Results and Analysis The Overall Contribution of Teaching Practice Curricula to Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach According to the varying contributions of different items in the teaching curricula to teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, the curricula can be divided into two categories, i.e., high contribution and low contribution, according to the theoretical median value (4 points). The contributions of the curricula are shown in Table 1. Based on the experiences of the interviewees, the following two categories emerged. According to Table 1, the contribution of general education curricula is the lowest. The contribution of subject matter-related curricula (including subject matter curricula and subject didactics curricula) is greater than that of general educational theory curricula. The contribution of teaching practice curricula is the highest, but school visit and classroom observation is considered unimportant. The results of the interview are basically consistent with the results of the questionnaire-based survey. A pre-service teacher believes that “the closer (the course) to the core of a subject, the more important it is. Teaching practice is more important than theory.” That is to say, subject matter-related curricula and teaching practice curricula are considered by pre-service teachers as the most valuable components of the teacher preparation program. A pre-service teacher of mathematics interviewed believes that the subject matter knowledge provided by mathematics curricula is the “cornerstone” of teaching. “Even if you know well about teaching skills and techniques, you can’t teach if you know nothing about mathematics itself.” subject didactics curricula are conducive to “the design and implementation of teaching.” “It allows me to understand textbooks from a teacher’s perspective, and how to set the curriculum objectives in my class according to the curriculum standards.” In fact, no matter what kind of discussion about what kind of knowledge teachers need, teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge are acknowledged to be of Table 1 Contribution of Teacher Preparation Curricula to Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach

Contribution

Curricula

Score

High contribution

Field teaching practice

4.76

subject matter education curricula

4.54

Low contribution

Microteaching

4.44

subject didactics curricula

4.17

General educational theory curricula

3.56

School visit and classroom observation

3.48

General education

2.99

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great importance to teachers’ teaching (Fan, 2003). Pre-service teachers certainly agree. The contribution of teaching practice curricula to teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach is greater than that of other curricula. This is because how much specific teaching knowledge pre-service teachers have mastered is only one aspect, and what is more important is “how to use the knowledge in the teaching work.” In other words, teacher preparation, as a kind of professional education, is the education for professional practice. Teaching practice curricula provide pre-service teachers with greater access to the real world of school education and the classroom, enhancing their connection with basic education. This “learning by doing” approach allows them to experience the role of a teacher, forcing them to use what they learn to advance their own professional development. “Practice is the process of theory application. With practical experience, I can be more confident when teaching. For example, field teaching practice allows me to know what the real class is like, so that I have a direction in my teaching design and a clearer picture of the accumulation of professional knowledge and skills,” says a pre-service teacher. On the contrary, general educational theory curricula are often criticized by preservice teachers as useless or “meaning nothing but credits.” One pre-service teacher spoke for the majority when she described the general educational theory curricula as “in the stage of popular science, miscellaneous and antiquated.” This finding is not surprising. Many studies have directly or indirectly suggested that general educational theory curricula are inefficient (Han et al, 2011; Tian et al., 2008).

Relative Contributions of Different Types of Teaching Practice Curricula to Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach According to Table 1, the contributions of various types of teaching practice to preservice teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach in order from high to low are: field teaching practice, microteaching, and school visit and classroom observation. The contribution of field teaching practice is the highest. This finding is in line with the position of field teaching practice as a curriculum of “culminating experience.” Field teaching practice can make pre-service teachers aware of the complicated situation of education and teaching, and of the required professional knowledge, so that they can have certain feedback and adjustment to their own teaching. A pre-service teacher said, “field teaching practice is the first meaningful practice for normal university students to experience real-life teaching. It is the first time for them to associate and apply the educational theories they have learned to actual teaching. Through contact with students and under the guidance of experienced teachers, they gradually form their own teaching styles and initial management models.” Moreover, field teaching practice also provides an opportunity for pre-service teachers to explore who

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“teachers” are and contributes to the self-building of pre-service teachers’ professional image. In the interview, a pre-service teacher believed that the harvest of the field teaching practice lies in “(making me) love teaching more, explore how to prepare and give lessons, and make up my mind to become an excellent Chinese language educator.” Microteaching is a simulation of classroom teaching. It is a cycle consisting of five steps: teaching plan – microteaching (trial teaching) – feedback response – recasting of teaching plan – another trial teaching (Zheng, 1987, p. 27). According to the description of pre-service teachers, on the one hand, microteaching tests the teaching skills of pre-service teachers. “Through the micro-class, my blackboard writing has been significantly improved, and at the same time, I have gradually expressed mathematical concepts in a more concise and accurate language.” Microteaching, on the other hand, can also help pre-service teachers design and implement their teaching. “For the first time, I really knew the process of lesson preparation and tried to give lessons. I understood the difficulties I encountered in teaching, and received valuable suggestions and opinions from teachers and students.” However, pre-service teachers also believed that the problems existing in microteaching are inadequate mentoring, insufficient feedback and fewer opportunities for microteaching. They suggested increasing microteaching credits and hours. The purpose of school visit and classroom observation is to accumulate the practical experience so that pre-service teachers can have a better understanding of the educational theories. However, school visit and classroom observation are considered to be low-contributing curricula. A pre-service teacher, who graduated in 2016, says school visit and classroom observation were merely a “formality.” “I’m not clear about the purpose of school visit and classroom observation. No one cares about it when I go to primary and secondary schools to visit classes. Some new classes are not allowed to visit. There was no summary and reflection after the school visit and classroom observation which were generally chaotic.” Therefore, the lack of necessary ex ante and ex post mentoring is the reason for the poor effect of school visit and classroom observation. Most of the pre-service teachers who graduated in 2017 were satisfied with the redesigned school visit and classroom observation curricula. Before the school visit and classroom observation, the university distributes relevant handbooks to enable pre-service teachers to understand the purpose and tasks of school visit and classroom observation. Under the guidance of leading teachers from the university, pre-service teachers go to the primary and secondary schools for classroom observation and communication with primary and secondary school teachers. A pre-service teacher says, “this is the first time that we visit classes as teachers, as opposed to attending classes as students before. It is helpful for normal university students to change our roles, accumulate practical experience and understand educational theories.” Additionally, pre-service teachers argued that it is necessary to increase the credits and hours of school visit and classroom observation, so as to ensure the effect of such practices.

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The Relationship Between the Design and Arrangement of Field Teaching Practice and Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach The Relationship Between Teaching Sessions and Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach Mastery experiences are the primary source of self-efficacy (Koehler, 1984). Preservice teachers can build up their own confidence in education and teaching activities and improve their feeling of preparedness to teach through personal teaching in the process of field teaching practice (Brown et al., 2015, pp. 77–93). Currently, the field teaching practice program of D University guarantees that every intern can have the opportunity to teach. However, the correlation analysis show that the correlation coefficient between “teaching sessions” and the “overall feeling of preparedness to teach” is R = 0.074 (p = 0.045), and there is no significant linear correlation between the two. The results don’t indicate that the more teaching sessions preservice teachers have, the higher their feeling of preparedness to teach. However, this doesn’t mean that teaching sessions have nothing to do with pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach (Fig. 1). We divided the teaching sessions of pre-service teachers for field teaching practice into four groups: A, B, C and D by less than 10 sessions, 10–20 sessions, 20–30 sessions and more than 30 sessions, and then made a comparative analysis among the four groups. We found some interesting results. Comparing group A and group B, we found that the proportion of teachers in group B who think they are ready for teaching is higher than that in group A. Comparing group B and group C, we found that the proportion of teachers who think they are ready for teaching is basically the same in the two groups. Comparing group C and group D, we found that the

Above 30 sessions (88 people, 12% of the sample)

71.30% 28.70%

20-30 sessions (146 people, 19.8% of the sample)

26.00%

10-20 sessions (359 people, 48.8% of the sample)

25.90%

74.00%

74.10%

Below 10 sessions (143 people, 19.4% of the sample) 0.00% Well-prepared

67.80% 32.20% 25.00%

50.00%

75.00%

100.00%

Not Well-prepared

Fig. 1 The Relationship between Pre-service Teachers’ Teaching Sessions and Feeling of Preparedness to Teach

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proportion of teachers in group D who think they are ready for teaching is lower than that in group C. The results indicate that there is a so-called “threshold effect” on the contribution of teaching practice to pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. Below this “threshold,” the more teaching sessions one does, the higher the feeling of preparedness to teach is. Above this “threshold,” the increase in teaching sessions has a diminishing effect on the contribution to the feeling of preparedness to teach, and even leads to an increase in the number of teachers who are not confident in their teaching. This so-called “threshold” should be somewhere between 10 and 30 sessions. The results of the interview are consistent with the questionnairebased survey. Pre-service teachers also believed that teaching sessions should not be excessive, and 15–25 sessions are considered appropriate. Therefore, we infer that the threshold or critical value should be around 20 sessions.

The Relationship Between Dual Mentoring and Pre-Service Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach The Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Strengthening the Teaching Practice of Normal University Students implemented in 2016 clearly requires universities to implement the “dual mentoring system” in which university teachers and primary and secondary school teachers give guidance to interns. Since exploring the UGS model in 2007, D University has been actively promoting “dual mentoring.” According to the survey results, all pre-service teachers have received guidance from primary and secondary school mentors, and 52.9% (389) of the pre-service teachers said they had received guidance from university mentors. This means about half of interns receive single mentoring and half receive dual mentoring. The interviewed preservice teachers believe that the university mentors themselves are responsible for the coordination and communication between universities and primary and secondary schools, and it is difficult for them to assume the role of mentors. The study finds that pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach is closely related to whether they have received the guidance of dual mentors. Preservice teachers receiving guidance from college mentors show higher confidence in all aspects than those receiving no guidance, although the score of the dimension of “professional philosophy and ethics” is not statistically significant (see Table 2). This shows that the guidance of dual mentors, especially university mentors, is very necessary for interns.

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Table 2 The t Test on the Influence of University Mentors’ Participation in Mentoring on Preservice Teachers’ Feeling of Preparedness to Teach Dimension

University Mentors’ Average Score Standard Deviation t value Participation

Overall feeling of No preparedness to teach Yes

2.88

0.51

2.99

0.57

Professional No philosophy and ethics Yes

2.99

0.57

3.06

0.61

Professional knowledge

No

2.83

0.53

Yes

2.96

0.59

Professional ability

No

2.85

0.52

Yes

2.97

0.59

−2.549 * −1.505 −3.010 ** −2.671 **

Note * means p < 0.05 and ** means p < 0.01

Comprehensive Discussions, Conclusions and Recommendations Comprehensive Discussions Timing for Offering Teaching Practice Curricula In this study, we found that teaching practice curricula make a greater contribution to pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, while general educational theory curricula are considered unimportant by pre-service teachers. Relevant studies also show that pre-service teachers believe that teaching practice is the most effective component of the teacher preparation program, while general educational theory curricula do little to improve teachers’ quality (Han et al., 2011; Chen, 2011; Huang et al., 2017). Lee Shulman argued, “fundamental knowledge, rooted in theory, experience or norms, is central to all professions (Shulman, 1999, pp. 36–40).” It can be seen that the imparting of theoretical knowledge is essential to teacher preparation which is a kind of professional education. Pre-service teachers believe that general educational theory curricula have little effect, which is related to the teaching quality of university teachers and pre-service teachers’ learning attitudes and efforts. Moreover, educational theory, as metaphysical knowledge, is the basis of teaching, but it doesn’t directly determine teachers’ educational and teaching activities. In addition, due to the lack of integration and practicability of theoretical curricula, it is difficult for pre-service teachers to internalize personal teaching wisdom and apply it in practical teaching situations (Duffle & Aikenhead, 1992). In this study, some pre-service teachers state bluntly that educational theory curricula “are not offered simultaneously with the practice (curricula), so they don’t make much sense.” In other words, the opportunity for offering such curricula will affect their contribution to teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. According to

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the training program followed by the pre-service teachers who graduated from D University in 2016, the educational theory curricula were arranged before the practical curricula, and the school visit and classroom observation in which teachers may accumulate practical experience and deepen the understanding of theories were arranged in one week after the theoretical study. This curriculum arrangement didn’t take into account the integration of theoretical and practical curricula. Therefore, given lack of practical experience, theoretical knowledge would naturally seem “abstract” to pre-service teachers. In fact, John Dewey held that practical experience plays a fundamental role in individual (teacher) learning (Dewey, 2005, pp. 297–298). Relevant studies also show that theoretical learning based on practical experience is better than learning without practical experience. Pre-service teachers have the opportunity to link the curricula with practical experience, and they can get more out of this (Darling-Hammond et al., 2016). Therefore, the practical experience and the learning of educational theory should be alternate and mutually reinforcing, so as to enable pre-service teachers to have “reflection in action” and integrate educational theory and practice. The results of this study also show that D University has adjusted the udergraduate programs of teacher education major for the class of 2017 by interweaving school visit and classroom observation with the study of general educational theory, and the effect has been recognized by pre-service teachers.

Design and Arrangement of Field Teaching Practice As a key element in the teacher preparation curricula, field teaching practice draws particular attention. To ensure the quality of field teaching practice, however, it is not realistic to extend the duration of practice indefinitely as the time for teacher preparation is limited. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that interns can get enough field experience, especially teaching opportunities, in the limited time of field teaching practice; on the other hand, it is important to strengthen the field practice guidance for interns. This study shows that although the practical experience accumulated by pre-service teachers in the field teaching practice helps to improve their feeling of preparedness to teach, the relationship between the two is not linear. This conclusion is consistent with the results of Lyu Lijie et al. (2016) and Clark et al. (2015). According to Bandura’s (1977) ternary reciprocal determinism, the feeling of preparedness to teach as a cognitive structure is reciprocally influenced by the educational situation and teachers’ actual educational and teaching ability. Therefore, whether teachers succeed in teaching and the pressure exerted by the teaching situation on teachers will affect teachers’ confidence in their own abilities. However, pre-service teachers will constantly bear the “real shock” brought by the real educational situation (Veenman, 1984), which will reduce their confidence in their own preparedness to teach. To sum up, this study finds that there is a threshold effect on the influence of teaching sessions on teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach in field teaching practice, and 20 sessions may be a threshold.

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In addition, this study also finds that “dual mentoring,” especially the guidance of university teachers, is very necessary, which will affect the confidence of preservice teachers in preparedness to teach. Relevant studies show that the formation of a stable “triangle relationship” among pre-service teachers, university mentors, and secondary school mentors is the key factor to ensure the effectiveness of field teaching practice (Ganser, 1996; Jian et al., 2012). Bandura (1977) thought verbal exhortation is one of the important sources of self-efficacy. “Dual mentoring” enables pre-service teachers to listen to different voices about education and teaching from universities and primary and secondary schools, which is conducive to the improvement of preservice teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. What’s more, pre-service teachers participating in field teaching practice play a role of legitimate peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). They should carry out education and teaching activities under the guidance of mentors. They are more likely to be observers in the formal school order, and imitate mentors in teaching and class management, thus establishing a sense of identity for the teacher profession. Therefore, the guidance of mentors and the establishment of a stable “triangle relationship” are necessary to ensure the quality of field teaching practice.

Conclusions and Recommendations As the results are analyzed and discussed as above, the following conclusions and recommendations are made in this study: First, teaching practice makes an important contribution to pre-service teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. This means that teacher preparation needs to attach great importance to the position and role of teaching practice and put in place concrete measures. It is necessary for each training institution to build a teaching practice curriculum system with rich and interconnected contents, and to offer a complete set of teaching practice curricula, so that the relevant parties can fully understand the meaning and purpose of different teaching practice curricula and effectively implement them. Second, the timing for offering teaching practice curricula affects their contribution to teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach. The previous practice of learning theory first and getting practice later leads to the dichotomy between theory and practice, which makes it difficult for pre-service teachers to internalize and use theoretical knowledge. Theory learning carried out through practical experience is more favored by pre-service teachers. Therefore, teaching practice curricula and theoretical curricula should be arranged alternately in a cycle, so as to ensure the integration of theory and practice for pre-service teachers, which not only ensures the interesting and effective theoretical curricula, but also improves the effect of teaching practice. Third, in terms of field teaching practice, on the one hand, it is necessary to guarantee a threshold effect on the influence of pre-service teachers’ teaching sessions on teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, and 20 sessions may be a threshold. On the other hand, mentor guidance is an important factor that affects the effect of field

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teaching practice and teachers’ feeling of preparedness to teach, and dual mentoring is more effective than single mentoring. However, due to the shortage of teachers, university mentors themselves are responsible for the coordination and communication between universities and primary and secondary schools, so it is difficult for them to fulfill the responsibility of guiding pre-service teachers’ education and teaching activities. In conclusion, it is important to ensure that pre-service teachers will have the opportunity to teach a certain number of sessions (20 sessions are appropriate). It is also necessary to strengthen the motivation and training of teacher educators, especially university mentors, and encourage more excellent university teachers to participate in field teaching practice, so as to ensure the dual mentoring for interns.

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Understanding Teacher Quality: Connotation, Factors and Context

On the Materialist Basis of Teachers’ Holistic Professional Consciousness Xudong Zhu and Yuqiu Li

Problem Statement In the past 10 years, we have gone to many elementary schools to observe teachers’ professional behaviors in classroom teaching and learning, especially in different countries. We have found that the physical environment of classrooms varies significantly across different countries and regions, which directly determine teachers’ professional behaviors in teaching and learning. We have also discovered that a richer and more diverse, open and flexible classroom physical environment enables teachers’ classroom behaviors to focus more on students’ development and learning subjectivity. On the contrary, a more barren, single, closed and rigid classroom physical environment leads the teachers to focus on teaching and ignore the subjectivity and initiative of students’ development and learning in their classroom behaviors. And behind the professional behaviors is teachers’ profound professional consciousness. According to the materialist principle of Marxism, consciousness depends on substance and reacts on substance, which drives us to think about and study the relationship between teachers’ professional consciousness and professional substance. Foreign researches on teachers’ professional consciousness mainly focus on the unique understanding of teachers’ roles from the perspectives of phenomenology, existentialism and critical theory. For example, Maxine Greene, a U.S. educational

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Maxine Greene. Teacher as Stranger: Educational Philosophy for the Modern Age. California: Wadsworth. 1973.

X. Zhu (B) Center for Teacher Education Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] Y. Li School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_8

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philosopher, puts forward the proposition of “teacher as stranger”1 from the perspective of phenomenology and existentialism to emphasize teachers’ new awareness of discovery (Greene, 1973). Under the influence of Frankfurt’s critical theory, Henry Giroux, a contemporary critical pedagogic educator, puts forward the proposition of “teachers as transformative intellectuals” (Giroux, 2008)2 to emphasize teachers’ critical consciousness. Bell Hooks advocates that teachers as “irrational people” need not only rational teaching, but also irrational consciousness of input (Yong, 2006, pp. 7–11).3 All these studies have enriched the connotation of teachers’ professional consciousness, but ignored the material basis of teachers’ professional consciousness. In China, the study of teachers’ professional consciousness mainly focuses on the importance, significance and meaning of teachers’ professional consciousness, and few discussions and explorations are conducted on the origin and development basis of teachers’ professional consciousness. Judging from the existing studies in China, the basic research on teachers’ professional consciousness mainly includes the theory of educational enlightenment, the theory of anxiety and the theory of students’ consciousness. The theory of educational enlightenment holds that the independent development of teachers’ professional consciousness is essentially a process of teachers’ self-enlightenment, and the awakening of individual teachers’ consciousness of reflection is the opportunity and foundation for the independent development of teachers’ professional consciousness (Liu, 2007, pp. 51–52).4 According to the theory of anxiety, teachers’ professional consciousness originates from their sense of responsibility and self-consciousness in anxiety (Yu, 2014, pp. 7–10).5 The theory of students’ consciousness believes that teachers’ professional consciousness begins with teachers’ student consciousness, develops by embarking on the road of inspiration and awakens when experiencing happy learning (Yu, 2015, pp. 7–10).6 These views and researches are of great significance to promoting the discussion on teachers’ professional consciousness, but they are mostly limited to the consciousness paradigm, that is to say, they are mainly a way of interpreting consciousness from consciousness, from where it is easy to fall into the trap of idealism and conceptualism, making it difficult to explain the origin and basis of reflection, anxiety, student consciousness, etc. Besides, in the practice of improving teachers’ professional consciousness, they tend to focus on individuals’ subjective conscious efforts and ignore such important objective factors as teachers’ circumstances, the 2

Henry Giroux. Teachers as Intellectuals: Towards Critical Pedagogy [M]. Translated by Zhu Hongwen, Beijing: Educational Science Publishing House, 2008. 3 Jiang Yong. A Study of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness - The Awakening of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness in the View of Role Metaphor [J]. Teacher Education Research 2006: 7–11. 4 Liu Tiefang. Educational Enlightenment and the Independent Development of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness (Part I) - Awakening of the Consciousness of Reflection [J]. Educational Science Research 2007 (8): 51–52. 5 Yu Wenjing. “Anxiety”: The Origin of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness [J]. Journal of Jiangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 2014: (10): 112–118. 6 Yu Wenjing. Teachers’ Professional Consciousness and Its Generating Mechanism [J]. Contemporary Education Sciences, 2015 (3): 7–10.

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educational environment (such as classroom physical environment) and education system. Based on the author’s observations, it is found that the physical environment of classrooms has an important impact on teachers’ professional behaviors and the professional consciousness behind them. Considering the fact that the important topic of the material basis for teachers’ professional consciousness is neglected in the research on teachers’ professional consciousness at home and abroad, this study attempts to explore the materialist basis of teachers’ professional consciousness from a theoretical perspective of Marxist materialism and the reasons behind it.

The Basic Connotation and Characteristics of Teachers’ Holistic Professional Consciousness To answer the question of “what is the materialist basis of teachers’ professional consciousness”, we must first understand the definition of teachers’ professional consciousness and its basic connotation and characteristics. Teachers’ professional consciousness usually refers to their consciousness of reflection on their own professional practice, mainly on why, what and how to teach. However, in reality, there is a phenomenon of “semi-professional consciousness” for teachers. This phenomenon is mainly reflected in the fact that teachers are only aware of their own disciplines and teaching behaviors, but seriously neglect and ignore the constructive consciousness of students’ learning and the design of students’ learning. This “semi-professional consciousness” is in essence a manifestation of the “semi-professional attribute” of teachers’ development (focusing only on the professional attributes of teachers’ disciplines and teaching, while ignoring the attribute of learning) in their consciousness. It seriously restricts teachers’ professional development. The actual comprehensive and sustainable professional development of teachers should consist of holistic professional attributes, which include not only the professional attributes of teachers’ disciplines and teaching, but also the attribute of learning. It is an organic unity of the three professional attributes (Zhu, 2017, pp. 1–7).7 The proposition of teachers’ holistic professional attributes provides a cognitive basis for the construction of new connotation of teachers’ professional consciousness. According to the theory of “holistic professional attributes” of teachers’ development, the true professional awareness of teachers should also be “holistic professional awareness”. What is teachers’ holistic professional consciousness? It is a concept put forward in response to the phenomenon of “semi-professional consciousness”. The teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is the ideological embodiment of teachers’ full professional attributes. It is organically composed of three types of interrelated professional consciousness, namely, consciousness of learning, disciplines and teaching. Teachers’ professional consciousness of learning includes their 7

Zhu Xudong. On the Holistic Professional Attributes of Teachers [J]. Research in Educational Development, 2017 (10): 1–7.

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consciousness of students’ learning, designing students’ learning, and evaluating students’ learning. Teachers’ professional consciousness of disciplines includes their consciousness of discipline education, the consciousness of restructuring the content of students’ disciplines, etc. Teachers’ professional consciousness of teaching includes their consciousness of self-identity construction, consciousness of teaching environment, design, implementation and assessment, etc. Among them, teachers’ professional consciousness of learning is the core of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness, and teachers’ professional consciousness of disciplines and consciousness of teaching should be based and focus on the professional consciousness of learning. “As long as one is a teacher, they must first construct the logic of student learning and development, and then construct the logic of disciplines. Obviously, only when classroom teaching is carried out based on the logic construction of disciplines for student learning and development can teachers reflect the ‘holistic professional attributes’, otherwise they only demonstrate ‘semi-professional attributes’”(Zhu, 2017, p. 2).8 Teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is of great significance to their professional development. A sound teachers’ holistic professional consciousness should have the following basic characteristics: First, criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Criticalness is the primary attribute of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness and the inner drive for the constant development of teachers’ consciousness. Teachers are engaged in one of the most complex and unique educational undertakings, because teachers are facing students with unique personalities. Teachers will encounter various problems in the specific professional activities of teaching students to learn, educating and serving (Zhu, 2014, pp. 81–89).9 The essence of these problems is the manifestation of various contradictions in professional practice. The criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is to be good at keenly discovering these problems, to understand the essence of these problems, to dig into the root causes of these problems, and to find reasonable and effective methods and countermeasures. The criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is embodied in teachers’ boundary consciousness. In their educational practice, they have a kind of metacognition and self-reflection consciousness. They are conscious of what are or are not educational behaviors, and what are or are not teachers’ behaviors. With this critical professional consciousness, teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is always in the normative dimension and will not get out of line. Therefore, the criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness includes two basic dimensions: one is the actual dimension and the other the proper dimension. The former mainly refers to the teachers’ need to expose, reveal, discover and analyze the objective and practical problems in educational practice; the latter mainly refers to the need of 8

Zhu Xudong. On the Holistic Professional Attributes of Teachers [J]. Research in Educational Development, 2017 (10): 2. 9 Zhu Xudong. On the Theoretical Model Construction of Teachers’ Professional Development [J]. Education Research, 2014 (6): 81–89. In this paper, the author clearly proposes that teachers’ professional connotation consists of teaching students to learn, educating and serving.

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teachers to maintain a high degree of self-awareness of norm and value dimensions about teachers and basic problems in education. The criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is not complete unless the actual and proper dimensions are combined. Second, the development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Development means that teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is not achieved overnight, but has a diachronic evolution process. Generally speaking, teachers’ professional consciousness usually goes through a development process of spontaneousness, semi-consciousness and consciousness. A novice teacher usually has a vague professional consciousness and lacks critical professional knowledge in dealing with various problems in their own educational practice. However, with the constant deepening and development of their professional practice, teachers’ professional consciousness also develops accordingly, and tends to be clear and conscious. The development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness includes not only the clearness and self-consciousness of their own identity, but also the deepening understanding about basic issues such as the law and the essence of education, as well as the understanding of the educational object, environment, content and methods which changes with the times. The development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is an important dimension of their professional development. Third, the emancipation of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Emancipation means that teachers need to free their mind and keep pace with the times in terms of professional consciousness. Teachers need to constantly update their ideas and throw off the shackles and constraints of outdated consciousness. The emancipation of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness means that they need to embrace independent personality and free thoughts, to live a happy life dedicated to the possibilities of educating people. Teachers need professional imagination and should forge ahead in their professional practice, be brave in reform and innovation, dare to challenge unreasonable realities of education, have the courage to criticize and transform real educational life, and drive education toward a better direction of development. The emancipation of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness requires them to be transformative intellectuals, to have critical consciousness of the ethical and political reality and the courage to reform unfairness in education, so as to promote the sustainable development of educational excellence, fairness and justice. Fourth, the otherness of teachers’ professional consciousness. Otherness means that teachers should have the vision of others, understand others, and have the consciousness to serve and be responsible for others. Students are the major and most important “others” in teachers’ educational practice. Only with the consciousness of others can teachers truly understand their students, enter into the students’ inner world and establish a true inter-subject relationship with them. In the era of globalization and multiculturalism, the importance of otherness in teachers’ professional consciousness has become increasingly prominent. Just like Maxine Greene’s

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concept of “teacher as stranger”,10 teachers’ professional consciousness needs to be constantly refreshed, and their perspectives be constantly updated (Fang, 2014, p. 37–43). The key to updating this perspective lies in the introduction of the perspective of others. Observing reality from the perspective of a stranger among “others” is an important manifestation of teachers’ consciousness of discovery. The otherness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness not only has a discovery function in the sense of epistemology, but also has the significance of practicing ethical care. Only when teachers have the consciousness of otherness, especially otherness for students, can they really love students and realize the collision and communication between teachers and students.

The Materialist Basis of Teachers’ Holistic Professional Consciousness Marxist materialism holds that all consciousness is inseparable from a material foundation. The same is true for teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is not groundless or based on ideas, but from teachers’ actual educational life. In a word, teachers’ holistic professional consciousness has a materialist foundation. The “material” here is not simply equal to the concept of material in natural science; it is also different from the concept of “matter” in mechanical materialism. Although mechanical materialism affirms the primacy of matter in world ontology and recognizes that matter determines consciousness, the understanding of the relationship between matter and consciousness is a kind of mechanical and simple determinism, ignoring the initiative and reaction of consciousness. Only Marxist materialism can represent profound, complete, thorough and influential materialism. Based on the relationship between historical materialism and dialectical materialism, the basic viewpoints of Marxist materialism can be roughly divided as follows: the theory of body and function, the theory of duality, and the theory of oneness. According to the theory of body and function, dialectical materialism is the body and historical materialism is the function. That is, historical materialism is the application of dialectical materialism in the field of history. The theory of duality holds that historical materialism and dialectical materialism, as different philosophical paradigms, are incommensurable and have essential differences. The theory of oneness holds that dialectical materialism and historical materialism are interlinked and three-dimensionally integrated. The author agrees with the theory of oneness where Marxist materialism has three basic dimensions, namely, “practical materialism” which highlights the practical dimension of Marxist philosophy and its primacy and basic type; “dialectical materialism” which stresses the dialectic dimension of Marxist philosophy and its criticalness and revolution; and “historical materialism” which underlines the historical dimension of Marxist philosophy and its 10

Guo Fang. Teacher as “Stranger” – Study on Maxine Greene’s Philosophy [J]. Comparative Education Review, 2014 (8): 37–43.

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thoroughness and completeness (Geng, 2016, pp. 5–25).11 Dialectical materialism argues that contradiction is the fundamental driving force for the development of all things; practical materialism holds that practice is the basic means of the existence and development of human beings and society; historical materialism believes that all things must undergo a historical process of development, and that there are no realistic things that go beyond the scope of history. Teachers’ holistic professional consciousness, as a kind of high-level existence of human culture, also has a three-dimensionally integrated materialist foundation, that is, the foundation of objective contradiction from the perspective of dialectical materialism, the foundation of communicative praxis from the perspective of practical materialism, and the foundation of historical development from the perspective of historical materialism. All kinds of problems encountered in teachers’ professional development are the contradiction basis for the development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness; the in-depth communication between teachers and students is the practical basis; and teachers’ teaching practice and educational experience are an important historical basis. i.

Objective Contradiction Basis of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness

From the perspective of dialectical materialism, the actual contradictions and problems in educational practice are the objective prerequisites to promote the development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Dialectical materialism holds that contradiction is the fundamental motivation for the development of things. “Contradiction is not the natural state or spontaneous product of a selfexistent being other than a human being, but the product of people’s reflective concept of the nature and law of the inherent unity of opposites in the practical being in the human world” (Ni, 2008, p. 80).12 Education is a kind of special practice for human beings. The development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is inseparable from various contradictions in their professional practice. Problems are the concrete manifestation of various contradictions. If there are no contradictions or problems in teachers’ educational life, then their professional consciousness is out of the question. Teachers’ holistic professional consciousness originates from the contradictions in their professional practice. There are three basic contradictions in teachers’ professional practice: the contradictions between teachers and students, teachers and knowledge, and teachers and environment. For the contradiction between teachers and students, the teachers mainly need to deal with the relationship between students as the subject of learning and them as the guide and service supplier of students’ learning, that is, how can they better serve students’ learning, so as to promote their free and comprehensive development. Students are the subjects of learning, but unlike teachers, they are relatively independent and complete. The contradiction between students’ learning needs for their 11

Yang Geng. On the Connotation of Dialectical Materialism, Historical Materialism, and Practical Materialism – A Survey and Examination Based on the History of Concepts [J]. Journal of Nanjing University (Philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences) 2016 (2): 5–25. 12 Ni Zhi’an. On the Way of Contradiction Analysis of Marxist Philosophy [J]. Journal of Southwest University (Social Sciences Edition) 2008 (3): 80.

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own development and their incompleteness as subjects of learning determines the necessity and importance of teachers. As such, teachers play a vital role in students’ learning. Teachers should not only stimulate students’ learning subjectivity in a sustainable manner, but also excel at leading and guiding them to learn, so as to help them develop into independent and complete subjects of learning. Teachers should not only make up for the incompleteness of students as subjects of learning, but also lead them to act on their own behalf, without neglecting or even suppressing their learning subjectivity. Teachers need to dialectically grasp this contradiction between them and students. Only in this way can teachers’ self-identity consciousness, consciousness of otherness for students (conscious that students are incomplete subjects of learning different from themselves or the others that are learning) and their knowledge construction for students’ development as well as their learning consciousness come into being. The dialectical contradiction between teachers and students nurtures and boosts teachers’ professional self-identity and student development consciousness, and also calls for and promotes the criticalness, development and emancipation of teachers’ professional consciousness. From the perspective of dialectical materialism, the consciousness of teachers’ identity and students’ development in their professional consciousness is the result of their self-reflection on the contradictory relationship. From the perspective of the contradiction between teachers and students, the criticalness of teachers’ professional consciousness means that they should critically perceive the boundaries of their identity, and recognize that teachers are service suppliers and guides of students’ learning rather than the organizers and substitutes of their learning; the development of teachers’ professional consciousness means that teachers should keep in mind the contradiction between teachers and students throughout the whole process of educational practice, and constantly deepen their understanding of this contradiction; the emancipation of teachers’ professional consciousness means that teachers, as service suppliers, should free students’ learning ability, guide and help them in developing from incomplete subjects of learning to complete ones. In a word, the dialectical contradiction between teachers and students is an important prerequisite and basis for the origination and development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. For the contradiction between teachers and knowledge, they mainly need to work out how to use knowledge to promote students’ development and how to transform the knowledge they have learned into organic nutrients for students’ growth. As the content knowledge of teachers is not equal to that accepted by students, in educational practice, the contradiction between teachers and knowledge is mainly reflected in the dialectical contradiction between content knowledge and students’ acceptance and learning of knowledge. Content knowledge is the main means of modern scientific knowledge development. Its development follows the internal logic of discipline development, and students’ acceptance of knowledge mainly follows their psychological development logic. The contradiction between students’ psychological logic and content knowledge logic is a key issue that teachers need to solve. Teachers should consider both the logic of the content knowledge itself and the psychological

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logic of students’ learning. They should make full use of the students’ recent development zones to carry out teaching. Teachers need to dialectically integrate these two kinds of logic into their “learning and teaching content knowledge” (LTCK).13 At this time, LTCK has undergone a qualitative change relative to content knowledge. It is no longer just a question of epistemology, but a question of practice theory. It is no longer a mere question of knowing the real world. In the practical sense, it is also a question of goodness and beauty on how to promote the development of students’ learning while fully respecting their learning psychology and learning situation. The dialectical contradiction between teachers and knowledge directly leads to the consciousness of disciplines and students in the teachers’ educational practice as well as the reflection on the relationship between them. From the perspective of dialectical materialism, the discipline and student consciousness in teachers’ professional consciousness is to some extent the positive reflection of the contradiction between teachers and knowledge. From the perspective of the contradiction between teachers and knowledge, the criticalness of teachers’ professional consciousness means that they need to be conscious of content knowledge boundaries in their educational practice, that is, they should dialectically treat the relationship between content knowledge and students’ development; they should prevent the colonization of students’ psychological development by content knowledge logic-centered theory in teaching (for example, ignoring the law of students’ development and their recent development zones and imposing content knowledge in a blind and brute manner, which is known as cramming method of teaching); they should avoid the romanticism of students’ psychocentrism (ignoring the inherent logic of knowledge and giving top priority to students’ mentality without a rigorous and scientific teaching order). In a word, teachers should dialectically integrate the logic of content knowledge and the psychological logic of students’ learning into their wisdom in teaching practice. The contradiction between teachers and environment means dealing with the relationship between teachers’ educational practice and the environment. Teachers need to build or create a good educational environment to teach students to learn, educate and serve. The contradiction between teachers and the educational environment is mainly reflected in the contradiction between the general daily environment and the educational environment, as well as the contradiction between the supply and demand of educational environment resources. The educational environment is inseparable from the daily environment, yet they have different characteristics. The general daily environment is fragmented, complex, and unbalanced, while the educational environment is simplified, pure, and transcendent. As Dewey said, schools, as a special social environment, “first, simplify and arrange many factors of the tendency to develop; second, purify and conceptualize the existing social habits; third, create a broader and more balanced environment so that young people are not confined by the 13

PCK is the abbreviation of pedagogical content knowledge, which only reflects the professional attributes of teachers’ pedagogy, namely, the attributes of teaching. According to the holistic professional attributes of teachers’ development, we believe that their knowledge should be LTCK, namely learning and teaching content knowledge, which can reflect their comprehensive knowledge as a whole.

