How Can Policy Enactment Help Us to Understand the Influence of the Implementation of “Double Reduction” Policy on Chinese School Teachers in Compulsory Education?

Abstract

In order to further improve the quality of school teaching, regulate the training behavior of out-of-school training institutions, and reduce the excessive burden of homework and out-of-school training for students in compulsory education stage, Chinese government has released the “double reduction” policy. After the implementation of this policy, widespread attention and heated debates has been attracted in the society. A number of scholars have conducted studies and discussions on the impact of the policy on different actors, such as the effectiveness of the policy in reducing the burden on students, the impact on the prospects of the education and training industry, and the influence on students’ parents. The impact of the policy on teachers is also a perspective worth studying and discussing, but few studies have emphasized the impact of the policy on teachers. This essay will use the theory of Policy Enactment in analyzing the impact of the “double reduction” policy on teachers, addressing teachers’ actions in response to this policy. The article argues that staffing and infrastructural factors in the physical environment, teachers’ experiences and pressures influence teachers’ actual actions. While the use of policy formulation theory to analyze the impact of the “double reduction” policy on teachers helps to analyze the impact of the policy on teachers, it can be unreasonable to focus too much on the impact of the staffing and infrastructure factors noted in the theoretical framework to the exclusion of the impact of other aspects, such as teachers’ experiences and stress, on teachers’ actual actions.