Rural Teachers Research Articles

Pre-service and Post-service Integration of Teachers in China: Results and Reflections of the Hainan Rural Teacher Training Program

Pre-service and Post-service Integration of Teachers in China: Results and Reflections of the Hainan Rural Teacher Training Program

“Finding happiness in daily work”: an ecological study on the emotions of novice EFL teachers in rural primary schools in China

While research on teacher emotions has grown in the past decades, little is known about rural teachers’ and novice teachers’ emotions. Based on ecological theory, this study selected two novice EFL teachers as the research objects. The goal was to explore their emotional experiences and the factors that influenced them over 3 years while teaching in rural primary schools. The research data was collected primarily through semi-structured interviews, teaching diaries, and narrative frameworks. Three-step coding and topic analysis were used to analyze the collected data. The data analysis revealed that the two novice teachers generated 62 emotions while interacting with various ecosystems. In Microsystems, teacher-student interaction has a strong influence on participants’ emotions. Two participants experienced 19 positive emotions and 9 negative emotions during their interactions with the students. In addition, novice teachers may experience negative emotions if they are burdened with too many non-teaching tasks. In this study, two participants were able to effectively manage their negative emotions. The general emotional trend was positive, which motivated them to stay and continue teaching in the rural area. The results of this study have implications for the professional development of rural teachers and novice teachers.

SWOT Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Enabling Rural Teacher Team Building in Context of Rural Revitalization

Rural revitalization lies in the revitalization of rural education, and the revitalization of rural education lies in the construction of rural teachers. Artificial intelligence empowers the construction of rural teachers, which is an inevitable initiative to comply with Chinas rural revitalization strategy. Through SWOT analysis, the advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats of AI-enabled rural teacher team building are comprehensively analyzed, in order to achieve the strengths to avoid weaknesses, grasp the opportunities, meet the threats, and put forward the following countermeasures to promote the construction of AI-enabled rural teacher team. It also proposes countermeasures to promote the sustainable and healthy development of rural teachers team construction.

Unpacking Continuous Assessment: Teacher Knowledge and Attitudes in Zimbabwe Rural Secondary Schools

The paper explores the implementation of continuous assessment in the context of teacher knowledge and attitudes in Zimbabwean rural secondary schools. Continuous assessment is a new curriculum assessment regime in the curriculum reform agenda in Zimbabwe introduced in the 2015 updated curriculum.The study defines continuous assessment as the mechanism where thelearner performs over timeconstitutes the final gradingof the learner.The researchers explain the teacher-related implementation challenges in continuous assessment in rural secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Ten teachers and five secondary school heads from Goromonzi District of Mashonaland East Province in Zimbabwe participated in the study. The five participating heads were conveniently selected, while theten teachers were randomly sampled to participate in the case study.Semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to collect qualitative data on rural teachers’ conceptualisationof continuous assessment and how this had shaped their attitudes towardthe concept. The general finding from the study was that the new assessment regime had empowered the teachers to make critical decisions about the students they teach and allow learners to co-create knowledge relevant to their life contexts.However, their concerns were around the absence of knowledgeable professionals in the area who can cascade and message the correct and accurate information regarding the implementation of the assessment reform.The study further found that this weakness in the implementation chain had resulted in negative attitudes of teachers and school heads. The study recommends that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education revisit the current continuous assessment to takeon board all educational stakeholders’ concerns for effective implementation of the assessment reform.

The Financial Expenditure in the Field of Rural Teacher Construction Under the Background of Poverty Alleviation Through Education ---Take Educational Poverty Alleviation in Poverty-stricken Counties in Shaanxi Province as an Example

As a fundamental solution to block the intergenerational transmission of poverty, poverty alleviation through education is still the direction and focus of Chinese poverty governance in the post-poverty era. Faced with the existing problems in poverty alleviation through education concerning the young and middle-aged rural teachers could be introduced but cannot stay, as well as various psychological and living needs problems of rural teachers. In order to ensure the continuous inflow of fresh blood in the construction of rural teachers, it urgently needs strong and precise support from financial policies. This paper takes an example of education poverty alleviation in poor counties of Shanxi Province. With the help of literature review and interviewing methods, this paper demonstrates the actual internal and external problems faced by the construction of rural teachers, such as the personal promotion of rural teachers, psychological problems, and the organizational structure of teachers. From the perspective of financial solutions, this paper explores the basic ideas of the construction of rural teachers and then puts forward new ideas on the construction of rural teachers in terms of structural adjustment of fiscal policy implementation.

