Leading for Whom? Teaching-Research Officers’ Role Perception and Work Engagement in Chinese Mainland

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

This article analyzes how teaching-research officers (TROs) perceive their roles and how those perceptions relate to work engagement, with a focus on balancing competing roles. Using a questionnaire that combines a work role requirements inventory and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the study examines TRO role perception, work engagement levels, and their relationship. Results show work experience relates in a complex way to engagement, with two orientations co-existing and reinforcing dedication and absorption. Teacher-development-focused TROs report higher engagement than policy-implementation-focused counterparts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Purpose

Design/Approach/Methods

Findings

Introduction

School improvement and district-level teacher leadership

Expansion of leadership theory

Teaching-research officers in Chinese mainland

Leading for Whom? TeachingResearch Officers’ Role Perception and Work Engagement in Chinese Mainland Wei Shen (沈伟) East China Normal University Hongmei Ma (马红梅) Central China Normal University ECNU Review of Education 2022, Vol. 5(3) 491–508 ª The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311211009356](DOI: 10.1177/20965311211009356)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311211009356)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this article is to analyze both teaching-research officers’ (TROs) role perceptions and work engagement, figuring out how their competing roles are balanced to ensure continued work engagement and which roles have greater benefits to the community and educational reform. Design/Approach/Methods: The study employs a questionnaire, which is composed of an inventory of work role requirements and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, to investigate TROs’role perception, work engagement, and their relationship. Findings: TROs’ work experience had a complicated relationship with their work engagement. The two strands of the TROs’ role orientation co-existed within their daily work and strengthened each other through exerting effects on the dedication and absorption aspects of work engagement. However, TROs concerned with teacher development displayed higher work engagement than those who put a greater emphasis on policy implementation. Corresponding author: Hongmei Ma, Department of Education Economics and Administration, Central China Normal University, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China. Email: [hongmei_yichang@sina.com](hongmei_yichang@sina.com) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Originality/Value: The study contributes to current research in three respects. First, it bridges the macro-level trend of education reform with micro-level role internalization of individuals. Second, it broadens our understanding of work engagement by linking it with the subjective perceptions of one’s work role. Finally, this Chinese case is expected to enrich international perspectives on teacher leaders in the context of top-down districtwide instructional reform. Keywords Role perception, teacher leader, work engagement Date received: 13 November 2020; revised: 19 December 2020; accepted: 20 January 2021 Introduction The rise of the fourth wave of school improvement (Muijs, 2010) has shifted the focus of school improvement from single institute or organization to the district or even regional level. With the tide, there has also been a growing body of research on the role and function of district-level teacher leaders. For instance, aligning the curriculum, assessment, and policy; designing organizational architecture; allocating and distributing resources; ensuring evidence-based improvement; and sensemaking sharing were found to be effective strategies by which district or middle leaders can launch curriculum reform and support the professional development of teachers (Gallucci et al., 2010; LaPointe-McEwan et al., 2017; Rorrer et al., 2008; Soini et al., 2018) . However, previous work on the traits, styles, and strategies of teacher leaders underlined the need to expand leadership theory to encompass the full range of human well-being and agency (Chingara & Heystek, 2019; Yamamoto et al., 2014) . Teacher leaders’ emotion, self-

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To analyze how TROs’ role perceptions and work engagement develop together, and to clarify how their competing roles are balanced to sustain engagement and support community and educational reform.

What methods does the study use?

It uses a questionnaire combining an inventory of work role requirements and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to examine TROs’ role perception and work engagement and their relationship.

What do the findings suggest about work engagement?

TROs’ work experience shows a complex relationship with work engagement; two strands of TRO role orientation co-exist and strengthen engagement through effects on dedication and absorption.

How do TROs focused on teacher development compare with those focused on policy implementation?

TROs concerned with teacher development display higher work engagement than those emphasizing policy implementation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk