Why Did the Reform Die in the Predawn Darkness? The Behavioral Logic of the Rural Teacher Personnel System

• In Event: Division L Roundtable Session

Abstract

The Reform of teacher personnel system is the main means to improve rural education, but usually fails. We tracked a reform in a Chinese rural county for 3 years. The logic of the reform is to enhance teachers’ teaching efficacy by increasing their occupational stress. Though HLM and CLPM, we found that the stress increased during the reform and that coping behaviors is the mediating variable between stress and efficacy. Stress decreased positive coping behaviors and then decreased efficacy, which is different from the logic of the reform. So the reform failed. However, the relationship between stress and efficacy is u-shaped and 2.8 is minimal. In 2016, the average stress is 2.88. The reform died in the pre-dawn darkness.

Authors

• Qian Zhao, Beijing Normal University

• Dongfang Zhao, Beijing Normal University