No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Teachers face a high degree of risk when disciplining students in contemporary China. Under the guidance of risk society theory, based on a qualitative study of teachers at a county town high school in Southwest China, this paper finds that, in the context of shifting responsibility for education from family to school and inequal risk distribution system in school, teachers become a primary risk taker. The culture of the teacher as a service provider with unlimited responsibilities and the institution of “No Accident” in daily management supported by schools and local government is constructing the sense of risk in teachers. The consequences of risky events are unbearable for teachers in most cases, so they have to adopt limited discipline strategies with a focus on risk avoidance. Reconceptualizing cooperative family–school relations and constructing a reasonable risk allocation mechanism in school would be the keys to eliminating teachers’ conception of discipline risk.

County school education has a profound impact on social class upgrading in China’s rural areas, where teachers are the core actors in this field yet have not been paid enough attention. This study, through ethnography, focuses on county teachers as subjective actors who are embedded in the background of Chinese educational bureaucratic management mode and educational marketization. Under a pressure of college enrolment rates and students’ quality degrading in county high schools, the teachers are facing the situation of being managed both mentally and physically. Teachers’ mind has been highly influenced by Daily Performance, College Entrance Examination Quality Assessment and Title Evaluation Systems. Meanwhile, they have to obey the systems of Punching-in and Homework Review Registration & Supervision to maintain physical presence. However, without hope, these lead to the loss of professional passion of teachers, and teachers show a state of negative emotional labor.