The Contemporary Situation Of Chinese Teacher Identity And Its Ethical Orientation

In the contemporary era,under the multiple circumstances of social transformation and educational reform,Chinese teacher identity has also been greatly challenged,which is reflected in the two dimensions of external and internal identity.External orientation is a question of how teachers can better get along with "strangers" due to social mobility and openness.Internal orientation is how teachers deal with the functional value of their profession and their sense of meaning in life.Based on this background,the dissertation takes theoretical analysis and cross-case analysis as the basic research methodology to explore the situation and essence of contemporary Chinese teacher identity,and hopes to find the ethical orientation of teacher identify in the future from an ethical perspective.As the problem of teacher identity in contemporary China involves the reconstruction of multiple relationships between teachers and others,groups and selves,this dissertation draws lessons from Western identity theory about the views of the problems of self-identity,the other identity and collective identity,and takes them as the theoretical basis to examine the problem of teacher identity in contemporary China,and analyze the relationship between teacher identity and ethics,aiming at clarifying the cognitive premise of this study.Therefore,in the introduction part of the dissertation,the significance of the research topic,the core concepts,the existing research achievement and the framework are explained.In the second chapter,the theoretical basis and cognitive premise of this study are described.Then,in the third chapter,the author analyzes the contemporary situation of teachers in China,hoping to see what is the new era challenge for teacher identity,and what is the ethical essence of this appeal.The study found that: from the external macro perspective,our teachers are in a social situation that shows the increasingly loosening interpersonal relationships,the increasingly changeable living style,the disintegration of acquaintances and the arrival of strangers' society.All these facts constitute new challenges to our teachers.From the perspective of the internal situation of education itself,Chinese teachers are also facing multiple challenges: the complex and diverse environment of students and their growth,the continuous reform of contemporary education,the increasingly stringent work requirements such as the reform of teacher appointment system,all of which also challenge teachers' professional accomplishment and ability.As far as teachers themselves are concerned,uncertainties,openness and subjectivity also impact teacher identity.Generally speaking,the challenge posed by these internal and external circumstances to the identity of teachers in our country demonstrates that the essence of the challenge is that the identity of teachers should be externally accepted as the call of the “the other” in the civil society(such as different ideas,different cultural backgrounds,different social strata,etc.)for the spirit of “us”,which the undertaker of building a harmonious,united and destiny-related civilized society and cultivating “new people''.This requires teachers' internal quality,meaning that they can transform the pressure from the requirements of professional survival and the spirit of the times into the self-realization to meet the ontological self's demand for meaning.So,what is the current situation of teacher identity in China? Starting from the fourth chapter,the dissertation conducts cross-case analysis.The cases are selected from the second decade of the 21 st century(2010-present)in China's northern,western and southern coastal areas.Firstly,the case presents three types of teacher identities in different regions of China: principal Xu,who is the spokesman of a harmonious society,teacher Bing,who is the core identity of “family responsible person”,and teacher Dong Mei and teacher Ying,who are pursuing professional identity.Then,the cross-case analysis is conducted to analyze the similarities and differences of the three teachers' identity.From the general perspective,three teachers agree that the national education policy demands the new teacher identity,for example,from knowledge inculcator to student instructor.They also agree with the significance of the teacher community to teachers' professional development,and think that the primary responsibility of teachers is teaching and educating students.But three teachers also show obvious regional differences: Principal Xu in northern China lays great emphasis on her identity as a member of the harmonious society and also regards herself as a coordinator of the harmonious relationship between teachers.But it seems that education reform does not pose a challenge to her identity as a professional leader.The essence of teacher identity for Bing in the western region of China is the relationship between education and human beings,which also extends to getting along with family members.But the two dimensions of social change and professional development do not seem to challenge his teacher identity.Dong Mei and Ying in the southern part of China are at the forefront of social change in China.Their identity is influenced by the forefront of China's social reform.The frequent population movements and educational reforms directly affect the two teachers' focus on their identity to the reconstruction of their professional identity.But it seems that they have not thought much about the relationship between self and social development.Therefore,on the whole,it can be concluded that although the situation of our times has already posed multiple challenges to the re-construction and re-identification of teacher identity,the identity of teachers is inadequate in three dimensions.First is the identity of teachers as national educational agents in the context of globalization.That is to say,teachers need not only stand in the perspective of state and social change,but also think about how the times challenge their identities,and consider from the background of globalization,as teachers,how to understand the challenges of change and globalization for the “new persons” they are cultivating,and how teachers should position their career tasks in the new situation.Obviously,at present,the identity of Chinese teachers in this sense is still ambiguous.Second is the growth of the ontological self under the influence of multiple identities.Third is the transformation of teacher identity under the concept of student-centered education.This means that the overall requirement of education in the new era is to turn to children-orientation,in which the teachers should be able to rebuild their identity.Apparently,none of the three teachers has obvious performance.Based on the current situation and problems,the fifth chapter of the dissertation goes into the topic of outlining the future and finding a way out to respond to the challenges of the new era.On the whole,the dissertation holds that the reconstruction of contemporary Chinese teacher identity requires the value orientation of Confucian ethics.For this reason,first we expound the Confucian ethics thoughts,such as "relevance and nonexclusive" attention to "way being human",the guiding role of " developing ourselves to help others " and " inherent transcendence " to the contemporary Chinese teachers' social identity and self-identity.Secondly,the chapter analyses the possible direction of teacher self-identity,demonstrates the connotation and significance of “life consciousness” as a teacher self-identity,and advocates that teachers should inquire into “who am I” and “who should I become” in a “introspection” way,and that teachers should recognize themselves in the interaction among themselves,others and the environment,realize themselves in the responsibility-taking and give significance to self-identity in narrative self.The eventual self gives meaning to self-identity,and ultimately implements “self” as the core of value for the growth of students,and as a bridge for students to construct themselves for the world,the future and the positive life.In short,Chinese teacher identity in the complex situation of the new era is an important problem facing the present and the future,which concerns the quality of the growth of our new generation in the future.Teacher identity requires teachers' dialogue with the times,the tradition,the future,the world,and more importantly with themselves.The exploration of the ethics orientation of teacher identity can not be separated from the Chinese traditional Confucian culture,nor can it be separated from the Western self-narrative thoughts.Although the future is already on the way,we shall think about some development directions from the past,present and future.More possibilities need to be opened up with the further development of the times.