‘Can I survive in the rural school?’ Development of mobile rural early-career teacher resilience

ABSTRACT Mobilising urban early-career teachers to commonly perceived ‘under-resourced’ and ‘challenging’ rural schools has become an approach to address the rural teacher shortage and improve rural teacher quality. However, the demographic change often requires mobile rural-early career teachers (MR-ECTs) better prepare for a different educational environment. This qualitative case study explores the professional trajectories of four MR-ECTs in a rural primary school in Guangxi, China, regarding their process and outcome of adaptation during their first two years of teaching. Adopting semi-structured interviews, this study finds that the MR-ECTs were somehow under-prepared for the rural school and adopted a ‘deficit’ mindset in the first place to perceive their professional challenges in the rural school. Yet, they gradually became more resilient in overcoming the challenges and retaining in the rural school by harnessing and collecting available resources from their pre-service and in-service experiences to increase their place consciousness and rural readiness. This understanding will enable teachers, teacher educators, policymakers and school leaders to assist MR-ECTs’ ruralisation and contribution to rural schools in more informed ways.

Factors Hampering the Realization of Equity and Quality Education in Zimbabwe’s Rural Schools: Experiences of Chipinge Central Circuit, Manicaland

Globally, many countries are grappling with educational inequities. Despite the Government of Zimbabwe’s pursuit of universal education since 1980, inequities and poor quality education challenges persist unabated in rural schools. The continuing challenges prompted this study to investigate the factors hampering the realization of equity and quality education in rural communities. The article provides a case-specific account anchored on the lived experiences of rural teachers and school heads in Chipinge central circuit. Drawing on key informant interviews coupled with documentary review, the article revealed a multiplicity of factors, namely, funding, family and community support barriers, child labour and dropouts, child hunger and distance challenges, shortage of teaching resources, shortage of teachers, inadequate physical structures, electricity, among others, that undermine the realization of equity and quality education in rural schools. The article recommends improved government funding and support, digital skills capacity development for rural school teachers and retention strategies for rural teachers. Through such capacity-building interventions, rural schools will have the needed infrastructure, modern technologies and adequately qualified teachers to provide quality education to rural learners.

The Influencing Factors and Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of Primary and Junior Secondary School Teachers: Empirical Study Based on Mali’s Bamako and Kita Regions

Over decades, Malian primary and junior secondary school teachers have gone through work stoppages, strikes, and demonstrations claiming better living and working conditions. These incessant claims have caused the loss of much learning and teaching time and are charged being one of the causes of students' failure. This study examines the factors influencing Malian primary and junior secondary school teachers' job satisfaction and establishes the correlations between their job satisfaction and job performance. We used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design to examine the factors influencing Malian primary and junior secondary school teachers' job satisfaction. The quantitative phase consisted of five hundred and twenty (n=520) teachers selected using stratified random sampling techniques. In contrast, the qualitative phase consisted of twenty (n=20) participants purposively selected from the quantitative phase based on their level of dissatisfaction. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the interviews. Overall, the findings showed that most of the teachers (51 %) were not satisfied with their job. The study showed that urban teachers are more satisfied with their job than rural teachers. A significant correlation was found between teachers' general level of satisfaction and their job performance. It showed that the more satisfied teachers are, the better students' academic performance in Mali.

The rural teacher shortage

There is much alarm about the current teacher shortage resulting from the pandemic and its aftermath. But teacher shortages have long been a perennial issue in K-12 education. Researchers Richard Ingersoll and Henry Tran analyzed data from the National Center of Education Statistics to compare rural schools to urban and suburban schools to understand their teacher staffing problems. They found that rural teacher shortages are worse than elsewhere and are driven by teacher turnover and hence won’t be solved just by focusing on new teacher recruitment. High-poverty rural schools and rural schools with high levels of students of color face the most extreme teacher turnover of all schools, experiencing departures of between a quarter and a third of teachers annually. Their reasons for leaving include lack of classroom autonomy and the inability to be included in schoolwide decision making.

The Synergized Quality Improvement Program in Teacher Education: A Policy for Improving the Quality of China's Rural Teachers

Purpose This study elucidates the rationale, implementation, values, and challenges of the Synergized Quality Improvement Program in Teacher Education (SQIPTE)—the first policy specifically dedicated to the development of teaching staff since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Design/Approach/Methods After introducing the primary structure and rationale of the SQIPTE, this study reviews the existing data and research to explain why the program focuses on local normal colleges and determine how it could be implemented more effectively. Findings In establishing group-based assistance under the principle of “1 + M + N” (M ≥ N), the SQIPTE seeks to make normal colleges the primary force in the education of rural teachers and explores a collaborative operating mechanism to this end. Evidence suggests that this innovative program will provide new practical experience for the collaborative development and quality improvement of teachers. Originality/Value This study reviews the SQIPTE as a new Chinese intervention to improve the quality of rural teachers. There is strong evidence to suggest that this innovative program will inspire the construction of collaborative operating mechanisms incorporating multiple resources for teacher education systems across different areas.

Challenges in Chinas Integration of Rural and Urban Education

The Chinese governments promotion of the integration of urban and rural education is an important measure to solve the problem of urban-rural education imbalance in China. However, there are still some imbalanced issues. Therefore, this article first describes and analyzes the existing imbalances in the construction of educational integration through literature analysis, and then proposes suggestions to address these issues. According to research, there are issues in combining urban and rural education include the loss of students, uneven distribution of educational resources and funds, and gaps in teaching staff. In response to these issues, rural areas need to achieve local urbanization. The government should adhere to the principle of rural priority, evenly allocate education resources and increase investment in education funds. Additionally, government should innovate and improve the rural teacher team. The imbalance in education between urban and rural areas in China can only be resolved in this way, which will also help China better promote the integration of urban and rural education.

Impact of School, Government, Society and Individuals Influencing Professional Development Strategies of Rural Teachers

A rising number of research shows that teachers' ability to excite pupils has an impact on their motivation, involvement, and academic success. The study focuses on the schooling administration development strategies affect rural teachers' skills, motivation, and performance in China's rural schools, as well as school administration support as a mediator. 280 rural school teachers from various schools in China participated in an online and in-person survey for the analysis. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) show that teaching experience enhances performance. The findings of the study also revealed a relationship between the effectiveness of Chinese rural school teachers and their training, experience, and support from the administration of their respective schools. Additional research can be carried out to keep the understanding of our model accurate. There was yet another drawback to using a quantitative, closed-ended questionnaire. The cross-sectional form of the study makes it challenging to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship. A more complex approach, including student responses to instructors' motivation, student interest, and their assessments of teachers' teaching methods, will enable future research to help us better understand the process of teacher motivation. The results of this study can offer useful information to policy makers and educational administrators on the best ways to enhance teachers' abilities and performance in rural areas. The study could also show how these tactics affect teachers' motivation, which is important for keeping good instructors in rural areas.

Rural Teacher Competencies: An International Comparative Study on the Territorial Dimension of Rural Schools

This article presents the results of a descriptive study carried out within the framework of the FOPROMAR project, obtained after administering a questionnaire regarding competences related to the territorial dimension of rural schools among teachers working in rural schools in Spain (Aragon and Catalonia), France (Aquitaine) and Portugal (Alto Alentejo). The questionnaire included three parts (professional profile, competences on the territorial dimension of the school and knowledge about the territory), but only the results referring to the competences section are presented, showing the level of relevance and the degree of mastery that teachers express in relation to these competences. According to the results, the competences with the greatest mastery are those referring to the design and development of programmes, followed by professional competences and school-community relations. This order is also found in the assessment carried out, indicating that they are more valued than mastered. One of the conclusions is the need to reinforce competences not included in training plans, but considered more necessary and important for working in rural schools.

MOTIVATION OF A RURAL TEACHER TO IMPLEMENT THE TECHNOLOGY OF EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY

The article presents the results of one of the stages of the research on scientifically qualified work. Determining the level of motivation, desire for professional growth, further self-education and self-development of a rural teacher in postgraduate professional activity is one of the most important tasks today. This will help to understand the main reasons for the loss of interest in their professional activities among teachers, identify the main motives and develop further work on training and maintaining the creative potential of teachers. In achieving the goals of this stage of the study, a whole range of scientific methods was used: surveys, conversations, analysis and synthesis of tests conducted according to various methods of outstanding educational psychologists. The results were summed up, the main needs and desires of teachers for further self-development were determined. Conclusions and recommendations are formulated to increase the interest and motivation of teachers to implement the technology of educational activities. The results may be of interest to heads of general education institutions, advanced training courses and institutes of continuing profes- sional education.

Optimization of Teacher Incentive Mechanism and Policy Supply in Rural China Based on Judgment Matrix

Abstract With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, rural education is crucial in Chinese education, and the problem of rural teachers’ incentive mechanisms directly affects the quality of rural education. Firstly, according to the incentive mechanism of rural teachers, quantitative and qualitative research on the incentive mechanism of teachers in rural areas using the fuzzy evaluation method is proposed. In the fuzzy judgment matrix, each level is determined based on the decomposition of the previous level, and the results of the previous level are determined based on the calculation results of the next level. Then, using the relevant motivation theory and questionnaires, the principal and teachers of the school were investigated to understand the current situation and main problems of the construction of teachers’ motivation mechanism in the junior high school of Un Dong Town, Duyun City. Using the fuzzy evaluation method to analyze the difference between the actual feeling and expected demand of teachers’ motivation, the result shows that the difference between salary and promotion is 1.22 and 1.19, which means that the difference between salary and promotion is bigger in the motivation mechanism of rural teachers, and we should focus on reforming the salary scheme and implementing the promotion training mechanism of rural teachers. This study confronts the problem of rural teachers’ incentive mechanism, which has good theoretical and practical guidance for improving education quality and so on.

Rural Teachers’ and Non-Rural Teachers’ Motivations to Teach: Differences and Similarities

Rural Teachers’ and Non-Rural Teachers’ Motivations to Teach: Differences and Similarities

Rural Teachers’ Burnout, Well-Being, and COVID-19 Related Stress During the Pandemic

Rural Teachers’ Burnout, Well-Being, and COVID-19 Related Stress During the Pandemic

Decision-Making Instruction: Rural Teachers’ Challenges and Perceptions of Robert Stahl’s Decision-Making Materials in the Social Studies Classroom

This qualitative case study investigated rural high school social studies teachers’ perceptions of Robert Stahl’s decision-making materials within their content area and the relevance of curricular implementation. The primary questions addressed in this study focused on high school social studies teachers’ perception of current instructional practices, inquiry-based learning, state standards, and national frameworks regarding content and classroom instruction. Findings indicated that: a) decision-making materials, developed by Robert Stahl, are valued as a pedagogical approach towards learning; b) standards-based curriculum and accountability hinder student inquiry; c) rural participants perceived social studies education to be placed on a back burner; and d) The National Council for the Social Studies College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework’s influence is largely unknown and unrealistic among rural social studies teachers.

Promising Practice: Book Studies as Professional Development for Rural Teachers

Promising Practice: Book Studies as Professional Development for Rural Teachers

Professional capabilities of rural schoolteachers in Kazakhstan

This paper is based on a research study that explores the professional capacities and capabilities of teachers in Kazakhstani rural schools from the perspectives of key stakeholders. By employing a mixed-methods research design, this study used both quantitative surveys and semi-structured interviews to collect data on teachers’ capabilities and experiences [1]. The quantitative surveys were administered to 125 teachers from 40 rural schools across Kazakhstan. Ninety qualitative interviews (41 individuals and 49 focus groups) were conducted with participants from rural schools in the outskirts of Almaty, Kyzylorda, Shymkent, Aktau, and Oskemen regions. The interview participants included school principals, vice principals, subject coordinators, teachers, students of Grades 7–11, regional and district education managers, and parents. The study’s key findings revealed how rural schoolteachers are perceived by the stakeholders as well as the core issues, challenges, and dilemmas faced by these teachers. The study also makes recommendations for facilitation processes for the quality of the rural teacher profession. The UNESCO Quality Framework was used to guide the study.