Students' Career Intention to Teach in Rural Areas by Region and Household Registration: A Study of Students at an Eastern Chinese Local Normal University

The exodus of potential teachers from rural schools has resulted in a current imbalance in the source of teachers for primary education in China, exacerbating the inequality in the allocation of teacher resources between urban and rural areas and limiting the sustainable development of education. To address this issue, the Chinese government has recently implemented a localized rural teacher training policy to provide sufficient quality teachers for rural schools in remote areas. However, the effectiveness of this policy still needs improvement, as some students in teacher education lack enthusiasm for rural education and are reluctant to teach in rural areas, and do not truly view the rural teaching profession as one that provides individuals with economic stability and a sense of personal fulfillment. Using a spatial sociological framework, this research explores the disparities in students' intention to teach in rural areas by region of origin, such as eastern and central-western China, and urban/rural household registration. Gender is included as a predisposing factor in further examining if students are interested in teaching in rural schools in their hometown. This study analyzed 990 teacher education students at a local normal university in an eastern region of China using a questionnaire survey and logistic regression analysis. The findings indicate that college students' willingness to teach in rural areas relates negatively to urban household registration, and their willingness to teach in their hometowns does not relate to their household registration; college students' willingness to teach in rural areas relates negatively to eastern region, and their willingness to teach in the local village relates positively to eastern region. Based on the findings, this paper reflects on China's existing rural teacher support policies and suggests paying attention to the influence of spatial culture on college students' career intentions. It also emphasizes the need for individual cultural reconstruction in rural teacher training and policy restructuring in rural teacher development in the current era. In this approach, the sense of wholeness of individual life and love for rural education can be fostered, and the integration of individual life areas in the rural teaching profession can be improved, thereby increasing rural teacher retention and decreasing turnover.