"At present, the practice of training education talents in normal universities focuses heavily on undergraduate education. Only a very limited number of universities, mainly top-tier institutions and affiliated normal universities, conduct education master's degree programs on a very limited scale, which falls far short of meeting societal demands."
During the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (NPC & CPPCC) in 2024, Ding Jianning, a deputy to the National People's Congress and the President of Yangzhou University, pointed out the insufficient scale of education master's degree programs in a single sentence, using "very limited" twice, directly addressing the issue of inadequate training of education professionals to meet the needs of basic education.
In his "Proposal to Strengthen the Integration of Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Teacher Education," Ding suggested that the graduates produced by the existing teacher education programs are no longer well-equipped to adapt to the evolving landscape. There is an urgent need to grant universities with rich experience in training education master's and doctoral students the qualification for "integrating bachelor's and master's degrees" and gradually expand enrollment quotas and recruitment scopes.
The goal of education master's degree programs is primarily to cultivate excellent teaching staff for secondary schools. Since its pilot enrollment began in 1997, it has been nearly 30 years since education master's degree programs have been established in China.
"Middle and high school teachers constitute a large professional group. Enhancing the qualifications of secondary school teachers is crucial for improving basic education, and it serves as a driving force for expanding enrollment," said Professor Li Dongfeng from the School of Life Sciences at South China Normal University, who was one of the pioneer supervisors guiding education master's degree students. He stated that the source of education master's degree candidates has undergone significant changes from initially comprising experienced in-service secondary school teachers who pursued the degree to transform their educational philosophies and enhance their educational cognition and qualifications. Their clear goals and practical experience contributed to the initially good quality of education master's degree programs.
However, since 2010, there has been a fundamental shift in the composition of education master's degree candidates, with in-service secondary school teachers gradually diminishing in numbers, while graduates majoring in education and a minority of graduates from non-education majors becoming the mainstay.
Li Dongfeng also pointed out that education master's degrees are a form of professional master's degree. Compared to academic master's degrees, education master's degrees have a shorter history, and universities, supervisors, and students are all navigating the terrain as they proceed.
According to Ding Jianning, the current recruitment methods for graduate students in universities are not effectively selecting and training high-quality teaching staff for future basic education needs. As for the training of future basic education teachers by universities, the current levels of operation and training methods urgently need institutional innovation and policy incentives.
Regarding the strengthening of education master's and doctoral training, there have long been guiding principles at the national level.
In January 2018, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Fully Deepening the Reform of Teacher Team Construction in the New Era," which proposed to "support comprehensive universities in conducting teacher education," explicitly stating the need to "innovate teacher training forms, highlight the characteristics of teacher education, focus on training education master's degree holders, and moderately train education doctoral degree holders to cultivate high-quality teachers with solid subject knowledge, outstanding professional abilities, and profound educational aspirations."
The above-mentioned document also proposed to comprehensively improve the quality of primary and secondary school teachers, build a high-quality and professional teacher team, and raise the level of teacher education to enhance the quality of teacher education. Specific measures include "advancing structural reform of teacher education supply-side to focus on training undergraduate-level teachers with comprehensive qualities for compulsory education schools and graduate-level teachers with outstanding professional abilities for high school education. Vigorously promote the training of graduate-level teachers, increase the enrollment plan for education master's degrees, and tilt towards central and western regions and rural areas."
Ding Jianning told the China Science Daily that after the issuance of the above guidelines, the Ministry of Education took specific actions.
On July 25, 2023, the Ministry of Education issued the "Opinions on Implementing the National Excellent Primary and Secondary School Teacher Training Program," initiating the implementation of the National Excellent Primary and Secondary School Teacher Training Program (referred to as the "National Excellence Plan"). This program supports "Double First-Class" universities in training graduate-level outstanding teachers for primary and secondary schools. The first batch of pilot institutions include Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and six affiliated normal universities, totaling 30 "Double First-Class" universities undertaking the training task. Starting from 2023, each of these universities will annually recommend no less than 30 outstanding graduates majoring in science and engineering to pursue academic or professional master's degrees or education master's degrees.
According to data released by the Ministry of Education, in 2023, affiliated normal universities planned to recruit 8,300 government-sponsored teacher candidates and 12,420 teacher candidates under the "Excellent Teacher Plan."
Ding Jianning believes that from the above data, it can be seen that the current training practices heavily focus on undergraduate-level teacher education talents, while the number of education master's degree programs is extremely limited and far from meeting societal needs.
Taking Jiangsu Province, known for its robust education system, as an example, Ding pointed out that as of 2022, the proportions of primary, secondary, and high school teachers holding master's degrees in Jiangsu Province were 4.8%, 8.3%, and 24.6%, respectively. He believes that such educational qualifications and structure cannot meet the requirements of being a leading province in education and the nation as a whole, which is a significant gap from the objectives outlined in the "Opinions on Fully Deepening the Reform of Teacher Team Construction in the New Era."
In Ding Jianning's view, the reform of enrollment and training for education master's/doctoral degrees is imminent, starting with expanding enrollment.
"It is suggested to grant more qualified universities the qualification for 'integrating bachelor's and master's degrees,' gradually expand enrollment quotas, increase recommendations for exempting examinations, and remove restrictions on normal majors," he proposed. Besides the aforementioned 30 "Double First-Class" universities and six directly affiliated normal universities, many other universities have solid foundations in teacher education and possess the conditions for training education master's/doctoral students. On the basis of assessment and recognition, these universities should be granted corresponding enrollment quotas.
Regarding the scope of recruitment, Ding Jianning believes that it should not necessarily be limited to whether students majored in normal education during their undergraduate studies.
"We can select individuals who aspire to become educators from among undergraduate graduates, with the main criteria for selection being their proficiency in subject knowledge, ability for sustained development, and lifelong dedication to education. This ensures that the graduates are well-versed in their subject knowledge, possess outstanding professional abilities, and excel in educational teaching and research," Ding Jianning stated. Furthermore, Ding Jianning suggests that the doors to pursuing a Master's or Ph.D. in education should also be open to teachers working on the frontline of basic education. He proposes implementing targeted measures, such as allowing exemplary frontline teachers to pursue a Master's or Ph.D. through an "application-assessment" process.
He suggests that for frontline exemplary teachers, the selection process should place more emphasis on evaluating applicants' performance in educational practice and their research capabilities in basic education. Additionally, considering the practical difficulties faced by frontline teachers, such as the conflict between work and study, he recommends adopting flexible credit systems and mentorship programs to support this group's development.