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original environment” (Dewey, 1990, p. 25).14 To solve the contradiction between teachers and environment, teachers should first improve or transform the daily environment into an educational environment. The environments include the physical environment (such as the school’s architectural design and classroom layout), the institutional environment (such as education policies and systems at the macro level, school rules and regulations at the middle level, and class rules at the micro level) and cultural environment (such as social education atmosphere at the macro level, campus culture at the middle level, and classroom culture at the micro level.15 Not all educational environments that teachers face in reality are in line with the educational nature, and some environments even run counter to the nature of education, such as the bad utilitarian education atmosphere or supreme education consumerism concept at the macro level, and bureaucratic classroom space design and rigid or autocratic classroom culture at the micro level. Secondly, teachers should enrich the educational environment resources to meet the students’ ever-growing need for educational environment resources. For example, we should vigorously enrich the material resources of campuses and classrooms, and resolve the shortage of traditional classroom resources, so as to better serve the teaching and students’ growth. From the perspective of dialectical materialism, the contradiction between teachers and the environment objectively promotes the emergence and development of environmental consciousness among teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. From the perspective of the contradiction between teachers and the environment, the criticalness of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness means that teachers need to have a boundary consciousness of educational teaching, be able to critically distinguish non-educational factors in the educational environment, and improve or reform them; its emancipation means freeing teachers and students from a bad environment, consciously resisting various bad social ethos, transforming unjust and irrational education systems, and shaping and leading a healthy, positive, fair, good, free and harmonious culture; its development is mainly reflected in the features of the times of teachers’ environmental consciousness. To keep in pace with the times, teachers’ educational environment needs to be improved. For example, the Internet and Big Data era and the era of globalization have put forward new requirements for teachers’ environmental consciousness. The three major contradictions in teachers’ professional practice are the contradictions and problems that teachers need to face at all times in their teaching and educating practice. As important active subjects in educational practice, teachers will encounter a variety of concrete problems in specific educational practice. With these contradictions and problems, teachers’ holistic professional consciousness has sprouted and developed. Generally speaking, the deeper the educational contradictions that teachers are exposed to, the deeper their experience and feelings, the richer 14

[U.S.] John Dewey. Democracy and Education [M]. Translated by Wang Chengxu. Beijing: People’s Education Press, 1990: 25. 15 The concept of “classroom culture” involves three types of culture: ideological beliefs, ideographic symbols and norms of classrooms. Obviously, it can be understood as classrooms’ spiritual, institutional, and material culture.

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their professional consciousness, and the more dynamic they will become. Teachers’ holistic professional consciousness is, in a sense, their in-depth revelation of and deep reflection on various educational contradictions in their professional practice. ii.

Communicative Praxis Basis of Teachers’ Professional Consciousnes

The view of communicative praxis is a basic category of Marxist philosophy, which breaks through traditional view about the practice structure of “subject object”, introduces intersubjectivity into the practice structure, and regards practice as a unified structure of “subject - object” and “subject - subject” relationship (Wu, 2008, pp. 97–103).16 Different from the general subject-object production practice, teachers’ professional practice is a typical kind of communicative praxis, and a high-level, complex and special inter-subject communication. To be specific, it is a learning communication between teachers and students. Educational communicative praxis is an important basis for the development of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. Imagine that if a teacher has never been on the pulpit, never has deep contact or communication with students, then is it possible for them to have a true holistic professional consciousness? There is no doubt that the emergence and development of teachers’ true holistic professional consciousness is the result of in-depth communication between them and students. First, the “holistic person communication” approach between teachers and students directly promotes teachers’ identity and student consciousness. Educational communication between teachers and students is different from any other social communication. It is a comprehensive and in-depth communication with the shared theme of learning and the main purpose of educating people. It is a communication involving students’ overall physical, mental, social and spiritual development (Li, 2012, pp. 62–66).17 This type of communication is related to students’ cognitive, emotional, moral, civic and social development as well as their personality, health, safety, art and aesthetics. In the communication between teachers and students, the existence of teachers’ body is not only an important image symbol, but also an important source of teachers’ tacit knowledge and practical wisdom. Teachers’ body is not only a physiological basis of their teaching practice, but also an important carrier and teaching resource of teacher-student communication. Teachers’ every move has a subtle influence on their students. Their good physical image, graceful teaching posture, appropriate dressing are conducive to enhancing their affinity and appeal, so as to facilitate the teacher-student communication and students’ learning. Therefore, teachers’ body in teacher-student communication will promote their reflection on their own identity and image. In teacher-student communication, teachers’ psychology and mind are also important dimensions. In front of unique students, teachers encounter others again and 16

Wu Yi. Marx’s Conception of Communicative Praxis and Its Realistic Significance [J]. Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2008 (2): 97–103. 17 Li Yuqiu. Outlines of Holistic Person Classroom [J]. Journal of the Chinese Society of Education, 2012: 62–66.

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again. In the process of getting to know and communicating with students as unique “others”, teachers will undoubtedly generate the consciousness of otherness, namely, the student consciousness. At the same time, as the saying goes, “with copper as a mirror, you can dress properly; with a person as a mirror, you can figure out your gains and losses.” Students are the best mirrors for teachers. In the process of teacherstudent communication, students, as the others, will urge teachers to reflect on “me” from “I”. Students are an important object of teachers’ teaching. Communication with them will promote teachers’ student consciousness and the consciousness of teacherstudent relationship, that is, consciously reflecting on and dialectically grasping the relationship between themselves and students. The teacher-student communication is not only teaching by precept and example, but also a psychological dialogue or spiritual communication and the construction of a social relationship. Teacher-student communication impels teachers to carry on the so-called “second-level construction” of Schutz’s social phenomenology, namely, the construction of structure (Schutz, 2013, p. 43).18 The second-level construction is an important process of social formation. In teacher-student communication, teachers are both the object and the subject for students. They should reflect on not only their own identity but also the communication between them and students, so as to form their “second-level construction”, which is conducive to the enlightenment and development of their holistic professional consciousness. Second, the main content of teacher-student communicative praxis directly drives the development of teachers’ discipline consciousness. As the unity of the subjectobject and the inter-subject relationship, the teacher-student communicative praxis mainly centers on the element or carrier of the content knowledge. The formation of the inter-subject relationship between teachers and students benefits from content knowledge to a great extent. Teachers and content knowledge form a subject-object relationship, and the same is true for students and content knowledge. Since content knowledge is the main object that is faced by both teachers and students, it plays an important intermediary role in the formation of inter-subject relationship between teachers and students during the teaching process. This profoundly embodies the view of communicative praxis in Marxist philosophy, that is, the structure of communicative praxis is the unity of subject-object and inter-subject relationship. As an important intermediary of teachers’ communicative praxis, content knowledge is of hermeneutic significance. In the face of specific content knowledge, teachers need to consider two questions, namely, how students learn the specific knowledge and how they teach the knowledge. They need to fully reflect their professional learning and teaching attributes. Teachers’ understanding of the latter question should be based on the previous question. That is, only when they deeply and accurately understand what knowledge is needed for students’ current development and how students learn content knowledge, can they grasp what knowledge is taught to students and how to teach them. It can be seen that the teacher-student communicative praxis focusing 18

Schutz, Alfred. Collected Papers I: The Problem of Social Reality, edited by Maurice Natanson. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1962: 6. Quoted from Sun Feiyu. Methodology and the Lifeworld: Revisit the Discussion on Schutz’s Intersubjectivity [J] Society, 2013 (1): 43.

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on the teaching and learning of content knowledge actively promotes and deepens teachers’ discipline and student development consciousness. In the process of awakening and development of the professional consciousness, teachers need to keep their criticalness, development, emancipation and otherness at all times. Only by keeping these features of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness can comprehensive and in-depth communicative praxis be realized between teachers and students and sustainable development be possible. Conversely, sustainable communication between teachers and students will inevitably promote the constant improvement of teachers’ professional awareness. The teacher-student communicative praxis enriches teachers’ consciousness of otherness and enhances the criticalness and emancipation of their professional consciousness. The process of constantly deepening teacher-student communication is, at a conscious level, a course of constantly improving the criticalness and emancipation of teachers’ professional consciousness. In the process of teachers’ communication, it is necessary to criticize all kinds of teacher-centered or discipline-oriented theories and social replication theories, constantly free teachers’ and students’ initiative, and unleash teachers’ education and students’ learning ability. In teacher-student communicative praxis, we should construct a “learning community”, which not only fully respects the differences and uniqueness between individuals, but also emphasizes the empowerment of teachers and students to ensure the free, democratic, harmonious and sustainable development of teacher-student communication. iii.

Historical Development Basis of Teachers’ Professional Consciousness

Historical materialism holds that all real existence is history, and there is nothing that can go beyond history. The progress of things will undergo a process of emergence and development. It is the same with teachers’ holistic professional consciousness. From the perspective of individuals, the awakening and development of their holistic professional consciousness depends on the history of individual teachers’ education practice. The history of teachers’ educational practice mainly covers two aspects: the history of their teaching and learning practice and the history of education they have received. The history of teachers’ teaching and learning practice mainly refers to their length of service as well as teaching and learning experience. Here “teaching and learning experience” is neither a concept of idealism nor an innate concept in teachers’ minds; it is neither a concept of modern empiricism nor a mechanistic reflection of their objective teaching behaviors; it is a concept of historical materialism, which refers to reflection on their teaching practice. If the length of service is a purely objective concept, then teaching experience is a concept of subjective and objective unity. If we say that the length of service focuses on the objective time dimension of individual teachers’ teaching history, mainly an external scale, then the teaching experience focuses on the subjective psychological dimension of individual teachers’ teaching history, mainly an internal scale. Generally speaking, the length of service is directly proportional to the teaching and learning experience, that is, the longer the length of service, the richer teachers’ teaching and learning experience will be. This proportional relationship is even more significant in the case

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of truly experienced teachers. Because the longer the length of service is, the more objective problems teachers encounter in their educational practice, and the deeper the communication with students is, the richer teachers’ professional consciousness will be, and the more criticalness, development, emancipation and otherness is seen. Teachers’ history of received education is also an important historical basis for the development of their professional consciousness, mainly for the following reasons. First, it is determined by the purposes of teacher education, an important one of which is to cultivate their professional consciousness. Therefore, teachers’ professional consciousness is the core content of their professional development. Second, the awakening and development of their holistic professional consciousness is also an inherent requirement for teacher education. Teacher education includes two basic parts, namely pre-service teacher cultivation and post-service teacher training. Preservice teacher cultivation focuses on awakening the holistic professional consciousness of prospective teachers, and post-service training places emphasis on developing the holistic professional consciousness of in-service teachers. Whether it’s preservice cultivation or post-service training, teachers’ holistic professional consciousness should be one of the focuses of teacher education. Because, only by awakening and developing teachers’ holistic professional consciousness can we cultivate truly qualified teachers and promote their sustainable professional development. Third, teacher education is an important way to develop their professional consciousness (Ning, 2009, pp. 74–80).19 Teacher education is an organized, planned, step-by-step, and systematic practice of teacher cultivation or training. In this process, in-service teachers or prospective teachers can not only learn about more theories, but also enrich their experience in teaching and educating practice. The key point is that they are able to receive earnest instruction and inspiration from their educators, which can act as a catalyst for the awakening and development of their holistic professional consciousness.

Conclusion Through the elaboration of the meaning and characteristics of teachers’ holistic professional consciousness and the materialist basis, we have noticed that to give full play to their holistic professional consciousness, it is necessary to establish a dialectical relationship between their professional consciousness and material based on the objective contradiction, communicative praxis and historical development of materialism. Teachers’ professional consciousness is determined by and reacts

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Ning Hong. Teacher Education: The Cultivation of the Quality of Teacher Professional Awareness – The Theoretical Construction of Teacher Development School [J]. Educational Research, 2009: 74–80.

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on professional material. This dialectical relationship is of methodological significance for understanding and reconstructing the connotation of teachers’ professional development. In reality, in classrooms across China, an “Eight Ones” classroom material or physical environment including a textbook, an exercise book, a pen, a blackboard, a screen, a computer, a chair, and a desk has distinctive Chinese characteristics, but this also determines the characteristics of teachers’ professional consciousness, which inevitably reflects the lack, barrenness and poverty of teachers’ professional consciousness. This physical environment cannot satisfy the materialist foundations for teachers’ professional consciousness, such as the foundation for communicative praxis. “Eight Ones” determines that the communication between teachers and students is one-to-many single communication, which cannot achieve one-to-one, one-to-two or other communication means. What’s more, the communication between teachers and students or even among students is only the combination of “Eight Ones”. Especially, the communication among students involves only textbooks, which deprives students of the right to learn in a variety of forms. And teachers’ professional consciousness is only expressed by means of “Eight Ones” communication mode. Obviously, the discussion on the materialist basis of teachers’ professional consciousness has forced us to attach importance to their professional material.

References Dewey, J. (1990). Democracy and education [M]. (C. Wang Trans.), p. 25. Beijing: People’s Education Press. Giroux, H. (2008). Teachers as intellectuals: Towards critical pedagogy [M]. (H. Zhu Trans.). Beijing: Educational Science Publishing House. Greene, M. (1973). Teacher as stranger: Educational philosophy for the modern age. Wadsworth. Guo, F. (2014). Teacher as “stranger” – Study on Maxine Greene’s philosophy [J]. Comparative Education Review, 8, 37–43. Jiang, Y. (2006). A study of teachers’ professional consciousness - The awakening of teachers’ professional consciousness in the view of role metaphor [J]. Teacher Education Research, 7–11. Li, Y. (2012). Outlines of holistic person classroom [J]. Journal of the Chinese Society of Education, 62–66. Liu, T. (2007). Educational enlightenment and the independent development of teachers’ professional consciousness (Part I) - Awakening of the consciousness of reflection [J]. Educational Science Research, 8, 51–52. Ning, H. (2009). Teacher education: The cultivation of the quality of teacher professional awareness -- The theoretical construction of teacher development school [J]. Educational Research, 74–80. Ni, Z. (2008). On the way of contradiction analysis of Marxist philosophy [J]. Journal of Southwest University (social Sciences Edition), 3, 80. Schutz, A. (2013). Collected papers I: The problem of social reality, edited by Maurice Natanson. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1962: 6. Quoted from Sun Feiyu. Methodology and the lifeworld: Revisit the discussion on Schutz’s intersubjectivity [J] Society, 2013 (1), 43. Wu, Y. (2008). Marx’s conception of communicative praxis and its realistic significance [J] .Journal of East China Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2008 (2), 97–103.

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Yang, G. (2016). On the connotation of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, and practical materialism – A survey and examination based on the history of concepts [J]. Journal of Nanjing University (philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences), 2, 5–25. Yu, W. (2014). “Anxiety”: The origin of teachers’ professional consciousness [J]. Journal of Jiangxi Normal University (philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 10, 112–118. Yu, W. (2015). Teachers’ professional consciousness and its generating mechanism [J]. Contemporary Education Sciences, 3, 7–10. Zhu, X. (2017a). On the holistic professional attributes of teachers [J]. Research in Educational Development, 10, 1–7. Zhu, X. (2017b). On the holistic professional attributes of teachers [J]. Research in Educational Development, 10, 2. Zhu, X. (2014). On the theoretical model construction of teachers’ professional development [J]. Education Research, 6, 81–89.

The Ignorance Teaching and Intellectual Emancipation Shenghong Jin

Since intelligence is a key factor of human nature and education aims to promote the growth of children’s intellectual ability, education must be considered as a cause of intellectual emancipation. If there are different forms, overt or covert, of concepts or practices that stultify children’s intelligence in schooling, it goes against the ideal of education. Thus, we need to eliminate the myths or practices that stultify children’s intelligence and seek intellectual emancipation. In this paper, I would like to criticize the educational practice of intellectual inequality with reference to the famous work The Ignorant Schoolmaster by French philosopher Jacques Rancière, and explore the education oriented to intellectual emancipation.

I In The Ignorant Schoolmaster, Rancière told the “ignorance teaching” story of Jean Joseph Jacotot, a French educator (1770–1840)—a story of intellectual adventure. In 1814, when the Bourbon Dynasty was restored in France, Jacotot was exiled, and the king of the Netherlands generously offered him a half-paid post. So, in 1818, Jacotot went to teach French at the Catholic University of Leuven in Brussels. He didn’t know Flemish, and his students didn’t know French. He couldn’t explain in class, but had to teach his students. With the help of a book Télémaque (The adventures of Telemachus), Jacotot taught his students to read and write in French in a short time. To his surprise, his teaching had achieved such good results and his students liked him very much. Jacotot seriously reflected on his teaching adventure and proposed the

S. Jin (B) College of Education, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 321004, Jiang Su, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_9

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“universal teaching” method based on his experience in teaching French well by stimulating students’ willingness to learn, despite having no knowledge of their mother tongue at all. The fundamental principle of this teaching method is to emancipate intelligence on the basis of respecting the intellectual equality of all people. In the practice of his educational principle of intellectual equality, Jacotot firmed up his faith in educational emancipation. He objected to the teacher-centered teaching method, arguing that teachers’ teaching explanation was unnecessary because students’ intellectual abilities were equal, not inferior to that of teachers. Teaching explanation just presupposes that teachers’ intellectual abilities are higher than that of students, that teachers’ knowledge level must be higher than that of students, and that the sufficient and necessary condition of learning is teachers’ teaching of knowledge. Jacotot objected to such presuppositions because they placed teachers’ teaching and students’ learning in an insurmountable hierarchy, leading to the subordination of learning to teaching. This idea is wrong as it presupposes the intellectual inequality in the first place and causes restraints to students’ intellectual abilities (Rancière, 1991, p. 7). Teaching explanation cannot stimulate students’ intelligence. Instead, it puts students’ thinking into the framework set by explanation and lets students think in accordance with the explanation, thus controlling their learning and stultifying their intelligence. Therefore, intellectual equality and intellectual emancipation are considered as the prerequisite of education. Jacotot’s ideas and practices would be considered unacceptable in today’s school education, because we believe that teaching and learning are inseparable. Teachers’ knowledge teaching is an indispensable element in class, and teaching serves learning. Learning without teaching is nothing but self-study, and teaching without learning does not exist (Guo, 2017). Although we may define the practice scenario of school education in this way, the fundamental learning of human beings occurs when a teacher or the action of teaching does not exist, and we may even say that most human experience or knowledge is acquired either by self-learning or without teaching. We hope that teaching and learning are unified in school education, but it is not necessarily the case at the level of phenomenon. Teaching behaviors that do not produce benefits may abound. Some teachers are so focused on teaching while students are tired of learning and suffer from some kind of mental restraint. Jacotot’s teaching practice, which is based on the fundamental principle of intellectual emancipation, proves that this principle is the necessary condition for people to get education and learn. Intellectual emancipation, first of all, is to affirm that those ignorant, immature and knowledgeable people have equal intelligence. Jacotot’s ignorance teaching shows that people who do not know chemistry can teach chemistry to a certain extent, and people who do not know math can teach other people math. An ignorant man can teach another ignorant man what he does not know. In this sense, teachers’ knowledge level is not a necessary condition for students to get education. In other words, children’s learning does not necessarily depends on teachers’ knowledge or teaching explanation. What an anti-pedagogical point of view! Teachers’ teaching is not based on teachers’ full grasp of knowledge, and teachers can offer ignorance teaching. Students’ learning is not necessarily related to teachers’ knowledge level. Jacotot’s

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experience and advocacy completely disrupt our beliefs about teaching and teachers. Pedagogy assumes that teachers must possess sufficient knowledge and must have a bucket of water in order to give students a glass of water, which, in Jacotot’s view, is delusive. In fact, I think Jacotot is reasonable, as teaching is not to transmit teachers’ knowledge to students and students are not to learn teachers’ knowledge. Students’ learning does not have to be mediated by teachers’ explanation. So, teachers’ knowledge level and explanation may not be the fundamental factor for children’s learning, unless pedagogy proves once and for all that teaching can only be about teachers passing their knowledge to students as if it were an object, and unless we prove that learning is about students receiving or storing knowledge from teacher as if it were an object. Indeed, in Jacotot’s teaching, he was still present as a teacher and when he teaches. In his pedagogy, teachers’ teaching is also important. But the question is, if teaching is not about teachers teaching their students what they know, then what is teaching? Is teaching merely a stimulus or aid to the act of learning? Jacotot didn’t think that teachers are cleverer than students. If teachers want to help students learn, they must be cleverer than students and know more than students. Moreover, lowering the status of teaching to a learning aid seems to deconstruct teaching. Jacotot did not deny teaching, and he only emphasized a teaching model that is different from teachers’ knowledge teaching. This model that seemingly does not teach is actually a great teaching method because its benefits to students are much more than those brought about by the so-called wise and knowledgeable teaching. Socrates never said that he was a teacher. In his trial before the citizens’ assembly, he insisted that he had never taught, nor that he was supervising, facilitating or helping young people’s learning. He believed that he had neither the knowledge to teach his students nor the wisdom to teach. He only saw himself as a midwife who loved dialectical dialogue (Leo Strauss, 2012, p. 46). Socrates taught without direct teaching, and I think no one who has an understanding of and benefits from the civilization of human thought may deny this. Perhaps, as the name of Rancière’s book The Ignorant Schoolmaster suggests, a real teacher is ignorant and “does not directly teach.” Some people like Socrates never teach, but people learn with and from them. Some people try their best to teach, but people learn nothing from them. Socrates considered his ignorance to be unified with non-teaching. Those who think they are wise, such as Protagoras and Gorgias, teach and show off their knowledge and wisdom, and they are often able to get students to follow them by glib words. Protagoras and Gorgias who rode the high horse would certainly be called god teachers or super web celebrities today. Those who constantly highlight their presence and value by sensationalism often think that their cognition and views are superb, while others are stupid. Today’s teachers, showing how learned they are, try to imitate Protagoras and Gorgias, but not Socrates. Socrates never taught, and what he said was never rhetorical or grandstanding. He was natural and sincere, but his simple and true dialogues educated interlocutors without teaching. Perhaps the ignorance or non-teaching experience of Socrates and Jacotot makes it possible for us to question whether the dogmas of pedagogy are beyond question. Do children have to learn from their teachers? Do what children

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learn have to be explained by teachers? Are teachers’ professional skills necessary for learning and growth? Is a teacher’s personality the fundamental condition for education? Here perhaps we have to deal with a fundamental relationship, i.e. what is the role of teachers and their teaching in intellectual emancipation? Are teachers and their teaching still necessary? If teachers’ professional skills, personality and educational virtue are not the constitutive conditions for students’ growth, then what is the significance of teachers’ presence? In education, there is a false intellectual hierarchy or intellectual order, that is, teachers’ intelligence, knowledge and wisdom are better than children’s (learners’). The inequality between teachers and students actually contains this kind of intellectual inequality. Is it reasonable and legitimate? Teachers are knowledgeable and enlightened, while students are ignorant. There is a huge knowledge gap between teachers and students, that is, the gap between the knowledgeable and the ignorant. Our teaching theory designates teachers’ task as the teaching of knowledge. Teachers’ knowledge teaching or knowledgeable teaching means that teachers are the source of knowledge, and students learn from teachers and learn their knowledge. In fact, knowledge teaching highlights the intellectual superiority of teachers to children and precisely emphasizes the intellectual inequality. Teachers are mature and knowledgeable, while children are immature and inferior intellectually. Children should learn from teachers. In this way, the prominent position of teachers and their knowledgeable image is highlighted, and the ability to teach knowledge is taken as the root of teachers and the root of education or teaching. Knowledge teaching is nothing more than constantly proving that children are intellectually immature and cannot master knowledge only by relying on their own intellectual abilities, and that teachers’ explanations are indispensable. In this fallacy, teachers simply cannot make sure whether they can teach knowledge that they do not know, and children may assume that without teachers’ explanation they cannot learn at all and will learn nothing. This awareness has fundamentally restrained teachers and children, so it is a kind of stultification of human intelligence. Jacotot demonstrated through his own teaching experience that the interpretive teaching of knowledge is the myth of education. Even now, the most popular flipped classroom, in fact, also regards a teacher as a puzzle solver, an ultimate responder of knowledge, a person who makes students understand through the final explanation, and an ultimate judge of students’ learning. As a matter of fact, our knowledge teaching establishes that children as learners must depend on teachers’ teaching and defines so-called teaching relationships: a knowledgeable teacher and a group of ignorant children, a mature adult and a group of immature children, a capable shepherd and a group of children to be emancipated by teachers, a morally superior teacher and a group of children waiting for moral development, a smart teacher and a group of stupid children. This is the difference between the educator and the educated as seen in the emancipation education and the traditional education (Rancière, 1991, p. 6). When a person intellectually obeys another person’s knowledge, and when a teacher is regarded by learners as an inferior ignorant person from the perspective of knowledge, there will be stultification of intelligence.

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At present, the prevailing concept of school education is to define school and education as learning, and children as learners. It seems that learning is the core of education, and schools aim at promoting children’s “learning.” Teachers’ teaching serves learning, or teachers facilitate or help learning, or transmit knowledge through teaching in class. In this kind of concept and practice, pedagogy or education has a fundamental setting that teachers must be knowledgeable and they believe that “they are knowledgeable.” Children learn in school on the condition that teachers teach them. This is regarded as an immutable law of pedagogy. However, must children learn through teachers’ knowledge and teaching? Perhaps the ignorance of teachers or ignorant teachers are the basis on which children really become knowledgeable. Perhaps teachers’ knowledgeability or the way they demonstrate as or pretend to be knowledgeable is just how they stultify children. Perhaps we should break down the invisible wall in the classroom, which has been framed between teachers’ knowledgeability and children’s ignorance. According to Rancière, if education does not stultify children, it is necessary to dispel this pedagogical myth in order to bring about true intellectual emancipation.

II Jacotot’s teaching achievements as an ignorant teacher illustrate the significance of intellectual emancipation in education. Educational emancipation amounts to intellectual emancipation, because education cultivates intelligence, which is different from social emancipation that emancipates people’s rights oppressed by society. Educational emancipation deals with the ignorance and deprivation of intelligence. It is the theme of pedagogy to apply and develop intellectual abilities extensively, openly and fully in the sense of intellectual equality. In The Ignorant Schoolmaster, Rancière reflected on the emancipation idea of critical education with the help of Jacotot’s practice of ignorance teaching. He argued that the emancipation logic of critical pedagogy could not really lead to emancipation. Educational emancipation proposed by the emancipation pedagogy in the twentieth century dealt with the oppression of human nature by unreasonable systems, methods and practices in reality as well as the dehumanized education. The theory of emancipation education continued the theory of emancipation revolution. Emancipation education is to criticize and expose the oppression and alienation of human nature by the oppressive structure. Emancipation is a struggle and a process of reacquiring human nature (Paulo Freire, 2001, p. 2). In the oppressive structure, human nature is deprived and distorted. Therefore, the education of pursuing emancipation is the revolutionary or new revolutionary education of enlightening emancipation and calling for resistance. In the concept of emancipation pedagogy, emancipation and oppression of human nature are a pair of relations. Emancipation from oppression means resistance to oppression and freedom from rights control through rights. As a result, revolution, resistance and emancipation are the way out for educational emancipation. In this

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logic of emancipation, emancipators enlighten the resistance and lead the revolution. The purpose of resistance is to gain rights, thus getting rid of oppression, so it is a force for emancipation. Emancipation is the inspiration and the call. It is enlightenment from the outside to the inside, and is injected from the outside into education. It is the extrinsic revolutionary’s rescue of the oppressed from inside by gaining new rights. It is the process of external intervention and the force exerted on the emancipated. Therefore, the emancipation education can only criticize the system of education, but can’t go deep into the process of education itself. In fact, there are emancipators and the emancipated in the emancipation pedagogy. Emancipators are the subject of emancipation, while the emancipated is the object of emancipation. Emancipators can emancipate those who are suppressed or oppressed. They enlighten, guide and lead the emancipation (Biesta, 2010). This idea of emancipation sets up an unequal relationship between emancipators and the emancipated in terms of rights, intelligence, condition and action. The logic of emancipation defines the importance of teachers as emancipators, and indicates the inequality between teachers as emancipators and students as the emancipated. Although emancipation seems to emphasize the struggle for the equality of the emancipated, it presupposes inequality. It resists the oppressive structure and the inequality of oppressors against the oppressed, but sets up the inequality between emancipators and the emancipated, as well as the dependence of the oppressed on emancipation. This educational relationship means that teachers are always ahead of and beyond children in intelligence and knowledge, and even presupposes that teachers are morally superior to children, because this is necessary for emancipators to act as leaders. However, this level of inequality is the myth of pedagogy and education. This myth places children in the position of dependence, obedience, following, and assignment, and puts children on the lower side in terms of will and willingness, as if they were unable to act relying on their intellectual abilities, which in turn presupposes inequality. Moreover, teachers must go beyond children and give children educational explanation using their own expertise and skills, which strengthens the central position of teachers and reinforces the myth that teachers’ intellectual abilities and teaching skills are more important. According to the logic of emancipation, an emancipator is one who knows more, is morally better, and has more leadership. Therefore, he/she is qualified to criticize. He/She is the one who gives the enlightenment. Only he/she can enlighten the emancipated and reveal the rights mechanism of oppressive education. In the logic of emancipation education, a fundamental gap must be established, that is, the emancipator has a transcendent position, while the emancipated can only stand a lower position. Only in this way can the emancipator emancipate those who need emancipation. Moreover, when emancipation is complete, the pattern of rights may engender a new form of oppression, because the emancipated need to be loyal to the emancipator and subordinate to emancipation. Indeed, oppressors’ “education” stifles children’s spirit of exploration, kills creativity, and maintains the oppressive structure in a variety of ways. Therefore, it is necessary to resist and criticize the oppressive structure. However, emancipation education, on the one hand, anticipates to the emancipation of human nature, and

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on the other hand, invisibly regards children as the emancipated and places them in a passive and subordinate position. This is the contradiction of pedagogy. In such circumstances, the emancipation of children is in vain. The emancipation logic of critical pedagogy contains a kind of inequality, a huge gap in knowledge, ability and subjective responsibility between emancipators and the emancipated, the dependence of the emancipated on emancipators, and the knowledge and truth revealed or enlightened to the emancipated by emancipators. This emancipation logic exactly indicates the inferior ability of the emancipated, and emancipation education is still oppressed, deprived and unequal in essence.

III Intellectual emancipation means the awareness and demonstration of the equal power of reason or intelligence, that is, the practice of intellectual equality and the play of intellectual abilities. Education oriented to intellectual emancipation is to stimulate children’s will and perseverance to use intellectual abilities. In other words, teachers’ teaching is not to teach (transmit) knowledge, but to stimulate the will to emancipate and apply intelligence. According to Rancière, teaching is the meeting of the will of teachers and children. Teachers attract or awaken children by virtue of their core will (Rancière, 1991, p. 13). Therefore, the will of children follows the will of teachers, instead of subordinating children’s intelligence to the knowledge of teachers or textbooks, as in the stultification education. Therefore, children’s intelligence is independent and autonomous, and children learn autonomously following their intelligence. This is emancipation. Children perform intellectual abilities by feeling, comprehending, experiencing, seeing, understanding, acting, doing, playing and saying. Children feel their own feelings, understand their own experience, reflect on their own views, sense their own intuition, express their own thoughts, and prove their application of intelligence, and their achievements. They act on what they see, feel, and understand to accomplish something worthwhile. Intelligence is the basis of all their activities. Children must promote intelligence and stimulate active intelligence. However, when children’s intelligence is subordinate to teachers’ intelligence, when children’s learning is subordinate to teachers’ guidance, and when children’s goals are limited to the standardized knowledge prescribed by teachers and textbooks, children’s opportunities for intellectual participation and emancipation are reduced, and they are actually stultified. In the stultification education, the school presupposes that what students learn happens to be what teachers teach. It seems that only teachers have knowledge, ability, skills, methods or ethics, or teachers can translate knowledge into students’ achievements only through the explanation of textbooks. Learning is the transfer of these objects into the mind or body of learners. In this way, teachers and teaching come first and are independent variables, while learning is the dependent variable.

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Students learn teachers’ knowledge. This, in Jacotot’s view, is stultified, not emancipated. Ignorant teachers’ ignorance teaching exactly proves the futility of this pedagogical myth. Ignorant teachers seem to teach what they do not know. They simply ask students to explore, to understand, to connect, and to detail everything they finds along the way. They, like ignorant children, follow their students and constantly ask questions to induce thinking and simulate the joy of response. Intellectual emancipation requires a rejection of the school’s predetermined gap or hierarchy. In the principle of intellectual emancipation, ignorant children have intellectual abilities equal to adult teachers, and children never learn the knowledge of teachers. Teachers do not impart their knowledge to students, but motivate children to use their intelligence actively and fully, in order to explore bravely, to feel, to discover, to describe what they have seen, to report thinking about what they have seen, to witness various practices, to repeat, to think, to speak, to communicate, and so on. The use of intelligence is a positive input of the mind and a kind of thinking experience in which intelligence is actively and freely involved in action. This kind of thinking experience is more about exploring the world positively than learning. Therefore, this process is not to accept predetermined knowledge, learning skills and methods, or knowledge points, methods and techniques for examination, imparted by teachers. The experience in the use of intelligence involves the free use of the mind, the inquiry, discovery and transcendence, and our life. Education oriented to intellectual emancipation no longer regards knowledge teaching as the core of education, and no longer considers teachers’ professional skills as the key factor for teachers to perform their teaching. None of these is important in the emancipation teaching in which intelligence is put to use. Importantly, teachers and students inspire will and willingness in each other to enable children to connect their own experiences, life, passions, beliefs, knowledge and uncertain learning possibilities. So, the important thing is that the intelligence is being actively used. In this kind of intellectual emancipation learning, learners’ learning outcome is positive but uncertain. Instead of bringing predetermined knowledge (imparted by teachers or provided by textbooks) minds, students use their own mind or intelligence to obtain the results of learning. The outcome of learning is unknown, and we can only define it as the mental accomplishments or as a fundamental benefit. As a result, intellectual emancipation includes emancipating people’s thinking, understanding, feeling and judgment, and removing the shackles on the use of intelligence constituted by any preset relationship, pattern, structure and goal. In this sense, the use of intelligence has no boundaries in the process of education and teaching. It is a transformation of teaching, involving the rejection of teaching structures and relationships that oppress and constrain intelligence and require intellectual submission. Without this transformation, the teaching relationship is still oppressive. Learners are set as passive in terms of teaching cognition and relationship, and their intelligence is seen as causal rather than autonomous. Teaching is regarded as a process of “watering” or “adding” from the outside to the inside, deactivating children’s intelligence. This kind of education is stultification not emancipation, and transmits knowledge instead of calling for spiritual transformation.

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Therefore, intellectual emancipation is the manifestation of subjectivity, which is the process of subjectification of a person. This subjectification is achieved through a series of actions towards intellectual emancipation, without which there is no such experience in subjectification. Intellectual emancipation creates a person who is blooming and growing freely. In this sense, emancipation education is spiritually generated, transformed and poetic, and gives birth to the soul of a subject. In other words, education creates the subject and makes a natural man subjective. Thus, emancipation education could create beautiful souls. Freire actually said, “emancipation is procreation.” It brings new life into the world, that is, the birth of men who are on the way to freedom, without the distinction between the oppressor and the oppressed (Paulo Freire, 2001, p. 49). Emancipation education does not emancipate children from the outside. Strictly speaking, emancipation can only be self-emancipation and self-subjectification, not external salvation. In this sense, intellectual equality presupposes the possibility of emancipation, and the application of intelligence is self-emancipation. In education, a child is the person who emancipates himself/herself. This intellectual emancipation is the subjectification, the creation and transformation of the subject spirit, and the birth of a full-grown person, rather than the emancipation from any oppressive scenario. Emancipation begins with intellectual equality, which means that one’s intellectual abilities are as equal as anyone else’s. One does not overestimate or underestimate his/her intelligence, so he/she uses his/her intelligence to realize and create another and better form of himself/herself. In this way one emancipates himself/herself. In the process of intellectual equality, everyone can emancipate himself/herself at any moment no matter who he/she is. No matter what stage of life he/she is in, every action can be an act of emancipation. Regardless of his/her situation, emancipation happens only in the act of intellectual use, not depending on others’ explanation, teaching, rescue or leading. Emancipation is the subjectification of children, making children come into presence as real subjects and demonstrate their intelligence and presence. This is the core of intellectual emancipation. The presence, uplift and bloom of intelligence means the manifestation and enrichment of subjective experience. Therefore, intellectual emancipation is the process of showing presence (Zhang, 2010, p. 47). Perhaps, presence itself is a process of emancipation. Intellectual presence is the presence of life, and intellectual emancipation is the emancipation of life and truly emancipates children. Intellectual emancipation aims at the emancipation of children as well as children’s education. An emancipated child chooses, compares, analyzes, understands, explains, relates and proves by himself in the scenario he/she creates in the classroom, and connects all the things he/she sees, feels, learns and hears. He/she learns, understands, and explains like a teacher, with no boundaries on his/her thought, experience, expression and presence.

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IV Intellectual stultification is opposed to intellectual emancipation. Intellectual stultification limits the free application of intelligence, which leads to a lack of will to use the intelligence, and no opportunity and space to exercise or comfort oneself, resulting in intellectual disability. Intelligence reflects the rational nature of human beings, and the use of intellectual abilities essentially cultivates the best part of human nature—reason. Education is intellectual emancipation. To be specific, education is to remove the constraints on intelligence, to exercise, demonstrate and apply intellectual abilities in all kinds of feeling, understanding and activities, and to let intelligence act, bring experience and knowledge, and create oneself and human nature. Intellectual stultification is the oppression or deprivation of intelligence. Oppression education is inevitably stultification, because only through stultification can oppression be maintained. The inability to exercise independent judgment, the intellectual habit of submission, the act of submissiveness, and the inability to feel, understand, imagine and reflect, are the domesticating effects that oppressors seek to achieve. If teachers’ education aims at stultification, children’s minds will not grow healthily. Therefore, teachers must be emancipated. Emancipated teachers emancipate both children’s intelligence and their own intelligence. Teachers first need to emancipate themselves, or we can say what teachers need to do is to emancipate themselves. A man who “kneels” to teach may also wish his students to worship him. Teachers who are not emancipated may stultify students (Rancière, 1991, p. 13). Emancipated teachers are ignorant. How do ignorant teachers teach their students? Pedagogy and education identify teachers first as smart and knowledgeable enough to teach students knowledge. In Rancière’s view, a teacher’s expertise is not the key to teaching. Only ignorant teachers can really teach students, because it is not teachers’ knowledge that is taught to students, and children do not learn teachers’ knowledge. Teachers even do not serve as the medium between children and textbooks, but the will and willingness of teachers meet that of students. It is this meeting of will that emancipates students’ intelligence, stimulates their intellectual activities, and allows them to apply their own intelligence to understand things. Emancipated teachers do not ask students to obey them, but encourage them to apply their intelligence to follow the logos, to hear the weak voice of truth, and to look for the signs of truth. In class, it is the truth not the teacher that teaches students. As Socrates said, we do not learn from our teachers, but we learn from the truth. Teachers guide students, instead of teaching them knowledge. Teachers are fellows playing games of truth-seeking with students. Teaching is a process in which teachers and students together explore the truth and struggle to travel on the road of explication. It is in this process that the truth which emerges teaches students, and teachers do not teach and just set up an example of typical thinkers in pursuit of truth for their students. Emancipated teachers merely invite, enlighten and inspire children’s love of intellectual use in a way that is pleasing to the spirit.

