The Draw of Hometown: Understanding Rural Teachers' Mobility in Southwest China

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Diverse Considérations in Recruiting and Supporting Teachers

Abstract

This two-year study explores the sociocultural dimension of mobility decisions and trajectories of 7 rural teachers in southwest China. It finds that those who teach outside their home district tend to make efforts to return to their hometown in order to gain a sense of belonging, in addition to pursuing better working and living conditions. Their tendency to take family and local community into consideration is intrinsically linked to Chinese cultural sense of self or personhood. These research findings imply that emotional attachment and identity construction of individual teachers should be taken into consideration to retain teachers in impoverished schools.

Authors

• Yanling Wang, Yunnan Normal University, China

• Xiangming Chen, Peking University