Teachers’ Sensemaking Of After-school Programs In The Province Z Of China

After-school programs in China have been exploring and developing for more than 30 years since their inception in the 1990 s.The content and form of after-school programs in schools have also been enriched,from providing basic safety care to improving the overall quality of students.At present,after-school programs in Chinese schools have basically achieved full coverage,and some progress has been made,but there are also many challenges that need to be further improved.Among them,primary and secondary school teachers,as the main force in undertaking after-school programs,have problems such as increased workload and serious negative emotions,which urgently require the attention of researchers to respond to the various concerns of teachers about after-school programs.This study aims to focus on the schoolteachers who are involved in after-school programs in primary and secondary schools.Using 12 schoolteachers in the Province Z of China as research subjects,this study explores the process of how they make sense of after-school programs and its influencing factors through semi-structured interviews and content analysis,with a view to providing a channel for schoolteachers to express their voices,presenting their understanding of after-school programs,and further improving the work of after-school programs.Findings: In terms of their interpretation of the meaning of after-school programs,schoolteachers have two main common interpretation: a ’burden that has to be done’and a ’space to gain’;their sensemaking of after-school programs also evolve dynamically in response to changing contexts,and are shaped by their interactions with the students,colleagues,principals,and parents involved in after-school programs.Secondly,this study analyses the factors that influence teachers’ sensemaking in relation to after-school programs at three levels: individual,organizational,and social.At the individual level,teachers’ existing knowledge and experience,career motivation and educational beliefs shape their sensemaking;at the organizational level,the hierarchical relationship in the school and the various kinds of surveillance faced by teachers in the school affect how teachers make sense of after-school programs;at the social level,the increasing competition in education causes conflicts and adjustments in teachers’ sensemaking,while the marketisation of education and the influence of cultural traditions also affect teachers’ sensemaking,resulting in conflicting roles.Based on these findings,this study points out that although teachers are seen as the objects of policy,they have a rich and complex sensemaking about after-school programs in their own practice,and that teachers’ voices need to be heard and valued.