The Power Of Symbols: A Case Study Of The Professional Title Evaluation System For Primary And Secondary School Teachers

As one of the main forces in the development of Elementary education,primary and secondary school teachers' professional development has become the focus of the school.In order to strengthen the management of primary and secondary school teachers and establish a long-term incentive mechanism,the title system of primary and secondary school teachers was formally established in 1986.With the in-depth implementation of the title system,the title has gradually become a symbol and a "spiritual force".Professional title is not only the promotion means and symbol of teachers' professional development,but also the symbol of high income,high treatment and high social status.For teachers,professional title is an identity symbol,a symbol of whether teachers are excellent or not,and a resource symbol.For schools,the structure of professional title of teachers is a resource symbol,a capital for school enrollment and evaluation.For countries,professional title is an institutional symbol,a tool and means to manage and motivate teachers.This paper mainly from the perspective of teachers,the title as a symbol for analysis.Starting from combing the development stage of the title system of primary and secondary school teachers in China,we can divide the Professional Title Development of system and symbol into three stages with three obvious trends and characteristics.This study selects school A in Sichuan Province as a case study,and finds that due to the differentiation of schools,teachers' gender,education background,age and teaching age,the structure of the title of school A presents five obvious characteristics.According to the investigation in school A,most of the teachers think that the professional title is closely related to their income.Because of the difficulty in evaluating the professional title and the small number of positions,most of the teachers are indifferent to the promotion of the professional title,and the expectation of the senior professional title is not high.In terms of the content of Professional Title Evaluation: teachers think that the most important three items(ranking of importance)are teachers' morality,teaching ability and teaching age,which are not different from the actual evaluation content of school A.In terms of professional title evaluation procedure,there is little difference with other schools,and the fairness of the evaluation process is questioned by teachers.In terms of the effect of ProfessionalTitle Evaluation: the professional title system can promote the professional development of teachers,but the role of reflecting the level of teachers' professional ability is limited,its incentive effect on teachers is not obvious,but the evaluation can promote the flow of teachers.As time goes on,the professional title has become a kind of symbol existing in the concept of teachers.In school A,it shows the following characteristics: most of the branch teachers regard the professional title as the "pronoun" of income,and the symbolic meaning of the professional title is linked with income;in school a,the teachers' difficulty in evaluating their positions has become the biggest influencing factor for teachers to estimate their opportunities for self promotion;the evaluation process is obviously quantified,and computability is the main factor.The key factor that hinders the promotion of the title of teacher in school A is the small number of evaluation places.Professional title as a symbol exists in the concept of teachers,which produces an invisible force,plays an important role in stimulating teachers,promoting the development and flow of teachers,but it also produces the phenomenon of separating individual teachers.There are some problems in the implementation of the title system in school A,such as teachers being alienated by the title,system implementation deviation and insufficient attention to the special "vulnerable groups".In order to solve these problems,teachers should change their ideas and treat professional titles rationally.To improve professional titles,we should start with the establishment and implementation of the system,and the state should introduce corresponding preferential policies to take care of the new vulnerable groups.We should take more active reform measures to minimize the negative effects of professional titles.