ABSTRACT
This chapter compared two alternative teacher recruitment programs: Teach for China and the Special Post Teacher Plan. Both programs aim to address the persistent problem of teacher shortage in rural China; yet, differences between the two programs abound when it comes to recruitment criteria and post-service options. Underpinning these differences is the logic of entrepreneurialism of Teach for China and the logic of politicism of the Special Post Teacher Plan. Drawing on data publicly available on the website of the two programs and working through the prism of Bourdieu's relational sociology, the chapter teased out the correspondence between program participants’ capital configurations and their habituses and discussed the implications of program participation for these young people's social mobilities. The chapter concluded with recommendations for alternative teacher recruitment programs in China and beyond. It called for further reflections on the relationship and distinction between quality of teacher and quality of teaching.
