Beyond the paycheck: Chinese rural teacher well-being and the impact of professional learning and local community engagement

This paper proposes a theoretical framework to understand the structure and determinants for rural teacher well-being (TWB), with a focus on key factors that can mediate low pay and poor work conditions, specifically teachers’ professional learning (PL) and community engagement (CE). This framework was tested using structural equation model in a sample of 3155 rural teachers in China. The quantitative results confirmed a second-order factor structure for TWB, evidencing the significant impact of pay satisfaction and the mediating effects of PL and CE of rural teachers. Implications encourage policymakers to strengthen rural TWB by enhancing PL and community connections, while continuing to seek ways to improve pay and work conditions.