Introduction Chinese primary school banzhurens (class teachers) undertake extensive responsibilities and express reluctance to continue in the role. This study provides a context-sensitive account of how banzhurens describe their everyday work dilemmas and how these experiences shape job satisfaction. Methods This qualitative case study drew on semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with seven primary-school banzhurens in G City, China. Findings and discussion Banzhurens bore an excessive workload and a wider job scope than subject specialist teachers. The overwhelming workload and job responsibilities caused burnout, which further harmed their job satisfaction. The participants did not describe self-efficacy as a positive contributor to their job satisfaction during their interviews. Other influences on banzhurens ’ job satisfaction that were recognized by the participants were stress, excessive non-teaching-related tasks, and insufficient reward, while student progress offered a primary sense of satisfaction in their work. Based on the findings, some potential solutions and strategies are proposed to enhance banzhurens ’ job satisfaction, professional development and wellbeing.
Bai et al. (Fri,) studied this question.