Outsider In A Foreign Land

Educational narrative research is applied to explore the identity of rural primary school teachers of the new generation.The author selects four new-age rural primary school teachers and describes four surviva scenarios of their rural and working life: alienation from the villagers,provinciality of teaching,shift of focus,and implicit plan for escape.Their dilemmas of survival,relationship and growth are presented in this thesis to reveal their embarrassing situation and helplessness as "outsiders in a foreign land",through an in-depth description of the real-life stories of these rural primary school teachers.With the support of Field theory and ERG theory,an interpretive analysis of the story text leads to the following conclusions: rural primary school teachers in the new era are facing both social and individual identity crises,the causes of which include the regulation of national policies,social and cultural constraints,the deviation of school management and the loss of individual spirit.At the national level,the national construction of teachers' identities,the restrictions of teacher recruitment policies and the lack of precision in teacher training are blamed for the teaching short of local knowledge and characteristics;at the social level,the distrust of villagers,the low social status and the misleading of the mass media limit the frequency and ways of communication with the villagers;at the school level,the lack of equipment,the inhumane management,the in-fighting among colleagues and the heavy working tasks also make them more inclined to the relaxing and diverse environment of cities;at the personal level,the weakening of educational sentiments and the lack of professionalism in their fields push them to seek for transformation rather than resting on their laurels.In order to regain the identity for rural primary school teachers of the new generation,it is necessary for the government to introduce policies to unite them,for the society to work together to ensure the cohesiveness of them,and for the school to reform to appeal them.In addition,rural primary school teachers themselves should develop a sense of belonging to the rural education with the spirit of respect.