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01 September 2023, Volume 41 Issue 9 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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A Time Sociological Analysis on Teachers’ Workload Huan Song 2023, 41 (9):  1-15.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.001 Abstract ( 388 )   HTML ( 48 )   PDF (905KB) ( 497 )   Save As a topic closely related to time, teachers’ workload needs to be analyzed from the three dimensions of the sociology of time: the commercial value, the political structure, and the moral norm. The scale effect of social time and its induced performance management lead to teachers’ high workload, stress and burnout. The hierarchical nesting structure and power structure of social time, as well as the time dilemma of public governance, make teachers’ self-time scarce, out of control and overdrawn. The moral tightness requirements and moral traps of social time devour teachers’ subject meaning and lead to teachers’ time poverty. The high-speed society strengthens the domination of the time norm over the subject and causes a series of morbid changes in teachers’ work. Therefore, it is necessary to fundamentally solve the problem of teachers’ workload through a series of methods such as value reconstruction, active deceleration, and technological innovation. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Generation Mechanism of the Primary and Secondary School Teachers’ Workload in China Huan Song, Jianjian Wu 2023, 41 (9):  16-37.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.002 Abstract ( 447 )   HTML ( 44 )   PDF (1332KB) ( 564 )   Save 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. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Thriving” or “Retreating”: A Qualitative Study on Chinese Rural Teachers’ Workload and Job Crafting Mechanism Qiong Li, Yiwen Lin, Qing Wang, Songli Wang 2023, 41 (9):  38-55.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.003 Abstract ( 246 )   HTML ( 22 )   PDF (1182KB) ( 359 )   Save Drawing upon the job demand-resource model, this study investigated rural teachers’ workload and job crafting mechanisms through interviewing 16 rural teachers in hard-to-staff schools in remote underdeveloped areas in China. The results indicated that rural teachers were confronted with challenges such as long working hours, teaching multiple subjects, out-of-field teaching and dealing with administrative works. Although rural teachers faced unique challenges, they could utilize different job crafting strategies in different conditions to redesign their jobs. The study has revealed the intricate nature of rural teachers’ workload and how rural teachers’ crafting strategies can change their jobs and lead to different outcomes. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Primary Female Teachers’ Workload, Work-family Interference, Affective Commitment, and Turnover Intention: Structural Equation Modeling from a Realist Social Theory Perspective Shenji Zhou, Miao Xu, Heng Wang 2023, 41 (9):  56-70.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.004 Abstract ( 227 )   HTML ( 24 )   PDF (1006KB) ( 354 )   Save China’s education policy has placed emphasis on teacher workload. Along with the increasing complexity of teachers’ work, it is essential to note the impact of workload components on their job performance. Based on Archer’s realist social theory, this study explores the relationships between teacher workload, work-family interference, affective commitment, and turnover intention through a questionnaire survey of primary female teachers in 13 primary schools in Hainan Province. The results indicate that participants’ time spent on teaching practice, with students, and on miscellaneous tasks had direct or indirect effects on their turnover intention, whereas time spent on professional development and administrative/management tasks had no significant effect. The research presented both theoretical and practical implications in view of its findings. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Can “Double Reduction” Policy Eliminate the Demand for Academic Private Tutoring: An Empirical Study from the Perspective of Bounded Rationality Junyan Liu 2023, 41 (9):  71-84.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.005 Abstract ( 497 )   HTML ( 53 )   PDF (1111KB) ( 605 )   Save In July2021, Chinese government issued the “Double Reduction” policy and started to regulate private tutoring very strictly, seeking significant reduction in its scale. Based on a nationwide parents questionnaire survey, this paper reported that parents welcomed most regulative measures but some of them still demanded academic tutoring. From semi-structured interview, it was found that some types of demand like the one for after-school care would be reduced since schools offered after-school program, but others might not be easily cut down. The new policy had few substantial impacts on students’ educational growth path. Therefore, parents chose to continue their demand for tutoring out of bounded rationality as a strategy to assist their children’s education career. Some demands had turned to underground market because of limited supply under regulations, whose price went up but quality might be unsatisfactory. Finally, the paper concluded with implications for regulating private tutoring effectively with a focus on demand side. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Change of Influencing Factors of Rural Teachers’ Turnover Intention: The Comparison before and after the Implementation of the Rural Teachers Support Plan of Yunnan Province (2015—2020) Yanling Wang 2023, 41 (9):  85-99.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.006 Abstract ( 218 )   HTML ( 22 )   PDF (910KB) ( 318 )   Save Clearly understanding rural teachers’ turnover intention and its influencing factors is the prerequisite for retaining rural teachers. According to a survey of 5,342 rural teachers in Yunnan province, about 30% of them “always have” the willingness to move, which is 5.7% higher than that in 2016. The rural teachers with a teaching experience of “3-5 years” demonstrate the strongest intention to move, indicating that teachers who have joined in recent years are still “unable to retain”. The most important factors affecting rural teachers’ turnover intention are “allowing children to enjoy better educational resources” and “taking care of family members”, while salary, office and housing conditions are significantly lower in the list of factors. The influence of “school management and teacher evaluation” is further highlighted. Combined with field investigations, it is found that the cultural and psychological characteristics of rural teachers caused by the urban-rural dichotomy, the lack of improvement in the welfare of rural teachers under the “county-based” rural compulsory education funding guarantee mechanism, the lack of a stable teacher supply mechanism for rural education, and the failure of the educational management system in township, etc., are the deep-seated factors that influence the willingness of rural teachers’ turnover intention. This study thus suggests that to stabilize the rural teaching force, it is necessary to plan and develop rural education in the process of rural revitalization and rebuild the ecology of rural education. It is also necessary to enhance the continuous improvement mechanism of rural teachers’ welfare, establish a long-term supplementary mechanism for rural teachers, improve the management system of rural education, and stimulate the vitality of rural school operation. