Overcoming Reform-Related Challenges: The Role of Resilience in Maintaining Early-Career Teachers’ Well-Being

• In Event: Research in Progress Roundtable Session 3
  In Invited Roundtable: International Perspectives on Education Reform: Organizational Change, Teacher Resilience, and Gender Disparities in Student Outcomes (Table 10)

Abstract

This research interviewed 13 early-career teachers (ECTs) in Shanghai, China, who are undergoing the "Double Reduction" reform, to explore the influence of educational reform on ECTs’ well-being and how resilience helps them self-adjust to protect their well-being. By adopting the constructivist grounded theory approach, the preliminary research findings reveal that the "Double Reduction" reform has augmented the difficulty, intensity, and conflicts of teachers' work, posing threats to the emotions and physical conditions of ECTs while simultaneously activating their resilience. The strength of individuals and communities has facilitated the development of teachers' resilience. With the support of resilience, ECTs have conceived a series of life and work strategies to overcome the reform-related challenges. This study highlights the subjectivity and professionalism of ECTs.

Authors

• Wenxin Gao, East China Normal University

• Min Xiao, East China Normal University