(School of Public Administration, East China Normal University)
Abstract: A balanced allocation of teacher resources is the key to educational equity and quality of compulsory education. This study analyzes the regional difference and spatial pattern across districts in Shanghai city, using relevant data from the Statistical Yearbook 2007-2016 by Theil index decomposition method, gravity center model and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA). The results are as follows.
The spatial pattern of teacher resources during compulsory education in Shanghai shows an obvious structure of ‘circular layers’. Specifically speaking, the central areas have the most abundant teacher resources, the urban fringe areas take the second place, the near suburban areas have the heaviest teacher burden and the distant suburban areas have a slightly higher teacher-student ratio than the near suburban. The degree of inequality in the allocation of teacher resources during compulsory education in Shanghai shows a tendency of increase in the general background of fluctuation. In view of its contents, the difference at the stage of primary school is greater than that at the stage of junior high school. In view of its structure,, the regional difference mainly comes from inside each area, with the distant suburban taking the lion’s share and other areas having the difference confined within small ranges during the study period. On the whole, the internal difference in central areas is decreasing annually while that in suburban areas is increasing gradually. The gravity center of teacher resources during compulsory education in the whole city has been moving outwards from the central areas to the suburban areas in the past years, but the move falls behind the growth of the school age population in the latter. The spatial pattern of allocation of teacher resources during compulsory education in Shanghai shows a strong trend of spatial negative correlation, i.e. districts with different levels of teacher allocation tend to be spatially agglomerated. More specifically, districts with sufficient teacher resources are aggregating in the central areas while districts short of teachers for compulsory education are aggregating in the distant suburban areas which exhibit an obvious spatial heterogeneity. Spatial negative correlation in teacher allocation during compulsory education is getting stronger with years at the primary school stage, but getting weaker gradually at the junior high school stage.
Based on the above analysis, it is suggested that efforts should be made to optimize the allocation of teacher resources during compulsory education. First of all, teacher resources should be allocated more scientifically and rationally based on the dynamic changes in school age population across the whole city. Secondly, the teaching profession needs to be constantly made more attractive by various means, such as pay rise, in order to adequately and effectively supplement teacher resources during compulsory education in the suburban areas. And thirdly, more attention is required to focusing on the unbalanced teacher allocation during compulsory education by drawing on resources from the interior of each district rather than that between different districts.
Key Words: teacher allocation; regional difference; spatial pattern