"We Cannot Just Let Teachers Make Sacrifices": Implementing a Teacher Rotation Policy in China

• In Event: 45.092 - MTCC Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 45.092-7 - Examining Teacher Perceptions, Behaviors, and Policies: Implications for Research and the Profession

Abstract

Guided by a sensemaking perspective, this case study examined how five policy actors carried out Teacher Rotation Policy (TRP), a recent policy aimed at closing China’s urban-rural teacher quality gap, in one rural county in China from 2012 to 2015. The data include multiple interviews with each participant, 82 entries of observation notes, and textual materials about implementation process and outcomes. Data analysis revealed that TPR temporarily equalized the county’s teacher quality distributions, but it also caused many misconducts of participating teachers. The policy actors’ sensemaking activities contributed to the policy outcomes in various and significant ways. The research findings suggest conceptual, policy, and practical implications for how to use teacher rotation to improve teacher workforce in hard-to-staff schools.

Author

• Wei Liao, Beijing Normal University