Working Situation and Research Willingness: A Case of Primary School Teachers in The Southeast of China

Huo-Hua Gan

doi:10.21580/jieed.v2i1.11184

Authors

Huo-Hua Gan National Tsinghua University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/jieed.v2i1.11184

Keywords:

primary school teachers, research willingness, working situation.

Abstract

Based on the pursuit of research-oriented teachers, this study temped to understand whether school teachers have the time, willingness, and demands to conduct research while teaching. A qualitative survey was conducted among primary school mathematics teachers in southern Fujian province, the Southeast of China, through Questionnaires Star, and 102 texts were obtained. The survey found that primary school mathematics teachers' average daily work time in the sample was about 10 hours. The work contents were cumbersome and diverse, including rigid and semi-rigid tasks, and a social control mode of short-term responsibility with limited personal autonomy was found. The lesson preparation adopted the modification and imitation mode, and the classroom teaching conducted preset adjustment orientation. The research awareness and innovation ability of lesson preparation and teaching were insufficient, but the overall willingness to do research was very high. Teaching-based empirical research was their favorite, aiming at improving personal, professional rank, and student achievement. The reasons for not wanting to do research were mainly busy work, lack of theoretical literacy, and expecting mentors to lead or team up with famous teachers. As such, some recommendations were put forward.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allen, J. M., Butler‐Mader, C., & Smith, R. A. (2010). A fundamental partnership: the experiences of practising teachers as lecturers in a pre‐service teacher education programme. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 16(5), 615-632. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2010.507969

Atay, D. (2008). Teacher research for professional development. ELT journal, 62(2), 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl053

Ballet, K., & Kelchtermans, G. (2009). Struggling with workload: Primary teachers' experience of intensification. Teaching and teacher education, 25(8), 1150-1157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.02.012

Charmaz. (2003). English translation of Border Countries. Constructive grounded theory: a practical guide to qualitative research. Chongqing: Chongqing University Press.

Chen Xiangming (2019). Why do primary and secondary school teachers do research? Research on educational development, 8(1), 67-72.

Clark, K. (2010). The extreme school makeover. US News and World Report, 147(1), 24-31.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Steps in Conducting a Scholarly Mixed Methods Study. DBER Speaker Series., 48. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dberspeakers/48

Crotwell, W. G. (2011). Elementary school teachers' experience of professional workload and time. Walden University. https://www.proquest.com/openview/952a84994cf6b91b794a6893021c1916/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750

Drago, R., Caplan, R., Constanza, D., & Brubaker, T. (1999). New estimates of working time for elementary school teachers. Monthly Lab. Rev., 122, 31. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/month122&div=39&id=&page=

Du Ping, Liu Bin(2020). Do rural teachers get more for more work? —— Probe into the relationship between working hours and wages of rural teachers. Teacher Education Research, 3(1), 98-106.

Duan Qiaoyu, Li Rumi (2020). The dilemma and rational regression of novice teachers' teaching imitation. Teacher Education Research, 1(1),14-19

Fan Min, Liu Yibing. (2017). Stenhouse's thought of "teachers become researchers," Global Education Outlook, 8(1), 83-94

Gaikuo, Li Guang (2020). The development of primary and secondary school teachers: achievements, problems, and strategies based on the survey of primary and secondary school teachers' work and lifestyle in eight provinces in China. Journal of South China Normal University (Social Science Edition), 6(1), 107-116.

Hargreaves, A. (1991). Time and Teachers' Work: An Analysis of the Intensification Thesis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, April.

Huang Mingliang, Zhao Min, Sun Hechuan (2019). Comparative study and enlightenment of primary and secondary school teachers' working hours in OECD countries-based on Education Overview 2016: OECD indicators. New teachers, 4(1),5-7

Liu Youzhang(2007). Dilemma and reflection of primary and secondary school teachers in curriculum action research. Secondary Education,6, 22-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.6249/SE.2007.58.6.02

Thomas, M. (2011). An Investigation of the Relationships of Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Job Satisfaction, and Teacher Working Conditions, Dissertations. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/68

Neufeld, J. P. (1991). Curriculum reform and the time of care. The Curriculum Journal, 2(3), 283-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/0958517910020304

Goddard, R., O'brien, P., & Goddard, M. (2006). Work environment predictors of beginning teacher burnout. British educational research journal, 32(6), 857-874. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920600989511

Robson, C. (2011). Real-World Research: A Resource for Users of Social Research Methods in Applied Settings. 3rd. Chichester: Wiley, Real world research: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings (3rd ed.), by Colin Robson, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Shao Guanghua, Zhang Yan (2019). The current situation and enlightenment of young teachers' inertia based on the investigation of primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in eastern China. Teacher education research, 2,42-47

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Dimensions of teacher burnout: Relations with potential stressors at school. Social Psychology of Education, 20(4), 775-790. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9391-0

Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American journal of evaluation, 27(2), 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748

Wang Jian (2003). On Teacher as Subject and Teacher Researcher. Subject Education, 5(1), 002-007, https://doi.org/10.14082/J.CNKI.1673-1298.2003.05.002