A Case Study of Teachers’ Identity in Chinese Online Shadow Education Institutions

Dating back to 2021, thanks to information and communications technology (ICT), most educational institutions have accumulated the experience of sustainable operation under the coronavirus pandemic. In particular, K-12 shadow education has quickly responded to the digital transformation of online teaching scenes to continue teaching plans and realized a compelling connection between online and offline courses. Even when facing a crisis again in the future, it would be possible for students are to deal with it calmly by continuing to utilize the online platform and technical tools built by educational informatization in this pandemic. However, it is also notable that although online shadow education has embraced its peak development and the rapid penetration of the sinking market under the catalysis of the coronavirus pandemic, it has also exposed many defects of itself. For instance, the improvement of online interaction for ideal teaching effects, and the guarantee of stable transmission of the platform, are still the directions that online shadow education urgently needs to explore and constantly polish. Therefore, this research, paying attention to the status quo and influencing factors of online teacher identity, will facilitate ICT teacher education, boost teaching quality, enhance evaluative standards for selecting online shadow education, and provide more guarantee for students and parents. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews and case analysis of two teachers in online shadow educational institutions, this paper analyzes the current situation and influencing factors of online shadow education teachers' identity from the macro, meso, and micro dimensions, in terms of four significant levels of vocational identity, professional identity, environmental identity, and personal identity. The findings of this study would empower online teachers' professionalism and career development for post-pandemic shadow education, which will also facilitate the students' engagement in distance private schooling at the same time.