Beyond the plateau: understanding professional plateauing and renewal among Chinese veteran teachers

Professional plateauing among teachers has been widely examined. Veteran teachers may be particularly vulnerable to plateauing, yet existing research has focused more on how they cope with it than on how plateauing emerges and professional renewal unfolds. Drawing on positioning theory and meaning-making theory, this study explored these processes through qualitative interviews with 15 veteran teachers in China, analysed using a thematic narrative approach. The findings identified three forms of professional plateauing: practice-oriented, identity-oriented, and structure-oriented plateauing. Professional renewal, in turn, unfolded through three pathways: vision-oriented, agency-oriented, and influence-oriented renewal. Across these experiences, plateauing involved disruptions in professional meaning arising from tensions between teachers’ professional roles and valued educational purposes, while renewal involved reconstructing meaningful purposes through the renegotiation of professional roles. By highlighting the interplay between role positioning and meaning-making, this study extends existing understandings of professional plateauing beyond career stagnation and offers insights into how veteran teachers navigate late-career professional development. It also suggests that supporting veteran teachers requires attention not only to performance and career advancement but also to their professional purposes, identity, and opportunities to enact valued educational roles.