Source: Guangming Daily
The "class teacher system" is a basic system of the mainland's education management system. According to the current number of classes in primary and secondary schools, the number of class teachers in mainland China is about 4.5 million, and they are the backbone of the teaching force. The work of the class teacher is known as "a thousand threads, a needle", and the scope of responsibilities includes students' ideological and political education, class collective management construction, class activity organization, student development guidance, comprehensive quality evaluation, home-school communication and cooperation, etc. They are the leaders of the healthy growth of primary and secondary school students, and the "big parents" of students during the school period.
Give full play to the key role of class teachers in educating people
"What kind of homeroom teacher there is, what kind of students there are." The class teacher largely determines the mental outlook of the entire class, and their words and deeds shape the children's behavior norms. It can be said that in the teaching of primary and secondary education, the responsibility of the class teacher is heavier, the requirements are higher, the tasks are more complicated, and the challenges are greater.
The class teacher is at the forefront of the moral education of minors. The class teacher leads the healthy growth of students physically and mentally, and is the main force of the school's ideological and moral education. In addition to moral education classes, class meetings, class group activities, and after-school teacher-student interaction are the main fronts for carrying out students' ideological and political work, which are more acceptable to students than traditional knowledge teaching.
The head teacher holds up the comprehensive track for the healthy growth of primary and secondary school students. Compared with subject teachers, class teachers have more interaction with students in life, and can better observe changes in students' personality development, behavioral habits, and emotional state. A good class teacher is a leader for the healthy growth of a group of children. The class teacher needs to care about the growth and performance of each student, carry out education and evaluation work based on the all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, art and labor, and deeply practice the educational concept of teaching without class, teaching according to aptitude, combining learning and thinking, and integrating knowledge and action, so as to provide comprehensive guidance for students' thinking, learning, life and psychological development.
The class teacher is the nerve endings of the school's daily management of the class as a unit. The class teacher should assume the dual functions of internal management of the class and the administration of the school at the same time, and is the veritable "first responsible person" of the class. On the one hand, class life is an important carrier for primary and secondary school students to experience collective life. The class teacher needs to do a good job in the daily management of the class, create a collective atmosphere of mutual assistance and friendship, health and progress in the class, and realize the cultivation of virtue in daily life. On the other hand, the school's work for students is basically communicated and implemented through the class teacher. The class teacher should deal with administrative affairs at the top and implement the education and teaching requirements at the bottom, which has become a key link in the school management chain.
The class teacher plays the core bearing of connecting home, school and community collaborative education. At present, the home-school-community collaborative education is becoming more and more close, and the class teacher is not only the link of communication and coordination between the three, but also has the functions of "pressure" and "lubrication". Class teachers need to keep in close contact with students' parents and community members, establish effective communication channels, and coordinate resources from all parties to form a joint force in educating people. At the same time, the class teacher also plans, guides, participates in, and supports a large number of collaborative education activities, and needs to give timely feedback to parents, schools and communities.
Give more care and support to the class teacher
In stark contrast to the importance of the work of the class teacher, the work of the class teacher is more passively accepted and less actively undertaken, and the work and life situation needs more attention. According to a survey of more than 5,000 primary and secondary school class teachers across the country by East China Normal University, nearly sixty percent of class teachers are unwilling or reluctant to work as class teachers.
The class teacher works long hours and high intensity, and the "invisible workload" is difficult to calculate. According to the 2019 National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring Report on the mainland, junior high school and primary school class teachers spend more than 10 hours a day in school.
The boundaries of the class teacher's work rights and responsibilities are not clear, and the non-teaching tasks are heavy. According to the National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring Report, primary and secondary school class teachers spend an average of more than 3.5 hours a day on various non-teaching tasks.
There is a lack of effective incentives for class teachers, and the standard of allowance needs to be improved. In 1979, the mainland established a system of allowance for class teachers. In 1988, the "Implementation Measures for Raising the Allowance Standards for Class Teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools and Establishing a System for Remuneration for Primary and Secondary School Teachers for Exceeding Class Hours" appropriately adjusted the allowance standards for class teachers. In 2008, the "Notice on the Implementation of Performance-based Salary Guidance in Compulsory Education Schools" stipulated that the allowance of class teachers should be included in the management of performance-based wages, and all localities and schools should give preference to class teachers in the allocation according to the actual situation. The author's research found that the allowance for primary and secondary school class teachers in the western region ranges from 100 to 600 yuan per month, while in the eastern region it can reach more than 1,200 yuan. At the same time, class evaluation is highly correlated with the performance of class teachers, and quantitative indicators such as class ranking, student discipline, and health evaluation are all related to class teacher allowances and year-end evaluations. Therefore, the policy standards related to the class teacher's allowance are relatively outdated, and the income level is difficult to meet the current incentive needs.
