Chinese Principals' Preferences for Teacher Characteristics in Hiring

• In Event: Roundtable Session 56
  In Roundtable Session: Leaders' Job Satisfaction and Hiring Processes

Abstract

Two research questions guided this study: (a) What characteristics do Chinese principals look for when hiring teachers? and (b) What is the effect of participants’ gender, experience or school location on their perceived characteristics of effective teacher candidates in hiring? Maximum variation sampling was used to select six principals for interviews and 316 principals were involved in the survey. The results showed that four items were considered as extremely important: The candidate’s enthusiastic for teaching, the candidate’s ability to create a fun and stimulating classroom environment, the candidate’s ability to provide a positive role model, and the candidate’s classroom management skills. This study provides a framework for future comparative research between China and the U.S.

Authors

• Shujie Liu, Qufu Normal University

• Caixiang Liu

• James H. Stronge, College of William and Mary

• Xianxuan Xu, Stronge & Associates Educational Consulting, LLC