A Study of the Secondary Headteachers in Rural China

This book examines the personal and professional lives of secondary head teachers in Chuxiong, Yunan Province, in China. The approach used to research this topic is based on theoretical and methodological ideas drawn from Gronn and Day, Bakioglu, and Ribbins and his various collaborators. In particular it draws upon the two route, four-phase career pathway model of Formation, Accession, Incumbency, Moving-on/Divestiture or Reinvention that has been proposed by Ribbins et al. This is a qualitative research in Nature.Field research has been conducted in China. This research has offered tentative confirmation for the relevance of ideas drawn from the western literature to China. It has begun to identify some important problems regarding, inter alia, the appointment, support and training of head teachers. In addition, the issues of gender, personnel policy have been identified as well. Should this analysis have a wider relevance, then far reaching reform of these aspects of the system is urgently needed if the quality of schooling in China is to be improved.