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Although the education in the present era is not the oppression in the oppressive social structure, there may be stultification in education, that is, there is the dumbing down of students’ intelligence and the deprivation of the opportunity to use intelligence. When teachers are placed in the role of imparting knowledge to students and considered as prophets transmitting the knowledge they have mastered to students, then teachers have underestimated the value and power of students’ intellectual abilities in practice, probably leading to stultification. When the class is preset to transmit knowledge objectively from knowledgeable teachers to ignorant students, the intellectual level of teachers and students is objectified, and an intangible intellectual degradation exists. When education sets knowledge to be transmitted accurately from teachers’ minds or textbooks to students’ brains, or teachers transmit knowledge from textbooks to students, stultification has already begun, because this kind of education presupposes intellectual inequality. Intellectual inequality prevents us from realizing the significance of intellectual emancipation. Truly emancipated teachers only motivate their students to use their own intellectual abilities which they believe are equal to those of teachers. A teacher who truly believes that he/she is ignorant and intellectually equal to his/her students can be an emancipated teacher. A teacher may be very knowledgeable, but his/her knowledge is not the object for students to learn, nor is it the indispensable medium for students’ learning activities, for teaching or learning does not mean transmitting teachers’ knowledge or explanation to students. Since teaching does not mean transmission and learning does not mean acceptance, then students’ learning and teachers’ knowledge is not related. If a teacher shows off his/her knowledge level or that he/she knows more than students, or urges students to accept or reserve the knowledge transmitted by him/her, then the teacher shows off that he/she is smarter than students, which is equivalent to claiming that students should learn from the teacher. This undoubtedly puts students in a position of stupidity or ignorance. Teachers show off their knowledge excessively, only to prove that they are more knowledgeable and smarter than students, and to limit children’s understanding to the framework of teaching. Such teaching of knowledge is based on intellectual inequality and on stultification. A knowledgeable teacher may stultify his/her students in the classroom, while an ignorant, illiterate teacher may be a good teacher if he/she inspires children to use their intelligence. The former may limit children’s intelligence, while the latter believes that his/her own ignorance can emancipate children’s intelligence. Emancipated teachers do not consider themselves as intermediaries, interpreters, or ferrymen for children’s learning, nor do they regard themselves as indispensable intermediaries in the process of transmitting knowledge to students, nor do they call themselves as people who already have knowledge, understand it, and learn more, and nor do they see themselves as erudite people who have mastered intelligence in advance. Instead, they see themselves as people who inspire the will or willingness of children. They believe that the exploration, questioning, expression and discussion in class are the process of emancipating children’s intellectual abilities and promoting the application of these intellectual abilities from the perspective of children’s will.

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This application is free and emancipated, instead of following the route designed by teachers or approaching the knowledge or intelligence of teachers. Intellectual emancipation therefore means the free use of intelligence, free from the shackles of teachers’ teaching or thinking, or free from any process and means that explicitly or implicitly limits children’s intelligence in predetermined ways. Emancipated teachers won’t set for students learning routes, problems, methods, skills, or knowledge points, because it means that students should rely on these things to achieve predetermined goals, or that teaching goes in this direction, so does children’s learning. As a result, children’s intelligence and teachers’ intelligence are both constrained. Emancipated teachers participate in and interfere in students’ learning with their knowledge. They only stimulate children to use their intellectual abilities to discover their own learning methods, processes and results, to question the relationship between the known and the unknown, to experience the process of acquiring knowledge, and to prove their growth experience in intellectual emancipation. Emancipated teachers believe in intellectual equality. Emancipation is the process of proving intellectual equality. Intellectual equality is the fundamental principle that must be practiced in education. It is not the result of development. This principle is concerned with whether education stimulates the development of each person’s intellectual abilities. It does not value the results achieved by each person’s intelligence. Therefore, emancipated teachers care about the process of children’s intellectual exploration, their own understanding or comprehension, their own knowledge practice, the experience of “being taught” gained by children, and the spiritual change realized through the emancipation of children’s intellectual abilities. Truly emancipated teachers may not want to “teach” or impart anything. They believe that children do not need any intermediary of “knowledge teaching,” that the role of teachers is not to be present as teachers of knowledge, and that students have intellectual abilities, the potential to think, and the ability to share ideas with others. Emancipated teachers do not regard classroom and instruction as a means to transmit knowledge, but as a jungle for children on intellectual adventures. They do not consider the classroom as a place to show off their knowledge and art of teaching, but as a place for children to understand, experience, verify and exchange intellectual adventures. Emancipated teachers only interact with learners with rich humanity and passionate emotions to stimulate the will of children. They only want to create an activity of interaction, and regard learning as an activity of benefiting both teaching and learning. Through ignorance teaching, they elicit children’s perception, sensibility, or action. Emancipated teachers believe that what is felt or understood in educational activities will be what really exists in education, something that produces the experience of being taught (Biesta, 2013, p. 53). The result or effect of this kind of education goes far beyond the level of knowledge and is the “benefit” that is really gained.

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Conclusion Jacotot’s “ignorance teaching” or Rancière’s “ignorant teacher” does not mean that a teacher should be ignorant, nor that a teacher’s knowledge or expertise is useless. It does not mean that professional knowledge should be taught by those who do not know it, nor that schools should be returned to the primitive times, or should be managed by barbarians without knowledge or rational souls. In fact, the educational philosophy of intellectual emancipation puts forward a few basic principles of education: Teachers cannot stultify or dumb down children’s ability to use intelligence; teachers cannot show that they are the authority of knowledge and that they have the superiority of intelligence; people are intellectually equal; and the fundamental task of teachers is to emancipate children’s intelligence. I think these simple principles are not out of date even in today’s knowledge society. Indeed, one may say that intellectual emancipation is nothing special in educational philosophy. Who does not know the importance of intellectual emancipation for children’s education? In my opinion, there are numerous phenomena that show differences in intelligence between people. Why did Rancière say that intellectual equality is the fundamental principle that should be presupposed in educational practice? Pedagogy has revealed that people are equal in personality and rights. Which kind of pedagogy theory has mentioned people’s intellectual equality? Which kind of pedagogy regards the emancipation of education as intellectual emancipation and that intellectual emancipation only happens when it is placed on the principle of intellectual equality? Based on the practice and proposition of Jacotot, Rancière’s philosophy of education refuted all kinds of views of intellectual difference or inequality, and defending intellectual equality and promoting intellectual emancipation are the fundamental principles of education. I have been reflecting on what education can do at a time when the humanization of machines and the mechanization of people are advancing at a high speed, and when the belief in the existence of people as souls is no longer believed. The reason why human education has become increasingly narrow and instrumental may have something to do with the declining concept of human nature. At a time when the teaching of soul or the teaching of personality is impossible, the learning oriented towards intellectual emancipation of soul is impossible. The only thing that is possible is to standardize knowledge as a tool of use and let students master it in a fast-food way through teaching, thus creating a “robot” with experience in the use of knowledge that can be used in an instrumentalized society. Stultification is evident in this process. There is no doubt that the teaching of knowledge is still a dominant method in the age of educational factory and knowledge as “fast food”. Jacotot’s ignorance teaching is inconceivable in today’s educational reality. It is outdated, absolutely regarded as not in line with the industrial spirit of modern education, and not suitable for the knowledge society. Or perhaps Rancière’s ideas of emancipation were considered extreme, radical, and idealized. In the modern era, the equality of personality and rights is easy to understand and generally accepted, but not necessarily universally practiced. Intellectual equality is

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not easy to understand and may be seen as a joke because our intelligence tests or everyday experiences are in the narrow process of specialization. Pedagogy emphasizes the difference and specialization of intelligence, and constantly differentiates and stratifies people with the reason of intelligence, thus forming the chain of contempt based on the intelligence level and dispelling the equality of right and personality. Pedagogy or educational practice, on the grounds of multiple intelligences or teaching in accordance with one’s aptitude, stultifies children and solidifies this kind of stultification in children’s self-concept and self-esteem. In this sense, the principle of intellectual equality is more positive. The hostile forces of intellectual emancipation are powerful in society and even in education. The institutional culture of education and the teacher culture may have implicit hostility to intellectual emancipation. Teachers’ knowledge and teaching skills are placed at the core of the professional education system, and the teaching or transmission of knowledge in class is put at the indispensable center of learning. The authority of knowledge teaching by teachers and schools cannot be shaken, and intellectual emancipation of children is placed in a subordinate position. The schooling culture treats intellectual emancipation as a Don Quixote fantasy. The technicalization of teaching increasingly regards the learning process as a stylized operational process. External social pressures increasingly see the learning process as an opportunity to reserve social resources and social capital, and knowledge conditioned by this can only be the core of school education. The development of children is nothing more than “learning” knowledge. Schools can only teach certain kinds of knowledge, and teachers can only present as masters of knowledge. Schools are increasingly becoming institutions of adaptation to or preparation for the social ladder of the future, as opposed to intellectual emancipation. Does this mean that intellectual emancipation is really an inhuman fact? The administrative educational management mechanism designs the hierarchical relationship between teaching and learning. Teaching is subordinate to the guidance of textbooks and teaching experts, and learning is subordinate to the guidance of teachers. Children grow up in this kind of hierarchical stultification. Currently, the phenomenon of stultifying children’s intelligence is very common in systems and practices. Perhaps because of this, “ignorance teaching” by “ignorant teachers” as proposed by Rancière would be considered as “ridiculous,” and emancipation education would be seen as out of step with the times and common sense. If education is not aimed at intellectual emancipation, what is the hope of education?

References Biesta, G. (2010). A new logic of emancipation: The methodology of Jacoques Rancière. Educational Theory, 60(1), 39–57. Biesta, G. (2013). The beautiful risk of education. Paradigm Publishers.

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Guo, H. (2017). “Jiao yu xue yongyuan tongyi” zairenshi [On the unity of teaching and learning]. Sichuan Shifan Daxue Xuebao (Shehui Kexueban). Journal of Sichuan Normal University (social Sciences Edition), 1, 75–83. Paulo, F. (2001). Pedagogy of the oppressed (J. Gu, Y. Zhao, & S. He, Trans.). East China Normal University Press. Rancière, J. (1991). The ignorant schoolmaster: Five lessons in intellectual emancipation. Stanford University Press. Strauss, L. (2012). On Plato’s symposium (L. Qiu, Trans.). Huaxia Publishing House. Zhang, Z. (2010). Ouzailun Puxi [Pedigree of contingency theory]. Fudan University Press.

Discourses of Teacher Quality: Neoliberalism, Public Choice and Governmentality Michael A. Peters and Benjamin Jonathan Green

In every society the production of discourse is at once controlled, selected, organised and redistributed by a certain number of procedures whose role is to ward off its powers and dangers, to gain mastery over its chance events, to evade its ponderous, formidable materiality. (p. 52) —Foucault, ‘The Orders of Discourse’ (L’ordre du discours, 1970)

Introduction In this article we take up the concept of ‘the orders of discourse’ from the Foucault philosophical archive to identify, open up and examine discourses of teacher quality. Our aim is to identity major strands of discourse in the discursive formation of ‘teacher quality’ and to problematize them in line with Foucault’s approach to problematization which functions as a critical philosophy of tracking and analysis of the characteristics of the genealogy and family of concepts. At the same time, we use the opportunity to include a discussion of the deeper philosophical concerns that emerge from Foucault’s consideration of neoliberalism as a discourse, and utilize Foucault’s notion of governmentality as a means of approaching discourses of teacher quality, and a form of neoliberalism understood as public choice theory originating with James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock (1962). Their book The Calculus of Consent: Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy presents an economic analysis of political or public behaviour, an approach which embodies the three governing assumptions of homo oeconomicus: individuality, rationality and self -interest. ‘Discourse’ is originally a medieval concept bought back as a critical tool for understanding. Discourse theory originated to investigate the relationship between language and power. Power is linked to the formation of discourse within specific M. A. Peters (B) · B. J. Green Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_10

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historical periods. It functions as a codified language of social practice, that is a ‘discursive formation’. Systems of thought are composed of ideas, attitudes, courses of action, beliefs and practices that systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of which they speak in terms of: • • • •

How those statements are created and become part of a discourse; What can be said (written) and what cannot; How new statements are made an inserted in the discourse; How practices can be material and discursive at the same time.

Using Foucault’s theory of discourse it is possible to identify three different historical conceptions and discourses of teacher professionalism: (i) Kantian liberalism based on autonomy as ethical self-regulation; (ii) Neoliberal managerialism as new public management; and (iii) so-called ‘New Professionalism’. We focus on the major shift from Kantian liberal to neoliberal managerialism by demonstrating how this neoliberal discourse flows directly from Public Choice theory and how it constitutes the means by which neoliberalism has controlled, limited and deprofessionalised teachers. In the last section we adopt Foucault’s notion of govermentality in relation to the responsibilization of teacher professionalism. First, we examine the Kantian liberal paradigm that existed and was dominant in the era before the rise of neoliberal managerialism. It identified itself in terms of an ethic of service and emphasized a form of ethical self-regulation that promoted professional autonomy. Peer review and peer evaluation was the main method of internal validation, with some control over entry criteria and an intellectual awareness of common concerns. The Kantian view also promoted a vision of ‘career calling’ or vocation with a strong conception of professional responsibility, reflective judgement, and duty of care for students and others based on Kantian ethics. This conception was also evident in teacher discourses of professionalism that prevailed in collective dimensions of teacher unions and serves as a platform upon which to propose an alternative socially just approach to teacher professionalism.

Education, Public Choice and the Discourse of Neoliberalism Historically, neoliberal discourse was aimed at changing the prevailing public policy discourse that developed after WWII from one of social welfare, state redistributive policies, and social democracy towards neoliberal market fundamentalism. The classical model of social democracy that followed WWII favored the Kantian liberal model of professionalism emphasized its pervasiveness in economic life where the state predominates over both civil society and the market with a collectivist welfare orientation based on Keynesian demand management and the mixed economy with narrow role for markets and an emphasis on full employment. The comprehensive welfare state, protecting citizens ‘from cradle to grave’ reflected a philosophy of egalitarianism based on an inherited value of equality. By comparison, neoliberalism

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stressed minimal government and autonomous civil society with a philosophy of market fundamentalism based on economic individualism that accepted inequalities and provided state welfare as merely a safety net. Except for a brief episode of socalled Third Way, a new democratic state based on active civil society and social investment where equality is defined in terms on inclusion, neoliberalism has been the only game in town. The economic discourse of neoliberalism has presided over the social sciences and humanities as the mega-paradigm for all social behavior. In the 1980 and 1990s, Public Choice theory, a variant of rational choice theory developed by James Buchanan and Gordon Tulloch (1962) in The Calculus of Consent, was used to restructure the public sector in Western-styled democracies following the example of the UK. Thus, Public Choice Theory became a theoretical discourse cum political meta-discourse comprised of the following principles: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

An emphasis on management rather than policy; A shift from input controls to quantifiable output measures and performance targets; The devolution of management control coupled with new accountability structures; Breaking up large bureaucracies into autonomous agencies; Separation of commercial and non-commercial functions, and policy advice from policy implementation; A preference for private ownership (e.g., contracting out); Contestability of public service provision; Emulation of private sector management styles; An emphasis on short-term performance contracts; Replacement of public service ethos of impartiality with monetary sanctions and incentives; A preference for litigation model for redressing personal grievance; An emphasis on efficiency, profit, and cost-cutting (Boston et al., 1996)

In the few short years after Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were elected to power in 1979 and 1980 respectively, Public Choice quickly established itself as the very essence of new management theory and managerialism. Subsequently, the discourse of neoliberalism, with its market prescriptions, was developed as public policy. While the Keynesian employment state seemed the answer and become the entrenched view during the Great Depression, the logic of an enlarged central welfare state, one that carried through reforms providing ‘free education’ provision at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, were challenged during the Oil Shocks of the 1970s. Previous notions of the big state, or the nanny state were also questioned, shifting the balance of responsibility back to individual citizens. The state shed its load and responsibility and began to embark upon massive state asset sales and privatization strategies to alleviate the state of its financial and welfare responsibilities. Furthermore, as populations began to increase rapidly and the demand for state services seem to outpace expected revenue, the notion of public good was systematically challenged. Specifically, as the neoliberal discourse of individual responsibility

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and market choice gained traction within endless debates which contested the primacy of these ideas as the prevailing paradigm of social democracy. Further, the discourse intervenes within society by disputing the nature of education as a public or private good, reassessing the respective merits of public versus private provision in education and whether the benefits accrue to the community or to individuals. In terms of education, neoliberal discourse was aimed at convincing voters that education shares the main characteristics of other commodities traded in the marketplace, namely, that the benefits of education accrue primarily to individuals and therefore does not constitute a ‘public good’. Often neoliberals have argued that we have been too optimistic about the ability of education to contribute to economic growth and equality of opportunity. In this sense, they argue that increased expenditure in education does not necessarily improve educational standards or equality of opportunity, or, indeed, lead to improved economic performance. The standard argument is that the education system has performed badly despite absorbing increased state expenditure. Sometimes, this argument has been supported by a manufactured discourse of ‘crisis’ – the crisis of educational standards, the crisis of teacher education, the crisis of literacy. The main problem of welfare state education, according to the neoliberal discourse, is that government intervention and control has interrupted the ‘natural’ free-market contract between producer and consumer - causing bureaucratic inflexibility, credential inflation and hence, educational inequality. Within this context, neoliberal discourse suggests that the reason education has performed badly is because teachers and the educational establishment have pursued their own selfinterest rather than those of pupils and parents; that is, they are not responsive enough to the market and consumer interests. The discourse frames this by arguing, specifically, that the educational system lacks a rigorous system of accountability. Moreover, it argues that there is not enough information for consumers to make intelligent choices and a lack of national monitoring so that consumers cannot compare the effectiveness of schools. Subsequently, policy solutions are prescribed through a discourse embedded within the logic of the market that fall out of a history of liberal political economy. Specifically, these policies hold the recently revived notion of homo oeconomicus as the main theoretical motivation for neoliberal discourse. These policies aim to break up and disestablish large state education bureaucracies, introduce school governance with autonomous boards, and competitive funding; re-evaluate the role of the State in the provision, management and funding of education; introduce the merits of market or quasi-market models relating to issues such as consumer choice in relation to participation and access in education.

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Neoliberal Responsibilization: Homo Oeconomicus and Human Capital Having explored the conceptual genealogy of neoliberalism as one of the four main forms of economic liberalism emerging in the early twentieth century, Foucault’s examination of the American neoliberal epistemological transformation shifts from an analysis of economic processes towards the production of human subjectivity based in a redefinition of homo oeconomicus as the “entrepreneur of himself”. In The Birth of Biopolitics—a historical treatment of the birth of neoliberalism, Foucault (2008) provides an account of American neoliberalism as a form of governmentality based on the production of subjectivity. American neoliberalism, as presented by the late Gary Becker, represents one of the four main forms of economic liberalism analyzed by Foucault (2008). Foucault’s analysis of how Becker conceptualized “capital-ability” rather than labor power is captured in the following comment: “the replacement every time of homo oeconomicus as partner of exchange with a homo oeconomicus as entrepreneur of himself, being for himself his own capital, being for himself his own producer, being for himself the source of his earnings.” In the eleventh lecture, Foucault returns to the question of how homo oeconomicus in American neoliberalism become generalizable to every form of behavior. By mapping political discourse and regimes of power/knowledge that operate as a form of political economy, a manner of governing liberal states and individuals through the economy, Foucault provides an understanding of neoliberalism as inextricably linked with ‘governmentality’. In this environment, political economy emerges as a critique of governmental reason, with neoliberal homo oeconomicus representing a governmentality of manipulation and control of the subject. This analysis is evinced when Foucault (2008), who regards Becker as “the most radical of the American neo-liberals”, writes: Yet in Becker’s definition … homo oeconomicus, that is to say, the person who accepts reality or who responds systematically to modifications in the variables of the environment, appears precisely as someone manageable, someone who responds systematically to systematic modifications artificially introduced into the environment. Homo oeconomicus is someone who is eminently governable. (Foucault, 2008, p. 270)

Thus, Foucault argues, “From being the intangible partner of laissez-faire, homo oeconomicus now becomes the correlate of a governmentality which will act on the environment and systematically modify its variables” (Foucault, 2008, pp. 270–271). This is Becker’s major innovation and Foucault leaves us in no doubt that in the grim methodology of human capital leaves little room for human freedom except as a form of consent assumed by market agents or consumers who operate by making choices in the marketplace. Moving from the state towards the individual, the governmentality of neoliberal homo oeconomicus can be seen as an intensification of moral regulation resulting from the radical withdrawal of government and the “responsibilization” of individuals through economics. Foucault’s analysis of human capital theory allows us to trace the “responsibilization of the self” as a form of neoliberal governmentality that

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turns individuals into moral agents, outlining how the promotion of new relations between government and self-government has served to promote and rationalize programs of individualized “social insurance” and risk management. Responsibilization refers to modern forms of self-government that require individuals to make choices about lifestyles, their bodies, their education, and their health at critical points in the life cycle, such as giving birth, starting school, going to university, taking a first job, getting married, and retiring. Choice assumes a much wider role under neoliberalism: it is not simply ‘consumer sovereignty’ but rather a moralization and responsibilization, a regulated transfer of choice-making responsibility from the state to the individual in the social market. Thus, it emerges as an actuarial form of governance that promotes an actuarial rationality through encouraging a political regime of ethical self-constitution as consumer-citizens. This process is both selfconstituting and self-consuming. It is self-constituting in the Foucauldian sense that the choices we make shape us as moral, economic, and political agents. It is selfconsuming in the sense that the entrepreneurial self creates and constructs him- or herself through acts of consumption. A genealogy of the entrepreneurial self, reveals that it is a relation that one establishes with oneself through forms of personal investment (including education, viewed as an investment) and insurance that becomes the central ethical and political components of a new individualized, customized, and privatized consumer welfare economy. In this sense, homo oeconomicus is that philosophical term embedded in the value of rationality, agency, individualism and self-interest that crystallizes the history of political economy and its succession of economic discourses leading to its revival as the main philosophical approach to the subject and to the methodological calculus—“political arithmetic” (William Petty’s term)—of neoliberalism as a political discourse. In this novel form of govermentality, responsibilized individuals are called upon to apply certain managerial, economic, and actuarial techniques to themselves as citizen-consumer subjects—calculating the risks and returns on investment in such areas as education, health, employment, and retirement. Thusly, the neoliberal homo oeconomicus governmentality of responsibilization has led to and allowed for the continued dismantling of labor laws in conjunction with increased reliance on tougher mechanisms of managerial (self)accountability.

Neoliberal Managerialist Discourse and Teacher Professionalism Deconstructing neoliberal discourse in general terms we can say that a commitment to the free market involves two sets of claims: (i) claims for the efficiency of the market as a superior allocative mechanism for the distribution of scarce public resources; and, (ii) claims for the market as a morally superior form of political economy. This simple, historically naïve, and unreflective revival of homo oeconomicus involves a return to a crude form of individualism which is competitive, ‘possessive’ and often

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construed in terms of ‘consumer sovereignty’ (‘consumer is king’). The argument of public choice then is to set about redesigning public services by making them consumer-driven. For example, creating the student as a consumer of education, or citizen as a consumer of health, which also means that these services can be easily privatized and marketized. In terms of political economy, the market-driven ideology puts an emphasis on freedom over equality where ‘freedom’ is construed as the capacity to exercise a rational choice in the marketplace based on one’s self-interest. This underlying concept of freedom is both negative and strictly individualistic. Negative freedom is freedom from state interference which implies an acceptance of inequalities generated by the market. The attack on ‘big’ government is made on the basis of both economic and moral arguments, and tends to lead corporatization and privatization strategies to limit the state. Foucault draws our attention to the fact that liberalism is a doctrine of the selflimiting state—it is of course against all forms of totalitarianism and Fascism (that by contrast holds there is nothing outside the state). The doctrine of the self-limiting state has blind faith in the market as a mechanism of distribution of resources that in the long-term results in a ‘trickled down’ equality. As Thomas Pickerty has demonstrated so well, it ignores the way that markets can be controlled by huge utilities and oligarchies that care little for the rights of consumers or for the inequalities generated by the market. Often this discourse—framed up as theory or doctrine, is written up as a protection of the individual’s rights against the state. However, In the digital age, such protection means protection of personal data and privacy but little protection for the way capitalism relies on advertising and psychological digital profiling to school consumerism as it activates the preference formation of even the pre-verbal very young. Moreover, in practice, the pure market doctrine of neoliberalism has achieved power through a marriage with conservativism, specifically, a moral conservativism that is anti-socialist, anti-feminist and anti-immigrant. Thus, the discourse of the neoliberal market both changes the emphasis and reverses the priority of values of freedom and equality through a transformation of welfare state discourse to neoliberal market discourse. This brief analysis enables us to understand the construction of neoliberal discourse and its impact on discourses of teacher professionalism. Specifically, Goodson and Hargreaves (1996) note there has been a strong political and administrative interest in ‘identifying, codifying and applying professional standards of practice to the teaching force’ (p. 1). Policy initiatives in UK 1980s and 1990s were framed to change the discourse in terms of teacher supply and accountability to deliver ‘quality’ to be measured in consumer choice. Managerialist discourses emphasized professional standards based on neoliberal discourses of choice and competition and the marketization of education. Managerialism emphasized flexible workers, human capital, efficiency as aspects of ‘new public management’ that based itself on competency-based and outcome-oriented processes, with increased standardization, target-setting, and performance review. The discourse was a form of credentialism focused on quality controls, audits, new forms of contractualism, with continuous monitoring and assessment systems. It has been consistently claimed by

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critics that this neoliberal discourse led to forms of deprofessionalization, deskilling, and proletarianization of teachers.

Foucault and the Governmentality of Teacher Quality In his governmentality studies in the late 1970s Foucault held a course at The Collège De France on the major forms of neoliberalism, examining the three theoretical schools of German Ordoliberalism, The Austrian School characterized by Hayek, and American neoliberalism in the form of the Chicago School (see Foucault, 2008). Among Foucault’s great insights in his work on governmentality was the critical link he observed in liberalism between the governance of the self and government of the state which he understood as the exercise of political sovereignty over a territory and its population. Foucault’s analysis focused on the self-limitation of governmental reason. Liberalism is also a practice, Foucault asks where exactly is the principle of the limitation of government to be found and how are the effects of this limitation to be calculated? There have been numerous attempts to use Foucault’s concept of governmentality in relation to teachers and teaching and it is worthwhile to get a sense for this literature by reviewing some of the main examples. Perryman et al (2017) use governmentality as a lens for the reflective teacher; Atkinson (2015) applies governmentality in accountability testing policy; Stickney (2012) looks at governmentality in relation to judging teachers during education reforms; and Fimyar (2008) uses governmentality as a conceptual tool in education policy research. Maarten Simons (2002) in a paper entitled ‘Governmentality, education and quality management towards a critique of the permanent quality tribunal’ focuses on the ‘obsession’ with quality in education in terms of the changes in how we are governed and governing ourselves. He explores advanced liberalism as a form of ‘governmentality’ and points out that government has to submit itself to a ‘permanent economic tribunal’ so that ‘not only political government, but foremost selfgovernment should be understood in relation to the tribunal: free people objectify within them skills and competencies, which are valuable in a (market) environment.’ He argues that management rationality and technology try to establish a double bond within the organization by regarding the worker as an enterprising self. Having pointed out the relationship between entrepreneurship and (self-)management, it is possible to describe how quality becomes a permanent obsession to those managing their life or an organization as an enterprise. After describing management and quality (and their relation) as a ‘function’ of entrepreneurship it is possible to understand how learning is part of it, and how quality management and schooling become entwined at all levels. (p. 617)

In ‘Governing China’s children: governmentality and “education for quality”’ Woronov (2009) provides a study of suzhi jiaoyu or “education for quality” in contemporary Beijing focused on the effort to raise the quality of the capital’s children in order to raise the quality of the Chinese nation and its future. Woronov (2009)

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frames suzhi jiaoyu as a form of governmentality, dedicated to teaching children the “conduct of conduct” in postsocialist Beijing. Using ethnographic research Woronov (2009) focuses on how attempts to define and raise children’s “moral quality” are linked to changing forms and practices of state power. The same approach informs Holmberg’s (2017) study of systematic quality management in leisure-time centers in Sweden and how the production of both systematic reporting and documentation works through self-technologies which are both self-scrutinizing and transparent by also made with a certain ‘correct’ attitude based on the “will to improve”. The systematic quality management operates strategically to control a form of subjectification of confessional practices designed to construct “a free but loyal collective subject, who produces systematic quality work in line with what the educational authorities want to happen.” Many of the papers in this literature discuss the emergence of audit systems as forms of governmentality. The governmentality of teacher quality systems is largely still restricted to within nations while the use of audit systems is rapidly increasing as intergovernmental technologies to measure and compare educational performance in global settings (PISA, TIMMS, university rankings, journal & citation systems etc.).

Global Audit Systems • Audit systems are increasing in frequency around the world for a variety of reasons, including the rise of neoliberalism, financialization, and the shift to managerialism (NPM), alongside the increasing prevalence of digital technologies and big data analytics that enable governing agents to measure and monitor the performance of the governed as the basis of new contractural relationships, with incentives and negative sanctions.

Post-neoliberal Evaluation Systems • The challenge is to design post-neoliberal evaluation systems that make use of the power of new digital architectures to encourage critical professional self-reflection and regulation while deepening practices of care and responsibility within a community of stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, researchers and government agencies that can avoid crude audit scientism to reexamine democratic social governing ideals. Diego Giannone (2016) in “Neoliberalization by evaluation: explaining the making of neoliberal evaluative state” in a comprehensive approach demonstrates that “evaluation is acknowledged as the privileged method of knowledge of neoliberalism”. He refers to Davies’ (2014) “genealogy of neoliberal ways of thinking,

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measuring, evaluating, criticizing, judging and knowing (p. 23)” and helpfully refers to Springer’s (2012) understanding of power as a complex, yet very specific form centering on knowledge production through the ensemble of rationalities, strategies, technologies, and techniques concerning the mentality of rule that allow for the de-centering of government through the active role of auto-regulated or auto-correcting selves who facilitate ‘governance at a distance.’ (p. 137)

Giannone (2016) claims “Neoliberalism is a political rationality based on a set of discourses, practices and apparatuses that constitute a new modality of government of human beings, in accordance with an entrepreneurial model and the universal principle of competition. It is a constructivist project involving a normative rather than ontological claim about the pervasiveness of economic rationality.” Evaluation is the means of neoliberal governmentality where the term evaluation embraces a wide range of techniques such as audits, rankings, ratings, indicators and indexes—that systematically assess the performance of individuals, organizations and states. Through the arrangement of a special culture that includes auditing, monitoring, and measuring and instruments, aimed at creating a comparative system that makes possible both the measurement of overall phenomena and the calculation of the gaps between individuals, states and organizations, evaluation allows to describe, judge, measure, and compare various actors based on a common metric. The science of neoliberal governmentality and the governmentality of neoliberal science Giannone (2016) claims: 1.

2.

3.

Rationalises every aspect of human life made evaluation based on calculation, quantification and standardization a major strategy to manage uncertainty. Neoliberalism understands individuals, organizations and states as rational actors which need impartial, updated and comparable data to make rational choices. Replaces political and professional judgement with economic evaluation— depoliticization strategies—fostered by the commodification of all human actions that demands measurement to monitor production, consumption, distribution & exchange Evaluation is favoured by the development and rapid diffusion of new information and communication technologies (ICTS) related to financialisation and market informationalism increasingly driven by big data analytics.

• Privatizing, deregulating, discrediting, dismantling, de-socialising and individualising our institutions • The market as a spontaneous and self-regulating institution; the state as inefficient and threatening of individual freedom • Extension of market rationality to state sector • Market-based forms of evaluation.

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The Redefinition of Teacher Professionalism Some scholars have attempted the redefinition of teacher professionalism from classical to new democratic, professionalism (Sachs, 2005) emphasizing elements of teacher professionalism based on the social democratic model that emphasizes inclusive membership and ethical codes of practice with an accent on collaboration and collegiality to promote flexibility, progressiveness and an activist orientation. This shares much with the Kantian liberal model in that it is modelled on professional self-regulation with new emphasis on the responsiveness to change and an enquiryoriented approach that involves both policy activity and knowledge building. This conception is more aspirational than a system already in practice. In Teachers Matter (OECD, 2005) teacher quality framed as policy problem at the heart of economic and social policy that is linked to school improvement policies with access of all students to high quality teaching: All countries are seeking to improve their schools, and to respond better to higher social and economic expectations. As the most significant and costly resource in schools, teachers are central to school improvement efforts. Improving the efficiency and equity of schooling depends, in large measure, on ensuring that competent people want to work as teachers, that their teaching is of high quality, and that all students have access to high quality teaching.

The OECD (2005) conclude that ‘Quality teaching is vital for improving student learning’: Student learning is influenced by many factors, including: students’ skills, expectations, motivation and behaviour; family resources, attitudes and support; peer group skills, attitudes and behaviour; school organisation, resources and climate; curriculum structure and content; and teacher skills, knowledge, attitudes and practices. Schools and classrooms are complex, dynamic environments, and identifying the effects of these varied factors, and how they influence and relate with each other – for different types of students and different types of learning – has been, and continues to be, a major focus of educational research.

Scholes et al. (2017) in a similar vein examine the politics of quality teacher discourses in high poverty schools arguing that “improving the quality of education for young people growing up in high poverty and culturally diverse communities is an escalating problem in affluent nations with increasing gaps between the wealthy and the poor.” Thus, improving the quality of teachers and improving the quality of teaching are amongst the prominent solutions offered to redress the differences between student academic performances related to socio-economic family circumstances. In the following section, rather than perpetuate a neoliberal homo oeconomicus discourse of ‘teacher quality’, the article suggests an alternative approach to teacher professionalism based in a socially just Kantian ethics of care.

Towards a Socially just Teacher Professionalism A Rawlsean approach to justice within liberal societies requires that any theory of justice attain a reflective equilibrium between people holding competing claims

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concerning the proper relation between liberty and equality (Gewirtz, 1998; Meyer & Sanklecha, 2016). Such disagreements affect personal understandings of what constitutes the social good, shaping notions of socioeconomic, cultural and political injustice which subvert the moral imperative towards ‘equity work’ within the teaching profession (Keddie, 2012). While there exists no unified understanding of justice, social justice is generally understood to reflect a specific liberal moral purchase regarding the fair distribution of material and non-material resources (Gewirtz, 1998). However, stark social divides (political, class, race) may underscore vastly different understandings of justice as both distributive and/or burdensome (Rothmund et al., 2016). Articulating a definition of social justice requires the resolution of valueconflicts of concerned parties within particular socio-historical traditions (Meyer & Sanklecha, 2016). In other words, social justice is a property of social and political systems—reflecting the procedures, rules, norms and values that govern basic rights, liberties and entitlements of historically positioned individuals and groups (Rothmund et al., 2016). Highlighting a Habermasean communicative ethic of autonomous morality (Morrow & Torres, 2002), the teaching profession has been overwhelmingly defined within a moral calling towards the betterment of students (Sanger, 2017). Specifically, de Kadt outlines a discourse of teacher professionalism which aims to further social justice through transformative practices which achieve ‘pedagogical parity’ within a Fraserean tripartite understanding of justice (2019). Here we would like to highlight that a Fraserean notion of justice within education represents the commitment towards the (re)distribution of resources, equitable patterns of recognition and spaces of (political) representation (Keddie, 2012). To be clear, (inter)subjectivities, patterns of identity formation, temporalities and the like work in tandem with neoliberalism to perpetuate the unconscious reproduction of classist and racist imaginaries of ‘equality’ within the teaching profession (Burke et al., 2017). Moreover, neoliberal managerial practices have been shown to subordinate a socially just understanding of the teaching profession within a rationalized logic of accountability, depriving teachers of autonomy and power (managerial supervision, performativity) while disassociating them from the ideological core (instructional logic) of their work as an exercise of care and commitment for the welfare of their students (Tsang & Qin, 2020). Further, in positioning teachers as the individual unit of competition and reward, in order to enable an ostensibly accurate measurement and ranking of individual performance, neoliberal reforms to education have proletarianized both teachers and the field of teacher education (Bullough, 2018). Whitty has noted that teacher educators have decried these unintelligent accountability systems as constraining creativity while dissolving trust in the professional judgement of teachers (2017). In reflecting on Ball’s assertion that neoliberalism aims to ‘teacher proof’ the teaching profession, Popkewitz notes that increased surveillance and control over teachers represents an attack on both the teaching profession and the traditional, symbolic notion of the teacher (1998). Thus, neoliberalism (deregulation, privatization, marketization), in its promotion of managerial, competitive frameworks of education and teaching (measurement and ranking of individual and institutional performance), has caused the deprofessionalization and proletarianization of the teacher within a weakened overall notion of

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teacher professionalism. Meanwhile, Mahoney & Hextall argue that the teaching profession’s erstwhile ideological fount, which positioned the work of social justice as teachers’ responsibility toward the student, has been evacuated and recontextualized to fulfill centralized notions of quality education (1998). Echoing this assertion, Archer concludes that neoliberal education discourse has ‘hijacked and evacuated’ the social justice understanding of equality (distributive justice) to better serve the marketized logic of consumer choice (2007). Thusly, questions of social justice within contemporary educational policy reforms have continued to center around a neoliberal discourse concerning standards, choice and accountability (Phillips, 2001). Besley underscores this lamentable turn within the teaching profession as one which has subverted social justice-based teacher responsibility in favor of a neoliberal governmentality of responzibilization based in state divestment, and a market rationality of accountability/assessment and self-care (2019). The aforementioned should serve to highlight that neoliberal homo oeconomicus responsibilization has robbed the teaching profession of its social justice-based understanding of ‘teacher responsibility’ as the freedom to care for their students, while recontextualizing notions of equality to better serve educational commodification. In Foucault, Power and Education, Ball underscores this point by asserting that the neoliberal dream of competitive individualism is utilized to justify inequalities and subjectivities which perforate and insinuate themselves into our ethical practices (2013). As stated by Brass & Holloway, in stripping traditional values away from the teaching profession and professional authority away from individual teachers, neoliberal education reforms have replaced an internally defined ‘occupational professionalism’ with hierarchically defined ‘organizational professionalism’ (2019). Thus, the authors put forth a call for the ‘re-professionalization’ of the teaching profession, outlining that self-reflexivity is required to exploit cracks for resistance against the ceding of professional authority which has occurred as a result of the (self)adaptation of neoliberal norms, values, discourses, languages and practices within the education profession (Brass & Holloway, 2019). Rohrer, cautiously notes that within the neoliberal classroom there exists spaces and opportunities to advocate for social justice, wherein educators may agitate in support of critical pedagogies and transformative change (2018). Specifically, Burke & Carolissen understand that education professionals may play a key role in deconstructing neoliberal power formations which privilege the rational over the emotional and undermine the ethics of care within a contemporary education discourse (2018). In line with this aim, Ubuntu is a humanist worldview with one such ethics of care, offering a collectivist understanding of indivisible humanity which challenges both state-centric control over education and the individualizing governmentality of teacher responzibilization inherent therein (Assié-Lumumba, 2017). Returning to Foucault’ understanding of neoliberalism as a form of corporatized biopolitics, Brown questions whether traditional democratic notions of liberty and equality can maintain a substantive standing within societies educated for and reduced to a homo oeconomicus conceptualization of human capital (2017). In the face of increasing social divisions and impaired democracy wrought by bioinformational capitalism, Jandri´c presents the ‘we think, we learn, we act’ trialectic -

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a critical philosophy which calls on educators to retake individual and collective teacher responsibility, redressing a homo oeconomicus conceptualization of teacher agency oriented towards the benefit of the few (2019). Freire understands the struggle for freedom as a process of incomplete humanization, and that people may regain their humanity by taking responsibility for it through self-reflexive problematization (Morrow & Torres, 2002). Specifically, Burke et al. advocate that educators must take responsibility for affecting socially just transformative change (redistribution, recognition, and representation) through pedagogical practices that move society away from unequal, racist, essentializing neoliberal performative human capitalbased discourses (2017). Thus, through pedagogical agitations aimed at problematizing the neoliberal educational discourse of homo oeconomicus responzibilization, educators continue on in their struggle to reclaim (and re-professionalize) teacher responsibility as the foundation for a socially just understanding of teacher professionalism. While education in itself is not the only key to social transformation, within our contemporary global community of crisis, this fight to return to a socially just conceptualization of teacher responsibility may contribute greatly towards establishing a critical cosmopolitan ‘ethos of community’ (Green, 2020)—one which views education and social justice as ineffably linked to a collectivist project in betterment of all mankind.

