Identity transformation of Chinese secondary school teachers during educational reform

Secondary school teachers’ professional identities have often been overlooked despite that they have experienced ongoing and dramatic identity negotiations, conflicts, and even crisis in new Gaokao (university entrance examination). Starting off from this notable research gap, the present study employed a qualitative approach to examine the changes in teacher professional identity cognitively, socially, and emotionally after they had gone through the reform over a period of 3 years since 2014. Nine participants’ interview data and reflective journals were collected and analyzed. The findings demonstrated that there was a sharp transformation of teachers’ cognitive engagement, social interactions, and emotional experiences in terms of school management, teaching beliefs and practices, teacher professionalism and teacher training programmes, revealing the complexities of identity development through which teachers had to adjust themselves to meet the new demands of the reform. The implications for secondary school teachers were also offered.