1. Standards for the Primary School Teachers’ in Mainland China Professor Zhongfeng Hu South China Normal University ， one year visiting scholar in ARC of the University of Melbourne 27-29 Sept.2006

2. Abstract: Specific standards for the primary school teachers in Mainland China are recommended in this article, based on the current status of the primary school teachers in Mainland China, the concerned laws and regulations, and the rich research on teachers, domestic and overseas. These standards include: Abiding by the moral rules as professions, gaining rich and balanced knowledge, possessing adequate teaching abilities, being capable in scientific research, and being psychologically healthy and positive. Sub-standards are also detailed.

3. Key words: Primary school teachers professional standards virtues required as teachers teaching abilities New Compulsory Education Law

4. Primary schools teachers refer to those professionals who are teaching and working in varied levels of primary schools, mainly include subject teachers, home teachers (basically acted as by the former group), Counsellors of Young Pioneers, and the nurses. As their ranks are concerned, they are progressively promoted with the Senor Teacher, First- Grade Teacher, Second-Grade Teacher, and Third-Grade Teacher.

5. 1. The Status of the Primary School Teachers in Mainland China The 19th News Press in 2006 by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China released that the construction of the primary school teachers in Mainland China has been progressing well and effectively in the past few years. First of all, new changes are quantitatively taking place; Secondly, the teachers are receiving a higher and higher education Level; in addition, the ratio of the Senior-Teacher is increasing.

6. However, in the meantime, there also exist issues and problems, such as the imbalance of the constitution of the primary school teachers, the not-high qualities as teachers, and the status of being unable to fully implement quality education and to meet the requirements of balanced education, which are mainly reflected as the following:

7. The unbalance between the teachers working in different regions and that between the teachers who work in cities and who in rural areas, which is mirrored in the co-existence between the overstaff in cities and the inadequacy some of rural areas. The unbalance between different subjects. A good case is that the severe shortage in rural areas of the teachers of foreign languages, of information and technology, of music, of P. E, and of art etc.

8. A considerable quantity of the substitute teachers. According to statistics, there were altogether 499, 000 substitute teachers all over China, who mainly worked in rural primary schools, of which 75.9% in the Midwest parts. The large number of the substitute teachers becomes the obstacle to the promotion of the teachers as a whole and to the improvement of the quality in education.

9. 2. The Law and Regulation Basis for Making the Standards for the Primary School Teachers Teachers Law of the People’s Republic of China, implemented on January 1st, 1994, is the first law in Mainland China, concerning teachers. More than that, a series of laws and regulations, such as the Education Law, Regulations on Teachers’ Qualifications, Professional and Moral Standards for the Primary and Secondary Teachers, and the newly –revised and –issued Compulsory Education Law and so on, all provide strong support for making the standards for and strengthening the construction of he primary school teachers.

10. 3. The Specific Standards for the Primary School Teachers in Mainland China 3.1 Abiding by the moral standards as professionals 3.1.1 Instruction in accordance with law 3.1.2 Devotion to work 3.1.3 Love for students 3.1.4 Careful and exact scholarship 3.1.5 Unity and cooperation 3.1.6 Respect for parents 3.1.7 Teaching with integrity 3.1.8 A model of virtue and learning

11. 3.2 Gaining rich and balanced knowledge 3.2.1 Ontological knowledge 3.2.2 Conditional knowledge 3.2.3 Practical knowledge 3.2.4 Common world knowledge

12. 3.3 Processing adequate teaching abilities 3.3.1 Cognitive abilities in teaching 3.3.2 The abilities in designing teaching 3.3.3 The teaching abilities in operation 3.3.4 The abilities in supervising teaching

13. 3.4 Being capable in scientific research 3.4.1 the awareness of pursuing scientific research; 3.4.2 being good at solving educational problems by conducting research; 3.4.3 mastery of the basic steps in conducting scientific research, for example, how to select the research topic in practice, how to conduct literature review, how to make and implement a research design, how to analyze and interpret the research results, and how to write the research paper or report and so on.

14. 3.5 Being psychologically healthy and positive 3.5.1 being able to face the reality, positively and full of hope for the future, and having a pleasant and relaxed mind; 3.5.2 being cognitively qualified for the work of teaching and being creative; 3.5.3 being able to apply appropriate ways to remove the difficulties and frustrations from work and life;

15. 3.5.4 being good and active at adapting oneself to circumstances; 3.5.5 having healthy personality, being able to creating harmonious relationships, and influenced more by positive attitudes but not by negative ones.

16. In mainland China, there are more than 5,000,000 full-time teachers, all being an individual and unique, with background in life, values and ideals, and ways of thinking being different and rich; therefore, in making the standards for the primary school teachers, it has to deal well with the contradiction between the commonality and individuality. In regulating the professional standards for them, the primary school teachers need to have the space for their autonomous development, only by way of which can the cause of the primary education progress and thrive.

17. Thanks for Questions and comments Contact phones & email 00862085214654 Huzhongf@scnu.edu.cn