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Developing, Sustaining and Retaining Teacher Quality: Factors That Count Christopher Day

Introduction Traditionally, teachers’ quality has been understood to rely upon their levels of subject, pedagogical content knowledge and classroom management skills. These are provided initially through a period of pre-service education and training; and may be revisited and enhanced during their teaching lives through continuing professional development programmes and other in-school support (e.g. mentoring and coaching, lesson study, practitioner research). Yet there is continuing evidence that these, whilst necessary, are insufficient to ensure that teachers develop, sustain, and retain quality. Research and self report surveys continue to show that in many countries teachers’ morale is low (Evans, 1997; Hanushek et al., 2004; MacKenzie, 2007): attrition in the early career years is high (Craig, 2017; The Guardian, 2016), conditions of service are perceived to be declining (Loeb et al., 2005); in some countries, salaries are poor; and in all countries many teachers in mid and later careers have either plateaued or become disenchanted with their jobs (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). The enthusiasm with which they entered teaching has morphed into stress, scepticism or disenchantment. For a significant number of the teachers who stay, teaching has become a job for which they no longer have a passion (Lai & Lo, 2011). This chapter challenges assumptions that the possession of knowledge and skills alone will result in teacher and teaching quality by examining key factors that influence teachers in sustaining their broader moral purposes, and their willingness and capacity to teach to their best in contexts of policy and societal change. The chapter will bring together messages from a range of selected international research that highlight key areas of challenge for those who create policy and those who are primarily responsible for ensuring that the children and young people who they teach are C. Day (B) Faculty of Social Science, School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_11

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inculcated with a love of learning and the motivation to strive to succeed (though it should be noted that whilst it has always been the case that not all students may wish to be taught, the effects of twenty first century ‘screen cultures’ [Day, 2017] have ensured that attention spans, metacognitive abilities, active participation, creative thinking, and empathy may have been compromised by their participation in digital technologies). Research which seeks to understand what affects teachers’ capability to teach students in this millennium to their best and well is essential if the ambition of achieving external demands and internal visions are to be met successfully. Yet such research is largely ignored by governments, because it is not always perceived to be directly central to their policy development needs. In addition, it is perceived to be too complex, and rarely to provide answers to pressing problems of practice. In this this chapter, the six areas interrelate and, together, are key to achieving this ambition: (i) National and Local policies; (ii) Variations in teachers’ work and lives; (iii) Professionalism and Identity; (iv) Commitment and Moral purpose; (v) Emotional Resilience; (vi) School leadership. Understanding these and their importance to governments’ quest for quality is key to raising the quality of teachers, teaching, learning and achievement. Figure 1 shows the relationships between these and teacher quality. Fig. 1 Factors influencing teachers’ capacities to teach to their best and well

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National and Local Policy Influences In this century teachers all countries face sustained pressures to respond to policy agendas that are intended to fulfil governments’ twin social and economic concerns: raising academic standards and equity, increasing access, participation and engagement in learning and achievement opportunities for all. This new age is characterised by what Ball (2003), taking a western perspective, has called post-professionalism in which teachers and other public service workers succeed only by satisfying others’ definitions of their work. Although it may be argued, that, since most teachers are public servants, this is a legitimate demand, the character of more recent reforms has changed from one in which teachers and schools have been largely trusted to enact reforms to a climate of what I term ‘implementation insistence’, indicating a lack of employer trust. This is demonstrated by systems of regular external monitoring, testing and inspection of student progress and achievement, teacher and leadership quality to ensure that reforms are effectively enacted. Whilst policy directions are common to almost all countries and jurisdictions, educational histories, purposes, structures and content of pre-service teacher education, conditions of service, cultures of schools, and understandings of professionalism, professional identity and expectations of practice are likely to vary, both in relation to the social and political characteristics of the cultures and in relation to changing expectations across time within particular countries. China, for example, is said to have a higher ‘power distance’ than many Western countries, indicating a greater outward respect for hierarchies, a preference for harmonious relationships, and a greater tendency to obedience. In the West, lower ‘power distance’ has in the past resulted in a lesser tendency to obedience and greater disharmony. Elmore (2003, p. 195) points to a common misconception of policymakers, “the belief that policies determine how individuals and organizations think and act—what problems they regard as important, how they organize themselves to work on those problems, what results they regard as evidence of their success.” Yet these differences are diminishing as the policy press in the West becomes more persistent, and the East becomes more aware of the need for creativity in teaching and learning; and what has become clear internationally, is that ‘educational purposes have been redefined in terms of a narrower set of concerns about human capital development, and the role education must play to meet the needs of the global economy and to ensure the competitiveness of the national economy’ (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010).

Variations in Teachers’ Work and Lives It is necessary first to acknowledge that not all teachers develop in the same way or along a linear pathway. Whilst there can be little doubt that individual learning needs will be shaped by factors such as length of experience, the emphasis on experience and linearity as defining features of teacher learning have been increasingly challenged

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by research which shows that whilst learning through experience of practice may lead to proficiency, it will not necessarily lead to expertise (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). Moreover, teachers’ lives are played out in changing personal, social and policy contexts. Regardless of national cultural norms and the different career structures which reward length and/or depth of experience, a range of research shows unequivocally that there is no direct movement from ‘novice’ through to ‘advanced beginner’, ‘competence’, to becoming ‘proficient’ and then, finally an ‘expert’ (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986). A veteran teacher is not necessarily a master teacher, and a less experienced teacher may be an expert. This criticism of ‘stage theory’ is now well established in research on teachers (Day & Gu, 2007). The reason is simple: previous theories have focussed upon technical skill development for application in one-to-one, stable settings, for example related to nurses or airline pilots. In such one-to-one or minimally interactive settings, then professionals can fulfil their purposes without interruption. Teaching, however, is different. It takes place in crowded rooms in which to teach to one’s best and well requires not only technical skills and pedagogical content knowledge but also social skills of individual and collective person management and the application of professional empathy, because classrooms are crowded, not always predictable places, and relationships with students who may have different values and expectations about how they learn will vary. A four year national mixed methods research project in England with a representative sample of 300 teachers and 100 schools (Day et al., 2007) found that the extent to which teachers developed expertise and became and remained committed to their work varied across and within three career phases—early, mid- and later-, and that such variations related both to the strength of their inner resolve (vocation or calling) within an ethic of care and ambition for their students, and their ability to manage change. Both were subject to challenge of personal, social and organizational contexts. The work built on, but went beyond, Huberman’s (1993) seminal study of Swiss secondary school teachers’ lives, by including junior high and primary schools, and relating teachers’ work to their perceived and externally assessed effectiveness, proxies for expertise.

Early Career (0–7 Years) 0–3 years—commitment: support and challenge. The focus here was a developing sense of efficacy in the classroom. This was a phase of high commitment. A crucial factor in a successful negotiation of this period was the support of school/department leaders. Poor (non-compliant) pupil behaviour was seen as having a negative impact. Teachers in this professional life phase had either a developing sense of efficacy (60%) or a reducing sense of efficacy (40%). During the next period, 4–7 years—the focus was upon identity and efficacy in the classroom. The key characteristic was the increased confidence about being effective teachers. Seventy-eight percent of

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teachers in this phase had taken on additional responsibilities, which further strengthened their emerging identities. The management of heavy workloads had a negative impact on some teachers. Teachers in this professional life phase were grouped as (a) sustaining a strong sense of identity, self-efficacy, and effectiveness (49%); (b) sustaining identity, efficacy, and effectiveness (31%); or (c) identity, efficacy, and effectiveness at risk (20%).

Mid-Career (8–23 Years) 8–15 years—managing changes in role and identity: growing tensions and transitions. This first phase was seen as a watershed in teachers’ professional development. Eighty percent had posts of responsibility outside their classrooms and for many there were decisions to make about progression in their career. Of the teachers in this professional life phase, 76% were judged to have sustained engagement, with 24% showing detachment/loss of motivation. The theme continued during the next period, 16–23 years, when the focus was on work-life tensions: challenges to motivation and commitment. As well as managing heavy workloads, many of these teachers were facing additional demands outside school, making work-life balance a key concern. The struggle for balance was often reported as a negative impact. The risk at this stage was a feeling of career stagnation linked to a lack of support in school and negative perceptions of student behavior. The three sub-groups of teachers in this professional life phase were: (a) further career advancement and good results leading to increased motivation/commitment (52%); (b) sustained motivation, commitment, and effectiveness (34%); or (c) heavy workload/ competing tensions/career stagnation leading to decreased motivation, commitment, and effectiveness (14%).

Later Career (24+ Years) 24–30 years—challenges to sustaining motivation. Maintaining motivation in the face of external policies and initiatives, which were viewed negatively, and declining pupil behavior was the core struggle for teachers in this phase. While 60% of primary teachers in this phase were judged to have retained a strong sense of motivation, over half the secondary teachers were rated as losing motivation. Teachers in this phase were categorized as either sustaining a strong sense of motivation and commitment (54%); or holding on but losing motivation (46%). During the final period of these teachers’ working lives, 31+ years—there were two groups of teachers: those whose motivation was being sustained and those whose motivation was declining. These teachers were coping with change, looking to retire. For the majority of teachers, however, this was a phase of high commitment. Of the small group of teachers in this phase, almost two thirds were judged to have high motivation and commitment. Positive teacher–pupil relationships and pupil progress were the basis of this.

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Government policy, health issues, and pupil behavior were often perceived as the most negative factors for this group. Teachers in this phase were seen as either maintaining commitment (64%); or ‘tired and trapped’ (36%). The most important message from this and a range of subsequent confirmatory research is that simply providing initial teacher development and in-service professional development programmes related to role development in school does not guarantee that teachers will become and remain ‘expert,’ able and willing to teach to their best and well, in the sense that I have defined it.

Commitment (with Moral Purpose) Counts Teacher commitment has long been identified as one of the most critical factors in the success of teachers (Huberman, 1997; Nias, 1981). If you talk with any teacher, teacher educator, schools inspector or superintendent, administrator, principal or parent about reform or raising standards or the quality of education, it will not be very long before the word ‘commitment’ enters into the conversation. Commitment can be an indicator of teachers’ attitudes to education, relations with students and can be related to their classroom performance, as well as having an important influence on students’ cognitive, social, behavioral, and affective outcomes (Day, 2017). It is a part of a teacher’s affective or emotional reaction to their experience in a school setting and part of the process that determines the level of personal investment which teachers make to a particular school or group of students. In a report of empirical research on teachers’ commitment in Australia, Crosswell (2006) suggests that there are six dimensions of commitment: Commitment as passion Commitment as investment of extra time Commitment as a focus on the wellbeing and achievement of the student Commitment as a responsibility to maintain professional knowledge Commitment as transmitting knowledge and/or values Commitment as engagement with the school community. (Crosswell, 2006, p. 109)

Whilst being committed may not always equate to moral purpose, there is an association. ‘Moral purpose, is a collective term which represents the best teachers’ commitment to principles of equity, social justice and care about all students (Sanger & Osguthorpe, 2011). Without moral purpose, change efforts—those within, and especially those that are initiated from outside the school—are likely to be limited in their success. Teachers who are committed, with moral purpose, are those who have an enduring belief that they can make a difference to the learning lives and achievements of students (efficacy and agency) through who they are (their identity), what they know (knowledge, strategies, skills) and how they teach (their beliefs, attitudes, personal and professional values embedded in and expressed through their behaviors in practice settings). However, commitment may be enhanced or

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diminished by factors such as student behavior, collegial and administrative support, parental demands, and national educational policies. The initial commitment and moral purpose which many students have on entering teaching may rise, be sustained or decline depending on their life and work experiences and their management of these and unpredictable personal circumstances e.g. illness of self or close relative, relationship crisis. There seems to be little doubt, therefore, that commitment, an essential part of moral purpose, (or lack of it) is a key influencing factor in the motivation and ability of teachers to teach to their best and well. It follows that promoting and sustain teacher commitment is a key responsibility of schools themselves and those responsible for the conditions in which teachers work.

Professionalism and Identity We can see from the above discussion that the requirements of being a professional include not only content and pedagogical knowledge and skills but also ‘care’, ‘moral’ or ‘ethical’ purpose and professional empathy for the learning needs and progress and achievement of the students. Being an effective professional also requires a strong and stable sense of identity. To do so requires confidence that one can make a positive difference to student education, and thus a degree of autonomy and considerable commitment to the education of all aspects of their students. Professionalism in this sense is associated with having a strong technical culture (knowledge base); service ethic (commitment to serving clients’ needs); professional commitment (strong individual and collective identities); and professional autonomy (control over classroom practice). Evetts’ (2011) delineation between two discourses of professionalism provides a useful means of conceptualising tensions between different versions of professionalism. The first ‘occupational professionalism’, is in tune with the prereform era, the prevailing preference of teachers, teachers’ associations and unions and the notions of professional identity discussed in this chapter.

Occupational Professionalism A discourse constructed within professional occupational groups and incorporates collegial authority. It involves relations of practitioner trust from both employers and clients. It is based on autonomy and discretionary judgement and assessment by practitioners in complex cases (Evetts, 2011, p. 23). The second, organizational professionalism, reflects the views of policy makers A discourse used increasingly by managers in work organisations. It incorporates rational – legal forms of authority and hierarchical structures in decision-making. It involves increased standardisation of work procedures and practices and managerial controls. It relies on

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externalised forms of regulation and accountability measures such as target setting and performance review. (Evetts, 2009, p. 248)

I have argued elsewhere that promoting only forms of organisational professionalism would be, ‘likely to promote a limited conception of being a teacher’ (Day, 1999, p. 139). It would likely diminish ‘teachers’ self confidence, creativity and the moral purpose that sustains them in ambiguous and difficult situations…[and]…corrode their ability to act with confidence and authority and weaken(s) trust’ (Sachs, 2016, p. 423). Teachers’ professional identities at different times often reflect teachers’ sense of professionalism, and are often reflected in their motivation to teach, their values and their willingness and ability to sustain commitment (Day, Kington, et al., 2006). In other words, teacher identity is the way teachers locate and make sense of themselves as teachers in relation to their experiences of personal and professional life contexts. Although it is a commonly agreed notion that identities change and develop in relation to the work context (Day, Stobart, et al., 2006; Olsen, 2008; Rodgers & Scott, 2008), not much is known about how and why they change over time or about their associations with teachers’ quality. What research has shown, however, is that teachers’ professional identities are not always static or stable. Unlike earlier research on identity which conceptualised it as singular and fixed (Day, Stobart, et al., 2006; Olsen, 2008; Rodgers & Scott, 2008, e.g., Cooley, 1902), current research (e.g., Alsup, 2006; Danielewicz, 2001; Rodgers & Scott, 2008), reflects post-modern characterisations in which teacher identity is conceptualised as an on-going, dynamic process of construction which is influenced positively and negatively, by the nature and management of interactions between prior personal histories various workplace contexts and external conditions. Beginning teachers’ identities, for example, are formed from an amalgam of personal biographies, characteristics, values, and beliefs and the interactions and influences of, for example, family, friends, and their teacher education programs. However, these identities are provisional and likely to be challenged and changed as they are exposed to the tensions that are an inherent part of changing classroom dynamics, school environments, and policy demands in the first year (Day et al., 2011). Over the length of a career, it is clear that professional identities (sense of efficacy, agency, commitment) may change. They are likely to change if working conditions and teaching and learning contexts change. Teacher identities are thus not static, but relatively stable or unstable, positive or negative over time, depending upon the way teachers are able to negotiate and internalize the external environment, and whether and how well they cope with or manage successfully the influences of and changes in personal, policy, school, and classroom environments (Day, Kington, et al., 2006; Johnson, 2006).

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Early Phase Identity Construction: The Challenges The most seismic changes in teacher identity are likely to be experienced in the preservice and early years of teaching; and this is perhaps evidenced in the high attrition rates across many countries. Reporting on her small scale qualitative research in Western Australia, Izadinia (2015) provides a comprehensive overview of claims made in recent research that indicate clearly the importance of mentor teachers in pre-service education. These suggest that a strong sense of professional identity is not only a central part of ‘professionalism’ but also contributes to teacher retention and resilience. She associates a ‘strong’ sense of identity with, ‘confidence, power and agency’, suggesting that pre-service teachers, ‘gradually construct their teacher identity in their daily interactions with significant others’ (p. 2). Whilst this is undoubtedly the case, this should not be taken to mean that the ‘gradual’ process is likely to be either smooth, wholly predictable, or result in ‘the’ immutable identity that will stay with the teacher over the course of their career.

Mid-Career Teachers’ Identities; Challenges to Maintenance and Engagement The challenges for more experienced teachers are less about identity formation, and more about identity maintenance through continuing work engagement. A national four year mixed methods project with 300 teachers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England (Day et al., 2007), found that many mid-career teachers (defined as those with between 8 and 23 years in schools) were at a ‘watershed’ in their professional lives as they faced growing work-life tensions, often associated with changes in the dynamics of personal and family lives. Heavy workloads associated with external demands for more transparency in their accountability for increasing the progress and raising the attainment of students, coupled with increased management and leadership roles in their schools, and, for those who taught subjects which ‘counted’ for less in terms of test and examination results a sense of being devalued, also worked against their perceived effectiveness. As well as managing heavy workloads, many teachers in this professional life phase faced additional demands outside school, making work-life management a key concern. The struggle for balance between work and lives was often reported as a negative. The risk during this phase was a feeling of disengagement and signs of career plateauing and stagnation, leading to decreased motivation, commitment, and engagement. Research has emphasised the importance to this group of teachers’ positive sense of identity of ‘work engagement’ (Kirkpatrick & Moore-Johnson, 2014), defined as ‘the feelings employees have about their work that influence how they choose to direct their effort and energy (Kirkpatrick & Moore-Johnson, 2014, p. 233); and questioned the inevitability of ‘plateauing’ (Ladd & Sorensen, 2015; Kraft & Papay, 2014), finding that teachers who work in supportive professional

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environments improve their effectiveness more over time than those who work in less supportive environments (Kraft & Papay, 2014).

Later Phase Teachers’ Identities: Challenges to Commitment and Capacities for Resilience Much attention of research on teachers has focussed upon those in beginning phases, because of the particularly pressing problem of attrition amongst these teachers (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). In contrast, relatively less is known about the nature of the tensions and challenges facing those who have had a substantial amount of experience in teaching (i.e. so-called ‘veteran’ teachers) and how and why they have managed (or not managed) to continue to fulfil their original call to teaching (Hansen, 1995). Later career teachers form a significant proportion of the total teaching force. They may face at least another decade of work in schools. Understanding the factors which help or hinder them in managing their work and lives is important for schools and policy-makers if they are to sustain educational standards and fulfil their moral responsibility and obligation for the growth and quality of future generations. As teachers grow older, so do the challenges of maintaining energy for the complex and persistently challenging work of teaching children and young people whose attitudes, motivations and behaviour may differ widely from those with whom they began their careers. Throughout their professional lives these teachers will have been confronted by professional, situational and personal pressures and tensions which at times at the very least are likely to have challenged their values, beliefs, practices, for some, their willingness to remain in the job, and for others, their capacity to continue to do their best in the classroom as commitment becomes eroded. Moreover, their own professional agendas may have changed in response to their experiences of many policy and social reforms, school leaders and cohorts of students, as well as the ageing process, health and unanticipated personal circumstances. The persistence of such combinations of challenges, which are part of the experience of most of those who work for prolonged periods of their lives in one occupation, may have begun to take its toll on the motivation, commitment and resilience which are essential to the willingness and capacity of teachers to maintain teaching at its best. Yet the literature in organisational psychology suggests growing recognition of the value to organisations of older workers, indicating that they perform as well as younger, less experienced workers, that they demonstrate more positive work values; and that ‘many common myths and stereotypes about older workers’ decreased performance and availability for work are not accurate’ (Griffiths, 2007, p. 124).

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Emotional Resilience Resilience is often confused with ‘retention’, referring to: The process or the ability of an institution to not only employ qualified academic staff, but also retain them through the establishment of a quality work-life, motivated staff climate, best place of work, and being an employer of choice, depending upon dedicated formulation and execution of best practices in human resource and talent management. This involves influencing academic employees’ decisions to be committed and remain with the institution, even when job opportunities do not exist within the organisation, by reducing structural change, and reducing change in administrative demands and the demands of quality reviews, while maintaining high academic standards. (Selesho & Naile, 2014, p. 297)

Yet retention itself does not guarantee teachers’ enduring commitment to their work, nor does it guarantee that they will have a secure and positive sense of professional identity. It may be, for example, that some teachers stay in the profession because there is no alternative form of employment that is available to them. So retention itself does not indicate that teachers will necessarily teach to their best and well. While many teachers enter the profession with a sense of vocation and with a passion to give their best to the learning and growth of their students, for some these become diminished with the passage of time, changing external and internal working conditions and contexts, and unanticipated personal events. They may lose their sense of purpose and wellbeing which are so intimately connected with their positive sense of commitment and professional identity and which enable them to draw upon, deploy and manage the inherently dynamic emotionally vulnerable contexts in which they teach and in which their students learn. Rather than ask how we can retain teachers, then, a more important question is: “How can we foster resilience and what types of training, support, work environment, culture, leadership and management practices will facilitate its development?” Resilience, enduring commitment, is both a product of personal and professional dispositions and values and socially constructed. The need to understand, acknowledge and attend to teachers’ sense of resilience is twofold. First, it is unrealistic to expect students to be resilient if their teachers, who constitute a primary source of their role models, do not demonstrate resilient qualities. Secondly, an understanding of teacher resilience in the process of meeting prescribed targets and managing worklife tensions over the course of a career and in different contexts will contribute to the existing knowledge of how teachers sustain their commitment and effectiveness.ver a lifetime, most workers, regardless of the particularity of their work context, role or status, will need at one time or another—for shorter or longer periods, or as an everyday feature of their work processes—to call upon reserves of physical, psychological and emotional energy if they are to carry out their work to the best of their ability. Schools and classrooms, especially, are particularly demanding of energy of these kinds, partly because not every student chooses to be there and partly because successful teaching and learning requires cognitive, social and authentic emotional investment by both teachers and students. Teaching and learning processes are suffused by emotions. The best teachers know that to engage students in learning requires the interaction of the head (cognition) and the heart (emotions). Teaching is,

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therefore, always both intellectual and emotional work. The challenge is to prevent it from becoming ‘emotional labor’ (Hochschild, 1983), in which emotions expressed are falsely felt, in situations where teachers pretend to be passionate about their subjects and the students because that is what is expected of them. The more traditional, psychologically derived notions that resilience is “the ability to bounce back in adverse circumstances” do not lend themselves to the work of teachers. Resilience is not a quality that is innate. Rather, it is a construct that is relative, developmental and dynamic. To teach to one’s best over time requires “everyday resilience” (Day & Gu, 2014). To have a capacity for resilience everyday is more than the ability to manage the different change scenarios which teachers experience; more than coping or surviving. It is being able to continue to have the desire and the energy as well as the knowledge and strong moral purpose to be able to teach to their best. The capacity to be resilient in mind and action is likely to fluctuate according to personal, workplace and policy challenges and pupil behaviour; and the ability of individuals to manage the situations in which such fluctuations occur will vary. The process of teaching, learning and leading requires those who are engaged in them to exercise resilience on an everyday basis, to have a resolute persistence and commitment, and to be supported in these by strong core values. It is this more positive view of teacher resilience associated with teacher quality that should inform policies of selection, recruitment and retention.

Leadership The most important influence upon teachers’ commitment, professional identities, and emotional resilience, other than teachers themselves are school leaders. It has long been claimed by researchers that whilst, aside from family and peers, teachers have the strongest influence on student progress and achievement, school principals have the second most important influence (Leithwood et al., 2006). The reasons for this are that principals are held responsible for: (i) the quality of teaching and learning in their schools; (ii) the school culture- the educational vision and values; (iii) conditions under which their teachers work, the relationships in their schools (the way we do things around here). While much of their influence is indirect, it is, nevertheless strong. Research shows also that there are differences between principal effectiveness, with those who lead schools in similar geographical and social contexts achieving both success and failure because of who they are and what they do (Day et al., 2016). The many reports of lower teacher morale and difficulties of recruitment and retention that are often associated with increased pressures, point to increases teacher workload associated with external reform initiatives, lack of autonomy in their work, poor conditions of service, especially in the rural and high poverty areas, and poor in-school leadership. It is tempting to agree with such general reports. However, empirical research continues to show that, regardless of cultural and contextual differences, there are schools within the same country and across

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different countries that respond to external policy initiatives in ways which include but go far beyond this narrow agenda (Day & Gu, 2018). There is a clear consensus in the policy and research arenas that effective schools depend on effective leaders. Hallinger’s (2010) review of 30 years of empirical research on school leadership points in particular to the indirect or mediated positive effects which leaders can have on student achievement through the building of collaborative organisational learning, structures and cultures and the development of staff and community leadership capacities to promote teaching and learning and create a positive school climate—which in turn promote students’ motivation, engagement and achievement. Successful schools strive to educate their pupils by promoting positive values (integrity, compassion and fairness), love of lifelong learning, as well as fostering citizenship and personal, economic and social capabilities (Day & Leithwood, 2007; Ishimaru, 2013; Mulford & Silins, 2011; Putnam, 2002). These social outcomes are likely to be deemed by successful leaders to be as important as fostering students’ academic outcomes. Studies carried out by members of the twenty-country International Successful School Principals Project (ISSPP) over the last decade provide further, rich empirical evidence that leadership values, qualities and strategies are critical factors in explaining variation in pupil outcomes between schools (Day & Leithwood, 2007). Various models of effective principal leadership have been developed in the academic community, the most popular being ‘transformative’ (Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999) and ‘instructional’ (Robinson et al., 2009). Both of these contain elements of ‘distributed’ leadership, ‘vision’, ‘collaboration,’ capacity building, and trust. Whilst transformational leadership has traditionally emphasised vision and inspiration, focussing upon establishing structures and cultures which enhance the quality of teaching and learning, setting directions, developing people and (re)designing the organisation, instructional leadership is said to emphasise above all else the importance of establishing clear educational goals, planning the curriculum and evaluating teachers and teaching. It sees the leaders’ prime focus as responsibility for promoting better measurable outcomes for students, emphasising the importance of enhancing the quality of classroom teaching and learning. The results of Robinson et al.’s (2009) meta-analysis of quantitative empirical studies suggested that transformational leadership is less likely to result in strong effects upon pupil outcomes (because it focused originally upon staff relationships) than instructional leadership, which is focused on the core business of schools in enhancing effective teaching and learning. This, however, appears to be at variance with empirical evidence from Marks and Printy’s (2003) research challenged the virtues and outcomes of these single models of principal effectiveness, concluding that ‘When transformational and shared instructional leadership coexist in an integrated form of leadership, the influence on school performance, measured by the quality of its pedagogy and the achievement of its students, is substantial’ (p. 370). Later, Leithwood and Sun (2012) reached a similar conclusion. They found that ‘each transformational school leadership practice adds to the status of consequential

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school conditions’. This notion was further elaborated in national research on associations between principals and student outcomes in effective and improving schools (Day et al., 2011). This research found that effective principalship was the result of the application and accumulation of combinations of values-informed organisational, personal and task-centred, ‘fit-for-purpose’ strategies and actions over time that, together, contributed to successful student outcomes (Day et al., 2011). Such strategies and actions were values informed and in response to careful diagnosis and multiple and sometimes conflicting communities of interest. ‘Over time’ is important, since, for example, ‘care, trust’ and ‘trustworthiness’—essential ingredients in the achievement of success—can only be built upon information about and experience of those with whom we work. We can conclude from this that teachers are more likely to be willing and able to teach to their best and well if their educational values converge with the values of the principal, or vice versa, and if the culture of the school supports their commitment, sense of positive professional identity, and capacity for resilience.

Conclusions: Teachers Who Teach to Their Best and Well Carl Hendrick, Head of Learning and Research at Wellington, a famous public school in England, wrote this about the most important factors in great teaching: The best teachers I know have a set of common characteristics: 1.

They are not only very knowledgable about their subject but they are almost unreasonably passionate about it – something which is infectious for kids.

2.

They create healthy relationships with those students in a million subtle ways, which are not only unmeasurable but often invisible to those involved.

3.

They view teaching as an emancipatory enterprise which informs/guides everything they do. They see it as the most important job in the world and feel it’s a privilege to stand in a room with kids talking about their passion. (Hendricks, 2015, p. 11)

Good, effective teaching cannot be defined only as skills and knowledge-based craft work. This chapter has suggested, with reference to a range of international research, that to teach well and to their best, teachers (and, therefore, schools and policy makers) are required to manage, sustain and renew not only a complex range of so-called ‘practical’ skills and subject knowledge, but also to possess on-going commitment, sense of moral purpose, positive professional identity, and a capacity for emotional resilience, in addition to a range of intra and interpersonal qualities, including ‘professional empathy.’ They also benefit from working in schools that are well led. It is surprising that these factors continue to be largely ignored by governments, who prefer instead to focus upon problems of curriculum. There are seven knowledge-based claims embedded in the chapter that provide strong support for change. 1.

Teaching at its best is emotionally as well as intellectually demanding work.

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2. 3. 4.

5.

6. 7.

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Teachers do not necessarily become more effective over time. Teachers’ sense of positive professional identity is associated with well-being and job fulfillment, and is a key factor in their effectiveness. Teachers’ emotional wellbeing and motivations and capacities to teach to their best and well are influenced primarily by the contexts, conditions and cultures of their workplace environments. Sustaining and enhancing teachers’ commitment, sense of professionalism and identity is a key quality and retention issue for governments and school principals. Students of teachers who are committed and resilient are likely to attain more than students whose teachers are not. Principals and other school leaders have a particular ‘close-up’ responsibility to foster and nurture teachers’ willingness and ability always to teach to their best.

Implications of these seven research informed claims are that policy makers, national and local pre-service and in-service support organizations concerned with raising standards in schools need to regularly provide robust, comprehensive personnel support structures and strategies for sustaining teachers’ well-being, commitment, moral purpose, emotional resilience, and professional identity, as being key indicators of teacher and teaching quality. Curriculum knowledge and classroom teaching skills are not enough.

References Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses: Negotiating personal and professional spaces. Routledge. Ball, S. (2003). The teachers’ soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215–228. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves. An inquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. Open Court. Cooley, C. H. (1902). Looking-glass self. In The production of reality: Essays and readings on social interaction (Vol. 6, pp. 126-128). Sage. Craig, C. J. (2017). International teacher attrition: Multiperspective views. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 859–862. Crosswell, L. (2006). Understanding teacher commitment in times of change (pp. 1–255). Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Education, Queensland University Technology, Australia. Danielewicz, J. (2001). Teaching selves: Identity, pedagogy and teacher education. The State of New York Press. Day, C. (1999). Developing teachers: The challenges of lifelong learning. Falmer Press. Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2007). Variations in the conditions for teachers’ professional learning and development: Sustaining commitment and effectiveness over a career. Oxford Review of Education, 33(4), 423–443. Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2014). Resilient teachers, resilient schools (pp. 1–174). Routledge. Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2018). How successful secondary school principals in England respond to policy reforms: The influence of biography leadership and policy in schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 17, 332–344.

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Learning to Teach in Professional Community: Enhancing Teacher Knowledge in Practice Manabu Sato

Introduction Teaching profession is the most critical force for preparing futures of children and their society, while the profession is neither an easy work nor a robust occupation befitting its significance. In addition, most teachers are captured with a serious cynicism that no policy makers recognize the complexity and dilemmas that teachers face with. As a result, their hope for reform is prone to be deeply undermined in their classrooms. In Japan, teachers have suffered from neo-liberal ideology and politics for the past 30 years. The policies transformed teaching from “social responsibility” to “public service”, and relationship between teachers and parents from “responsible partnership” to “service delivers and consumers” by market-driven discourse (Sato, 2011). In correspondence to this situation, Japanese teachers have been obliged to adopt much devotion as “public servant”. The second survey of TALIS, The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey in 2013, indicated that working time of Japanese teachers counted 53.9 h per week (world average: 38.4 h), at the worst position among 34 countries. Additionally informing, the overwork is devoted without additional pay. However, the most critical is not overtime work but more critical problems are missing public mission, decline of teachers’ professionalism and degradation of professional practice itself. In a backdrop of damages of teacher professionalism, serious cultural, social and economic poverty of children has been embedded. Relative rate of child poverty in Japan accounted 16.3% in 2016, that was the worst 5 position among OECD 34 countries. In cases of metropolitan Tokyo and Osaka, it reaches nearly 30%. M. Sato (B) The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_12

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As an American sociologist in 1930s, Willard Waller described that teaching is a “boomerang” (Waller, 1932). This metaphor is definitely true, because, even though teachers throw the problems of children to society, their home and community, the responsibility is in any time obliged to return back to teachers themselves. Teaching profession is destined to accept the real problems of students, classroom, school and community. There is no way to escape from the destiny of “boomerang”. Teaching is fundamentally a reflexive profession. Recognizing the complicated situation of teaching profession, I would like to start teacher education reform from a single standpoint. Teacher professional development should be designed as school reform from within, and even from listening teachers’ own voices. Nevertheless, most voices of teachers are sealed behind bureaucratic educational policies. On what grounds can we assert to discover a better way for the resolution?

Reforming Schools from Within During the past 20 years, School as Learning Community (SLC), which I designed 35 years ago, has put down its grassroots nationwide. Currently, more than 350 pilot schools are active and organize 1,000 and more times of open workshops for professional learning with neighbor teachers in a year, and more than 1,000 elementary schools and nearly 2,500 secondary schools join the network (Sato, 2012). Recently, the network of SLC has expanded its wings to China, Korea, Chinese Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, UK, Mexico and other countries. It becomes one of the most powerful reform movement in Asia. In this context, question is not the reason of such wide diffusion, but the reasons why teachers are so enthusiastically involved in SLC approach, and how they develop professionalism and autonomy by it. School as Learning Community is not a technique or formulary, but a set of a vision, philosophies and activity systems. It redefines school as a place where children learn together, teachers also learn together as professional and even parents learn together through participation in the reform, all in pursuit of “democratic school in the 21st century”. In any case, vision is the first priority for reform. Generally speaking, responding to calls for school reform, teachers used to point shortage of time, money and personnel. No one asserts lack of a vision. However, the lack of a vision is the most critical for reform, because if teachers do not share a common vision, all the efforts and resources so far will be wasted. School as Learning Community provides a persuasive vision shared and accorded with every teachers, students and parents. In order to realize the vision, SLC proposes three philosophies of publicness, democracy and excellence in learning. Public philosophy is defined with openness for collaboration, against privatization and tribalism derived from neo-liberal ideology. What is more, public philosophy is

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fundamental for schooling. Public mission of school is, first and foremost, to realize human right of learning of all the people and democratic society. Philosophy of democracy in SLC means that every child, teacher and parent are all “protagonists”, main actors, at their school. As John Dewey defined, democracy is not simply a political procedure, but “a way of associate living” with respect for diversity and dignity of individuals (Dewey, 1916). Philosophy of excellence is used to connote precedence in competition. However, philosophy of excellence in SLS is quite different. It pursues “high quality of learning” in terms of challenge to get the “best” both in teaching and learning. We used to say “learning is “jumping”. In order to embody the above three philosophies, SLC arranges the followings principles for activity systems at classroom and staff room. 1. 2. 3.

