ABSTRACT
As other chapters argue, teacher attrition and retention are global issues across different nations. China, as one of the largest countries in the world, is also facing the problem of how to retain teachers. In this chapter, I summarise the factors related to teacher retention in China and show how education policy plays a dual function of both recruiting and retaining teachers to decrease teacher turnover. I then introduce two education policies in mainland China to show how they are aimed at helping to retain teachers. Finally, I report on two interviews with one teacher to illustrate how university-based in-service training can contribute to teacher retention.
In this chapter, the roles of policies and in-service teacher training programmes have been carefully examined. The Free Teacher Education/Public-Funded Teacher Education (FTE/PFTE) programmes help to retain teachers in China for a period of at least six to ten years through their contracts and other measures, such as improving social welfare by guaranteeing basic working and living conditions. The ‘sister’ FTE-MAEd programme gives teachers coming from the FTE programme the opportunity to receive postgraduate education; the major aim is to empower them in terms of professional knowledge, reflective skills and capacity to undertake research. The resulting cultural capital can raise teachers’ social prestige, win them admiration and give teachers greater motivation to continue in their posts.
