The sustainable practice of education fairness in China: The influence of college students’ perceptions of senior teachers' support on students’ well-being

The Chinese Ministry of Education implemented a policy to recruit silver-aged (retired) teachers to participate in the construction of higher education in the western region to promote the practice of educational equity. However, for policy stakeholders, it is still unclear whether they will perceive the actual effect of the policy implementation. Therefore, under the framework of the socio-ecological model (S-EM) and self-determination theory (SDT), this study explored the relationship between college students' perceptions of silver-aged teachers’ support, school belonging, two types of learning motivation and students' well-being. Purposive sampling was adopted in this study. College students who participated in the “Program for Supporting Senior Teachers in Colleges and Universities in the West” were recruited to fill out the online questionnaires, and a total of 532 questionnaires were returned. The results of structural equation model analysis showed that when the students perceived the support of senior teachers, it was helpful for them to form their sense of belonging to the school. When the sense of belonging to the school became stronger, their learning motivation was also promoted. When students were motivated to learn, they also had higher levels of well-being. From this point of view, the plan to support the western colleges and universities with silver-aged (retired) teachers is conducive to the sustainable development of education.