Learning community is constructed with dialogic communication. Dialogic communication is realized by “listening relationship”. Listening other’s voice is a starting point and a springboard for learning. Learning is such three dialogic practices, as dialogue with object, dialogue with others, and dialogue with oneself. Thus, the activity systems of SLC are designed as follows.

1. 2. 3.

Children perform collaborative learning at classrooms. Teachers construct collegiality at staffroom through opening their classrooms each other and implementing lesson study each collaboratively. Parents participate in school reform with solidarity sharing responsibility (Sato, 2018).

The most significant foundation of SLC is redefinition of learning itself. SLC is handed over the heritage of progressive education since 1910s, mainly in the United States and Japan. The learning theory of SLC stands at learning science of social constructivism against behavioral S-R (stimulus and response) psychology. For long yeas and all over the world, learning has been metaphorically compared to a journey. Referring this heritage, leaning is a journey from known world to unknown world. It is an encounter and a dialogue with new world, new others and new oneself. What is more, leaning is not a personal activity but a social one, consequently not a natural process of acquisition of ability and skills but a cultural process of constructing meanings and relations. Therefore, I defined learning as an integral practice of dialogic practices, dialogue with objective world, dialogue with others and dialogue with oneself, relied on communication and development theories by John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. In other words, learning is retexturing and re-contextualizing meanings and relations. Therefore, in SLC, the fundamental keystone is the listening relationship. Because learning starts from listening other’s voice, and the listening relation generates dialogic communication that progresses learning activity. Teaching should be redefined too. Most people think about teaching as telling, while teaching is mostly listening, as Deborah Meier pointed in her well-known book (Meier, 1995). I regard teaching arts as “listening” and “connecting”. In addition,

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In order to perform teaching well, Teacher positioning is critical. Excellent teachers start their lesson through “sharing a breath” with students for accepting “the being of each student”. Openness of body and mind generate flexibility and concentration in classroom. Teacher speech should be selected words, and must keep politeness and decency to students. As is known by above descriptions, listening relation is the keystone in SLC. It is the foundations for learning with dialogic communication, caring relation and democratic relation at school and classroom. Consequently, SLC is the “listening pedagogy”.

Innovation for Enhancement of Learning in the Twenty-First Century It is well known that school education in the twenty-first century is characterized with project- oriented curriculum and inquiry leaning under collaboration. SLC has explored teaching and learning styles corresponding to this innovation. Collaborative learning is the central arena for innovation. It is embodied in “pair learning” of the first grade and the second grade and small group activities in the other grades of primary, middle and high schools. The small group should be organized not by homogeneous ones but by heterogeneous in gender, race and ability, because leaning in all cases, comes up not from conformity but from difference. In SLC, collaborative learning has two main functions of sharing each idea and jumping by scaffolding by other’s idea. According to the two functions, SLC usually organizes two stages of collaborative learning in a lesson, the first is a sharing task of textbook level and the other a jumping task of advanced level. Among the two, the advanced jumping task is valuable to guarantee authentic and collaborative inquiry in learning. In general, there are three types of learning of small groups. The first type is collective learning. This theory derived from “collectivism”, which diffused in the 1930s mainly in Soviet Union, the United States and Japan. This style is characterized by a same activity as a group unit and conformity within a group (Sato, 2016). The second type of collaborative learning is “cooperative learning”. This was developed by social psychologists of Johnson brothers and Robert Slavin. This type emphasizes “cooperation” and “conversation”. Buzz learning is a typical one. This type is easy for practice and is currently dominant in US, Japan and other nations. The third type is “collaborative learning”. This is based on developmental theory by Lev Vygotsky and communication theory by John Dewey. It is neither technique nor method, but theory. It needs higher knowledge and wisdom of teachers to design learning task and collaborative relationship. SLC adopts this type. Lev Vygotsky pointed, “We know well, that child can learn much more with peers than learning alone”. His famous theory of “zone of proximal development”, a zone between the level of which child can achieve alone and the level of which

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child can achieve with assistance or cooperation with peers, is a powerful vehicle for collaborative learning of SLC (Vygotsky, 1978). Relied on the theoretical foundation of the “zone of proximal development”, SLC teachers manage to realize high quality learning. It is theoretical grounds for collaboration and higher ordered learning. However, ordinarily, teachers tend to debase content and task in their teaching. Learning as jumping should be a core concept of collaborative learning. Learning as jumping guarantees not only high standard of learning but also basic skills and knowledge for all students, because, in the context of democratic collaboration, slow learners can perform the higher task by application of basic skills and knowledge with more competent pees. Furthermore, jumping learning promotes students to be thoughtful and even teachers to be mindful and reflective. Through longitudinal study about SLC experience, we find out thee functions of jumping learning, such as authentic learning, discourse community and scaffolds for slow learners. Jumping learning promotes authentic learning, not just by acquiring and understanding knowledge, but by using the knowledge in collaborative inquiry. Through such collaborative inquiry, the classrooms of SLC are transformed into discourse community. What is more, collaborative jumping learning provides ample scaffolds for slow learners, as is mentioned above. As a result, SLC asserts such three key components for enhancing learning, as listening relation, collaboration and jumping learning.

Comparison of Lesson Study Between Traditional Style and Innovative One The rapid change of society under globalization, the role of teacher should be drastically transformed. SLC redefines teacher from “teaching professional” to “learning professional”. At this point, we must recognize the complexity of teaching profession and its competence. On one side, teacher is a professional like as medical doctor and lawyer, who are educated with professional knowledge, wisdom and technique (Lortie, 1975). On the other side, teacher is craftsman who are trained by expertise. In teacher development, the both competences must be educated, while both sorts of education are different. Craftsmanship is acquired with artistry, in teaching profession, educating style and teaching arts. The concept of artistry is critical. Artistry is neither technique nor skill. While technique is able to be transmitted by knowledge and skill trained by drill exercise, it is impossible to obtain artistry by transmission or repetitive exercise. The artistry is learned by apprenticeship by joining craftsman community and mentoring by experts for long term.

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In distinction to the craftsmanship, professionalism is composed of public mission, professional knowledge and wisdom, and autonomy. The very core of professionalism is the competence of insight, judgement and reflection derived from professional and technical knowledge and theory. Therefore, professional education is composed of case method to integrate theory and practice. As a result, the most imperative for teacher development is collegiality: professional learning community. Teachers can not grow up alone. They need their associates learning together, sharing their artistry, knowledge and practical wisdom. Lesson study of SLC is designed by the above requirements. The lesson study in general has transformed from traditional approach to innovative one during the past 30 years, according to paradigm shift of curriculum studies and research on teaching. Table 1 displays the comparison between the traditional lesson study and the innovative one. SLC quests for the innovative mode of lesson study. Indeed, it is quite different from ordinary type of lesson study in Japan. In ordinary schools, the purpose of lesson study is improving teaching skills to be effective teacher. The main objects are lesson plan and teaching activities. The outcome is improvement of lesson. Usually, a young teacher is chosen for demonstration of his/her teaching. Teachers discuss mainly about the lesson plan for him/ her. After observation of the lesson, they present advise for improvement of it. On the contrary, purposes of lesson study of SLC are not improvement of teaching and teacher skills, but realization of human right of learning of all the students, construction of collegiality for professional learning, and democratize classrooms and schools. The ideal concept of teacher is also different. Ordinary lesson study presupposes “effective” teacher, while SLC lesson study pursuits “thoughtful”, “mindful” and “reflective” teacher (Schon, 1983). Table 1 Comparison between traditional lesson study and innovative lesson study Traditional lesson study

Innovative lesson study

Purpose

Improvement and evaluation of lesson plan and teaching skills Generalization of one best method

Practical epistemology of educational experience, design and reflection Sensible and singular appreciation

Object

Lesson plan, teaching activity, questioning and so on

Case of teaching practice learning experience

Foundation

Behavioral science and psychology

Cognitive science, humanities and social science

Method

Quantitative research analysis and generalization

Qualitative research, case method Idiosyncratic recognition

Feature

Input output model Cause and resultanalysis

Configuration of meaning and relations Relational cognition

Result

Teaching technique, teaching program

Teacher’s reflection and practical wisdom

Presentation

Paradigmatic cognition procedural knowledge

Narrative cognition practical knowledge

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Table 2 Comparison of SLC lesson study to ordinary one Lesson study of SLC

Ordinary lesson study

Purpose

Realization of human right of learning of all the students Making teachers thoughtful, mindful and reflective Building collegiality of professional learning community Democratizing classrooms and school

Improvement of teaching Making teachers effective

Focus

Learning activity and relations

Lesson plan and teaching skills

Frequency

30 times and more in a year

3 times in a year

Therefore, the focus of lesson study is also different. The focus of lesson study is not teaching activities, but learning activities and relationships. Teachers discuss not about lesson plan, but about what happened in learning, what was the difficulty of learning, and what possible learning was embedded in the lesson, through observing all incidents at the classroom. Frequency is very different between ordinary lesson study and SLC lesson study. Ordinary schools organize the lesson study usually three times per year in Japan. In contrast, SLC schools arrange the lesson study 30 times and more per year, because, in SLC schools, all the teachers open their classes for lesson study at least once a year. Table 2 displays the comparison between ordinary lesson study and SLC lesson study. In abstraction, the following features are characteristic in SLC lesson study. 1.

2. 3.

The main content of lesson study is neither “evaluation” nor “advice” from expert teacher to novice, but “learning together” from all incidents at classroom and empowering teacher wisdom and establishing collegiality within school. Learning study is a core of SLC lesson study, by using cutting edge knowledge of learning science. Case discussion is not a conversation for “advice to the practitioner” but for sharing “what is learned from the case”.

Professional Learning in Community of Practice: Lessons from SLC Reform Teachers practical knowledge is embedded in his/her practice, often tacit knowledge and implicit. If teacher learning is hidden and private, it is least useful, while it is most powerful when it becomes public, dialogic and communal (Shulman, 2004), Therefore, teachers can’t develop their competence alone. Professional learning community is indispensable. When communication about professional practice is created at school, individual experience becomes communal and distributed to expertise

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in practice, and professional mission, responsibility and wisdom can be shared and developed. Lesson study is a strong vehicle for establishing such professional learning community at school site. Lesson study in SLC is implemented with a cycle of “design”, “practice (observation)” and “reflection”. Direct observation at classroom is ordinary, while observation of video documentation is often utilized. As is mentioned able, the main purpose of lesson study in SLC is not improving teaching or teaching skill, but is building collegiality, so to speak, professional learning community, at school. Indeed, lesson study in SLC is an avenue for border crossing beyond walls of privatization, isolation and tribalism. It is indeed an effective means to transform power relationships among teachers. In pursuit of democratic community. Elementary classroom is an “egg-crate structure” as Dan Lortie pointed, and the school is a “pedagogical Harlem” as Davie Tyack once described (Lortie, 1975; Tyack, 1974). The political border is embedded in a wall between classrooms. likewise, in secondary school, subject group makes a tribe like as a small state of “Balkanization” as Andy Hargreaves metaphorically illustrated (Hargreaves, 2001). In this case, the border is walls of subject groups. Lesson study in SLC implodes such borders to build up a robust professional learning community inside school. Lesson study in SLC is, at the heart of it, regarded as a case method of professional education, i.e. integration of theory and practice. I differentiate three types of the relationship between theory and practice. The first type is “theory into practice” that is the traditional way relied on behavioral science. The second type is “theory through practice”, which has been dominant in Japanese teachers’ practical studies. The third is “theory in practice”, according to which, every practice implicitly contain some theories inside it. SLC adopts the third model, so that we attach great importance to reflection and deliberation in the case method, in order to enhance practical wisdom of teachers. In other words, SLC quests a professional thinking style, as a famous slogan of law education, “think like lawyers”. We explore a new way of “think like teachers” for professional autonomy. As stated previously, main content of lesson study in SLC is not evaluation of the lesson or advice to the practitioner but sharing what is learned from the lesson. And also, SLC transform lesson study from “plan – performance – evaluation” model to “design – practice – reflection” model. At this point and most importantly, what is the difference between “plan” and “design”? Plan is predetermined before teaching, while design is revised throughout whole process of practice. Donald Schon defined design as “conversation with situation” (Schon, 1992). What is more, “plan” is always made for attaining “object” and is examined by it. But “design” is not dominated by “object”. It arises from a “vision”. Therefore, teachers of SLC design, practice and reflect their teaching according not to “objective” but to their own “vision” of learning at their classrooms. In practice, complicated plan often disturbs flexibility of teaching, because teachers are prone to be constrained within a rigid plan predetermined. Simple design enables teachers to be sensible and impromptu to student’s learning. In the meantime, the following two points should be reconsidered, one is the locus of teacher development and the other functions of collegiality.

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Fig. 1 Structure of the locus for teacher learning

Figure 1 displays a structure of locus of teacher learning, and Fig. 2 a structure of effective advisors for improving teaching. The figures are abstracted from a big data that I once surveyed Japanese teachers in 1990s. The most important of both figures is that the structures both of places and advisors are a concentric circle around his/her classroom. As is indicated by Figs. 1 and 2, the most important place for teacher development is his/her own classroom and school, the most effective advisors are his/her colleagues. Therefore, SLC approach pursues to build a robust collegiality through repetition of teacher learning cycle of design, practice and reflection, as is illustrated by Fig. 3. In SLC, collegiality is established by collaboration of design and reflection of learning in teaching practice. The network of SLC recommends the following approaches. 1. 2. 3. 4.

All the teachers in your school should open their classes for lesson study at least once a year. Construction of collegiality with lesson study should be a core of school management. The lesson study should be transformed from “evaluation approach” to “reflection of learning”. In junior and senior high schools, the lesson study should be organized not by subject group but by grade group.

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Fig. 2 Structure of effective advisors for improving teaching

5.

Each teacher should set up his/ her own research theme.

Case method of the lesson study for teachers, like as lawyers and medical doctors, is a core method for professional development, and is a strategy to “chunk” their experience into units that can become for powerful practice. Lee Shulman describes as follows. Learning is least useful when it is private and hidden, while it is most powerful when it becomes public, dialogic and communal. (Lee Shulman)

Indeed, case discussion is a strong vehicle to transform teaching from an invisible practice to visible practice and from an impossible profession to possible profession.

Conclusion I would like to propose a charming but a deliberately thinkable question. Is it possible to establish a “Republic of Learning”, where each member is encouraged to be a “sovereign of learning”, at your classroom, at your school, at your city, at your area, at your country and our Asian region beyond national borders? This “Republic of Learning” is absolutely a metaphor of a “virtual republic”, but that will obtain a strong power for wiring networks for school as learning community

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Fig. 3 Teacher learning cycle of design, practice and reflection

and enables us to Implode political, social and cultural constraints from inside. School reform through SLC prepares a such hope to build a virtual vision of the “Republic of Learning”. In this paper, I have discussed about the following matters. Contemporary teaching professional is not a “technical expert” but a “reflective practitioner”, as Donald Schon defined. On the other side, teaching profession is relied on three foundations, public mission, practical wisdom and professional autonomy. The three components should be learned by the lesson study in school in-house workshop. Therefore, we must attach great importance to such three items, as dignity of child, authenticity of learning and teachers’ autonomy. Finally, I would like to close this paper by a sentence which I used to say. Only learning teachers are blessed with happiness of teaching profession.

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References Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. Dover. Hargreaves, A. (2001). Changing teachers, changing times. Continuum. Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. The University of Chicago Press. Meier, D. (1995). The power of their ideas. Beacon Press. Sato, M. (2011). Imaging neo-liberalism, the hidden realities of the cultural politics of school reform: Teachers and students in a globalized Japan. In D. B. Willis & J. Rappleye (Eds.), Reimaging Japanese education: Borders, transfers, circulations, and the comparative: Oxford studies in comparative education (pp. 219–240). Symposium Books. Sato, M. (2012). A la recherché d’une ecole pour le XXle siecte – quelles (reformes scolaires) alternatives aux politiques neoliberales? In C. Galan & C. L. Alvares (Eds.), Seisme educatife au Japon. Les Dossiers des Sciences de l’Education, No. 27 (pp. 37–54). Presses Universitaries du Mirail. Sato, M. (2016). Classroom management in Japan: A social history of teaching and learning. In N. K. Shimahara (Ed.), Politics of classroom life: Classroom management in international perspective. Routledge. Sato, M. (2018). Theory of SLC. In A. Tsukui & M. Murase (Eds.), Lesson study and school as learning community. Routledge. Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books. Schon, D. (1992). The theory of inquiry; Dewey’s legacy to education. Curriculum Inquiry, 22(2), 119. Shulman, L. (2004). The wisdom of practice: Essays on teaching, learning and learning to teach. Jossey-Bass. Tyack, D. (1974). One best system: A history of American urban education. Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, Trans.). Harvard University Press. Waller, W. (1932). The sociology of teaching. Wiley.

Rotating for Quality and Equality: A Study on Teachers as Borrowed Talents Leslie N. K. Lo, Yani Zhong, Juyan Ye, and Shenji Zhou

Introduction After a long day at work, Teacher Li, a Language teacher, heads back to the bungalow that the rural primary school has set aside for housing “rotating teachers”. Under the current policy for “rotation and exchange of teachers”, teachers who have worked for five years or more are assigned to teach in schools situated in the “mountainous region” for three years in order to enhance the quality of the rural teaching force. Normally, Teacher Li only uses the bungalow for siesta after lunch; but it’s her turn to supervise the evening self-study session today, which means that she would have to miss the last bus back to town where she lives with her husband, a three-year-old son, and parents-in-law. It’s nine o’clock in the evening. The schoolyard is quiet as the boarding students have already gone to bed. It’s a beautiful autumn night, but Teacher Li feels anxious and unsettled. Her mother-in-law called earlier to tell her that her son has been coughing and running a fever. He’s been given some cough syrup but wanted her there. Since he started kindergarten two months ago, he’s been sick frequently. But it’s hard to tell whether her son has gotten sick from contact with other children in the kindergarten or from her. Since she began working in this school, she has been suffering from a cold, which has lingered on for weeks. It’s cold in the mountains even though it’s only mid-autumn. The decision to send her son to kindergarten was made when Teacher Li received notice that she was to begin her “rotation assignment” at the beginning of the school L. N. K. Lo · J. Ye (B) Center for Teacher Education Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China e-mail: [email protected] Y. Zhong Beijing Institute of Education, Beijing 100120, China S. Zhou Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_13

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year. She registered her intention to rotate because she knew that her turn to serve would come sooner or later. She was advised by her elder peers that it would be in her best interest to do so before her son really needs her support and supervision when he will begin attending primary school three years from now. Rotation has brought considerable change to her lifestyle. She has to get up early to start a long commute to the primary school that hosts several “rotating teachers” like her. By the time she comes home from work in the evening, there’s little time to spend with her family. The county government and the recipient schools provide bus service for those teachers who don’t have their own means of transportation. That helps to alleviate the daily hardship for Teacher Li whose young family cannot afford a car. She learns, however, that there will be periods of severe weather, such as snow storms, that would close the roads and prevent teachers from going home for days. For Teacher Li and her rotating peers, reliance on spouse, parents and relatives has become the only way that their families could be taken care of. In this autumn night, Teacher Li feels a strong sense of irony that she’s unable to go home to comfort her sick child while having to take care of other people’s children. Luckily for Teacher Li, her rotation experience has been quite positive thus far. The school principal has been supportive and considerate. Despite her short tenure at the recipient school, the principal agrees to let her attend a series of professional development seminars in town during school hours. Her new colleagues are generally cordial and helpful, and have treated her fairly and respectfully. Some of them even call her “teacher advisor”, as she is an award-winning language teacher from a well-known school in the county seat. There are surely clear discrepancies between the urban and rural schools. Teacher Li’s first impression of the school is how small the size of her class is. Instead of having to teach forty-five or more students in a class, as she has customarily taught in her school in town, she now teaches twenty-five students. For a language teacher, that’s a much lighter load indeed. The students in the rural school are eager to learn. But their subject knowledge foundation is weaker as their exposure is much more limited than her students in the town school. Like Teacher Li, most of the teachers of the rural school also live in town and have to commute to work daily. They share the same concerns over the well-being of their families and the dearth of time and energy in taking care of them. They have similar ambitions for professional growth and the same aspirations for the progress of their students. Rural teachers may have less opportunities in career advancement and professional training; but they work in an educational environment that has its own logic and meanings. With growing deference for her colleagues in the rural school, Teacher Li recognizes the efforts that they have invested in their students’ education and is proud to share fruit of their labor. Years later, while reflecting on her rotating experience, she would voice her support for higher salaries for colleagues whom she left behind in the rural schools of the “mountainous region”. “It’s really hard work,” she says, “and that’s why they should be paid more than us.” The above vignette that portrays the rotating experience of a fictitious Teacher Li is a composite of real concerns that were voiced by teachers who participated in

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the policy-led program of “teacher rotation and exchange” in County C, which is situated in an affluent part of the eastern region of Mainland China. The issues that have challenged Teacher Li’s life and work are shared by many of those who have crossed geographic boundaries and served in schools that are located in rural areas where educational disparities delineate the urban–rural dichotomy. It has been the state’s intention to redistribute human resources among the urban and rural schools in order to close the developmental gap between these schools. In the main, the rotation program in County C aimed to enhance the quality of teachers and schooling in the mountainous areas of a sizable county that was administratively attached to a large metropolis. This chapter reports findings from a study that investigates the exchange experiences of teachers in a two-way teacher rotation program. Its emphasis is on the exchange experiences of a group of urban teachers who were assigned to work in rural schools. The exchange experiences of rural teachers are used to substantiate arguments when a contrast to the experiences of urban teachers is needed. The study examines the experiences of teachers’ perceptions of their work in unfamiliar contexts, the manner in which they enacted their roles as newcomers to the recipient schools, and the educational meaning that they have derived from the rotation experience. Specifically, the presentation of research findings will address the following research questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

What were the major contextual issues in the teachers’ rotation experiences? What kinds of adjustment did the rotating teachers make in order to exert their capabilities in the teaching and learning of the recipient schools? How did the rotating teachers exercise their academic and professional leadership in the recipient schools? What were the effects of rotation? What were the factors that had affected teacher effectiveness in the rotation process?

Our response to the above questions will be guided by two sets of theoretical concepts that are related to our understanding of policy rationale and the characteristics of effective teachers. The concept of “capability” (Sen, 1999, 2009) provides a perspective on the conditions that are required for teachers to exploit the opportunities to do what one what to do, and to achieve. The concept of “teacher leadership”, as explicated by proponents of “distributed leadership”, facilitates exploration of the meanings of educational leadership in the context of teaching and learning. Regarding the effectiveness of rotating teachers, “teacher leadership” can mean more than the capacity to obtain power and privileges as it also refers to the professional prowess of who are willing to lead with their skills and insights.

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Data Collection and Analysis In order to address the above research questions, an analytical approach that combines the strengths of documentation research and in-depth interviews is employed. Data collection is supplemented by on-site observations and a questionnaire survey that involves a broader representation of stakeholders in the school system of County C. The documents that are examined for research purposes include official policy documents, work reports and speeches that are related to the policies on teacher and principal rotation on the national and local levels, and scholarly articles on the implementation and effects of such policies. The interviews, which informed the bulk of the views presented in this chapter, were all conducted in County C after a series of on-site observations at its schools in 2016. The observations facilitated the formulation of questions which were used in interviews with selected teachers. The selection of interviewees was based on strategic sampling that employed the criteria of specific job titles for rotation purpose and official recognitions of excellence from regular performance assessment, such as, the titles of “teaching advisor” (zhidao jiaoshi), “backbone teachers” (gugan jiaoshi), and “teachers evaluated for excellence” (pingyou jiaoshi) for teachers. Altogether, 18 teachers (9 primary teachers and 9 secondary teachers) who taught various subjects were interviewed. All of the interviewees had participated in the rotation scheme. The application of the above criteria skewed the sample of teachers toward teachers who were more experienced and those who had demonstrated excellence in their work. Such a sampling bias is justified by the fact that one of the main purposes this study is to unearth the characteristics of teacher leaders in the rotation process. The information that was collected through the interviews with selected teachers constitutes the main body of data for analysis. All interviews were recorded and transcribed into written texts. The written texts were examined by the interviewing researchers for accuracy. The data were coded in accordance with the schools, positions, and teaching subjects of the interviewees. The contents of interviews were collated in accordance with emergent themes that were used to formulate a response to the research questions. The questionnaire survey, which was also conducted in 2016, obtained the response of 1671 teachers (about half the size of the teaching force) who were serving in the schools of County C. Of these teachers, 659 respondents (39.4%) have either participated or were participating in the program. Over half (1044, or 62.5%) of the 1671 respondents have taught for 16–30 years; 1256 (75.2%) were female teachers; and 1278 (76.5%) were teachers between 31 and 50 years of age. Of the 659 participant teachers, 630 individuals (95.6%) were full-time teachers with no concurrent appointment to administrative or functional posts. As far as teaching experience was concerned, 453 of the respondents (68.7%) have taught for 16–30 years, and only 9 (1.4%) have had 5 years of teaching experience, or less. 491 respondents (74.5%) were female teachers; and 300 (45.5%) were teachers of senior ranks (gaoji jiaoshi).

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From the above description of the County C cohort, it can be established that those who were engaged in the rotation program were mostly experienced full-time teachers with certain seniority. Moreover, the fact that 70% of the respondents have received official recognitions that ranged from the school level (22.3%) to the national level (3.8%), it can be argued that the quality of rotating teachers in County C has suitably serve the purpose of teacher rotation as envisaged by the state. For the purpose of this chapter, data collected from the questionnaire survey are used to provide background information about the participant teachers and to ascertain broad categories of factors that influence their inclinations toward engagement in rotation.

The Policy Context The state’s intention to redistribute human resources among the nation’s schools has been reflected in its blueprints for educational development through time. Economic growth since the advent of the new century has drawn the attention of Chinese policymakers to such developmental issues such as the accumulation of human capital and the achievement of social equity (for example, PRCSC, 1993, 2004, 2010). Education is seen as a vital instrument for the attainment of both. The efficacy of education is in turn dependent on the country’s teaching force, which has been undermined by the disparate qualities of teachers serving in regions that are at different stages of economic development. The most glaring example is found the disparity between urban and rural teachers who differ in terms of educational qualifications, readiness to teach, and working conditions (Fan, 2015; Wu, 2013). The rotation and exchange of teachers and principals among schools in the cities and the countryside has been viewed as a possible means of channelling educational resources of high quality to needy schools. In 2013, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party included the redistribution of resources and the rotation and exchange of teachers and principals in its overall plan for further societal reform (CCCCP, 2013). In 2014, the central government followed up with a national policy that aimed to “systematize and normalize” the practice of rotation and exchange of teachers and principals on the local county level “within 3 to 5 years” (MOE et al., 2014). The policy mandated that the county (and urban district) governments should be in charge of rotation and exchange matters within their purview. No less than 10% of teachers in urban (county township) schools and schools of high quality would have to rotate each year; and, among them, 20% should be senior teachers. Priority in appointment, promotion, assessment for excellence and professional training would be given to those teachers who have participated in rotation (ibid.). It was later decided that teachers who would be 50 years old or younger, or those who have served for 5 years or more in the same schools, would be required to rotate. Depending on local conditions, the duration of service in the recipient schools would range from 1 to 3 years. The duration of service for County C was set at 3 years.

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From all the official attention given to the promulgation of the rotation and exchange policy, the state had expected that it could help to improve the overall quality of teachers. At the onset of policy implementation, the then education ministers had hoped that the policy could bring about a more equitable distribution of human resources in the education system (Yuan, 2014), and that through continuous local refinement, the rotation system could have widespread effects on the long-term development of the education system (Liu, 2013). With the state’s encouragement, a variety of rotation and exchange practices have sprouted in different parts of the country: mandatory rotation within localities, unified district-managed rotation and exchange, school alliances, branch campuses of famous schools, school conglomerates, concurrent appointment of teachers of urban schools in rural towns (Qiao & Lu, 2017; Ye & Lo, 2016). Since 2005, before the promulgation of the aforementioned national policy, County C had already initiated a program for teacher rotation and exchange. The program was established at a time when the metropolis that oversaw the county’s administration attempted to upgrade the quality of its teaching force by recruiting a large number of young and well qualified teachers (Li, 2007). The county’s program, which was part and parcel of a larger metropolitan scheme, sent urban teachers to teach in primary and middle schools in the neighboring rural areas for a year. Three years later, the scheme had experimented with the exchange of principals and senior teachers between schools, and the establishment of professional development stations for rural teachers in urban and town schools. By 2016, as the metropolitan scheme matured, and an impressive array of methods of mobility were being developed, the rotation and exchange program at County C has also been “systematized and normalized”. Its geographic location, being situated at the farthest reach of the metropolis, has naturally imposed constraints on the development of the program. Advanced forms of resource sharing and redistribution for disseminating best practices were less prevalent in county towns. Its limitations notwithstanding, County C has accumulated enough experience in the last decade to operate a teacher rotation and exchange program for hundreds of teachers who had worked in the unfamiliar school environs of its “mountainous region”.

Guiding Concepts for Analysis and Discussion Two concepts that are related to teacher ability guide our discussion on the performance of rotating teachers working in unfamiliar contexts. The first concept, human capability, is a normative concept that is used in this chapter to refer to the teachers’ general ability to bring about positive changes to their workplaces. The second concept, teacher leadership, refers specifically to the ability of teachers to influence the behavior, attitude and action of others in order to achieve desirable results.

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Capabilities In this chapter, the concept of “capability” differs from the normal usage of “capacity” because it means more than the ability to learn, execute and accomplish something. In line with Sen’s “capability approach”, which emphasizes the ability of an individual to create opportunities for one’s own pursuit of achievements. Such achievements may vary in kind, but they all transcend basic survival needs. Completing high level of education and gaining the respect of others are examples of such achievements. From Sen’s perspective, “capabilities” refer to what we can do, in terms of the activities that we can undertake, and what we want to be, in terms of the kinds of person we want to become. Thus “capabilities” are real opportunities for us to undertake certain activities in order to achieve various states of being human. The essential element for our pursuits is “freedom”, which allows us the opportunities to exert our ability autonomously to achieve desirable goals (Sen, 1999; Walker, 2006). Such “freedom” assumes, in addition to our own internal abilities (intellect, emotional and personality traits, state of health, etc.), the presence of external conditions (i.e. the availability of external resources or the absence of external impediments) that can help us to effect positive changes toward a higher level of existence for ourselves, and for others. “Capabilities” are actually the end products of interaction between internal capabilities of the person and external conditions under which the person acts or performs. In our discussion, the term “capabilities” means “combined capabilities”, which denotes people’s internal abilities working in concert with the external social, economic, and political conditions that affect them (Nussbaum, 2011). Scholars in education who have adopted Sen’s “capability approach” as the basis of analysis recognized the role of education in nurturing the internal abilities of people and in influencing the external conditions that affect them (for example, DeCesare, 2014; Tao, 2010). By extension, such functions could be steered toward the redistribution of educational opportunities in society and the construction of a system of democratic education system. Certain scholars have argued that the basic function of education is to expand the internal “capabilities” of human beings to create opportunities autonomously for self and others (Saito, 2003). Sen’s concept of “capabilities” was operationalized through his participation in the construction of the United Nations Human Development Index. In that Index, human “capabilities” include: basic knowledge and skills, work related competence, and various kinds of “complex functions”, such as the ability to deal with change, social skills, and ability to cooperate with others (Lanzi, 2007). However, while Sen’s theoretical explication of “capabilities” has enriched our understanding of human potentiality and agency, it has stopped short of putting a human face to the person who acts for self and others. In a specific project, such as a reform project, what would the change agents look like? In a reform context, what are the attributes of these reformers? How do they interact with the external conditions in order to bring about desirable changes?

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To address these issues, the concept of “teacher leadership” is used to guide our discussion on the characteristics of teachers who can work effectively to the improve the educational conditions of rural schools.

Teacher Leadership “Teacher leadership” assumes that, aside from those teachers serving in administrative and functional positions, individual teachers could use their abilities to influence others to initiate positive changes. Indeed, influential teachers are easily discernible in today’s schools, with the fruit of their work in knowledge renewal, pedagogical innovation, teacher-student relations, and learning communities on full display. The emergence of teacher leadership depends critically on the school context, which is shaped by the school leaders. There are school principals who believe in the genuine sharing of power and responsibilities with their teachers. Others allow teachers to participate in decision-making because they need more people to shoulder their increasing workloads in the growing complexity of schooling today. Scholarly interests in teacher leadership is a recent phenomenon. It reflects a shift of gravity in the field of leadership studies, from the examination of leaders as persons to the study of leadership as a collective force (for example, Blase & Blase, 2004; Bridges, 1982; Bush, 2013; Leithwood et al., 2008; Murphy, 2008). Such a change in the orientation of inquiry has blurred the distinction between the leaders and the led, thus allowing for an inclusion of teachers who may or may not be in leadership positions (Spillane, 2006). As a concept, “teacher leadership” is intimately linked to the development of “distributed leadership”,1 which refers to the ideas and actions of stakeholders who take the initiative to exert their influence from below (Harris, 2008; Leithwood & Duke, 1999). “Distributed leadership” is now accepted as a viable perspective to examine significant educational phenomena, such as school improvement, administrative effectiveness, organizational learning, and pedagogical enhancement (for example, Kelley & Dikkers, 2016; Lambert, 2003; Lumby, 2017; Rikkerink et al., 2016; Salo et al., 2015). Advocates of “distributed leadership” believe that wider leadership distribution among members of a school should benefit it as a whole. By extension of this logic, “distributed leadership” favors a more even distribution of power, responsibilities and privileges among teachers in the schools. 1

As a concept, the evolution of “teacher leadership” has benefited from the development of a typology for “educational leadership”. The classification of educational leadership by traits and functions has yielded a variety of types: managerial leadership for the functions, duties and behaviors of leaders within the structure of organizations; instructional leadership for the attributes and endeavors of leaders who pay special attention to teaching and learning and to the ways that they relate to student achievement; transformational leadership for the capacity and actions of leaders who exert their influence that changes the organizational structure of the school substantially and deeply; and distributed leadership for the ideas and actions of stakeholders who take the initiative to exert their influence from below.

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The theoretical construction of “teacher leadership” is a project in progress. While the understanding of “teacher leadership” remains fluid and varied, a commonly accepted definition is: the individual capacity or collective capacity that teachers use to influence their colleagues, principals and other members of the school community in an attempt to enhance the practice of teaching and learning, with the improvement of student learning and achievement as the ultimate goal (York-Barr & Duke, 2004). The focus of this definition is not on the position and power of teacher leaders; rather, it emphasizes the role of teachers as agents of change in the educational process of schooling. The direction of investigation is drawn to the goal, process, and outcome of change, with the capacity of teachers as the driving force for related endeavors. From the reality of schooling in China, there are several aspects of teacher leadership that can shed light on the discussion in this chapter: ethical leadership for the pursuit, preservation and perpetuation of values that should remain at the core of reform; pedagogical leadership for using one’s own knowledge and skills to influence other teachers to enhance teaching and learning through continuous research and improvement; academic leadership for sustainable efforts in influencing other teachers to enrich their subject knowledge, to unearth issues in teaching and learning, and to share professional insights with others; relational leadership for the capacity to influence others to engage students, colleagues, parents and community constructively, and to form communities of practice when necessary; generic leadership for the ability to motivate and collaborate with others in order to enhance their capacity in performing necessary tasks (Ye & Zhu, 2018). The two concepts, “capability” and “teacher leadership”, are used to guide the exploration of themes that have emerged from the findings of the questionnaire survey and the interviews. They are also used to illuminate the interaction between the structure of schooling and the agency of teachers, and to underscore the characteristics of teacher leadership in the unfamiliar context of teacher rotation and exchange.

Key Observations In the following sections, observations on the rotating experiences of teachers are categorized and presented as: contextual issues, teaching and learning, and academic and professional leadership. The views of teachers being discussed below include those who originated from primary and secondary schools that were located in the county seat (town schools) as well as from schools in rural and “mountainous areas” of the same county (rural schools). In the early phase of the rotation program, selected teachers in town schools were dispatched in small groups to the rural schools, probably to shore up local support for the rotation policy that was promulgated by the metropolitan government. At the time of our interviews in 2016, which was approximately ten years after first group of teachers were dispatched, the rotation assignments became more individualized, and more rotating teachers were working with colleagues from other town schools.

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Noteworthy characteristics of the 18 interviewees (9 primary teachers and 9 secondary teachers) run the gamut from young teachers who just met the minimal requirement of five years of teaching to experienced teachers who have taught for over two decades. As rotating teachers, they taught a variety of subjects and occupied different positions in their own schools—Chinese language, Mathematics, English, Physical Education, Ideological and Character Education—and were given varied responsibilities at the recipient schools. The teachers joined the rotation program for a variety of reasons, such as expanding their own intellectual and professional horizon, and contributing their share to the balanced development of schooling in China. Yet the most common reasons given were the fulfilment of basic official requirement for promotion (rural work experience is required for promotion), and to do so before changing life circumstances (such as the needs of one’s school-age children) would prevent them from realizing such an ambition. Thus, its lofty goals notwithstanding, the rotation program was a test of the teachers’ perseverance.

