The School Management Model to Enhance Teacher Professional Learning of Rural Middle School Teachers in Wenshan City, China
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Abstract
This research aims to: 1) investigate the current status of school management and the level of teacher professional learning of rural middle school teachers in Wenshan City, China; 2) study the factors of school management affecting teacher professional learning; and 3) develop a school management model to enhance teacher professional learning. The target population comprised 9,172 teachers and administrators from 99 rural middle schools across Wenshan City and its eight subordinate counties in Yunnan Province. A sample of 368 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling based on Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) formula. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was adopted, employing a 63-item five-point Likert questionnaire for quantitative data collection, followed by semi-structured interviews with 12 participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and content analysis. Research results reveal that: 1) overall school management operates at a "Moderate to High" level (M=3.44), with ICT Infrastructure being the weakest sub-dimension (M=3.16), while overall teacher professional learning achieves a "High" level (M=3.58); 2) school management is a strong and significant positive predictor of teacher professional learning, explaining approximately 72.7% of variance (R²=.727), with Policy Support exhibiting the strongest sub-dimensional association (r=.759,β=.312); and 3) an evidence-based school management model (EBSMM-Wenshan) integrating ICT infrastructure, policy support, and management support was developed to enhance teacher professional learning in the rural Wenshan context.
The findings indicate that policy-level and infrastructural interventions, rather than isolated teacher-level training, constitute the most effective leverage points for improving professional learning in resource-constrained, ethnic-minority border regions; accordingly, the study recommends differentiated, equity-oriented resource allocation for high-distress schools as the primary policy implication arising from this research.
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