Strategic Conformity as Learning: The Socialisation of First-Year Novice EFL Teachers in China
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| Title: | Strategic Conformity as Learning: The Socialisation of First-Year Novice EFL Teachers in China |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rui Chen, Hao Xu (ORCID |
| Source: | European Journal of Education. 2026 61(2). |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 11 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Beginning Teachers, Social Behavior, Socialization, English (Second Language), Language Teachers, Second Language Instruction, Foreign Countries, Teacher Behavior, Teacher Attitudes, Behavior Standards, Faculty Development, Educational Environment |
| Geographic Terms: | China |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ejed.70593 |
| ISSN: | 0141-8211 1465-3435 |
| Abstract: | Teacher socialisation becomes a critical site of professional learning in China's educational contexts, marked by rigid accountability and rooted institutional norms. This study explores how first-year EFL teachers in China navigate the tensions between personal perspectives and institutional norms, drawing on the concept of "strategic conformity." A qualitative study design was adopted, with three first-year EFL teachers in China involved as participants. Data were collected through individual interviews and triangulated with participants' social media posts and personal logs. Findings reveal that participants manifested strategic conformity as learning during first-year socialisation. Rather than complying uniformly, they selectively integrated school norms to ease tensions, while agentically resisting practices incompatible with their pedagogical values. This dialectical process highlights socialisation not as passive assimilation, but as dynamic negotiation, where strategic conformity serves as an agentic means for novice teachers to navigate conflicting and challenging landscapes and mediate their professional growth. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1507032 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Teacher socialisation becomes a critical site of professional learning in China's educational contexts, marked by rigid accountability and rooted institutional norms. This study explores how first-year EFL teachers in China navigate the tensions between personal perspectives and institutional norms, drawing on the concept of "strategic conformity." A qualitative study design was adopted, with three first-year EFL teachers in China involved as participants. Data were collected through individual interviews and triangulated with participants' social media posts and personal logs. Findings reveal that participants manifested strategic conformity as learning during first-year socialisation. Rather than complying uniformly, they selectively integrated school norms to ease tensions, while agentically resisting practices incompatible with their pedagogical values. This dialectical process highlights socialisation not as passive assimilation, but as dynamic negotiation, where strategic conformity serves as an agentic means for novice teachers to navigate conflicting and challenging landscapes and mediate their professional growth. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0141-8211 1465-3435 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ejed.70593 |
