The National Bureau of Statistics will release the national population data for 2023 next week, which has attracted a lot of attention. At present, China's population development is characterized by a declining birthrate, an aging population, and a regional population increase or decrease. This new situation of demographic development is having an important impact on education, and teachers are one of the first professions to perceive the demographic change. Affected by demographic changes, the teaching profession is facing certain impacts and challenges. To a certain extent, the potential impact of the new demographic situation on education and the teaching profession can be predicted. So, what exactly is the impact? How should the teaching profession respond scientifically?
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) drew a grand blueprint for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in an all-round way with Chinese-style modernization. Chinese modernization, first of all, is the modernization of a huge population. Population development is a major event related to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and efforts must be made to improve the overall quality of the population and support Chinese-style modernization with high-quality population development. Education is closely related to this. Under the new situation of population development, the first meeting of the 20th ** Finance and Economics Committee held in May last year clearly proposed that the construction of an educational power should be regarded as a strategic project for high-quality population development. Whether it is the construction of an educational power or the high-quality development of the population, it will inevitably rely on a group of high-quality, professional and innovative teachers.
At the same time, demographic changes are having a number of implications for the teaching profession. First, there will be a "relative surplus" in the number of teachers. As the number of births decreases, the supply of teachers is likely to exceed the demand. From a regional point of view, there will be a "surplus of teachers" in schools in the areas of population outflow, and schools in Northeast China and rural areas have seen signs in this regard; From the perspective of school periods, the impact of demographic changes on teachers at the primary school level is relatively obvious. Taking primary school teachers as an example, relevant surveys show that in 2020, the teacher-teacher ratio of ordinary primary school students in China was 1667 1, the student-teacher ratio in 31 provinces is lower than the current standard of 19 1. If the student-teacher ratio is not adjusted, it will mean that the current number of primary school teachers in various places is generally in a state of serious overstaffing. However, at present, the average class size of ordinary primary schools in China is 38 students, and if the standard of 20 to 25 students in small classes prevails in developed countries, there is still room for improvement in the demand for teachers in China.
Second, it has higher requirements for teachers' professional ability. With the decrease in the number of students, families' demand and expectation for children to receive high-quality education continue to increase, and teachers are required to carry out professional teaching, especially personalized teaching. At present, major countries in the world are deeply aware of the fundamental role played by teacher quality in the improvement of education quality, and are striving to improve the quality of teachers through various ways, so as to promote the high-quality development of their own education. This has also become a major key for major countries in the world to tap the potential of national human resources and improve the quality of the existing population.
Centennial plan, education-oriented; Teachers are at the heart of education. In the face of the new situation of population development, we must adhere to two "unchangeables", that is, the status and role of teachers as the primary resource for educational development cannot be changed, and the construction of the teaching force as a basic work cannot be changed.
At the first level, there is a need to carefully study the demand for teachers in the region. According to the new changes in the regional population, the scientific ratio of population to teachers should be calculated, and the situation of "overstaffing" and "shortage" of teachers in different regions and school periods, as well as the relatively high proportion of substitute teachers, should be carefully studied, and on this basis, the recruitment of teachers and the corresponding guarantee should be done. At the same time, according to the situation of different schools in the region, the reasonable flow and optimal allocation between regions and within school districts should be carried out. It is worth noting that it is necessary to strictly implement the spirit of the "Opinions of the Communist Party of China on Comprehensively Deepening the Reform of the Construction and Reform of the Teacher Team in the New Era", and continuously improve the status and treatment of teachers. We should not reduce investment in education because of changes in population and student population, and in particular, we should ensure that teachers' salaries and benefits are well maintained.
From the perspective of schools, it is necessary to effectively improve the teaching capacity of teachers. For colleges and universities that train teachers, especially normal colleges, it is necessary to carry out dynamic adjustment of professional settings according to the characteristics of the new situation of population development and the new needs of society, and earnestly improve the quality of teacher training in accordance with the new situation and new requirements of educational development. For schools as employers, it is necessary to study the needs of teachers in schools, optimize the proportion of teachers on the job in schools, and put the professional development of teachers in a more prominent and important position.
From the perspective of teachers themselves, they need to take the initiative to scientifically determine the direction of career and professional development. On the one hand, in the short term, it is foreseeable that the demand for teachers will shrink to a certain extent, and the overall need is to adjust the structure and improve the quality. However, teachers who love education and have strong educational and teaching ability are still a scarce resource that every school craves. On the other hand, for on-the-job teachers, it is necessary to constantly adapt to new needs and trends such as digitalization, personalization, and lifelong education, comprehensively reshape the educational concept, and effectively improve the level of education, professional quality, teaching ability, educational research, and the ability of school-home-community collaborative education, so as to match the requirements of the times put forward by the new situation of population development and the construction of an educational power for teachers. (The author is director of the Institute of Educational Theory, Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences).