The Urban-Rural Divide in Chinese Teachers' Instructional Capacities and Professional Learning Community: A Preliminary Study

• In Event: Building Culturally Responsive Teacher Communities Through Collaborative Reflection

Abstract

The key to instructional improvement lies in teacher learning, and teachers’ professional learning is best achieved in a professional community. This study compares teachers’ communal learning activities in rural and urban schools in China with the aim of illustrating the influence of the professional learning community (PLC) on teachers’ instructional capacities. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 primary school teachers in ten rural schools and eight urban schools, the study reveals striking disparities in collaborative learning activities between rural and urban schools in terms of frequency, quality, and effectiveness. The findings shed new light on rural-urban educational inequality in China. (100 words)

Authors

• Ling Li, Southwest University

• Dan Wang, University of Hong Kong

• Jingying Wang, The University of Hong Kong

• Hui Li, University of Hong Kong