Thriving on challenges: understanding teacher resilience in hard-to-staff Chinese rural schools

This study investigates teacher resilience in hard-to-staff Chinese rural schools and the factors that affect their resilience across rural teachers’ professional life phases. Drawing upon analysis of interview data from 12 rural teachers from an alternative teacher hiring project called Special Teaching Position Plan in a county in remote southwest China, findings indicate that rural teachers in hard-to-staff Chinese schools demonstrate five patterns of resilience development: low-to-high, U-curve, moderate level with occasional waves, sustained moderate level and sustained high level. The dynamic interaction of personal and contextual resources with risk factors contributes to the development of their resilience. Implications on how to develop and maintain teacher resilience for policy makers and teacher educators are discussed.