Strategies for Professional Development of Rural Primary School Teachers in Heilongjiang Province, China

บทคัดย่อ

This quantitative investigation elucidates the professional development paradigms among rural primary school teachers in Heilongjiang Province, China. Employing a rigorously designed questionnaire informed by an exhaustive review of pertinent literature, the study probes various dimensions of professional development across a significant rural educational landscape. The survey instrument, comprising 106 items, was administered to a stratified sample of 495 individuals, including 165 school administrators and 330 teachers, drawn from 165 rural elementary schools as determined by Krejcie and Morgan's sample size determination framework (1970). The analytic approach centered on Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) using SPSS software to distill key factors impacting professional development. The analysis revealed that continuous learning, training opportunities, government support and policy, personal motivations and attributes, and networking significantly influence the professional trajectory of these educators. The robustness of the survey's construct validity is evidenced by high Cronbach's alpha values across all variables, affirming the reliability of the findings. This study contributes to the field by delineating the core elements that facilitate or impede professional growth in rural educational settings, providing a scaffold for policy and practice aimed at enhancing teacher effectiveness in underserved areas.