In the high-intensity working environment and evaluation system, the class teacher bears great mental pressure and psychological burden. Difficulties in student management, poor communication with parents, cumbersome administrative work, neglect of one's own family, etc., all make it difficult for homeroom teachers to achieve self-adjustment in a short period of time.
Let the work of the class teacher become the desire of the teacher
In 2009, the Ministry of Education formulated the Regulations on the Work of Primary and Secondary School Class Teachers, which clearly stipulates the allocation and selection, responsibilities and tasks, and treatment rights of primary and secondary school class teachers. In 2020, the Ministry of Education issued the "Guiding Standards for Primary and Secondary School Teacher Training Courses (Class Management)", which put forward the basic concepts of teacher ethics first, ability first, student-oriented, practice-oriented, and hierarchical training. In the author's opinion, the importance of the work of the class teacher is to put the work of the class teacher in the same important position as the curriculum teaching, take the lead in grasping the backbone of the primary and secondary school teachers, empower the class teacher, and make the work of the class teacher the desire of the teacher.
Starting from the top-level design, the work regulations for primary and secondary school class teachers in the new era should be developed. According to the requirements of moral cultivation in the new era and the needs of class management in primary and secondary schools, the work regulations for primary and secondary school class teachers in the new era have been developed and promulgated, the access standards and requirements of class teachers have been determined, the boundaries and work lists of class teachers in the new era have been clarified, and the rights and responsibilities of education undertaken by families, schools and teachers have been identified. Further rationally adjust the work intensity and working hours of class teachers, implement that the workload of class teachers is to be included in the basic workload according to half of the local teachers' standard class workload, and appropriately reduce or reduce their teaching tasks in accordance with the wishes of class teachers. With class teachers as the focus of "burden reduction", establish a mechanism for cleaning up teachers' unreasonable work tasks. Encourage primary and secondary schools to explore diversified mechanisms such as class teacher rotation, main and deputy class teachers, and class teacher assistants, so as to enrich the work force of class teachers while also offloading and sharing work pressure for them.
Starting from the incentive mechanism, improve the standard of allowance for class teachers. Educational administrative departments and schools should create favorable conditions for the work of class teachers and ensure their corresponding treatment and rights. According to the current salary level, workload and class size of teachers, the standard of allowance for class teachers should be reasonably increased. Establish a supplementary allowance system for class teachers formulated by the state and coordinated at the provincial level to narrow the regional, urban-rural, and inter-school differences in the treatment of class teachers. Implement the accounting ratio of the class teacher's allowance and the overtime workload allowance in the performance salary management, and the basic allowance of the class teacher shall not be directly linked to student discipline and class evaluation. Improve the honor system for class teachers, give priority to class teachers in the evaluation of professional titles, job promotions, awards and evaluations, and project approval, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm of teachers to take the initiative to serve as class teachers.
Starting from capacity building, improve the level of class teachers' ability to educate people. Firmly establish the awareness of the class teacher's position in educating people, rely on class meetings, class collective activities, and teacher-student interactions inside and outside the classroom, start with every word and deed, start from small things, and do a solid job in the ideological and political education of primary and secondary school students. Improve the training and induction system for class teachers, strengthen the construction of class teachers' ethics and teaching style and integrity education, and establish a correct outlook on education. Regularly organize training and exchange mechanisms for class teachers, carry out training guided by solving key problems in actual education work, avoid online classes, "punch-card learning" and other mere activities, effectively improve the ability of class teachers to educate people and manage their level, and effectively promote their professional development. Encourage the establishment of a mentor-apprentice class teacher model, give play to the fine tradition of mentoring, avoid new teachers from directly taking up their posts without training, and prohibit temporary personnel such as trainee teachers and volunteer teachers from being directly responsible for class management.
Starting from the nurturing environment, the home-school community jointly supports the work of the class teacher. In the face of increasingly complex educational environment and educational issues, the society and families should give more trust and support to class teachers, and become their solid backing. Educational administrative departments and schools should dare to protect the legitimate rights and interests of class teachers, and parents should give more respect, cooperation and support to class teachers, especially when class teachers take educational disciplinary measures within a reasonable range, they should be more tolerant and understanding. The whole society should work together to create a good atmosphere and public opinion environment, and on the basis of supervising teachers in accordance with laws and regulations, gradually reverse the erroneous understanding of class teachers' "unlimited responsibility". Local administrative departments for education may organize special forces to carry out mental health screening and stress counseling for teachers, provide psychological counseling services for teachers, truly care for the physical and mental conditions of class teachers, and continue to empower their physical and mental development and health work.
(Author: Wu Qiuxiang, Lecturer, School of Education, Renmin University of Chinese)