ABSTRACT
The chapter explores the social positioning process of the new generation of rural teachers in China employing Bourdieu’s framework about social space, trajectory effect, and habitus. The study focuses on the ways in which the total volume and composition of the capital possessed by the young rural teachers and by their original families influence their social trajectory. Most young rural teachers in this study were themselves from rural family backgrounds and thus in some way “made it back” to their communities of origin after experiencing an upward social mobility through education. It is argued that this particular social trajectory has been shaped by a number of structural and cultural social forces including socio-economic status, gender, and ethnicity, as well as community ethos. The study contributes to knowledge about the “trajectory effect” on the new generation of rural teachers who might play a crucial role in shaping rural society in China in the future.
