Mínbàn Teachers: Nonstate Personnel in Rural Education

Mínbàn teachers (this article especially refers to rural teachers not on the government payroll, or nonstate employed teachers in rural education; Usually referred to as informal teachers) are a special group in China. They play a special role in rural education, and at different historical stages, there have been different interpretations of the connotation. The emergence of Mínbàn teachers reflected not only the continuation of tradition but also a necessary choice for the reality of New China. This article selects five mínbàn teachers, starting from the grassroots perspective, and combines their historical background to discuss how mínbàn teachers identified, continued, adjusted, and finally transformed into an identity. The transformation of the identity of mínbàn teachers emphasizes the process ranging national affairs run by from cooperative to state. From outside the establishment to inside the establishment, the driving force of this process lies in the change in the management power of rural education by both the state and the collective at different stages. The historical refraction of the transformation of the identity of mínbàn teachers reflects the economic development process that has taken place since the establishment of New China; these teachers are both witnesses and promoters of educational modernization and the further modernization of goals.