RESILIENCE THROUGH PROXIMAL PROCESSES: EVIDENCE FROM A MULTI-CASE STUDY OF FTEP PRESERVICE TEACHERS IN RURAL CHINA

Abstract

Purpose –Teacher resilience is central to professional development, yet its formation during the preservice stage, especially in policy-constrained rural practicums, remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining how proximal processes, specifically mentoring, peer collaboration, and teacher-student interaction, shape preservice teachers’ resilience during compulsory rural placements in rural China.

Methodology – This is a qualitative multiple-case study guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Process–Person–Context–Time (PPCT) framework. A total of six purposively sampled EFL preservice teachers from China’s Free Teacher Education Program participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews served as the primary data source, which were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Weekly reflective journals and practicum-related documents were also collected to provide contextual information and to triangulate interview accounts.

Findings – Teacher resilience was found to be shaped more by the quality of interaction than by formal support structures. Accessible and reciprocal mentoring promoted growth, whereas absent or non-reciprocal mentoring led to constrained coping. Structured peer collaboration buffered stress and supported adaptation, while structured isolation intensified vulnerability. Teacher-student interaction functioned as a site of professional identity negotiation, where meaning-making and relational repair supported identity reconstruction, whereas unresolved conflict under limited relational support resulted in protective boundary-setting. Three resilience configurations were identified, namely, Interactive Growth, Stable Adaptation, and Constrained Coping.

Significance – The findings reconceptualize preservice teacher resilience as an interactionally constructed developmental process rather than an individual trait. For teacher education programs, institutions, and policymakers, the findings highlight the importance of mentor preparation, structured peer support, and practicum designs which foster accessible, reciprocal, and developmentally scaffolding interactions in rural school contexts.