Contextual Issues In County C, most teachers live in towns of various sizes. The county seat was its largest town where a complete school system (from kindergarten to senior secondary school) was served by its most qualified teachers. Teachers who taught in the “mountainous region” travelled to work daily, except on certain days when they have to supervise the evening study sessions of boarding students. The same routine is followed by those teachers who have to perform rotation duties. For older teachers of County C, serving in rural schools was part of a local tradition that assumed that the first stop of a native son or daughter graduating from the local normal schools would be a school in his or her place of origin. “It was a way of serving your hometown” (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE). To them, the rotation policy was an extension of such a tradition and thus should not cause resentment. To the younger teachers who had never undergone the baptism of ancestral fidelity, the rotation policy was either a call to action that could rectify educational inequality or a basic requirement for advancement that must be satisfied (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). For the teachers who participated in the rotation program, distance between their homes and the new workplace as well as the hardship they endured from family separation were two major issues that were brought up constantly during the interviews. Both of these issues were identified as the main hindrance to teacher participation in the rotation program. The geographic distance between home in town and schools in the mountains, which measures no more than seventy kilometres at its lengthiest, could take up to three hours of travelling each day for certain rotating teachers who failed to get an assignment closer to home. Because owning an automobile was still considered a luxury among young teachers, only a few teachers could drive themselves to work. Others relied on chartered bus services as the sole means of transportation. In certain

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areas, daily travels to work depended on road conditions. Treacherous weather, such as heavy downpour or blizzard, could force road closures, which would confine the teachers to the mountains for days (Int6-Prim-Disp-Math). The problem of distance and lengthy travels was compounded by the emotional stress and anxiety that were caused by separation from family. Even though lifethreatening crises rarely occurred during the separation, our interviews with the teachers were filled with feelings of compunction for not being able to care for their loved ones. The three-year appointment, as mandated by the official terms of service, seemed to be exceedingly long for certain rotating teachers. Among the woeful accounts, the inability to serve one’s parents who fell ill (Int2-Prim-DispEng) and to care for one’s sick child were mentioned most frequently. A female Math teacher recounted her experience: My child was so young then, and there wasn’t anyone to take care of him. So, I had to send him to nursery early. He had to stay there for a long time, because there wasn’t anyone to take him home. He was hospitalized for pneumonia once. I stayed with him all night long; but then I had to go to work the next morning. … He’s always the first to be dropped off at the nursery and the last one to leave. (Int6-Prim-Disp-Math)

For those teachers with no means of transportation to attend to emergencies, a call in the middle of the work-day from home could be particularly stressful. A male Physical Education teacher, who seemed to have enjoyed his rotation experience, recalled one such episode: I feel that so many things at home need to be planned ahead of time. We all have children. If they get sick and the old people couldn’t help, then what are you going to do? Or there’s an emergency, and you can’t go back, then what are you going to do? Once I was on [evening] duty, supervising self-study, and my child was sick. My wife called and said: “You have to come home!” I said: “There’s no more bus service. How can I come back? I can’t walk all the way home.” I really felt helpless. This is the biggest problem … Really, what can I do, except to get vaccinated [against spousal resentment] ahead of time, and be nicer to the wife. (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE)

Family separation was especially difficult for young teachers with small children. A rotating teacher with a one-year-old child had to leave her in the care of her mother-in-law. She and her husband had to visit her in-law daily in order to have dinner with their child, and then go home to rest and to rise at dawn for work the next day (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang). “All you can hope for”, said another teacher, “is that your child can be healthy. If there’s any problem, you would have to work it out with your family, your spouse, help each other. Like my family, we came around slowly, our child grew up slowly, and we lived each passing day” (Int6-Prim-Disp-Math). For the rotating teachers from the county seat, teaching in the mountainous areas required mental and physical resilience. While their mental readiness for change was often assumed, some of the most experienced teachers have had difficulty adapting to the conditions of teaching in the rural areas. A female English teacher who had 17 years of teaching experience confided: It was my first exchange year. … It was September, and the weather got wintry very quickly. I had one flu after another. My body simply couldn’t adapt. It was a cold place. [The buildings]

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were bungalows. … Before I could recover from the first flu, I got a second flu. After that, it deteriorated into an ear infection. I couldn’t speak for three or four days. What good is an English teacher who couldn’t speak! (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng)

In the rural schools, adaptation entailed the constant adjustment of one’s lifestyle. The new environment, including a new teaching schedule and work routine, presented novel issues that needed to be overcome. For one “older” female teacher who had taught Character Education for 32 years, it meant losing the opportunity of taking her long-cherished siesta: The classes [that I taught were scheduled] differently from other subjects. They were [scheduled for] the middle [of the school day], last class of the morning, first class of the afternoon. …. I really felt uncomfortable. And I thought, what am I going to do if I can’t take a nap in the next three years? They’ve assigned me living quarters. But I really couldn’t go back [for the nap]. I wanted to rest. But by the time I got back to the dorm, there for no more time [for the nap]. … I felt tired all the time … Irregular menstruation … hair loss … so I had to cut my hair short … Finally, I had to get hormone injections… then I started to gain weight. I really, really found it hard to adjust in the first year. (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd)

The rotating teachers were confronted by myriad adjustment problems, including health problems, loneliness and alienation; but some of them managed to find support from other rotating teachers who were assigned to serve in the same rural schools. In the early phase of the rotation program (2006–2009), teachers from different dispatching schools went into the “mountainous region” in groups. By design, the county government oversaw the operation of the program as well as the assignment of teachers to rural schools. At the time, the rural schools were experiencing severe teacher shortage. Thus, the rotating teachers were able to make timely contribution. One such teacher observed: It seemed that most of the teachers [of the rural schools] had left at the time. There were very few of them left. One can say that we, the teachers in exchange, were the core support of subject teaching, in Language and Mathematics. I felt that we have all worked well. (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng)

The rotating teachers from town, especially those who have already been recognized for excellent performance, were seen as bearers of wisdom and disseminators of good practices. The leaders and teachers of the rural schools had expected them to advance their schools’ interests. At the behest of the local government, the rotating teachers were treated well, with their meals and lodging generously provided for (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). In a way, the rotating teachers from the town schools had to learn to assimilate into the culture of teaching at the new school environment. In the process of assimilation, the teachers would have to adjust their own habits of work and identity, and to make the best use of the three years that would help to expand their profession horizon. For those teachers who were sent from the rural schools to work in the town schools, which represented a reversal of direction in the rotation journey, their role would most likely be that of a “newcomer” who sought to learn from the more “advanced” practices of the town schools. However, as the rotation experiences of rural teachers will attest, there are ample exceptions to this assumption. Rural teachers

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brought with them valuable ideas and practices that were developed from the classrooms in the mountains, with insights that could illuminate feasible approaches to solving tenacious educational problems. If given the opportunity to prove their effectiveness in teaching, they could assume leadership positions in the town schools and contribute just as impressively as their urban counterparts.

Teaching and Learning In County C, teaching effectiveness provided the main criterion for the assessment of teacher performance. Such effectiveness was illuminated by the occasional recognitions of excellence that were bestowed upon winners of competitions of all kinds. The awards were symbols of the teachers’ earned status that also carried strong implications of professionalism in China (Int7-Sec-DispSenior-Lang). Before they could attain such prestigious standing in the teaching community, the teachers had to demonstrate that their teaching could benefit students of all kinds, notwithstanding their circumstances. For the rotating teachers from the town schools, the first step toward effective teaching was to delineate the educational differences between town and country and work to narrow the gap in their pedagogical approach. There were significant differences in terms of the availability of teaching resources, the characteristics of students, and the mode of curriculum and teaching. For the rotating teachers from town schools, the teaching facilities of the rural schools could adequately serve basic pedagogical needs. A primary school teacher observed: I think that the hardware of the [rural] school that I worked for was basically adequate. It had all the facilities for teaching. Of course, they couldn’t be compared to the hardware of M2 School [a top primary school in town], which had WIFI, iPad, and things that weren’t available in most schools. But for ordinary teaching needs, [the facilities of] the schools in the mountains weren’t that much different from those in the town schools, like the utility room, computers, sports fields. They were fine. (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE)

However, all teachers from the town schools claimed that they had to adjust their teaching in order to accommodate the learning needs of the students in the rural schools. The major problem with teaching students in the mountains was their lack of exposure to the kind of general knowledge that students in town would normally possess. Certain teachers speculated that the weaker knowledge base of the rural students was due to the geographic closure of the mountainous environment (Int3Prim-Disp-Lang) or to the simple fact that they have read much less (Int16-SecRural-Eng). The comparative disadvantage had posed considerable challenge to the rotating teachers from the town schools. Such a handicap was particularly acute in the teaching of English: Conducting an English class [in the rural school] was difficult, really difficult. … Did the students want to learn? Yes. But they just didn’t have the language environment to support them. … I still remember trying to use visual aids to help them learn certain concepts. At the time, Liu XX was particularly famous, and Ma YY … but the kids didn’t know these people. … I tried to use the name of [a popular sport star] Zhang ZZ to link it to three

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choices in a multiple-choice test question: a badminton racket, a ping-pong paddle, and a basketball. But they didn’t know who Zhang ZZ was … It made teaching of English so difficult. (Int10-Prim-Disp-Eng)

The difficulties in teaching rural students was compounded by the conspicuous absence of parental support at home. After they settled into the routine of rural teaching, the rotating teachers soon discovered that they had to adjust their expectation of parental support for the children’s education. Unlike urban parents who were intensely interested in their children’s schooling (Int16-Sec-Rural-Eng), parents in the mountainous region were normally less attentive to their children’s learning needs. The absence of parental support was especially prevalent among boarding students who spent most of their time in school. The teachers played a dual role of being the teacher during school hours and as caregiver when the students went to bed at night. One teacher observed that very few parents in the rural areas paid attention to the schooling of their children, claiming that “they would be satisfied as long as [their children] are safe” (Int6-Prim-Disp-Math). Parental passivity impacted directly on the quality of learning. For a subject like English, which relied heavily on out-of-class practice to yield proficiency, the indifference of parents meant that there was little supervision for listening exercises at home: When I was teaching in the town school, it was required that [the students] must listen to audio recording at home, at least four to five days a week. The parents would have to sign off on [the completion of exercise]. Twenty minutes, fifteen minutes, you have to guarantee [that the listening exercise is completed]. … Most [parents in town] would sign … But, honestly, it was impossible to use this method here [in the mountains] … I simply couldn’t rely on the parents. So I had to change my thinking and my ways to doing things. (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng)

Situations like the above have required rotating teachers to change their pedagogical approach. In adjusting their teaching methods, much depended on a teacher’s subject knowledge and determination to ensure student learning. The experienced English teacher, quoted above, would try to maximize the students’ learning opportunities. She said: “…I used the evening self-study sessions to let the children listen to English recording, tried my best to use that time in the evening; and then there were the morning self-study sessions, I’d hurried to the class, used the few mornings to let the children listen to more English recording in order to strengthen their listening ability” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). Other teachers adapt their owns ways of adjusting to the new reality of teaching. Some sought insights from local teachers in order to develop an appropriate approach to teaching in the rural schools. Others used their lunch breaks to tutor students who had special learning needs (Int6-PrimDisp-Math). Still others refused to take professional responsibility and claimed that “the students were a bit slow because their parents won’t teach them after school” (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE). As far as teaching was concerned, the most difficult adjustment for certain rotating primary teachers from town was to be assigned to multi-subject teaching that deviated from the norms of teaching in their dispatching schools, which was based on singlesubject teaching. For example, a Mathematics teacher who had taught the subject exclusively for years was asked to teach Language as well. She said:

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I started teaching in 1989. I majored in Mathematics. … When I went [to the rural school] for exchange, I had to teach Language and Mathematics. … This was my biggest difficulty. … So when my colleagues taught Language for the same grade, I attended their classes. After class, I would take their lesson plans and teaching materials. Frankly, it was like drawing a tiger from the image of a cat, … it was like that the first year. … We had a great group [of teachers teaching the same grade]. They taught me. … It was like, they taught me [all I knew about Language teaching]. I followed their every move. (Int6A-Prim-Disp-Math) The hardship of multi-subject teaching was perhaps offset by the smaller class size of the rural schools. “They had fewer students. The most [students] that I had [in my class] at the town schools was 50 students. The was really little pressure from the [25] students that I had in this regard.” (Ibid.) Conversely, the rural teachers who were assigned to the town schools had to adjust to a much larger class size there. “Their workload almost doubled”, observed a colleague in the town school, “the [rural] teachers apparently needed at least half a year, or even a year to adjust. Some of them adjusted well and quickly assimilated. Then there were teachers who couldn’t adjust.” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng)

From countryside to town, adjustment to the scale and administrative style of the new environment offered new learning opportunities for the rural teachers. One rural secondary English teacher observed: Their lesson planning group [for the English subject] consisted of seven to eight persons. The group leader led the exchange teachers in lesson planning. Their had uniformed exercises, uniformed standard for learning progression. It was all uniformed. Those were the characteristics of a large school. That gave the large school an advantage in research on [subject] teaching. Division of labor. Everyone had to fulfil [his/her] own assigned tasks, and then it’s done. In small [rural] schools like ours, we had to do everything with just one person. (Int16-Sec-Rural-Eng)

From organizing large scale drills in Physical Education (Int11-Prim-Rural-PE) to counselling individual students (Int16-Sec-Rural-Eng), the rotation experience seemed to have enhanced the professional awareness of the rural teachers. Nevertheless, the transfer of benefits has come to characterize a reciprocal relationship between the rural and urban teachers. For example, the lesson plans of a rural Language teacher, which included “classic” supplementary materials, were consolidated into electronic files and shared with all teachers of a recipient town school to facilitate lesson planning there (Int12-Prim-Rural-Lang). Moreover, effective training methods for runners and novel drill formations were brought to the attention of teachers and administrators of the recipient town school (Int11-Prim-Rural-PE) for the development of its own distinguishing features, which was a concept that has been encouraged by the government and became popular in local educational circles. The capability that has sustained the interests of rotating teachers in their teaching was a commonly shared appreciation of the rural children. As a most cited quality of the rural children by the rotating teachers, the students’ plain honesty (pu shi) has apparently affected them. According to the teachers, the rural students could be slower, less disciplined, and less worldly-wise than the students in the town schools, but they were “plain and simple, and learn earnestly”. They were also much healthier than the children in town, and they were “obedient” (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE). “They marvelled at the things I taught them in class, like everything I said was new to them. They were active” and “invited fond affection” (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang).

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For certain teachers, it was through teaching children in the mountains that they could grasp the meaning of their work. An appreciation of the students who posed challenges to their teaching had made the achievement of every success in teaching that much more meaningful. For example, the urge of a young rotating Language teacher to allow her students a little time to display their talent has led to the birth of a good practice that was adopted in schools county-wide: The activity was called ‘Two minutes before class’. Before every class there was a preparatory period of two minutes. I let the children take turns doing something [that they’d like to do in front of the class]. You can recite a passage, recite a poem, or read a part of your dairy that you like. I brought this activity over to School D [the rural recipient] school]. I told the students: ‘After the preparatory bell rings, we shall have a nice two-minute performance!’ All students had to prepare and took turns according to their student number. Later, the principal came to observe, and thought that it was very good. So he proposed it [as a school-wide practice] in a meeting. … Through some kind of unknown avenue, it now a practice for the whole county. (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang)

Success in the rural school had allowed the aforementioned young Language teacher to experience the power of knowledge transfer, but it had also molded her perception of teaching to suit the rural context. Upon returning to the town school after three years of exchange in the mountains, she managed to regain a broader perspective on teaching and learning. She reflected: When I taught in School D [the rural school], my teaching was animated, and it appealed to a lot people. … Then I came back to [the town school] and realized that teaching is not a stage for teachers to perform. You’ve got to know how much your students have gotten from your teaching. If the students have gotten more than they had from you, then the teacher was making progress. It was really a change process. (Ibid.)

Teaching in an unfamiliar context underlined the strengths and limitations of the rotating teachers. It induced them to view teaching more than a simple impartation of knowledge, but as a shared endeavor between teachers and students. As an experienced teacher has noted, “In teaching, the children we faced were all different. What they could accept and how fast they could except were different. Real teaching meant that we had to make adjustment for the children, slow down, and to try to make changes that could suit the children in the rural areas” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng).

Academic and Professional Leadership In the rotation program, it was generally assumed that the teachers of the town schools would play a role in enhancing teaching and learning of the rural schools. This meant that, aside from applying their own subject knowledge and teaching skills, the rotating teachers were expected to shoulder certain leadership responsibilities in the new workplace. For the more experienced teachers, there were expectations that they would exert leadership in the development of certain school subjects through the injection of new ideas and methods, coordination of colleagues, and the procurement of external resources for the rural schools.

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The rotating teachers understood such expectations, for the rotation program was based on a vision that the exertion of their capabilities would bring about positive changes to the rural schools. Among those teachers who were interviewed, almost all of them were willing and ready to take on some kind of leadership role. To them, the role of a leader should be based on the perceived excellence of their own work, which could be the discernible improvement of the students’ conduct (Int8-SecDisp-ChEd) or the growing size of colleagues observing one’s own teaching (Int10Sec-Disp-Eng). As subject teachers, they accepted readily that the most tangible evidence of excellence was to be recognized in one of the many curricular and teaching competitions that dotted the educational landscape (Int7-Sec-Disp-Lang). Teacher leadership in the rotation program was mainly focused on subject teaching and learning. In their attempt to improve teaching in the rural schools, some of the experienced teachers emphasized the need for a refinement of the conceptual approach to the subject at hand: “The critical point is to lead with a conceptual approach”, advised a senior Language teacher who was designated as a “teaching advisor”, “then the platform [for action] could be constructed. When the teachers were guided by the [right] conceptual approach, and a teaching method was introduced, then they could make progress [in their teaching]” (Int7-Sec-Disp-Lang). The new concepts and methods that rotating teachers brought to the rural schools were not limited to teaching alone. An English teacher who was assigned to teach in a small rural middle school observed that the new teaching resources reflected a broader approach that included “concepts of subject teaching” as well as “ideas of operating and managing a school” (Int10-Sec-Disp-Eng). Among the experienced rotating teachers, there was a clear willingness to take on leadership tasks that they thought could help improve the recipient rural schools. Most of them had brought pedagogical knowledge, methods, and even teaching packages with them. The ways of implementing an enhancement program for the learning of English, which was developed at the country’s top education university, was introduced by a confident English teacher and adopted at a rural primary school. “I’m not a novice in this”, said the English teacher, “I’m a person who was familiar [with the enhancement methods] and who knows how to carry them out” (Int2-Prim-DispEng). Another teacher who taught Physical Education developed his interest in chess into an impressive course of extracurricular activities at the recipient rural school. He then proceeded to integrate the chessmen’s movements into new formations of morning drills for the whole school (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). A common characteristic of these teacher leaders was that, in teaching and research, they were ready to take the lead and let others follow. With perseverance, they demonstrated the effectiveness of new ideas and methods for all to see. Gradually, they became the core and the driving force of new endeavors. A primary Mathematics teacher said: No matter what you brought [to the rural school], you had to begin by doing it yourself. From teaching to research, and then to other aspects, you had to do it. … Others could see that you were steadfast in doing your work, and they would follow. Each of us worked, and [the little results] accumulated. In the end, it was the fruit of all our work. So I think that if you [take the lead and] worked, others could feel it, and you became the virtual core driving

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force. Everyone was watching, and you performed, then it became a kind of drive [toward accomplishment]. (Int6A-Prim-Disp-Math)

In the context of rotation, the influence of teacher leaders was often manifested in the informal transfer of knowledge to colleagues of the recipient schools. This kind of transference was conducted in a variety of ways: elucidating ideas in professional discussions and planning sessions (Int6B-Prim-Disp-Math); distributing useful teaching materials among colleagues of the same subjects (Int12-Prim-RuralLang); and keeping an “open door policy” which allowed colleagues to observe one’s own teaching (Int10-Sec-Disp-Eng). Within the school hierarchy, the leadership capabilities of the rotating teachers would presumably be strengthened, if they were in some kind of official positions, such as the convenor of the school’s teaching-research group or the head of an academic subject group. However, only a minority of our interviewees had served in any official positions in the recipient schools. Their influence in the schools seemed to have stemmed more from their professional strengths than from administrative power. It was a common expectation that the rotating teachers from town could help draw the rural schools closer the educational resources that were available beyond the confines of the mountainous region. It was assumed that the inflow of external resources could benefit the students of these schools substantially. On their part, some of the rotating teachers had been involved in obtaining external help for their recipient schools. However their contribution was unevenly spread among the cohort of teachers being interviewed. The most common avenue for external help to flow into the rural schools was through the personal contact of the rotating teachers. For example, a senior Language teacher, who was given the title “city-level backbone teacher” and was serving as a teaching advisor to a rural secondary school, channeled some of the activities of a “city teacher work-studio” to the recipient schools so as to attract famous teachers to the school to help develop its reading curriculum (Zhong et al., 2018, p. 55) Through the connection of her mentor, the same teacher approached an education research center in the metropolis and persuaded subject experts to come to the recipient school. She recounted the accomplishment: Through my mentor, I invited all the teaching-research officers for the subjects of English, Chemistry, and Physics to come [to our school]. It was like organizing a large event. …Later the officers came to advise teachers on lesson planning. I remarked in my conclusion [made at the event] that ‘this event brings people [to our school], and people bolster morale, while morale will promote the development of various kinds of projects. (Int7-Sec-Disp-Lang)

Other rotating teachers with less social capital would have to turn to other less conspicuous ways of procuring external resources for the rural schools. Inviting one’s teachers in the academia to the schools for professional visits would be a feasible way for rotating teachers to obtain external help. Tapping the knowledge and skills of external coaches to prepare sports teams for competitions or to develop new sports for the school curriculum was another way to engage expertise from outside the school (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE). Facilitating the linkage between the dispatching and recipient schools in the towns and the countryside was perhaps the most constructive

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effort that a teacher could do for the rotation program. Such an accomplishment of regularizing collaborative relationship was rare but possible, as attested by the initiative of a rotating Mathematics teacher who helped to establish such a linkage upon the completion of her tenure (Zhong et al., 2018, p. 55). Yet nothing is more encouraging for a rotating teacher than to have a large group of visitors who would travel long distance to seek your enlightenment. Such a feat of fine teaching was accomplished by Teacher Wang, who admitted to her personal difficulties earlier. Perhaps her rotation experience should serve as a reminder that in their attempt to secure external support, the recipient rural schools should exploit the strengths of their rotating teachers more readily so that the teachers’ capabilities could be fully utilized. This section describes the undertakings of selected teachers in fulfilling their core mission of teaching and learning in an unfamiliar setting. Distance to work, separation from family and health issues have made the initial adjustment of the rotating teachers difficult. The necessity to gauge the standards of students, the lack of involvement of their parents, and the culture of teaching in the new school environment tested the perseverance of these teachers. Overall, their participation in teaching and learning at the recipient schools was sustained by a kind of professionalism that accentuated the teachers’ appreciation of their students. This kind of appreciation was extended to their colleagues who empowered certain rotating teachers to take up leadership responsibilities. Teacher leadership was realized through their ability to demonstrate competence in their own work, to take on challenging tasks, to cooperate with others, and to lead with sound ideas and good practices. With few exceptions, most of the teacher leaders managed to discharge their responsibilities in the routine business of schooling without fanfare and ceremony.

Perceived Efficacy of Rotation The efficacy of rotating teachers can be viewed from four perspectives: effects on student learning; effects on the culture of teaching in the recipient schools; effects on individual rotating teachers; and effects on school-community relations.

Effects on Student Learning The influence of rotating teachers on student learning was reported by interviewees as tangible learning outcomes, such as improved student academic achievement and positive results from various competitions. For teachers, principals and local education officials, improvement in the passing rates of students in public examinations was considered important evidence of teacher efficacy. For example, the elevation of “excellent” rating in the senior secondary entrance examinations was a cause for celebration at a recipient rural school, and a rotating Language teacher was singled

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out for praise (Zhong et al., 2018, p. 56). For the overall improvement of a rural secondary school’s public examination results, a local education official proudly attributed it to the rotation program: Through the teacher rotation and exchange [program], the results of teaching and learning, particularly those of the schools in the mountainous region, have improved substantially. For example, Secondary School X in the mountainous region has seen its excellent rating in the senior secondary entrance examination jumped 32 percent to 34.6 percent in six years. Its passing rate in the senior secondary entrance examination is 98.7 percent, a 14.6 percent improvement from six years ago. The aforementioned results of teaching and learning are appreciated by the parents and the community. (Ibid.)

While the rotating teachers should have a broader interpretation of teaching and learning, and there were teachers who had insisted that preparation for examination was not their major concern, any concrete evidence of improvement in student achievement would be welcomed by the teachers. By the same token, winning external sport competitions and organizing successful school-wide events have also left a strong imprint on the experiences of individual rotating teachers (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE; Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). A closer examination of the effects of rotating teachers’ work on student learning revealed that they were more subtle than the simple improvement of examination results. It was observed that in the process of teaching and learning, certain rotating teachers were willing to create space and opportunities for students to learn, paying attention to their interests, initiative, and learning habits. There was a Language teacher who paid close attention to the mood swings of a student in her class and encouraged him to express his feelings in a “random thoughts” exercise that had proved to have calming effects. There was also an English teacher who tried to find all kinds of ways to encourage her students to overcome their shyness in speaking a foreign language so that they could learn to communicate in English (Zhong et al., 2018, p. 56). Good practices were introduced to the rural schools not only by teachers from the town schools, but also by returning rural teachers who were assigned to work there. A rural teacher learned the finer differentiation of the students’ ability and readiness to engage, and designed his lessons with individualized teaching in mind (Int16-SecRural-Eng). Another teacher learnt the importance of giving responsibility to students to manage the affairs of their own class and to divide up the labor of keeping their classroom tidy and functional. It was a practice that was inspired by her experience in the town school. She said: [In the town school] every child would be given a duty, a responsibility … so that every single thing in the class would be taken care of by [the students]. It was something that I learnt there. … In my class [at the rural school, the students] are now in charge of the lights, … the air conditioning, … desks and chairs, book cases, and also the plants in the classroom. Someone is in charge of every single item. (Int13-Prim-Rural-Lang)

By requiring the students to take charge of managing their surroundings, the teacher, who had been concerned about her students taking initiative in learning, had finally found an approach to let them get acquainted with practices of self-sufficiency in school.

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Effects on the Culture of Teaching In addition to applying leadership practices to teaching and learning, certain rotating teachers introduced changes to the culture of teaching of the recipient schools through open classes, open lectures, observation and critique of classes, lesson planning, organization of events, field trips, professional development activities, conversations about teaching, etc. It was from these activities that the rotating teachers could prove their competence, elevate their status, and nurtured collegiality among the staff. The open lectures and open classes are either a celebration of mastery or a recognition of potentiality. Normally, the open lectures were organized for speakers of repute at the invitation of the school leaders. Those rotating teachers with official designation, such as “city-level backbone teacher”, would be invited to “give school-wide lectures” to its teaching staff (Int7-Sec-Disp-Lang) or to “give a talk” to enlighten a visiting delegation from another part of the country (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). The open classes could be occasional or regular, depending on the teaching culture of the schools. For younger teachers, being given the opportunity to conduct open classes (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang) or to speak at large school events (Int12-Prim-Rural-Lang) would be considered an honor to cherish. In schools where the teaching staff was required to take turns to conduct open classes, the contribution of rotating teachers was regularized and became an integral part of the teaching culture. Those rotating teachers who were deemed to be “resourceful” would attract colleagues to their classes through an “open door” practice. An experienced secondary English teacher observed: [The school’s preference was] to make good use of resources … It didn’t matter whether you are the best teacher, you’d be treated as the best and be used that way. … We had open door classes. … [My colleagues] came to my classes, at any time. It was like, whether you like it or not, we’re here to learn from you. (Int10-Sec-Disp-Eng)

Change in the culture of teaching at the recipient schools occurred more easily when the rotating teachers managed to integrate into school culture. In a way, the smallness and homogeneity of the education community in County C had provided an environment that fostered integration. Because County C was situated at an outlying region of the metropolis, its education circle was relatively small and teachers usually knew one another from college or shared a common identity as teachers. “Even if we didn’t know one another previously”, said one rotating teacher, “we’re all in the occupation of teaching. … There’re no enemies in teaching. No matter where you are, it’s still for the children” (Int6-Prim-Disp-Math). The integration of rotating teachers could make their influence on the culture of teaching felt more readily if they were appointed to official positions in the recipient schools: leader of the teaching-research group, coordinator of class supervisors, coordinator of lesson planning, etc. One such teacher observed how she managed to influence the teaching culture of the recipient school by transferring the ideas and practices of the dispatching school in town: The teaching-research activities [were most useful]. At first I was only a participant voicing my opinions. … Then I was appointed to the headship of their teaching-research group. So

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I led others to work on teaching-research. … [For certain things] all of us worked together, including the heads and the principals, and discussed related matters. We all had opinions and voiced them. I couldn’t say that all of them were ideas from School M2. … But they were integrated into the discussions. (Int6B-Prim-Disp-Math)

Effects on Rotating Teachers The rotating teachers seemed to be the chief beneficiaries of the rotation policy. From the interviews, the county’s rotation program was credited for having provided a variety of opportunities for the enrichment of the teachers’ professionalism, from the broadening of professional horizon to the deepening of understanding the living conditions of the students. “These are the three years when my language teaching has grown the fastest”, a young rotating teacher confided (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang). Another teacher who taught Physical Education offered: “When I came back, I realized that I seemed to have improved, from lived experiences to work awareness. Really.” For a teacher who had taught for 32 years, the rotation experience had freed her from the mundanities of a life that was cast in a set pattern of home, office, and classroom at the same school. She said: It was really a kind of growth [for me]. At least my horizon was no longer confined to a small circle. At least [I could] walk out of the school and to take a look at the world outside. What were the [other] schools really like? What about the people outside? Actually I think that there are all these restrictions on a teacher. Why do people say that teaching students make teachers stupid? Really, there are only a few of our students in our eyes. (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd)

Breaking away from a highly routinized life allowed certain rotating teachers to expand their social circles and to meet new people beyond the confines of their schools. As one such teacher observed, some of the friendships that were formed during the rotation process could be for keeps: “Among the [rotating] teachers who went to School B together, there were four of us who have become good friends. Our relationships are particularly good. But the four of us came from different schools” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). There were also other life lessons for the rotating teachers to learn. One such lesson was to understand the destitute plight of some of the rural students and to help alleviate the burden of poverty on their lives. A teacher who had participated in charitable activities at the recipient rural school described what it was like to take care of students in poverty: Over there [in the rural school], I knew I’ve got to teach them well. I can’t lead the young people astray. … There was this program that paired a poor student up with a teacher, [supposedly] one-to-one, so that the teachers could help students in poverty. … There were 60 staff members, and about 200 students in the program. At first I didn’t know [much about the student who was assigned to my care]. … Then I started paying attention to his studies and [living] conditions. So for Children’s Day on June 1st , I bought him new clothes and new sneakers. It’s really true. The other teachers had done the same. (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE)

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Unlike the rotating teachers from town, the rural teachers who were assigned to teach in the town schools faced a new set of challenges in relating to their students. Where the students were older and more wilful, their main concern was to overcome self-doubt and to establish authority. While such an effort required time, patience and determination, it also entailed a learning process that provided valuable insights into teaching in an unfamiliar environment. A secondary teacher related her experience: I felt at first that the children did not trust me that much. I felt that if I were at [my old school] School BZ, and being a class supervisor, I would naturally have authority. In my first month [in the town school], I felt a bit stressed. … I didn’t feel that I had much authority being a class supervisor. … Because I didn’t know the students, I asked the grade coordinator for a name list of students … then I talked to those teachers who had taught them so as to understand each of the students. If certain students had bigger problems, I’d tried to find out about the family situation. … Later, I quietly observed, and sought advice from teachers around me [in order enforce discipline among the students]. (Int14-Sec-Rural-Math)

Rotation gave rise to a learning process that absorbed all of the teachers who were involved. From the initial adjustment to a new school culture, to passing the milestones of assimilation, and to the exertion of capabilities to make positive changes to the school, the rotating teachers had gone through trials and tribulations of a process that yielded successes and failures. Certain teachers found the rotation experience solidly reassuring. One secondary English teacher opined that, compared to other professional development activities, such as short-term observation of teaching at well-known schools, the rotation experience “allowed me to spend [an extended period] experiencing the essence of teaching and learning on solid grounds” (Int16Sec-Disp-Eng).

Effects on Community From the reports of rotating teachers, their connection to the local community was mainly through their interaction with the students’ parents. On the whole, the parents seemed to appreciate the teachers, even though it is doubtful that all of them could distinguish between the rotating teachers and the local teachers. They sent occasional gifts of produce and fruits, which were gratefully acknowledged by the teachers (for example, Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). To certain rotating teachers, the parents were “relatively simple and honest people who were approachable” (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd). Freedom from social pretensions allowed them to be open about their feelings and candid about their opinions. A teacher of Character Education recalled the kind of remark that was often voiced by local parents: “If he deserves it, scold him or spank him, we’re handing our child over to you” (ibid.) However, the remark of “handing over the child [to the teacher]” carried a complexity of meanings that might include relenting parental responsibilities in the educative process. For example, the lack of parental attention being given to the students’ academic studies and to their behavioral problems, had been mentioned consistently by teachers who thought that the parents could have done more for

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the education of their children (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang; Int9-Sec-Disp-Lang). An experienced secondary Language teacher observed: [The parents in the rural schools] may spank and scold their children more often [than parents in town]; but they supervise much less. There’s basically no supervision. When their children do something wrong, all they know is to spank and scold. If you want them to supervise or to check up [on their homework], they will do nothing. … The children here don’t pay much attention to their studies because there’re very few who’re good in their studies. The parents who paid attention [to the education of their children] would have transferred them to the town schools. I really think that [the problem] is not that the rural teachers are not competent enough or we don’t have sufficient resources. It has to do with your pool of students, and that has a lot to do with the parents. (Int9-Sec-Disp-Lang)

Moreover, absentee parents—those who left their children as boarding students at the rural schools because of employment prospects in the cities—had left the supervisory tasks to teachers who took turns serving as “surrogate parents”. Dealing with local parents was a major adjustment problem for those rotating teachers who came to teach in the rural schools for the first time (Int3-Prim-DispLang). The community which surrounded a school might have a kind of fluid social composition that reflected the rapid urbanization of the countryside. The ethos of the community could be a representation of different values and characters, which tested the resilience of certain rotating teachers: [The rural school] is far over there. But it’s still a small rural township. Children from the surrounding areas [went to school there]. Some of them came from the villages. Then some other students came from areas bordering on the [rural] township. There’s a hilly area that’s right next to the mine. Once there were parents of students who tried to steal from the mine and caused an explosion. The parents there, especially those from the surrounding areas of the [rural] township, don’t pay much attention to their children’s education. (Int9-Sec-DispLang)

The views expressed by the rotating teachers constituted an interesting mixture of opinions on the students and their parents. Their diversity notwithstanding, the teachers’ opinions created a common impression that they were not familiar with the local communities and that their the contribution to well-being of the community was of an indirect kind. During the interviews, the rotating teachers had mentioned very few community events in which they had played a significant role. There was also no mention of projects that could foster closer teacher-parent relations. Aside from organizing occasional sporting events, it seemed that the teachers’ service to the community was delivered indirectly through their efforts to improve student learning in the schools.

Systemic Issues of the Rotation Program The two-way rotation program of County C was well subscribed and supported by teachers from various kinds of schools, in the county seat as well as in the mountainous region. The traffic on the routes of exchange was heavy. Rotating teachers

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criss-crossed the county to relocate in schools that would be their new workplaces for three years. The rotation program seemed to be bustling with teachers of all ages who were at different stages of their careers. For reasons cited earlier in this chapter, they seemed ready to serve. Indeed, at the time of our interviews in 2016, approximately 40% of the teachers had been engaged in the program (Ye & Lo, 2016). The many activities of the program, which were punctuated by the award of such title as “outstanding rotating and exchange teacher” to high achievers, had suggested that it had implemented the rotation policy with some success. Nevertheless, research reports on the implementation of the rotation policy pointed to certain structural weaknesses of the program, including: mission drift during implementation, inadequate assurance of support, faulty operational procedures, and nebulous program outcomes (for example, Li, 2015; Wang, 2015; Wang et al., 2018; Xu, 2016) From our interviews with the rotating teachers, the main issues of the program rest in its planning and coordination that seemed to have ignored human conditions inherent in rotation and exchange of this kind. There were instances in which wastage of human resources could have been prevented by good systemic planning, and resentment of staff could have been averted by managerial transparency. In most cases, glaring embarrassment was caused by simple numerical miscalculation. An embarrassing case of ill planning was reported when, during a period of teacher shortage, three rotating Physical Education teachers, were assigned to the same school. The rotating teachers were left to solve the “surplus” problems on their own initiative. Fortunately, they devised a clever division of labor that made use of their individual strengths. One of the teachers explained: We three Physical Education teachers [are different]. One was relatively introvert who didn’t say much but he worked hard. Another one was an older teacher. So he was in charge with organizing running and other activities. I usually took front stage. For all big events, they needed a person to come forward [to coordinate]. So I was up [on stage]. The other teacher worked below. And there was another teacher to watch your back. It was like that. The three of us covered for each other. (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE)

Moreover, miscalculation had also caused conspicuous wastage of precious human resources. According to local education regulations, the rotating teachers must be assigned teaching duties and should not be engaged in non-teaching jobs. Yet when too many rotating teachers were assigned to work at the rural schools, some of them were unable to satisfy their prescribed workload. As the amount of idle time grew with the increase of redundant teachers, certain rotating teachers were observed to be lax in observing school hours (Int9-Sec-Disp-Lang). Because the rotating teachers were typically treated as temporary staff bearing knowledge and goodwill, the problem of slacken staff discipline was not dealt with seriously. The fact that rotating teachers were viewed as temporary attachments had caused them to be sceptical about their promotional prospects at the recipient schools. By design, the rotation policy had required that the recipient schools should make personnel decisions on the rotating teachers. In reality, the fairness of the leadership of the recipient school was frequently suspect. An experienced teacher opined: [Regarding] promotion, they definitely won’t consider you, because you came to the school on exchange. You may perform well, but they won’t consider you [for promotion]. They’d

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rather pick a teacher from their own school, one who may be less competent than you in all regards [for promotion]. (int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd)

Occasionally, this kind of speculation was substantiated by facts when the school’s personnel decisions were made under murky management. For example, a rotating teacher who was denied promotion by the principal of the recipient school because, after only after a few weeks of service, the school leadership was unable to “fully understand her ability”. In failing to get a full explanation from the principal, the teacher came away with such deep disappointment that had affected her attitude toward work for the remaining period of her tenure in that school (Int9-Sec-DispLang). Many of this kind of misunderstanding could be avoided if clear guidelines on promotional matters were established and the process of personnel decisions were made explicit to those who would be affected. The speculation that rotating teachers would be deprived of promotional opportunities was refuted by the promotion and recognition of some of the rotating teachers who had successfully strived for excellence in their work. “In my last year [in the recipient rural school]”, said an award-winning English teacher, “I was [given the titles of] ‘outstanding exchange teacher’, ‘outstanding Party member’, and my overall assessment was ‘excellent’. I felt that the leadership [of the school] had given all the honors to me. I’m really grateful” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). After they completed their tour of duty and returned to the dispatching schools in town, the rotating teachers took up teaching positions as ordinary teachers. Sone were appointed to head functional groups. One returnee was re-assigned to supervise the school canteen because of her age (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). Another returnee confided that she “felt like a small catfish” in a large pond of talents again. To her, the rotation experience had given her a boost of self-confidence, which would have to be put to the test once again. Because of all the staff movement within her school in town, she could “no longer tell who was on the original staff, and who was a rotating teacher” (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang). For all the functions that the rotation program has performed through the years, it is interesting to note that a more formal association of rotating teachers has yet to emerge in County C. Such an association should be a valuable source of information and inspiration for the future development of teacher rotation in the county. The rotating teachers should be given the opportunities to gather regularly, not only for the social reasons that have sustained the friendships among some of them, but for the growth of a shared identity of being pioneers in cross-border collaboration. A more organized association should help foster such identity among the participating teachers for the sustenance of the original policy goal of redistributing human resources in the education system.

