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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate how three Chinese teachers developed their teacher identities in a reform context. Drawing upon data from a larger social historical study, the work-life narratives of the three teachers at different stages of their careers were used as case studies to showcase three types of teacher identity development trajectories, namely, learning to be both professional educator and subject teaching expert，learning to be subject teaching expert, and navigating to balance between educator and subject teacher. This study also investigated the factors that influence identity development trajectories of teachers and develops a conceptual framework for understanding teacher identity development in China. The framework shows that Chinese teachers’ exertion of their individual agency is embedded in the institutional context. Meanwhile, interpersonal relationships can work as a buffer to alleviate the tension between the institution and individual teachers. The study also shows the ways in which Chinese teachers’ exert their agency when developing their identities. The findings have significant implications for teacher education in terms of how to develop positive teacher identity over the course of a teacher’s career.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the BNU-HKEU Teacher Studies and Development Platform for their support for this research project. We also thank Professor Leslie Lo, Professor Christopher Day, Professor Douwe Beijaard, and Dr. Liao Wei for their critical commentary on earlier drafts of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. In the Chinese context, students remain in one classroom and subject teachers come into the room to teach. For better management, each classroom is assigned with a head teacher who works as the class administrative manager and takes on more roles of nurturing students’ overall well-being and other errands such as communicating with their parents.
2. In China, teacher education is referred to as ‘normal education,’ which aims to emphasise the moral role model feature of teachers. The normal universities recruit graduate from high school and target for cultivating middle school teachers while the normal schools recruit graduate from junior high school and cultivate primary school teacher.
3. In China, school districts’ influence on teachers are carried out through Jiaoyanyuan (teaching researcher), who were promoted from experienced school teachers and are responsible for the district or municipal level subject teaching, teaching research, teacher professional development, and subject matter test design.
4. The term ‘backbone teacher’ first appeared in the 1960s. Backbone teachers usually demonstrate a higher level of professional virtue, competence, and skill. They usually undertake heavier workloads and play leadership roles at different levels.
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Juyan Ye
Juyan Ye is an associate professor at the Center for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. Her teaching and research focus on teacher identity, teacher education, policy studies in education, and the foundation of education. E-mail address: [email protected]
Di Zhao
Di Zhao is a doctoral student at the Center for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. Her current research interests include teacher education, pedagogy, and the role of reflection in teacher education.