Abstract:

The problem of the overload of primary and secondary school teachers is undermining the development of Chinese basic education. However, existing studies on teacher workload in China have limited discussions on how teachers perceive and cope with workload, as well as lack insight into the generation process of teachers’ workload. Through grounded theory methodology, this study aimed to explore teachers perceptions and responses to workload, and how Chinese teachers’ workload generate. Drawn on qualitative data from 49 Chinese primary and secondary school teachers, head of grassroots administrative department, the results showed that there were three types of workload of primary and secondary school teachers in China: teaching related workload, which teachers were willing to do even if they were tired, special-role workload, which let teachers feel torn on their responsibilities, and additional irrelevant workload, which teachers hated most. The complex sources of teachers’ workload in China were intertwined and layered, rooted in the absence of modern governance and modern school systems, but also shaped by a combination of digital technology, the educationalization of society. Schools as organisational intermediaries may ‘add’ or ‘subtract’ from teachers’ workload. The impact of teacher identity on teachers’ perceptions of and responses to workload, the mechanisms of teacher workload generation, and the differences in the process of teacher workload generation were discussed.

Key words: primary and secondary school teachers, teachers workload, education governance