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Factors Affecting Teacher Effectiveness Certain discernible factors have affected the effectiveness of rotating teachers, such as competence and readiness of the participants, their resilience and ability to adjust to the requirements of an unfamiliar work environment, the availability of necessary resources, and the systemic efficiency of the program that governed their rotation. As in all educational matters, human factors dominated our data when teacher effectiveness was the subject of conversation. Among the human factors that had affected teacher effectiveness, the quality of school leaders, quality of mentors, relations with colleagues, and personal work ethics were mentioned consistently by the rotating teachers. Taken together, these human factors constituted the “external conditions” that the capability theorists have deemed as essential for the accomplishment of meaningful work (Nussbaum, 2011).

Quality of School Leaders To the rotating teachers, the quality of the principals of recipient schools was the determining factor in their exchange experience. As in most school administration in the country, the principals controlled material resources of the school as well as the distribution of promotional and training opportunities among its staff. Their support was therefore considered vital for the career aspirations of the rotating teachers. Given that the rotating teachers were newcomers to the recipient schools, they were particularly mindful of the treatment they received from the school leaders. At the initial phase of rotation, the leadership quality of principals was typically judged by how fairly they treated the teachers: “If you can’t treat everyone the same, it would be impossible for you to face the exchange teachers with sincerity”, opined a primary English teacher, “so it would definitely affect how the exchange teachers feel. [Equal treatment] is the way of getting along” (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). To ensure that the principle of “equal treatment” would be applied to all, certain principals would judiciously borrow the authority of the local education bureau by emphasizing that it had insisted that the rotating teachers “must be treated the same way of a regular member of staff” (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE). Even though fairness might not accompany certain school decisions, particularly in contentious personnel decisions, the principals of recipient schools seemed to be able to uphold the principle of ‘equal treatment”. For certain rotating teachers of distinction, or those who played a leadership role in noteworthy events, or even those who had simply demonstrated strong potential of achievement, the treatment of school leaders could be “more than equal” than that which was received by other ordinary teachers. For example, an accomplished Language teacher who was a “teaching advisor” at a rural secondary school received privileged treatment when the teaching staff of the whole school was summoned to hear her speak at one of her “open lessons” (Int7-Sec-Disp-Lang). A Physical

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Education teacher was given generous support in organizing a district-wide sports event that could shed positive light on the school’s strengths (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE). An outstanding English teacher was given a “free pass” for attending professional training for the enhancement of English learning in the rural school (Int2-PrimDisp-Eng). The support of principal for teachers, while generally considered to be acceptable by the rotating teachers, was particularly generous for those who were deemed able to contribute. Beyond the basic requirement of fairness and support, the quality of principals was judged by the continual attention that they had paid to the well-being of rotating teachers. While certain principals related to the teachers with empathy and care, a quality that was cherished by the staff (for example, Int13-Prim-Rural-Lang), a solicitous head would initiate preventive measures, such as organizing psychological talks by external experts, in order to help the rotating teachers deal with the difficulties of adjustment (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng). Perhaps the most influential leaders for the rotating teachers were those sagacious principals who impressed with exceptional capabilities, insights and professionalism. For the admiring teachers, the impact of such principals would be lasting on their work and lives, even after they left their schools. For instance, the maxim of an illustrious principal on exchange work— “Strive to work, live to feel”—remained an aphorism of sort for the rotating teachers who served under him. They were still repeating it during the interviews (for example, Int4-Prim-Disp-PE).

Quality of Mentors To help the rotating teachers adjust, most principals would find ways to help them to integrate into the new school culture, including pairing them with mentors who were designated to guide their assimilation. In certain schools, the appointment of mentors to new rotating teachers was even given ceremonial attention. The guidance of mentors was particularly important for rural teachers who were assigned to teach in the town schools. Good mentors could help new teachers to adjust to the culture of teaching in the new environment, to solve with salient problems, such as instilling discipline in the classroom. The most effective mentors could guide by example and helped rotating teachers to settle into a new work routine. A rural teacher related her experience: [My mentor] Teacher Z was highly motivated and optimistic. It was like he could solve any problem. When I first came here, I had an inferiority complex. Then Teacher Z influenced me with his every word and deed. I didn’t do too well when I started here. … Then I learned from him, and he taught me. My performance [at this school] was transformed [for the better]. … I went to his classes … his every class was simply outstanding. … The school didn’t require us to sit in [our mentors’ classes]. But I was attracted by his teaching because it was so good. (Int14-Sec-Rural-Math)

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Beyond the one-to-one mentorship, the acculturation of new teachers was through the collective demonstration of unfailing professionalism that permeated the school culture. Another rural rotating teacher observed: What affected me a lot was the charisma of the [mentors]. … My strongest recollection was that … a lot of the teachers in my office were still there at 6 in the evening … some were preparing for their lessons the next day, or for activities. Then there were the [teaching] materials, or counselling students. This had a strong impact on me. (Int12-Prim-Rural-Lang)

In the diverse context of rotation, the effectiveness of mentoring was dependent upon the unique situations of individual schools and the personalities involved in such a delicate partnership. Whether individual teachers were able and ready to engage each other in an unequal relationship of mentor and apprentice would determine the effectiveness of mentorship. Moreover, whether there were sufficient common interests for the mentor and apprentice to pursue would affect the sustenance of such a relationship. Two cases of mentorship were described earlier as illustrations of how mentorship was used to assimilate new teachers—an illustrious teacher presenting a model for emulation and a group of conscientious teachers creating a milieu of exemplary work ethics. The rotating teachers, both were rural teachers being assigned to work in the town schools, were fortunate to have benefitted from mentors who were willing to offer advice in a timely manner (ibid.).

Relations with Colleagues The rotating teachers needed to nurture good relations with colleagues, students and parents in order to ensure good performance at the recipient schools. As discussed in the foregoing sections, their relations with students and parents were fluid and dependent on context-specific conditions such as the attainment level of students, student attitude toward learning, and the willingness of the parents to engage, to participate in the supervision of the students, and to accept teachers from different backgrounds.2 No other parties had affected the work of the rotation teachers more than their colleagues as mentors, collaborators and supporters. In collegial relations, issues of authority, power and interests created distance between teachers old and new, for such issues became pronounced in the calculation of cost and benefits that affected the 2

For example, an award-winning rural Language teacher who was assigned to teach in one of the primary schools in town was confronted by parental scepticism when she first started her teaching there. After she called the parents individually to introduce herself and had received cool responses from some of the parents, she sensed that there was a lack of parental trust in her ability because she was originally “from the mountainous region”. At the first meeting with the parents at the recipient school, she deemed it necessary to underline her past duties, such as Language teacher and class supervisor, as well as her past achievements, such as several important teaching awards (including an “outstanding teacher” award given by the metropolitan authorities). The account of duties and awards was given through a power-point presentation. She claimed that the parents were impressed, and she was able to emerge from the shadow of parental scepticism (Int12-Prim-Rural-Lang).

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teachers’ career prospects. Being sensitive to these conditions, new rotating teachers would normally approach their dealings with colleagues in the recipient schools cautiously. They applied the same criterion of “fairness”, which they used to judge the leadership of the recipient schools, to ascertain their situation in the new environment. One rotating primary teacher was delighted by the fair treatment of her new colleagues. She recalled: When I started [working in the rural school], I had my worries. When it came time to decide on class supervision … I thought that [the teachers there] would take advantage of me, the newcomer, and assign a class of poor students to me. But they were very fair. They first designated the grade, the three classes of the second grade for me [to pick]. It was through drawing lots that I got one of the three classes. … I felt that I wasn’t treated like an outsider. Equal treatment. So I should work with them wholeheartedly. (Int6B-Prim-Disp-Math)

In the rotation context, mutual trust and respect formed the basis of collegial cooperation. The nurturing of trust and respect began with an appreciation of the ability of colleagues from different backgrounds and the gradual achievement of an empathetical understanding of their existence. “I think that teachers in the rural schools have many things that we could learn from”, a rotation teacher observed, “so we were there learning from one another and influencing one another” (Int2Prim-Disp-Eng). Regarding the higher salaries that their rural colleagues received as “hardship allowance”, the rotating teachers from town generally acknowledged that “the conditions of the mountainous region” justified the extra payment (Int6B, Prim-Disp-Math). The successful collaboration between teachers from town and countryside, especially when it was recognized for excellence, brought pride to the cooperating parties and provided the necessary momentum for the growth of important partnerships. A rotating teacher noted such an accomplishment proudly: [There’s something that] I’m still proud of. When I was there, I worked with a ‘county backbone teacher’ Teacher C [at the rural school]. I want to paraphrase Teacher C here. She said: ‘The time we’ve spent working together, during these several years, we’ve actually led the teaching of English in [this school] to scale new heights, to a glorious state. If we have to be transferred one day, or be separated, it would be difficult for anyone to surpass our achievement. (Int2-Prim-Disp-Eng)

There were rotating teachers whose achievement was driven by a desire to protect or to enhance the image of their dispatching schools. “Although I’ve come to [the rural school], I still represented the quality of teachers at School M2”, a young teacher admitted, “so I’ve used the M2 spirit to motivate myself, and walked seriously and steadily forward” (Int3-Prim-Disp-Lang). Another rotating teacher from the same primary school said confidently: “When I went [to the rural schools] for exchange, people would ask me where I came from. I’d reply, ‘I’m from School M2.’ They really felt that teachers from M2 were no ordinary teachers” (Int6A-Prim-Disp-Math). For certain rotating teachers, trust and respect had to be earned through humility and an exhibited sense of belonging. A Character Education teacher with 32 years of teaching experience thought that her willingness to take initiative in cleaning the staff office while other teachers were engaged had ameliorated the conditions of the workplace (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd). A rural teacher who was on exchange at a famous primary school in town recalled her efforts to promote harmony among colleagues:

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I felt that I should do all I could to be on good terms with [my colleagues] and gained their acceptance. Take initiative, go to work earlier. I’d first pour hot water [into the thermos flasks]. Then cleaned the office spick-and-span. [My fellow teachers] were all older, by four or five years. … I felt that I should do that [for them]. … Slowly, they felt that I was nice person to get along with, and hard working too. So they took care of me in every possible way. (Int12-Prim-Rural-Lang)

Years of educational reform have allowed the idea of collaboration to spread across the school system. Thus it was common for rotating teachers to seek and to receive support from their colleagues, as a matter of course. To one rotating teacher, “collaborate with others” has become an attitude in schooling today: At present, teaching and learning is all collaborative. Sometimes it’s collaboration between teachers, or between students. Can’t just rely on yourself. No, you can’t! You even have to cooperate with your leaders, and communicate. Share your ideas and cooperate with other teachers … so that you can complete your work in a better way. (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE)

Perhaps the best way expression of collegial support was when the school’s staff were cognizant of the demands arising from special circumstances and were willing to sacrifice their own time to serve collective interests. For an illustration of such collegiality, a rotating teacher recalled an event when all academic staff were trying to attend a talk by an important educator who was visiting a recipient rural school: They should all go to the talk. It was difficult to invite [a teacher of this caliber to come here]. All of the teachers wanted to listen to the talk. But what about the teachers’ [classes]. And what about the students. … So we three PE teachers organized the students for drills. [In that way] the teachers could learn something. That’s mutual help. … The PE teachers had to do a bit more. The students had to be perfectly organized. No trouble would be tolerated! That was how we complemented one another. (Int1-Prim-Disp-PE)

Teachers’ Work Ethics Work ethics determined the effectiveness of rotating teachers by serving as a moral compass for their action. In a sense, their professional dispositions—beliefs, initiative, resilience—mirrored their work ethics, which was in turn represented by a range of axiological statements made by the teachers. The statements revealed a variety of values that reflected the teachers’ most basic expectations of their own work, their identity, and what they would consider desirable outcomes. Various rotating teachers portrayed teaching as “work of the conscience” (liangxin huo), a catchphrase that has been associated with the teaching profession, and the recipient schools seemed to have provided a context for them to test and reaffirm the values embodied in such a belief. Striving to do the right thing seemed to be constantly on the teachers’ minds; and “doing it with a clear conscience” (wukui yuxin) was the criterion that they used for assessing the acceptability of their work. Surely, “working conscientiously” meant working with persistent vigor to achieve certain desirable aims. Some of the rotating teachers believed that, in order to be able to work conscientiously, they should first position themselves in certain identifiable roles. A primary teacher elaborated:

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When I was on exchange, working [in the rural school], I was a teacher. My role was to be a model for my students. So I worked hard and performed my functions. That was my role: work steadily and surely, and behave decently and honestly. Really, being a model for my students was so important. (Int4-Prim-Disp-PE)

Striving “steadily and surely” as a model of virtue meant keeping the future of the students constantly in mind. For the conscientious teachers, working hard was the least that they could do for their students. “I can’t just muddle through,” asserted a secondary teacher, “for if we’re not careful, we would do harm to more than just one or two children” (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd). Another primary teacher recognized that teaching was a life-long project of refining good practices. She mused: [Teaching] is from the heart. I often say to my family that the work of a teacher is a kind of work of the conscience. It’s something that needs decades of accumulation. It’s not like the work of a worker, which can quickly yield a product with good skills. … It’s really a project that exemplifies the expression ‘grow trees in a decade, educate people in a century’. [Teaching] is something that you cannot predict its immediate results. It needs you to practice for a long time. (Int6A-Prim-Disp-Math)

For teachers in general, the desirable outcomes of education are often obscured by the indeterminate nature of educational goals that are affected by the interests of individual learners. For the rotating teachers, in particular, the desirable outcomes of their teaching were even harder to ascertain as their work at the recipient schools was designed to last only three years. Consequently, most of the primary teachers would judge a learning outcome to be desirable when students were able to show progress in the subjects that they taught, or to make overall improvement in academic performance. Secondary teachers, one the other hand, would be satisfied by higher passing or distinction rates in their subjects, or by an increasing number of their students getting into good schools and higher institutions. However, the most desirable outcome for the rotating teachers was when former students remembered them, kept in contact, sought them out for recognition, or simply acknowledged their presence in public (Int8-Sec-Disp-ChEd). It was this bond of teacher-student relations that could offer the teachers their most cherished reward. Occasionally, the work ethics of rotating teachers would be challenged by contextual factors. For those teachers whose values were being disrupted by the prevailing practices of the recipient schools, the struggle would be to maintain one’s professional bearings while trying to adjust to the norms of the new environment. A rural primary teacher who was assigned to teach in a town school became confused when she learned that the principal had forbade teachers to give subject tutorials to students when they were supposed to be engaged in the learning of non-major academic subjects (Language, Mathematics, and English) such as arts and music. This policy was supposed to enhance the all-round development of students, as advocated by the national curriculum reform. For the Language teacher from the countryside, the policy had caused considerable confusion. She pondered: There was a teacher who was responsible, and in his class was a student whose [subject] foundation was very weak. So he used one of the ‘non-major subject’ classes to give the child extra tutorial. He was criticized. At the time, I felt sorry for him. … As the curriculum

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reform deepened, our views on teachers [and teaching] have also changed. … we should let our students have all-round development. … It has affected me deeply. If I want to help certain students in my subject, help them to improve, then I should first get them interested in my subject, so that they could take initiative in learning, not because I make them learn. And if there’s still time, I would give them extra tutorials … I feel that with the deepening of curriculum reform, … my teaching behavior would … see some change, maybe. … (Int13-Prim-Rural-Lang)

Clearly, the rural teacher was still struggling with new reform ideas that were embraced by the principal of the recipient school. To ensure that her students could do well in her subject, she was tempted to retain the method of using extra tutorials. When such method was no longer deemed an acceptable practice in the recipient school, she had to find a compromising approach that would allow her to survive in the new environment but not to betray her work ethics. There must be many struggles of this kind that were neither noticed nor recorded. Amidst the many factors that had affected teacher effectiveness, none was more challenging than those arising from value conflicts, and the ensuing struggles that occurred inside a teacher’s mind. Actually, one can argue that teaching is an emotional endeavor, as the foregoing discussion on the human factors that influenced teacher effectiveness has attested. Maintaining good working relations with school leaders, mentors, parents, and colleagues was essential to the survival of rotating teachers. The health of such relations determined their ability to exert capabilities in the new environment.

Concluding Remarks The implementation of the “principal and teacher rotation and exchange policy” warranted an unconventional process of staff recruitment, retention and development in China’s school sector. The policy aimed to redistribute human resources among urban and rural schools in the name of educational equality and social equity. The success of the system-wide project relied on its participants to make sense of the meaning and utility of rotation and to bring about positive changes in the recipient schools. The foregoing discussion has focused on the rotation experiences of urban and rural teachers who were assigned to work in unfamiliar settings as exchange teachers. In a sense, all of them were compelled by official policy to serve at various stages of their careers. For the teachers, therefore, rotation was a duty that had to be fulfilled, for it was not negotiable. The compulsion had led teachers to turn inward and to make instrumental calculation on the cost and benefits, timing of engagement and prospects of advancement. The lofty goals of redistribution of human resources for educational equality did not figure prominently in their decisions to participate. Supported by the findings of a questionnaire survey, 18 teachers of different ages were selected from among the town and rural cohorts for interview. With different years of teaching experience, the rotating teachers taught a variety of school subjects

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in the dispatching schools. In the recipient rural schools, they were often viewed as the “experienced newcomers” who could spread wisdom and “sow the seed of change” (Cao & Wu, 2014). Moreover, teachers from the rural schools also joined the program with their own unique strengths. However, their role in the rotation program was often being seen as that of a learner, that they should learn ideas and practices of teachers in the town schools for the benefit of their schools in the countryside. In terms of the five research questions, posed in the introductory section, our research findings have yielded answers that are incorporated in the following paragraphs. Contextual issues in the teachers’ rotation experiences. There were three major issues that were evident in the information that was given by the interviewees: distance from home, separation from family, and adjustment problems. Geographic and psychological distance was frequently the first major issue that was mentioned, and it was a hindrance to their full participation in the recipient schools. Between the two, psychological distance seemed to be a more tenacious problem, for it was often exacerbated by the teachers’ separation from their families. The fear of not being able to care for loved ones in times of need fuelled the anxiety that they constantly suffered from family separation. For those rotating teachers who found the conditions of the rural schools to be harsh, emergent health issues exasperated loneliness and feelings of alienation. Adjustments in teaching and learning. Differences in student quality between the town schools and the rural schools required the rotating teachers to change their pedagogical approaches. The scarcity of parental support for the academic pursuits of rural students, many of whom were boarding at the schools because of absentee parents, required the rotating teachers to pay extra attention to student attainment levels, progress in learning, special educational needs and disciplinary problems in order to facilitate what would be considered normal learning in the town schools. Wise teachers attempted to maximize the learning opportunities of rural students and to provide individualized teaching for those in need. Rural teachers who were on exchange in the town schools had to adjust their teaching to a much larger scale in terms of class-size and teaching management. Academic and professional leadership. The rotating teachers who had demonstrated clear leadership qualities were confident in their subject knowledge and teaching skills. As “experienced newcomers” who were expected to be couriers of wisdom, the rotating teachers from town seemed willing to take on challenging tasks and to step to the fore and help their peers when given the opportunity to lead. Teacher leaders typically played a central role in initiating, sustaining and completing noteworthy activities while securing the support of a core of dedicated colleagues. The influence of teacher leaders became more evident when they were appointed to positions of authority, which afforded them clear and legitimate avenues of power for getting things done in the hierarchical structure of Chinese schooling. For those teachers with rich professional capital, leadership was exercised through the successful procurement of external resources for the recipient schools. The efficacy of rotation. The effects of the work of rotating teachers were observable in the changing conditions of student learning which were made possible by the

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injection of new ideas and the sharing of good practices. The increase in learning space and opportunities, made possible by certain rotating teachers, seemed to have enhanced student interests in learning. Such practices as the encouragement of students to take on more responsibilities in managing their own classroom were learned by rotating teachers and brought back to the rural schools. The more tangible learning outcomes, such as improved student performance in tests and competitions, were used by the rotating teachers as evidence of their contribution. Through open classes, collective lesson planning and professional talks, they had influenced the culture of teaching at the recipient schools as well. However, the influence of rotating teachers on the community was inconspicuous as there were no concerted efforts to tap their expertise and energy for significant community projects. For the rotating teachers, the most deeply felt changes were in their own lived experiences, which had undergone a rejuvenation of professional outlook. and, for certain fortunate teachers, development of lasting friendships. Factors affecting teacher effectiveness. The rotating teachers considered the support of school principals to be the most important factor that had affected their overall performance in the rotation process. Their attitude toward work, willingness to contribute, and ability to integrate were influenced by the perceived leadership disposition of the principals. The principals’ tendency to treat all staff members equally was a quality of exhibited fairness that was valued by the rotation teachers. Their support for promotional application, professional training and staff-initiated activities was taken as an indication of the principals’ trust in the teachers. The mentors that the principals chose and assigned to guide rotation teachers could be a source of inspiration if they were learned, wise and altruistic. Those mentors who taught by example could effectively lead rotation teachers to understand the meaning of work in the recipient schools and beyond. In building the vital connection with their colleagues, rotation teachers placed the same kind of importance on fairness and trust that they had hoped to gain from the principals. The teachers’ emphasis on fairness and trust is congruent with findings of research on rotation teachers in other geographic areas (for example, Song & Li, 2018). They were willing to earned the trust of their colleagues with humility and diligence. As persons who thought that teaching was “work of the conscience”, they seemed ready to “work steadily and surely” to be a model of virtue for their students. The above summary of research findings that address the research questions has provided reasons for further exploration of at least two dimensions of the teacher rotation policy: necessary systemic improvement and theoretical insights from policy implementation. It is argued that a broader understanding of these dimensions should help to the refine the practical and theoretical aspects of the rotation policy for its further development. The salient problems of the rotation program of County C were systemic issues that required remedial action. Aside from the obvious shortcomings in planning and execution that undermined scheduling, resource deployment, operational efficiency and transparency, a mediating system that could enhance teacher capabilities would ensure system effectiveness. Such a mediating system would embody mechanisms that address the needs of rotating teachers during their tenure at the recipient

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schools. Such important matters as grievances at work, dissent from personnel decisions, transfers between schools, needs for counselling service required the kind of systemic intervention that transcends the support of kindly colleagues at the recipient schools. Moreover, activities of the rotation program can be focused more on the work of functional groups and school-level committees of the recipient schools, which should allow the capabilities of rotating teachers to spread more widely than the existing scope of knowledge transfer through personal contact (Wang et al., 2018: 32). Of equal importance is a system-wide effort to consolidate the strengths of the rotating teachers and to reference their rich experiences. It may begin as an informal association of rotating teachers with the possibility of growth toward a more elaborate organization of a civic nature. The above remarks on the workings of the rotation system point to two observations on teacher leadership and teacher capabilities, which should have theoretical implications. Regarding teacher leadership, which is mainly based on the concept of “distributed leadership” developed in the West, the stories of the rotating teachers offer an interesting contrast. Teacher leadership, as portrayed in western literature, rests on a combination of attributes that include autonomy, authority and expertise. It is sustained by the distribution of power within the school context, and exercised by teachers who can be identified as “teacher leaders”, either by position (formal leadership) or by personal qualities (informal leadership). In the context of Chinese schooling, teacher leadership has less to do with “distributed leadership”, and people who are identified as “teacher leaders” are mostly in appointed positions of official responsibilities. The hierarchical nature of Chinese school management allows the authority of formal “teacher leaders” to be recognized immediately. Their leadership can therefore be exercised quietly and routinely, normally leaving little room for dissent and negotiation. Such an understanding of teacher leadership affected the attitude and behavior the rotating teachers when they attempted to exercise leadership in certain situations. Like most Chinese teachers, the rotating teachers preferred to stay in the comfort zone of teaching and learning. While being fully aware of their temporary attachments, and being cast in the role of “experienced newcomers”, the focus of our cohort of rotating teachers was almost exclusively on pedagogical matters. In quiet and unassuming ways, they influenced others through a demonstration of their own knowledge and skills, and let others follow. With few exceptions, their efforts to transfer knowledge remained on the level of imitation and reproduction. Such transfer of knowledge lacked the intellectual rigor and inquisitive tension of a continual dialogue that was needed for the creation of new knowledge. In this kind of exchange, the adoption of Chinese leadership style in knowledge transfer had deprived both learners and leaders the opportunity to undergo the process of knowledge creation. Regarding the concept of teacher capabilities—which refers to the teachers’ basic knowledge and skills, work related competence, and various kinds of “complex functions”, such as the ability to deal with change, social skills, and ability to cooperate with others (Lanzi, 2007)—the account of their activities serves to illustrate that

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the rotating teachers have generally managed to exert their capabilities in the recipient schools. The completion of their rotation was made possible by the possession of required “internal abilities” (intellect, emotional and personality traits, and state of health) and the presence of external conditions (available resources, support of principal and colleagues, and opportunities to contribute). Yet the analysis becomes problematic when the basic requirement of “freedom” is inserted into the formula of evaluation. The criterion of “freedom”, as articulated in the “capabilities perspective”, refers to the essential element that allows people the opportunities to exert their ability autonomously to achieve desirable goals (Sen, 1999; Walker, 2006). In the strictest adherence to this understanding of “freedom”, the fact that the teachers concerned were compelled to rotate should exclude their actions from the consideration of the “capabilities perspective”. However, in lieu of a theoretical debate on the subject, it can be argued, as a prefacing thought for inclusion, that the achievement of an understanding of the meaning of the endeavor should afford a certain degree of freedom that supports the teachers’ pursuits. From their expressed views, our rotating teachers seemed to have achieved such an understanding, even though they did not articulate the lofty goals of their work. This chapter has related the concerns of rotating teachers over job-security, family separation, adjustment to and acceptance by people in unfamiliar environment, exercise of leadership, learning on-the-job, successes and challenges at work, career prospects, and meaning of work. Collectively, the rotation experiences of these teachers would be a treasure of lived experiences to mine for professional and scholarly purposes. It should be able to illuminate professional practices for the continual improvement of the rotation program. For scholarship, their wisdom can advance our understanding in myriad subfields, such as policy implementation, cross-border collaboration in education, and teacher studies. The emergence of these efforts awaits a vision that can look forward to further development with the benefit of history. From our interviews, we learned about the anxiety, trials and tribulations of the rotating teachers while sharing their joy of achieving and bonding in their adopted workplace. “Home is where my heart is”, said a teacher who had been unable to perform her daily duties of supervising and caring for her child. “The happiest time during my rotation was to make breakfast for my child and to see him off to school. Now that’s happiness!” (Int13-Prim-Rural-Lang). Acknowledgements The research and writing of this chapter was supported by a Ministry of Education research project in the humanities and social sciences entitled, “A study on the approach, mechanisms, and effectiveness of principal and teacher mobility in the context of construction for urban-rural integration” (14JJD880001), and by the International Joint Research Project of Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (ICER202002). The authors gratefully acknowledged the support of the International Center for Teacher Studies and Development at Beijing Normal University and the Teacher Studies and Development Project at the Education University of Hong Kong.

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Leslie N. K. Lo is a chair professor at the Faculty of Education of the Beijing Normal University and a senior research fellow at its Center for Teacher Education Research. Yani Zhong is the director of the Research Center for Human Resources in Education and an associate research fellow at the Beijing Institute of Education. Juyan Ye is an associate professor in the Center for Teacher Education Research at the Beijing Normal University. Shenji Zhou is a project coordinator of the Teacher Studies and Development Project in the Center for Teacher Education Research at the Beijing Normal University and a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural Compulsory Education Teacher Demand Forecast Yuyou Qin and Xiaohua Zong

Theoretically, the demand for teachers of compulsory education is a function of the number of students and the pupil-teacher ratio, and it changes with the change of policies on the number of students in school and the pupil-teacher ratio. Generally, in a country (or region), the more students there are in school, the more teachers are needed; the smaller the pupil-teacher ratio is, the more teachers are needed. Based on this understanding, we believe that the research on the future demand for teachers in China’s compulsory education should be based on the forecast number of students in school and the pupil-teacher ratio.

Research on the Forecast of the Number of Students in Urban and Rural Compulsory Education One of the basic tasks to predict the demand for teachers in compulsory education is to predict the school-age population of compulsory education. The school-age population forecast of China’s compulsory education can be based on China’s population forecast. Currently, the main method of population forecast is based on the forecast of total fertility rate (TFR), but this method is applicable to situations where fertility policy is relatively stable. China adjusted its fertility policy twice at the end of 2013 and 2015, respectively. At the first adjustment, China adopted the two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family. At the second adjustment, China decided to implement the universal two-child policy Y. Qin (B) China Institute of Rural Education Development, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China e-mail: [email protected] X. Zong Institute of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 X. Zhu and H. Song (eds.), Envisioning Teaching and Learning of Teachers for Excellence and Equity in Education, Perspectives on Rethinking and Reforming Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2802-3_14

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from 2016. Therefore, the forecast of school-age population must take into account the impact of the two policies.

The Trend in the School-Age Population of Compulsory Education in China The basic school-age population data in this paper use the school-age population forecast data (Li & Yang, 2016). The specific forecast consists of three parts: In the first part, assuming the original fertility policy remains unchanged, the future population size and structure are predicted. The basic data are collected from the sixth national census in 2010. The TFR is calculated based on data from the sixth national census in 2010. The primary and secondary school-age populations are defined as children aged 6–11 and 12–14, respectively. The population forecast software CPPS is used. In the second part, the number of new births under the two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family (Yi & Su, 2014), and the number of new births under the universal two-child policy predicted by Wang Guangzhou (2015) from 2016 to 2030 are used to calculate the number of new births after the implementation of these two policies (Wang, 2015). In the third part, the population forecast data obtained in the first part and the population forecast data obtained in the second part are added together to obtain the final 2016–2030 school-age population forecast data of China (see Table 1). The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs used population data of 2005 as a baseline to predict changes in the size and structure of China’s population (UNPP, 2010), and then updated the total population data with 2010 population data, but did not release age-specific data (UN, 2015). Among them, the 2005 forecast published China’s population forecast aged 5–14. Currently, China implements the nine-year compulsory education, and the school-age population is 6–14 years old. For the sake of simplicity, the United Nations’ Chinese population forecast aged 5–14 is multiplied by 9/10 to obtain the approximate data of China’s compulsory education school-age population. It can be seen that the total school-age population predicted by the United Nations in 2005 is greater than the actual school-age population data from 2005 to 2014. Compared with the data of China’s school-age population predicted by the United Nations in 2005, the basic data adopted in this paper are more accurate, and the changing trend is more in line with the fluctuation of the birth population after the implementation of the universal two-child policy. Specifically, after the implementation of the universal two-child policy, the total forecast data of school-age population are small but fluctuate greatly. Among them, the primary school-age population starts to increase in 2022 and reaches a peak in 2027. The secondary school-age population starts to increase significantly in 2026 (Fig. 1).

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … Table 1 School-age population forecast of compulsory education in China from 2016 to 2030 (unit: 10,000)

Year 2016

Primary school-age population 9005.87

243 Secondary school-age population 4182.75

2017

8818.60

4287.74

2018

8595.63

4465.00

2019

8376.05

4507.92

2020

8173.49

4594.24

2021

7945.05

4635.17

2022

8414.05

4485.91

2023

8967.08

4212.81

2024

9291.18

3949.42

2025

9603.63

3879.44

2026

9828.23

3950.25

2027

10,001.31

3985.50

2028

9514.15

4524.66

2029

9062.90

5006.94

2030

8747.18

5295.89

Unit: 10,000

Source Li Ling, Yang Shunguang. (2016). Universal Two-Child Policy and Strategic Planning of Compulsory Education—Based on School-Age Population Forecast of Compulsory Education in the Next 20 Years. Educational Research (7): 22–31

Primary school-age populaƟon

Secondary school-age populaƟon

Primary school-age populaƟon_UN

Secondary school-age populaƟon_UN

Fig. 1 Data reliability test for school-age population forecast of compulsory education in China from 2016 to 2030

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Forecast of the Number of Students Receiving Compulsory Education In 2014, the gross enrollment rate of primary school-age children in China was 103.8%, that of secondary school-age children was 103.5%, and that of secondary school-age children was 104% at the beginning of 2015. It can be seen that the number of students in the compulsory education stage is different from the schoolage population. To predict the number of students enrolled in compulsory education, we analyzed the gross enrollment rates since 2000 and found specific trends (see Fig. 2). As can be seen from the figure, the gross enrollment rate has gradually converged to about 104% since 2000, regardless of primary school or secondary school. Since the gross enrollment rate is greatly influenced by the policies on enrollment and length of schooling, and China is a vast country with complicated educational development in various regions, we assume that the gross enrollment rate of primary and secondary schools will remain at a stable level of 104% within the forecast period. The number of primary and secondary school students in 2016–2030 can be predicted based on the above school-age population forecast and the analysis of gross enrollment rate (Table 2).

