Navigating the Storm: Teacher Agency and Defensive Practice in China’s Educational Public Opinion Arena

Ying Liu; Di’er Zhou

doi:10.61414/5gc3k312

Abstract

This study investigates how educational public opinion (EPO) shapes teachers’ professional practices in China. Through thematic analysis of interviews with nine junior high school teachers in Guangzhou, we identify two emergent typologies of practice under EPO pressure: Defensive Practice, characterized by risk aversion, emotional restraint, and the upward shifting of decision-making; and Informed Practice, marked by professional growth, strategic relationship-building, and systematic refinement of action. The formation of these divergent paths is explained by an interactive framework where external pressures are filtered through two critical mediators: institutional feedback (supportive vs. defensive) and teacher reflection depth (technical vs. critical). The findings reveal that EPO’s impact is dialectical, capable of triggering either a constrictive defensive retreat or a transformative process leading to refined educational wisdom. Cultivating the latter requires supportive institutional structures, rational public discourse, and teacher education that fosters critical “public opinion literacy” and strategic agency.

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