Motivation and morality to manage a class: perceptions of homeroom teachers in China’s Tianjin city

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines homeroom teachers’ motivation and morality in their classroom-level leadership in China. Data are drawn from questionnaires completed by 137 junior middle school homeroom teachers from Tianjin city, and semi-structured interviews with 10 of them. The participating homeroom teachers saw themselves as having high levels of both motivation and teacher morality. And the variable – teacher with a master’s degree – have significant correlations with teachers’ perceptions of motivation. This study suggests a “morality-motivation-management” framework for understanding the interaction of motivation and morality in homeroom teachers’ classroom-level leadership in China.