Work

‘The Art of Being Governed’: Unravelling Teachers' Agency in Reconciling Academic Burden Within China's High‐Stakes Exam System

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT The excessive academic burden that undermines students' well‐being has become a matter of global concern. Drawing on Archer's social realist theory, this qualitative case study identified three forms of teacher agency in navigating academic burden under the ‘Double Reduction’ policy: methodological refinement that rendered the workload more engaging and sustainable; epistemological reconfiguration that transformed burden through recognition and inclusive participation; and ontological reconstruction that reframed burden as an opportunity for deep intellectual inquiry. Teachers emerged as culturally embedded, reflexive agents who reconciled institutional pressures with moral commitments. This agency challenges the compliance–resistance binary and emphasises the importance of teacher‐informed, context‐sensitive policy design.

Source: European Journal of Education

DOI: 10.1111/ejed.70317

Authors: Yuchen Wu, Jocelyn L. N. Wong, Huan Song, Shenji Zhou

Institutions: Chinese University of Hong Kong, Beijing Normal University

Language: English

Topic: Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Normal University, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities