ABSTRACT
In analysing the development of the teaching profession since the late 1970s, this chapter focuses on the 'regular', or 'academic', system. It deals with the evolution of pre-service teacher training; provision for professional development and in-service training; and issues relating to the recruitment and retention of teachers. The institutional infrastructure for in-service training, essentially modelled – like the pre-service system – on Soviet precedents, consisted of 'colleges of education' at provincial and municipal level, and 'teacher refresher schools' at county and district level. Significant changes to the institutional arrangements for pre-service teacher education occurred during the 1990s. The urban educators should have begun to worry about gender balance in the teaching profession, while for rural areas recruitment or retention of qualified personnel of whatever gender remains a challenge, is just one reflection of the broader social divides that have characterised China's post-Mao development.
