Teachers’ moral agency under neo-liberal influences: what is educationally desirable in China’s curriculum reform?

ABSTRACT

This study examines a group of teachers’ moral agency in the context of China’s curriculum reform. While the reform possesses neo-liberal features such as decentralisation and education for global competitiveness, it also attempts to undermine the long-standing influence of exam-oriented education in China. Employing ethnographic approaches, the results indicate that teachers’ moral agency within this context has three specific foci: (1) directing students to become moral people; (2) dedication to teaching; and (3) developing knowledge for and about teaching. Although the study acknowledges that external accountabilities do constrain teachers’ autonomy, teachers’ moral agency is shaped and enabled by engagement with students and teachers still have a say in what is educationally desirable.

KEYWORDS:

• Moral agency
• neo-liberalism
• educational reform
• teacher agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. All teacher names are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Peak Discipline Construction Project of Education at East China Normal University [grant number N/A].