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for All: Why is It Possible and How is It Feasible? Pingzhang Ruan, Hui Dong, Xu Liu 2023, 41 (9):  100-111.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.007 Abstract ( 235 )   HTML ( 23 )   PDF (760KB) ( 325 )   Save Under the strategic layout of education, science, technology and talents, the relationship between education and innovation has been further narrowed. How to meet the demand for innovative talents through the construction of high quality education system has become an urgent proposition. As an important part of the training of innovative talents in colleges and universities, innovation and entrepreneurship education in our country has made great progress, but still faces practical problems such as uneven distribution of opportunities, low overall quality, and poor efficiency of educating people. Creating innovation and entrepreneurship education for everyone is the only choice to help build a powerful education country, adapt to the changes of universities themselves and respond to the technological changes of the times. By reviewing the literature and case data of creativity research and education practice at home and abroad, it is found that “everyone can be creative” is becoming mature in theory and feasible in practice. In view of the future, it is still necessary for colleges and universities to promote the deep popularization of “specialization, innovation and integration” in the education process, create an ecological environment of multi-party collaboration and “create atmosphere”, and at the same time, facilitate the continuous growth of students’ “innovative self”. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Legitimacy of School Discipline: A Study from the Perspective of Political Philosophy Cheng Hong, Zhengtao Li 2023, 41 (9):  112-121.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.008 Abstract ( 180 )   HTML ( 15 )   PDF (644KB) ( 302 )   Save Most of the existing studies on school discipline are related to laws and regulations. There are few in-depth investigations of the legitimacy of school discipline from philosophical perspectives. The modern political-philosophical arguments about “reasonable”, “treating someone as an end”, “mutual independence and autonomy” and “good life”, not only contribute to illuminating the source of the legitimacy of school discipline in theory, but also have potential significance for the legitimate practice of school discipline. There are theoretical and practical problems with the principle of “general acceptability” in political liberalism and the principle of “mutual independence and autonomy” in Kantian political philosophy, in terms of justifying the legitimacy of school discipline. These problems can be overcome by a reciprocal logic derived from perfectionism, on the premise of distinguishing two types of perfectionist understanding of “good life”, rebutting the criticism from political liberals and Kantians concerning the “reasonable disagreement” and paternalism, and highlighting the importance of respecting the potential of students to consciously realize their “good lives”. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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International Education as Soft Power Currencies Lin Zhang 2023, 41 (9):  122-137.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.009 Abstract ( 150 )   HTML ( 16 )   PDF (1331KB) ( 230 )   Save The difficulty of improving soft power lies in how to transform soft power resources into soft power including institutional, cultural and value attraction, the key of which is the generation and maintenance of soft power currency. From the case studies of the United States, Britain and Australia, this study identifies three mechanisms for generating soft power through international education, namely the network mechanism, the value-sharing mechanism and the institutions and standards mechanism, all of which can promote the transformation of the three soft power currencies of benignity, beauty, and brilliance into soft power respectively, drive the transformation of different forms of capitals, and hence reinforce their dominant positions in the field of international education. But if the process lacks benignity, integrity, or is over-branded, which leads to inconsistency between branding content and its reality, soft power will be diminished as a result. In this view, China should take international education as an important strategy to accumulate its soft power currencies, strengthen the quality of benignity, beauty, and brilliance under the concept of “a community of shared future for mankind” while draw upon the rich domestic soft power resources, and then build effective pathways for the functioning of the three mechanisms to gain soft power through international education activities. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Research Report on Employment Trends of Chinese College Graduates: Based on 2003—2021 Survey Data Changjun Yue, Qinxue Feng, Xiaojia Xin, Wenqi Qiu 2023, 41 (9):  138-154.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.09.010 Abstract ( 2229 )   HTML ( 150 )   PDF (853KB) ( 1100 )   Save Based on ten national survey data sets on Chinese college graduates’ employment status from 2003 to 2021, this paper conducts empirical analysis on employment characteristics and trend of Chinese college graduates. The main conclusions are as follows. First, from the perspective of graduation destination, the proportion of formal employment has reached a new low level, while the proportion of further education continues to rise. The placement rate has declined, and the unemployment rate has rebounded. The placement rates of graduates with different educational levels tends to converge. Second, from the perspective of employment quality, the higher the graduates’ education level, the higher the starting salary and the faster the salary grows. There is a L-shaped downward trend in relative starting salary. Nearly 50% of graduates have lower starting salaries than expected. Employment satisfaction is on a fluctuating upward trend. Third, from the perspective of employment structure, the employment proportion in large and medium-sized cities exceeds 80%. The employment proportion of private enterprises has jumped to first place. The employment proportion of enterprises increases at the beginning and then decreases, which exceeds 50%. Career types shift from homogenization towards diversification, then back to homogenization. The education industry has become the preferred choice for graduates. Fourth, from the perspective of employment matching, the proportion of education-job match first decreases and then increases, exceeding 70%. The proportion of major-job mismatch is about 40%. Fifth, from the perspective of job-searching status, schools are the main source of job-searching information. The number of job applications has not gradually increased over time, and some graduates have obtained job opportunities but do not accept. Expenses on human relationship, transportation and clothing are the three major job-searching expenses. Ability is the most important factor that affects employment outcomes. Graduates have stable career intentions, attaching importance to prospects and income. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics