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CHAPTER-ONE 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Background of the study school week into twenty-four to twenty-seven classes of forty-five minutes each. Most primary schools have a six-year course. 1.2.2 An introduction to the primary-school teachers in China In Chinese traditional culture, education is always in the first place of activities of families and society. Teachers are respected by the entire society because people think that what teachers do critically affect the lives and prospects of a nation’s future generation, as well as the general welfare of a country. Accordingly, September 10th was designated Teachers’ Day in 1985, the first festival day for any profession and indicative of government efforts to raise the social status and living standards of teachers. Primary education lays the foundation for people’s pursuit of further learning and fulfillment of their potential. So the primary-school teachers in China are expected to be more and more professional to be capable of dealing with the daily educational activities and also enormous changes that have been taking place in the present knowledge and information society. To achieve that, China’s government did a lot of work. For instance, to improve the quality of teaching, the government has started the Nationwide Program of Network for Education of Teachers. Its aims are: to modernize teachers' education through educational information, providing support and services for lifelong learning through the teachers' education network, TV satellite network, and the Internet; to greatly improve the teaching quality of elementary and high school faculty through large-scale, high-quality and high-efficiency training and continuous education.#p#分页标题#e# At present, China has altogether 6.12 million primary school teachers with 65% of them in countryside (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2007). The qualification and professionalism of this huge group will directly influence the overall quality of Chinese fundamental education as well as the future national quality. 1.3 Statement of the problem It did happen, however, the demand for the high-quality of the teachers has increased in the beginning of 21st century. Only a small part of teachers in China get higher educational background such as master degree and better trainings and usually they work in urban primary schools. So China still needs more high-professional primary teachers throughout the country, including urban and rural area.. In addition, urban teachers seem more professional comparing to the rural ones. They continue to earn more than their rural counterparts and because academic standards in the countryside have dropped, it remains difficult to recruit teachers for rural areas. Even in the western part of China, teachers in rural areas also have production responsibilities for their plots of land, which take time from their teaching. Rural primary teachers need to supplement their pay by farming because most are paid by the relatively poor local communities rather than by the state.
1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Scope of the study
1.7 Limitation of the study The relative lack of documents about school history and development is unavoidable because of the nonstandard and inefficient administration system of school early in 1980s. And the development of primary teaching occupation that is studied is from 1980 to 2008, that is the limitation of time.#p#分页标题#e# Additionally, interview is important for this small-sized study. Although I design four types of questionnaire and also plan to cross-check the information, there are inevitable weakness caused by the misunderstanding of the people interviewed. 1.8 Organization of the Study concept of profession and professionalization in the context of China. It also discuss the the actor-based framework which would be employed in the study. Chapter four:the historical perspective of professionalization of primary-school teachers in Jiangyin The chapter provides the presentation of historical development of primary teaching occupation in the period I have studied. Chapter Five: analysis and findings. With analysis and findings, this chapter examines the role of the state, the teaching training, the teachers’ vocational union and users respectively in the professionalization process of primary-school teachers. Chapter six: conclusion and recommendations. It offers the conclusions and suggestions for improvement of the professionalization of primary teaching occupation. Profession and professionalization The term “profession” has been debated in the perspective of sociology and the criteria which differentiate profession from other occupations have been strongly contested. Therefore, regarding how the concept of profession should be defined, scholars have not achieved the agreement. Referring to the literature, two major approaches can be distinguished in the study of professions: one tries to characterize different occupational groups and their particular roles in the society, while the other concentrates on the process through which an occupational group becomes a profession. It is important to be aware of that in any analysis of the professionalization or of the characteristics and professional development of an occupation the researcher must have a clear idea of what constitutes a profession and what are its essential elements. Although these matters have been intensively debated and frequently disagreed among scholars, Kocka provided a definition of profession from sociological point of view that may be workable for this study. His suggestion is as follows:#p#分页标题#e#
The definition distinguishes clearly between characteristics that describe professional occupations and the demands and claims that they make, and provide clear criteria for recognizing both. Moreover, it provides criteria that can be operationalized and measured (Burrage et al, 1990). S.M. Abdul Quddus also discussed Kocka’s definition of profession in his dissertation “The unfeasibility of professionalization of primary-school teachers in Bangladesh” and he pointed out that Kocka’s definition of profession reflects the Anglo-American and to some extent the continental European attributes (Burrage et al, 1990). What he thought was that it was necessary to realize that the Western definition of profession had its own blind side and limitation. So when it was adopted to the particular context of a developing country such as his country Bangladesh, he needed to avoid distortion of the specific reality, and modify the definition in accordance with the context. Therefore, profession in the Bangladesh context, according to his own understanding, was somewhat similar to Kocka’s suggested definition, with some small modifications. For him, the term “profession” referred to a full-time, non-manual occupation with substantial honor, rewards and social prestige on the position holder, as well as access to authority and power. Moreover, practice of a profession presupposes specialized and scholarly training and competence, and a particular code of ethic such as altruism. Access to a profession depends upon acquisition of a specific degree or diploma. Moreover, a profession tends to demand a monopoly of services provided, as well as freedom from control by others such as the state. This definition of profession combines the western literature regarding profession with the context of developing country, that is also meaningful for my similar study in China, which is also a developing country. That is why this definition from Quddus is adopted in my study. The term “professionalization” is also defined in various ways in sociological research and analysis. Quddus discussed three main ways in his dissertation. The first way is from Erichsen. He thinks professionalization is to some extent “a process of occupational change” and it has two distinct characteristics: occupational struggles for control over practice, and the conditions and content of occupational activities(Erichsen, 1990:30).#p#分页标题#e# The second way is focusing on the efforts of professional organizations to control the entry, certification and practice of s specific occupation; membership. Quddus took Theodore Caplow’s explanation of professionalization for an example: Professions begin with the establishment of professional associations that have explicit membership rules to exclude the unqualified. Second, they change their names, in order to lose their past, to assert their monopoly and most importantly, to give themselves a level capable of legislative restriction. Third, they set up a code of ethics to assert their social utility. To further regulate the incompetence, and to reduce internal competition. Forth, they agitate politically to obtain legal recognition, aiming at first to limit the profession title and later to criminalize unlicensed work in their jurisdiction(Caplow, 1954:139-40 and quoted in Abbott, 1988:11). Quddus also pointed out that there are clear sequences of functions acquired in the professionalization process in this analysis. The third way views professionalization as a process of essential attributes. For instance, Hoyle’s(1985) defines professionalization as a process whereby an occupation meets the criteria attributed to a profession: (i) a body of knowledge, (ii) exclusiveness, (iii) lengthy training, (iv) control over practice or autonomy, and (v) a code of ethics etc, in other words, professionalization is viewed as a process whereby occupations have become, or seek to become a profession that is recognized publicly, in accordance with the degree to which they meet the alleged criteria. Erichsen has mentioned that scholarly writings , mainly in the 50s and 60s(e.g. Wilensky, 1964, Vollmer and Mills, 1966, Greenwood, 1957), have defined the notion of professionalization as a rout through which an occupation passes different stages in order to be qualified as profession (Erichsen, 1990:28). The above-mentioned discussion implies that the process of professionalization is also a multi-route project and that the term has been the subject of intense debate and frequent disagreement. However, scholars (e.g. Clark, 1990; Burrage et al. 1990) have identified the following mechanisms to ensure or guarantee professionalization: State recognition and delegation of power, which gives the profession a high degree of autonomy and some legal mechanisms to enforce its monopoly over the provision of its service and the use of its title; Commitment to practicing a body of knowledge and skill of special value that are the result of specialized, systematic and scholarly training; and to maintain a fiduciary relationship with clients; Specific material rewards and higher social prestige and recognition, which mean that the professionals have a high degree of motivation based on an idea of altruistic service rather than pursuit of material and economic gain; Professional organization as a means of exercising control over recruitment, training, certification and standards of practice; and over access to basic occupation resources.#p#分页标题#e#
Erichsen(1990) and Helsby(1995) both recognize professionalization as a process of occupational change or a number of stages through which an occupation passes en route to qualification as profession. For instance, according to Helsby(1995), in the specific context of teaching ,what it means to be “professional”---professionalization, involves to two things: (i) improving quality and standard of practice(some scholars, e.g. Englund(1996), call it professionalism); and (ii) improving status, regard, rewards, etc(some scholars, e.g. Hargreaves(2000), call it professionalization). The definitions from these two scholars are complementary and provide a workable framework for the study of professionalization of primary-school teachers in China. Therefore, in this study the term “professionalization” is used to refer to the occupation of teaching as a process of occupational change that denotes the enhancement of both standard and quality of practice, as well as the status and level of vocational rewards, as emphasized by Helsby(1995).
While professionalization refers to a process, there are five main models regarding to the teaching occupation. The first one is the trait model. This model’s “claims for professional status are themselves the major conditions for professionalization”(Johnson, 1972:31). Wilensky(1964:142-6) suggested the following stages of professionalization in the American context: the emergence of a full-time occupation; the establishment of a training school; the founding of professional association; political agitation directed toward the protection of the association by law; and the adoption of a formal code. The second one is functionalist model which focus on functions in defining the concept of professionalization of an occupation. Barber (1963) clearly acknowledge the role of specific groups or organizations in the professionalization process and he pointed out four essential attributes in defining professional behaviour: a high degree of generalized and systematic knowledge; primary orientation to the community interest rather than to individual self-interest; a high degree of practitioners’ self-control through a code of ethics imposed by an association and s system of rewards(monetary and honorary). Judges indicated that at least three actors in the professionalization can be deduced inBarber’s analysis: an academic/training institution will provide professionals with a high standard skill and systematic#p#分页标题#e# The third one is the structure model which ,for example, like Wilensky’s(1964) analysis focused mainly on understanding professionalization as structures rather than specific actors. Even so, there are still some actors implied in his analysis, these are training institution, the professional association and the state. The forth one is the monopoly model which views the professionalization as an external social process. From the perspective of this model, the professionals and the professional associations, the state and the user are the important actors. The last one is called the cultural model which mainly based on Friedson’s concept of professionalism and professionalization. It consisits of some interdependent elements(Friedson, 2001:127-8): credence to the professional ideology, and create and maintain the general educational system which provides the foundation for professional schooling,etc. Therefore, these actors identified by his concept of professionalization are: the higher academic/training institutions, professionals themselves(professional organizations), and the state.
In the original theoretical model, four main actors are identified (state, training institution, professional organization and user) ,they are considered to determine the form and success or failure of the professionalization of an occupation. According to Burrage et al, these four actors are crucial, being actively engaged in the struggle of occupations to establish themselves as professions. Moreover, these actors are considered useful in exploring the critical stages of development of professions as well as occupation which, according to many criteria, do not exactly fit what scholars call professions (ibid.P.207). The “actor-based framework” was critical for this study because it facilitated the analysis of professionalization of occupations and general theory of professions on the basis of the role played by a limited group of actors. The issues of this study fit with their framework because the aim was to examine the development of primary teachers as an occupational group in the context of China,#p#分页标题#e# focusing on the extent to which they emerge as a distinct, publicly recognized occupation that has controlled their own work situation. The actor-based framework would help me to explain how different actors act and why they act in a particular way in relation to the primary teaching occupation in China. It also would help me to understand how different actors involved inhibit the professionalization of primary teaching in China. The four basic interacting actors that according to Burrage et al (1990) determine the success or failure of professionalization of an occupation are as follows: The state, according to Burrage et al, is the key actor in the process of professionalization of occupational groups, being both the regulator of the practitioners’ lives and the instrument of their vocational advancement. Training institutes, for Burrage et al, are another significant actor in the process of professionalization. This particular category of actor has jurisdiction over a fundamental resource: the knowledge on which a particular profession/occupation depends. Moreover, the status of an occupation depends on the degrees which they provide this knowledge. Practicing professionals, according to Burrage et al, are key actors in their own vocational development. For them, there are different types of vocational organizations based on, for example, activities related to interests/knowledge, lobbying, trade unions and regulatory bodies. In order to protect and enhance their vocational interests and ensure their monopoly, as well as to maintain their vocational autonomy, practitioners use their vocational organization, ideology, resources, etc (Burrage et al, 1990). ESSAY 范文Users of vocational services, in the view of Burrage et al (1990), are an integral part of professionalization project because in most cases they are “fee-for-service” clients and are the ideal users of vocational services. Users can use their resources-e.g. fees, publicity, legal and penal sanction,etc – to reward or control the vocational standard of the individual members of the profession/occupation. More specifically, in this study, when i explore the role of the state in the professionalization of primary teaching in the local level of China, emphasis will be placed upon the role of governing elites and how their activities affect the current situation of primary-school teachers educational work. Freidson has identified four features of profession type training: curriculum, knowledge control, occupational solidarity and professionals' status. Therefore, these four features will selected as criterion of the training institutes in my analysis. And regarding to the practicing professionals, emphasis will be placed upon the organizational factors which could determine the existence of primary teachers union and whether this teachers' association in China is a qualifying association or not. And the autonomy of the association will also be examined.#p#分页标题#e# Regarding to the users of this profession, emphasis will be placed upon the users' trust and confidence in primary teaching service. CHAPTER-THREE in terms of its very characteristics on the basis of the contemporary situation in China and the contemporary elites and their backgrounds. Method/Tools of Data Collection Validity and Reliability
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