Fig. 2 Convergence of gross enrollment rates of compulsory education in China since 2000 (Source [1] For the data of 2000–2014, refer to the Statistical Yearbook of Education in China (2000–2014); [2] for the data of 2015, refer to the Statistical Bulletin on the Development of National Education in 2015 issued by the Ministry of Education)

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … Table 2 Forecast of the number of students receiving compulsory education in China from 2016 to 2030 (unit: 10,000)

Year

Primary school students

245 Secondary school students

2016

9366.10

4350.06

2017

9171.34

4459.25

2018

8939.46

4643.60

2019

8711.09

4688.24

2020

8500.43

4778.01

2021

8262.85

4820.58

2022

8750.61

4665.35

2023

9325.76

4381.32

2024

9662.83

4107.40

2025

9987.78

4034.62

2026

10,221.36

4108.26

2027

10,401.36

4144.92

2028

9894.72

4705.65

2029

9425.42

5207.22

2030

9097.07

5507.73

Urban and Rural Composition of the Number of Students Enrolled in Compulsory Education The number of urban and rural students is a function of the total number of students and the urbanization rate of education. After predicting the total number of students enrolled in compulsory education, it is necessary to predict the urbanization rate of education in China if we want to obtain the composition of urban and rural students enrolled in compulsory education. The urbanization rate of China’s educational population is obviously affected by the urbanization rate of the permanent population. According to the National New Urbanization Plan (2014–2020), the urbanization rate of China’s permanent population will reach about 60% by 2020, with an estimated annual growth rate of 0.925%. However, the urbanization rate of the permanent population in China is not in sync with the urbanization rate of the educational population. The prediction of the proportion of urban and rural students from 2016 to 2030 must be based on the past urbanization model of the educational population in China. To analyze and predict the urban and rural composition of the number of students enrolled in compulsory education, these students are divided into three parts: urban students, county/town students, and rural students according to the classification of national statistical indicators, and two structural indexes of urban concentration and county/town concentration are built. To be specific, primary school urban concentration refers to the proportion of urban primary school students in the total number of primary school students, and primary school county/town concentration refers to the proportion of county/town primary school students in the total number of primary

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Table 3 The number of urban and rural primary school students and their urban concentration and county/town concentration in China from 2000 to 2014 Urban (person)

County/town (person)

Rural (person)

Primary school urban concentration (%)

Primary school county/town concentration (%)

2000

18,166,507

26,928,904

85,037,137

13.96

20.69

2001

16,808,781

22,577,859

86,048,027

13.40

18.00

2002

17,212,547

22,937,748

81,416,791

14.16

18.87

2003

18,076,855

21,929,021

76,891,519

15.46

18.76

2004

18,314,007

20,362,265

73,785,984

16.28

18.11

2005

17,303,773

21,858,606

69,478,276

15.93

20.12

2006

16,035,689

24,318,225

66,761,432

14.97

22.70

2007

17,610,813

25,521,904

62,507,310

16.67

24.16

2008

18,043,818

26,022,475

59,248,829

17.46

25.19

2009

17,787,684

26,371,538

56,555,439

17.66

26.18

2010

18,204,675

27,700,170

53,502,198

18.31

27.87

2011

26,069,589

32,542,101

40,651,984

26.26

32.78

2012

26,884,287

33,549,812

36,524,886

27.73

34.60

2013

27,729,719

33,705,362

32,170,406

29.62

36.01

2014

29,432,481

34,579,558

30,498,612

31.14

36.59

school students. Similarly, secondary school urban concentration refers to the proportion of urban secondary school students in the total number of secondary school students, and secondary school county/town concentration refers to the proportion of county/town secondary school students in the total number of secondary school students. The concentration of compulsory education students in cities, counties and towns has been increasing (see Tables 3 and 4). On the whole, the urban concentration and county/town concentration of compulsory education students in China are rising slowly first and then fast. Considering the average increase of urban concentration and county/town concentration of primary and secondary school students in recent 4 years, it is assumed that the increase rate will continue, but fall by 0.05 percentage point every year. It is also assumed that both urban concentration and county/town concentration will reach a plateau after reaching the peak. Parameter setting is mainly based on the following two considerations. First, the data of nearly four years are used, mainly because the statistical calibers of cities, counties/towns and rural areas were adjusted in 2011, so there was a jump in data between 2010 and 2011, but the long-term growth trend before and after it was relatively stable. Using data from 2011 to 2014, on the one hand, can maintain the consistency of statistical calibers, and on the other hand, can reflect the development trend. Second, urban concentration and county/town concentration will continue to increase by the recent unified growth rate, but the growth rate will

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

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Table 4 The number of urban and rural secondary school students and urban concentration and county/town concentration in China from 2000 to 2014 Urban (person)

County/town (person)

Rural (person)

Secondary school urban concentration (%)

Secondary school county/town concentration (%)

2000

10,373,922

17,204,519

34,984,446

16.58

27.50

2001

10,675,298

22,740,284

31,728,225

16.39

34.91

2002

11,211,687

24,012,929

31,649,710

16.77

35.91

2003

11,461,189

23,319,977

32,127,107

17.13

34.85

2004

11,212,647

22,009,690

32,052,803

17.18

33.72

2005

10,370,873

23,626,076

28,152,493

16.69

38.01

2006

9,508,499

24,312,660

25,758,332

15.96

40.81

2007

10,483,963

24,351,949

22,526,035

18.28

42.45

2008

10,675,524

24,469,770

20,704,416

19.11

43.81

2009

10,594,399

24,428,344

19,386,672

19.47

44.90

2010

10,590,766

24,337,317

17,865,217

20.06

46.10

2011

14,363,980

24,674,229

11,629,815

28.35

48.70

2012

14,410,251

23,479,363

9,740,993

30.25

49.29

2013

14,300,203

21,955,710

8,145,335

32.21

49.45

2014

14,686,960

21,674,750

7,484,587

33.50

49.43

decrease every year until a plateau period. This setting is mainly based on the understanding of the general law of international urbanization process, which generally experiences a S-shaped development process—slow, fast and gradually slow (the shape of an attenuated “S”) (Northam, 1979) (see Fig. 3). According to the development forecast of urban concentration and county/town concentration of primary and secondary school students, combined with the forecast of the number of students enrolled in compulsory education, we can get the predicted number of students enrolled in compulsory education in urban, county/town and rural areas. The forecast shows that although the urbanization of education has been

Fig. 3 Changes in urban concentration and county/town concentration of compulsory education in China from 1990 to 2014 and 2016–2030 forecast

248

Y. Qin and X. Zong

Table 5 Forecast of the number of students enrolled in compulsory education in China’s urban and rural areas from 2016 to 2030 (unit: 10,000) Year

Urban primary schools

County/town primary schools

Rural primary schools

Urban secondary schools

County/town secondary schools

Rural secondary schools

2016

3130.15

3590.07

2645.88

1560.58

2154.41

635.07

2017

3158.61

3584.32

2428.41

1646.02

2208.49

604.74

2018

3162.78

3553.70

2222.97

1757.60

2299.79

586.21

2019

3156.90

3514.42

2039.77

1813.76

2321.90

552.58

2020

3146.86

3472.89

1880.68

1883.73

2366.36

527.92

2021

3116.75

3411.46

1734.64

1931.24

2387.44

501.89

2022

3354.98

3643.58

1752.05

1894.13

2310.56

460.66

2023

3625.86

3908.36

1791.55

1797.99

2169.89

413.44

2024

3801.36

4068.10

1793.37

1699.44

2034.23

373.73

2025

3967.14

4216.01

1804.62

1678.91

1998.18

357.53

2026

4090.59

4317.81

1812.96

1715.20

2034.66

358.40

2027

4185.51

4393.85

1822.01

1732.06

2052.81

360.05

2028

3995.49

4179.82

1719.40

1966.37

2330.52

408.76

2029

3811.64

3981.58

1632.20

2175.97

2578.93

452.32

2030

3678.85

3842.87

1575.34

2301.54

2727.76

478.43

improving, there is still a certain proportion of rural primary and secondary schools. To be specific, by 2030, the number of rural primary school students will be 15.7534 million, accounting for 16.65% of the total number of primary school students. In the following years, this proportion will basically enter a plateau period. The number of rural secondary school students will be 4.7843 million, accounting for 8.69% of the total number of secondary school students (see Table 5). Li Ling and Yang Shunguang estimated that China’s urbanization rate will grow by 0.97% per year and rise to 69.7% by 2030, and predicted the urban and rural composition of compulsory education students using the linear interpolation method. They predicted that the number of rural primary school students will be 4.4929 million in 2030, accounting for 20.63% of the total number of primary school students, and this proportion will drop to 18.69% by 2035. These figures are close to our estimates. The number of rural secondary school students will be 837,600, accounting for 5.43% of the total number of secondary school students, and this proportion will continue to decline to 3.49% by 2035 (Li & Yang, 2016). The gap with our forecasts is widening. Given the comparison, it may make more sense to follow an S-shaped rather than a linear urbanization trajectory. China has a vast territory and complex national conditions. Keeping a certain proportion of rural schools is not only an objective and realistic need, but also a value orientation for public education policy making.

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

249

An Overview of the Pupil-Teacher Ratio at Home and Abroad and Determination of the Pupil-Teacher Ratio A panoramic understanding of the pupil-teacher ratio in the international community and the history of changes in the pupil-teacher ratio in China is of great significance for us to determine the reasonable pupil-teacher ratio and scientifically predict the demand for teachers in urban and rural compulsory education. Indeed, the determination of the pupil-teacher ratio is also influenced by the population distribution, the level of economic development, and the study on the importance of the pupilteacher ratio to the quality of education. Generally speaking, the more developed the economy, the smaller the pupil-teacher ratio; the less developed the economy, the larger the pupil-teacher ratio. In the course of the popularization of compulsory education, the country will generally set the maximum distance between home and school in order to facilitate school-age children to go to school. Therefore, in areas with low population density, small schools and small classes, the pupil-teacher ratio needs to be small if all courses are necessarily opened. In this paper, the population density is mainly reflected in the attention to the difference between urban and rural class sizes.

Horizontal Comparison of International Pupil-Teacher Ratios What is the significance of the pupil-teacher ratio? The EFA Global Monitoring Report: The Quality Imperative argues that the study by J. Lee and R. J. Barro is the strongest evidence yet of the importance of school resources to test scores. Their study found that an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio may cause a decline in average test scores, proving that the smaller the class, the better the students’ grades. Their study also showed that a one standard deviation drop (12.3 in 1990) in the pupil-teacher ratio raised test scores by 1.8 percentage points (Lee & Barro, 2001) unsure… In other words, as the pupil-teacher ratio shrinks, students get higher test scores. Shrinking the pupil-teacher ratio can also bring benefits in addition to improved grades. The pupil-teacher ratio of a country is influenced by different factors, and one of the important factors is the country’s level of economic development. We analyzed the international pupil-teacher ratios from the perspective of economic development. The World Bank uses the World Bank Atlas method to divide countries in the world into low-income countries, lower middle-income countries, upper middle-income countries, and high-income countries according to the gross national income (GNI) per country. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics measured the international pupilteacher ratios according to this dimension (see Table 6). According to the observable data provided by the World Bank, China was a lowincome country in 1996 and before. In 1997, China entered the ranks of lower middleincome countries. In 1998, China went back to the ranks of low-income countries,

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Y. Qin and X. Zong

Table 6 International pupil-teacher ratios in 2014

Primary education

Lower secondary education

Low-income countries

42.84

27.63a

Middle-income countries

24.09a

18.83a

Lower middle-income countries

29.32a

23.38a

Upper middle-income countries

18.47

14.90

High-income countries

14.81a

12.42a

a It

represents estimates by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) Source Data Center, UNESCO Institute for Statistics

and in 1999, it again entered the ranks of lower middle-income countries. In 2010, China entered the ranks of upper middle-income countries (World Bank, 2016). From the perspective of international comparison, the pupil-teacher ratio of compulsory education in China can be determined by referring to upper middle-income countries.

Changes in the Pupil-Teacher Ratio of Compulsory Education in China As to the overall trend in the pupil-teacher ratio of primary schools, since the early 1980s, the national pupil-teacher ratio has shown a downward trend, reaching a bottom in 1990 at 21.93. In the same year, the rural pupil-teacher ratio also fell to a bottom of 22.51. The urban and county/town pupil-teacher ratios fell to the bottom in 1991, standing at 19.38 and 20.48, respectively. After 1990, the national pupil-teacher ratio began to rise, and reached the peak in 1997 at 24.16, and the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios rose to 20.51, 22.94 and 25.39, respectively. Since then, the pupil-teacher ratio of primary schools has generally showed a downward trend (see Table 7). Should there be any difference in the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios? How big should the difference be? In 2001, the Faculty Staffing Standards in the Opinions on the Establishment of Faculty Staffing Standards for Primary and Secondary Schools stipulated the pupil-teacher ratios of urban, county/town and rural primary schools. The pupil-teacher ratios of urban, county/town and rural primary schools were 19, 21 and 23, respectively. In 2001, the urban, county/town and rural

23.45

17.85

23.20

23.09

22.28

21.12

19.98

–

20.21

19.73

19.62

19.29

19.30

19.63

19.56

19.38

19.40

19.83

20.05

20.15

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

22.05

21.77

21.25

20.84

20.48

20.61

20.99

21.34

21.95

22.26

22.68

23.01

–

24.10

25.33

26.62

27.68

28.47

28.46

28.92

County/town

24.32

23.70

23.14

22.83

22.72

22.51

22.95

23.51

24.44

25.23

25.80

26.09

–

26.06

26.17

27.02

27.61

28.40

28.39

28.78

Rural

23.30

22.85

22.37

22.08

21.99

21.93

22.32

22.79

23.62

24.35

24.87

25.25

25.03

25.38

25.69

26.60

27.25

27.99

27.59

28.37

National

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China (1976–2014)

Urban

Year

Pupil-teacher ratio

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

Year

Table 7 Changes in the pupil-teacher ratio of primary schools in China from 1976 to 2014

18.88

18.91

18.99

19.09

19.22

19.14

19.41

19.49

19.36

19.26

19.54

19.30

19.02

19.21

19.59

20.00

20.51

20.51

20.30

Urban

17.65

17.56

17.94

18.12

18.73

18.74

19.20

19.50

19.63

19.42

19.33

19.57

19.85

19.99

21.45

22.07

22.85

22.94

22.38

County/town

14.41

14.63

15.88

16.64

16.77

17.15

17.75

18.38

18.96

19.47

20.28

21.09

21.90

22.68

23.12

24.21

25.16

25.39

24.90

Rural

16.78

16.76

17.36

17.71

17.70

17.88

18.38

18.82

19.17

19.43

19.98

20.50

21.04

21.64

22.21

23.12

23.98

24.16

23.74

National

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … 251

252

Y. Qin and X. Zong

pupil-teacher ratios were 19.21, 19.99 and 22.68,1 respectively, in which the rural pupil-teacher ratio was higher than the urban or county/town pupil-teacher ratio, because of the small class size of rural schools. In 2014, the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios were 18.88, 17.65 and 14.41,2 respectively, in which the rural pupil-teacher ratio was lower than the urban pupil-teacher ratio. However, to bring the rural teacher-class ratio to the same level of the urban teacher-class ratio, the rural pupil-teacher ratio should be reduced. In terms of the overall trend in the pupil-teacher ratio of secondary schools, after the early 1980s, the pupil-teacher ratio reached a peak in 1986 at 21.80. Then it started to go down and reached the bottom in 1990, when the national, urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios reached the bottom at the same time. The national pupil-teacher ratio fell to 15.67, and the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios dropped to 12.68, 15.71 and 16.56, respectively. After 1990, the pupil-teacher ratio began to rise, and reached a peak in 2002. The national pupil-teacher ratio rose to 19.28, and the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios increased to 16.77, 19.46 and 20.22, respectively. After that, the pupil-teacher ratio of secondary schools generally showed a downward trend (Table 8). There is no more concentrated international literature on the determination of the pupil-teacher ratio of secondary schools. In 2001, the Faculty Staffing Standards in the Opinions on the Establishment of Faculty Staffing Standards for Primary and Secondary Schools stipulated the pupil-teacher ratios of urban, county/town and rural secondary schools. The pupil-teacher ratios of urban, county/town and rural secondary schools were 13.5, 16 and 18, respectively. In 2001, the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios of secondary schools were 16.67, 19.43 and 20.15, respectively, among which the rural pupil-teacher ratio was the highest. In 2014, the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios of secondary schools were 13.39, 12.70 and 10.93, respectively, all of which fell. Due to the uneven distribution of high-quality education resources, there are interschool differences in urban secondary schools. As long as the inter-school differences are effectively controlled, the existing pupil-teacher ratio can completely meet the teaching requirements. Counties and towns are generally big in size, where there may be two secondary schools, and more than two sometimes. For most secondary schools, the existing pupil-teacher ratio can completely meet the teaching requirements. Although rural secondary schools are larger than rural primary schools in size, the pupil-teacher ratio in recent years has been the lowest due to the small size.

1

If the number of faculties was used, the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios were 16.53, 17.67 and 21.07, respectively. 2 If the number of faculties was used, the urban, county/town and rural pupil-teacher ratios were 16.95, 16.86 and 16.06, respectively.

23.26

22.24

20.91

18.09

16.16

14.95

14.69

–

15.11

10.36

20.58

14.18

13.38

12.84

12.68

12.83

13.07

13.03

13.51

14.15

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

16.73

16.16

15.75

16.24

15.89

15.71

15.86

16.68

18.00

27.54

12.08

18.85

–

17.97

18.58

20.14

21.23

22.88

23.88

24.70

County/town

17.77

17.01

16.57

16.67

16.65

16.56

16.73

17.72

18.99

20.98

18.05

19.58

–

18.21

18.09

18.77

19.09

20.15

20.64

20.71

Rural

16.76

16.09

15.67

15.87

15.76

15.67

15.83

16.72

17.95

21.80

14.98

18.42

17.56

17.49

17.64

18.53

19.14

20.47

21.09

21.39

National

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China (1976–2014)

Urban

Year

Pupil-teacher ratio

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

Year

13.39

13.67

14.11

14.48

15.00

15.26

15.63

15.76

15.62

15.74

16.26

16.59

16.77

16.67

15.98

14.93

14.30

14.22

14.44

Urban

Table 8 Changes in the pupil-teacher ratio of secondary schools in China from 1976 to 2014

12.70

12.89

13.80

14.73

15.74

16.29

16.93

17.31

17.87

18.37

18.94

19.31

19.46

19.43

18.56

17.68

17.10

16.96

17.09

County/town

10.93

11.14

12.46

13.58

14.04

14.64

15.36

16.08

17.10

18.19

19.44

20.09

20.22

20.15

20.45

19.75

19.12

18.80

18.35

Rural

12.57

12.76

13.59

14.38

14.98

15.47

16.07

16.52

17.15

17.80

18.65

19.13

19.28

19.24

19.03

18.23

17.61

17.37

17.22

National

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … 253

254

Y. Qin and X. Zong

Changes in the Class Size of Compulsory Education in China With regard to the changing trend in the class size of primary schools, the class size of rural primary schools has always been the smallest. At present, the class size basically remains less than 30 students and is decreasing year by year. The class size of county/town primary schools has changed the most, with the average class size changing from 37 students in 1992 to nearly 49 around 2010, before gradually declining. The overall average class size of urban primary schools has not changed much. The most recent decline happened after 2010, but since 2011 the average class size in cities has been bigger than that in counties/towns and rural areas, standing at 46 students (Table 9). From the perspective of the changing trend in the class size of secondary schools, the class size of county/town secondary schools has been the biggest except from 1996 to 2000. At present, the average class size of county/town secondary schools is close to 50 students. The class size of urban secondary schools had been the smallest Table 9 Changes in class size of primary schools in China from 1976 to 2014 (unit: person) Class Urban County/town Rural National Class Urban County/town Rural National size size Year Year 1976 43.88

43.64

33.24 34.18

1996 45.26

39.79

30.73 33.44

1977 33.98

43.53

33.32 33.76

1997 45.99

40.08

31.28 34.10

1978 43.45

44.10

33.56 34.51

1998 45.80

40.22

31.48 34.32

1979 43.23

44.55

33.28 34.30

1999 45.17

39.83

31.30 34.15

1980 43.12

45.20

33.11 34.18

2000 44.60

39.44

34.35 36.50

1981 42.75

45.08

33.03 34.12

2001 42.14

41.54

31.13 33.84

1982 41.98

44.54

33.08 34.13

2002 43.63

43.15

31.31 34.48

1983 –

–

–

2003 44.68

43.74

31.28 34.75

1984 40.87

41.04

32.45 33.53

2004 45.69

45.10

31.39 35.11

1985 40.85

39.43

32.15 33.28

2005 46.29

47.29

31.21 35.48

1986 41.26

41.36

31.50 32.84

2006 46.91

48.64

31.64 36.29

1987 41.26

40.17

30.69 32.15

2007 47.71

48.68

31.59 36.78

1988 41.06

39.49

29.82 31.44

2008 47.74

48.81

31.64 37.12

1989 41.39

39.13

29.22 31.04

2009 47.54

48.66

31.82 37.39

1990 42.01

39.17

28.83 30.75

2010 47.70

48.88

32.08 37.99

1991 42.06

37.18

28.57 30.57

2011 47.09

45.63

30.98 38.49

1992 42.62

36.99

28.55 30.72

2012 46.45

44.61

29.56 37.78

1993 43.38

37.00

28.90 31.24

2013 46.53

44.09

28.25 37.46

1994 44.21

37.87

29.46 31.95

2014 46.23

43.65

27.81 37.42

1995 44.48

38.90

30.08 32.67

–

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China (1976–2014)

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

255

Table 10 Changes in class size of secondary schools in China from 1976 to 2014 (unit: person) Class Urban County/town Rural National Class Urban County/town Rural National size size Year Year 1976 50.82

51.36

43.11 44.84

1996 50.21

53.28

53.60 52.90

1977 50.65

51.84

43.34 44.87

1997 50.16

53.49

54.87 53.67

1978 49.06

51.67

44.48 45.63

1998 50.08

53.75

55.22 53.94

1979 49.86

51.43

44.41 45.63

1999 50.69

54.43

56.18 54.75

1980 49.25

51.33

44.07 45.31

2000 35.95

41.66

54.45 46.55

1981 49.04

51.34

44.89 46.06

2001 50.36

57.38

56.51 55.69

1982 49.48

52.12

46.56 47.61

2002 51.51

57.99

57.75 56.68

1983 –

–

–

2003 51.30

58.23

58.03 56.82

1984 49.84

53.62

49.29 49.92

–

2004 51.10

57.90

57.85 56.59

1985 49.56

54.22

50.31 50.81

2005 50.73

58.12

56.25 55.92

1986 68.88

81.71

54.93 61.33

2006 50.42

58.03

55.78 55.72

1987 48.67

54.07

51.60 51.55

2007 51.28

57.68

54.51 55.16

1988 47.83

52.31

49.85 49.94

2008 51.26

57.26

53.48 54.61

1989 46.90

51.05

48.91 48.95

2009 51.00

56.35

52.39 53.80

1990 46.93

51.44

49.09 49.15

2010 50.54

55.27

51.32 52.90

1991 47.50

51.65

49.44 49.54

2011 50.27

53.70

50.04 51.83

1992 35.97

37.17

46.79 42.32

2012 49.52

51.77

47.99 50.27

1993 47.87

50.14

49.47 49.35

2013 48.65

50.17

45.77 48.82

1994 48.56

50.97

50.51 50.27

2014 48.06

49.65

45.20 48.30

1995 49.54

52.31

52.20 51.74

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China (1976–2014)

before 1987–2011, and the current class size basically remains at nearly 48 students. Since 2007, the average class size in cities, counties/towns and rural areas has shown a downward trend (Table 10).

The Pupil-Teacher Ratio Based on the Equal Teaching Hours of Inter-School Teachers To realize the balance of teachers among regions and among schools, we propose to allocate teachers for compulsory education among schools based on the principle of equal teaching hours. The demand for teachers in compulsory education needs to be calculated according to the teaching hours. Teachers’ teaching hours are divided into class-oriented teaching hours (lesson preparation, classroom teaching) and studentoriented teaching hours (homework correction, individual tutoring). The number of

256

Y. Qin and X. Zong

classes in a region (school) determines the class-oriented teaching hours and can be calculated by the number of students in the school and the class size. Student-oriented teaching hours are determined by the number of students.

Two Simulation Examples Situation A (Fig. 4): There are 40 students in a classroom. A teacher needs 80 min oriented toward the class and 40 min oriented towards the students (1 min for each student on average). The class takes 120 min (80 + 1 × 40 = 120). Situation B (Fig. 5): There are 40 students in 4 classes, with every 10 students in one classroom. The teacher needs 80 min oriented towards each class and 10 min oriented towards the students (1 min for each student on average). Each class takes 90 min (80 + 1 × 10 = 90), and 4 classes take a total of 360 min (90 × 4 = 360). The ratio of teaching hours for a class of 40 students to four classes of 10 students each is not 1:1, but 1:3. Therefore, the demand for teachers should be determined on the basis of class size and the number of students rather than simply on the basis of the latter. Fig. 4 Class size chart for 40 students

Fig. 5 Class size chart for 10 students

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

257

Setting of Several Variables According to the above simulation examples, to calculate the number of teachers that should be allocated to a class (school/region), three variables should be taken into account: class size, pupil-teacher ratio, and structure of teaching hours. Combined with our empirical research, policy document provisions and the current class size of primary and secondary schools, it is assumed that the ideal class size of primary schools is 35 students and that of secondary schools is 45 students. Taking into account international pupil-teacher ratios, as well as China’s current pupil-teacher ratios, regulations on the pupil-teacher ratio, and national fiscal capacity, this study considers that the standard pupil-teacher ratio of primary schools is 16, and that of secondary schools is 12. According to the survey, the ratio of class-oriented teaching hours to studentoriented teaching hours in primary schools is about 2:1, and that in secondary schools is about 2:1.

Calculation of the Number of Teachers (or Pupil-Teacher Ratio) in Primary Schools If the ideal class size of primary schools is 35 students, the ratio of class-oriented teaching hours to student-oriented teaching hours is 2:1, and the pupil-teacher ratio is 16. Since the class-oriented teaching hours are determined by the number of classes, while the student-oriented teaching hours are determined by the number of students, it can be concluded that the class-oriented teaching hours to student-oriented teaching of each class in primary school is 70:1. Under the condition of sufficient teachers, if the total number of students is N1 and the average class size is n 1 , then to ensure that the average workload of teachers is equal under different average class sizes, the number of teachers x should be calculated as follows3 : N1 n1

+

N1 70

x

=

N1 35

  1 + 21 N1 16

.

Thus: x= The pupil-teacher ratio is

3

(n 1 + 70)N1 . 48n 1

48n 1 . n 1 +70

Mr. Liu Shanhuai from the Research Institute of Rural Education at Northeast Normal University participated in the derivation of the formula in the course of the Policy Research on Rural Compulsory Education Teachers in 2008. Here, some of the parameters of this formula have changed.

258 Table 11 Calculation of urban and rural pupil-teacher ratios in China

Y. Qin and X. Zong Urban

County/town

Rural

Primary school

19.09

18.44

13.65

Secondary school

12.53

12.80

12.04

Calculation of the Number of Teachers (or Pupil-Teacher Ratio) in Secondary Schools If the ideal class size of secondary schools is 45 students, the ratio of class-oriented teaching hours to student-oriented teaching hours is 2:1, and the pupil-teacher ratio is 12. Since the class-oriented teaching hours are determined by the number of classes, while the student-oriented teaching hours are determined by the number of students, it can be concluded that the class-oriented teaching hours to student-oriented teaching of each class in secondary school is 90:1. Under the condition of sufficient teachers, if the total number of students is N2 and the class size is n 2 , then to ensure that the average workload of teachers is equal under different average class sizes, the number of teachers y should be calculated as follows: N2 n2

+

N2 90

y

=

N2 45

  1 + 21 N1 12

.

Thus: y=

(n 2 + 90)N2 . 36n 2

2 . The pupil-teacher ratio is n36n 2 +90 If the current class size of compulsory education (2014) remains unchanged, according to the above two formulas, the pupil-teacher ratios in cities, counties/towns and rural areas are shown in Table 11.

Research on the Demand Forecast for Teachers in Urban and Rural Compulsory Education Based on the above forecast of the number of in-school students and the pupilteacher ratios in cities, counties/towns and rural areas, this part forecasts the demand for teachers in urban and rural compulsory education.

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

259

Table 12 Demand forecast for primary school teachers in urban and rural China from 2016 to 2030 (unit: 10,000) Urban

County/town

Rural

Total

2016

163.97

194.69

193.84

552.49

2017

165.46

194.38

177.91

537.74

2018

165.68

192.72

162.86

521.25

2019

165.37

190.59

149.43

505.39

2020

164.84

188.33

137.78

490.96

2021

163.27

185.00

127.08

475.35

2022

175.75

197.59

128.36

501.69

2023

189.93

211.95

131.25

533.13

2024

199.13

220.61

131.38

551.12

2025

207.81

228.63

132.21

568.65

2026

214.28

234.15

132.82

581.25

2027

219.25

238.28

133.48

591.01

2028

209.30

226.67

125.96

561.93

2029

199.67

215.92

119.58

535.16

2030

192.71

208.40

115.41

516.52

Demand Forecast for Teachers in Urban and Rural Primary Schools The predicted number of primary school students in cities, counties/towns and rural areas is divided by the corresponding pupil-teacher ratio to obtain the forecast of the demand for primary school teachers. According to the above analysis, we set the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools as 19.09 in cities, 18.44 in counties/towns and 13.65 in rural areas, and calculated the demand for primary school teachers in urban and rural areas from 2016 to 2030 (see Table 12).

Demand Forecast for Teachers in Urban and Rural Secondary Schools The predicted number of secondary school students in cities, counties/towns and rural areas is divided by the corresponding pupil-teacher ratio to obtain the forecast of the demand for secondary school teachers. According to the above analysis, we set the pupil-teacher ratio in secondary schools as 12.53 in cities, 12.80 in counties/towns and 12.04 in rural areas, and calculated the demand for secondary school teachers in urban and rural areas from 2016 to 2030 (see Table 13).

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Table 13 Demand forecast for secondary school teachers in urban and rural China from 2016 to 2030 (unit: 10,000) Urban

County/town

Rural

Total

2016

124.55

168.31

52.75

345.61

2017

131.37

172.54

50.23

354.13

2018

140.27

179.67

48.69

368.63

2019

144.75

181.40

45.90

372.05

2020

150.34

184.87

43.85

379.06

2021

154.13

186.52

41.69

382.33

2022

151.17

180.51

38.26

369.94

2023

143.49

169.52

34.34

347.36

2024

135.63

158.92

31.04

325.59

2025

133.99

156.11

29.69

319.79

2026

136.89

158.96

29.77

325.61

2027

138.23

160.38

29.90

328.51

2028

156.93

182.07

33.95

372.95

2029

173.66

201.48

37.57

412.71

2030

183.68

213.11

39.74

436.52

Judgment on the Surplus and Shortage of Future Compulsory Education Teachers According to the future demand for compulsory education teachers and the current age structure of compulsory education teachers, we can predict the surplus or shortage of teachers in the future, so that we can know the number of supplementary teachers for compulsory education in advance, and then make a medium- and long-term plan and layout for compulsory education teachers.

Surplus and Shortage of Future Primary School Teachers Since the Statistical Yearbook of Education in China only provides the total number of primary school teachers in China by gender and age, we here only predict the surplus and shortage of primary school teachers in the country. According to the statistics of the number of primary school teachers by gender and age in 2014, the number of male primary school teachers aged 55–59 and above was 423,700; those aged 50–54 was 333,500; those aged 45–49 was 284,300; and those aged 40–44 was 288,700. The number of female primary school teachers aged 50–54 and above was 315,400; those aged 45–49 was 404,500; those aged 40–44 was 536,100; and those aged 35–39 was 696,900 (Table 14).

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … Table 14 Age structure of primary school teachers in China in 2014 (an interval of 5 years old) (unit: person)

261

Age

Number of male teachers

Number of female teachers

24 and below

48,189

235,437

25–29

163,133

589,151

30–34

272,801

722,623

35–39

319,491

696,917

40–44

288,679

536,120

45–49

284,277

404,451

50–54

333,493

311,368

55–59

421,398

3393

60 and above

2344

641

Total

2,133,805

3,500,101

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China 2014

Generally speaking, male teachers retire at 60 and female teachers at 55. In the absence of a specific number of teachers for each age, it is assumed for the sake of simplicity that the number of retirees in each age group is the same each year, so that the normal number of primary school teachers retired each year can be obtained. For example, in 2014, there were 423,700 male teachers aged 55–59 and above. Assuming that teachers of each age were evenly distributed, the number of male primary school teachers aged 59 was about 84,700. They reached the retirement age of 60 in 2015, when 84,700 new teachers were needed to keep the number of teachers unchanged. According to the Statistical Bulletin on the Development of National Education in 2015, there were 5.6851 million full-time primary school teachers in 2015. We took this number as the teacher stock in the initial year of 2016, and calculated the number of teachers that should be supplemented in the corresponding stage according to the predicted number of retired teachers and teacher demand in each stage. The specific prediction method is as follows: In the first stage (2016–2020), the accumulated number of retired teachers in primary schools is the sum of five years’ data, that is, 738,900. Then, at the last year of this stage, the teacher stock is 5.6851 million in 2015 minus the accumulated retired teachers, which is 4.9462 million. Based on the annual average value of the teacher demand forecast for 2016–2020, it can be obtained that the annual average teacher demand for this stage is 5.2157 million. Therefore, it can be estimated that 269,500 supplementary primary school teachers are needed in this stage. In the second stage (2021–2025), if teachers are supplemented as needed in the first stage, the stock of primary school teachers will be 5.2157 million in 2020, and the total retired teachers will be 754,400 in 2021–2025. The average demand for teachers in this stage will be 5.2599 million. It can be estimated that 798,600 supplementary primary school teachers are needed in this stage.

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Table 15 Analysis of surplus and shortage of primary school teachers in China from 2016 to 2030 (by age group) (unit: 10,000) Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Demand for teachers

Annual average demand for teachers

521.57

525.99

557.17

Retired teachers

Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Retired male teachers

40.57

32.36

28.52

Retired female teachers

33.32

43.08

56.83

Total retired teachers

73.89

75.44

85.34

Year

2015

2020

2025

Teacher stocka

568.51

521.57

525.99

Teachers supplemented as predicted

Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Teachers supplemented

26.95

79.86

116.53

a It is assumed that the number of teachers will increase or decrease to the predicted value at the end

of this stage. In 2015, the number of primary school teachers was 5.6851 million.

In the third phase (2026–2030), by analogy, it can be concluded that 1.1653 million supplementary primary school teachers are needed in this stage (Table 15).

Surplus and Shortage of Future Secondary School Teachers Since the Statistical Yearbook of Education in China only provides the total number of secondary school teachers in China by gender and age, we here only predict the surplus and shortage of secondary school teachers in the country. According to the statistics of the number of secondary school teachers by gender and age in 2014, the number of male primary school teachers aged 55–59 and above was 120,400; those aged 50–54 was 168,500; those aged 45–49 was 277,800; and those aged 40–44 was 322,200. The number of female secondary school teachers aged 50–54 and above was 98,000; those aged 45–49 was 225,700; those aged 40–44 was 225,700; and those aged 35–39 was 400,200 (Table 16). Similar to the assumption of primary school, which assumes that the number of retirees in each age group is the same each year, the normal number of secondary school teachers retired each year can be obtained. For example, in 2014, there were 120,400 male teachers aged 55–59 and above. Assuming that teachers of each age were evenly distributed, the number of male secondary school teachers aged 59 was about 24,100. They reached the retirement age of 60 in 2015. According to the Statistical Bulletin on the Development of National Education in 2015, there were 3.4756 million full-time secondary school teachers in 2015. We took this number as the teacher stock in the initial year, and calculated the number of teachers that should be supplemented in the corresponding stage according to

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural … Table 16 Age structure of secondary school teachers in China in 2014 (an interval of 5 years old) (unit: person)

263 Male teachers

Female teachers

24 and below

35,293

89,292

25–29

146,672

315,723

30–34

250,736

391,147

35–39

332,567

400,221

40–44

322,195

314,145

45–49

277,803

225,706

50–54

168,532

95,875

55–59

119,097

1646

60 and above

1292

488

Total

1,654,187

1,834,243

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Education in China 2014

the predicted number of retired teachers and teacher demand in each stage. Other calculation steps and methods are consistent with the primary stage, and the specific prediction results are shown in Table 17. Table 17 Analysis of surplus and shortage of secondary school teachers in China from 2016 to 2030 (by age group) (unit: 10,000) Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Demand for teachers

Annual average demand for teachers

363.90

349.00

412.71

Retired teachers

Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Retired male teachers

13.00

19.04

28.67

Retired female teachers

12.35

24.34

33.14

Total retired teachers

25.36

43.38

61.80

Year

2015

2020

2025

Teachers supplemented as predicted

Teacher

stocka

347.56

363.90

349.00

Year

2016–2020

2021–2025

2026–2030

Teachers supplemented

41.70

28.48

125.51

a It is assumed that the number of teachers will increase or decrease to the predicted value at the end

of this stage. In 2015, the number of secondary school teachers was 3.4756 million.

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Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions and Findings 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Based on the forecast of the existing school-age population of compulsory education, this paper introduced the forecast of gross enrollment rate to predict the number of primary and secondary school students from 2016 to 2030. This paper held that the number of students in school is usually larger than the number of school-age population during the current and future period of universal compulsory education. Based on the fact that the urbanization rate of China’s educational population is larger than that of permanent residents, and the S-shaped theory of urbanization, this study predicted the S-shaped change in China’s educational population urbanization at the stage of compulsory education. This paper argued that, under the background of urbanization, although the urbanization rate of the educational population is not synchronized with that of the permanent population, the urbanization of the educational population still presents an S-shaped development trend. On the basis of investigation and empirical research, this study set basic conditions such as the ratio of class-oriented teaching hours to student-oriented teaching hours, the ideal class size, and the pupil-teacher ratio, to calculate the pupil-teacher ratios of primary and secondary schools when the class size of primary school is n1 and the class size of secondary school is n2 . Based on the above ideas and set parameters, this study obtained the calculation model 1 ; pupilof the pupil-teacher ratio: pupil-teacher ratio of primary school: n48n 1 +70 36n 2 teacher ratio of secondary school: n 2 +90 . This paper held that the main factor that challenges the rationality of the policy on the allocation of teachers among regions and schools is the difference in class size among regions and schools. This formula maximizes respect for such difference. Based on the number of students in primary and secondary schools and the pupilteacher ratios based on the actual average class size in cities, counties/towns and rural areas, this study predicted the demand for teachers from 2016 to 2030. Under the actual situation and parameter setting of urban class size > county/town class size > rural class size, there will be a smaller pupil-teacher ratio in rural areas. The effects of the two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family and the universal two-child policy will increase the number of primary school-age population and students in 2022, which will reach the peak in 2027. The secondary school-age population and the number of students will start to increase in 2026.

Research on 2016–2030 China’s Urban and Rural …

265

Policy Recommendations 1.

2.

3.

Be prepared to deal with the effects of the two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family and the universal two-child policy. Since China has implemented the two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family and the universal two-child policy, the Chinese school-age population will experience the policy accumulation effect at the beginning of the implementation of these policies (women of different child-bearing ages will concentrate on having a second child in a few years after the implementation of the policies) and the subsequent policy normal effect. It is necessary to collect the information of school-age population under the policy accumulation effect and the policy normal effect in a timely manner. Efforts should be made to make a comprehensive analysis of the change in school-age population, and adjust teacher training, recruitment and retirement policies in advance, so as to minimize policy costs and reduce policy risks. Implement teacher staffing policies that better reflect positive interregional differences. In 2015, the State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Notice on Unifying the Establishment of the Faculty and Staff of Elementary and Secondary Schools in Urban and Rural Areas. This put an end to the inverted urban and rural establishment and made policy for the establishment of teachers in urban and rural areas fairer. Due to the small scale of schools and classes in rural areas, it has been observed that teachers have been arranged inefficiently. Therefore, the direction of the reform in teachers’ establishment policy should be: villages < counties/towns < cities in terms of the pupil-teacher ratio in the future. Implement the intra-regional teacher allocation policy that reflects the equal workloads of interscholastic teachers. After teachers are assigned to a region, the intra-regional teacher allocation should reflect the principle of equal workloads for interscholastic teachers. Based on this principle, the teacher mobility policy should be implemented to gradually realize equal quality of interscholastic teachers. Local governments should take effective measures and when necessary, provide teacher post subsidies with positive differences and other compensatory and attractive policies. This will be towards achieving the two objectives of teacher allocation within the region.

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References Lee, J., & Barro, R. J. (2001). Schooling quality in a cross-section of countries. Economica, 68(272), 465–488. Li, L., & Yang, S. (2016). Universal two-child policy and strategic planning of compulsory education—Based on School-age population forecast of compulsory education in the next 20 years. Educational Research (7). Northam, R. M. (1979). Urban geography. Wiley. UNPP. (2010). Population (thousands). http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp.2010-01-08. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. (2015). Demographic components of future population growth: 2015 revision. United Nations. Wang, G. (2015). Problems and reflections in fertility policy adjustment research. Chinese Journal of Population Science (2), 2–15+126. World Bank. (2016). World Bank Country and Lending Groups historical classification by income in XLS format. https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519 [EB/OL]. 2016-06-06. Yi, F., & Su, J. (2014). On fertility desire and population policy from the practice of two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family: Outlook on China’s population situation from 2015 to 2080. China Development Observationsis (12).

Yuyou Qin, male, born in 1974, is the deputy director, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Research Institute of Rural Education, Northeast Normal University—a key research base for humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education. Xiaohua Zong, male, born in 1982, is associate professor and master supervisor of the Institute of Education, Nanjing University.