From University Graduates to Teachers in Disadvantaged Schools: A Sociological Study of Participation in an Alternative Teacher Recruitment Program

Abstract

This study documents the experience of graduates from prestigious universities as they became teachers in disadvantaged schools through an alternative teacher recruitment program in China. The main findings identify multiple sociological reasons behind participation, major disparities between pre-service assumptions about rural-school teaching and in-service perceptions, and differences in the enactment of program values in disadvantaged schools. The study recommends that both the program and its participants should cultivate a sociological perspective on themselves and students in disadvantaged schools.