Transition, demographic change and educational development are intertwined. The enormous social transformations and urbanisation in China have led millions of people migrate from rural areas to cities since the 1980s.  It is estimated that there are 260 million people from the countryside now living in the cities, and approximately 96 million migrant school-aged children have accompanied their parents in relocating to cities. Most of the migrants travel from the western and central inlands to the urban cities in the eastern coastal areas (Wong, Chang, & He, 2009). The restriction of household registration system (Hukou) and institutional barriers have given rise to unequal socio-economic benefits and educational opportunities that exist between rural and urban residents (Wang & Holland, 2011). Children of migrant workers from rural areas have long been denied of opportunities of studying at local schools along with students who have the permanent resident status in a particular city. Since the 1980s, migrant children schools have emerged in response to the reluctance of the public schools to admit such children. Although these schools charge lowfees, they are usually small, lack qualifiedteachers, and do not have standard teaching materials andsanitation services(Wong, et al., 2009). The qualification and quality of teachers, school facilities and management are alarmingly low compared with those of public schools.

Shanghai historically is one of the principal recipients of rural migrant workers because of its booming economies. It has 24 million residents including 10 million migrants from other regions in China. The number of migrant children receiving 9-year compulsory education in Shanghai almost doubled in the past decade. It has 1.9 million students and 50% of them are migrants from rural areas.  Shanghai has implemented a number of policies to address demographic change and education inequity since 2000s, aiming at improving the financial support and school management, and enhancing education quality of schools for migrant children. Shanghai is the first large city in China that has provided free compulsory education for migrant children in formally registered schools. In 2011, the majority of 470,500migrant children enrolled in local public schools, 132,000enrolled in162government-sponsored schools for migrant students(Shanghai Municipal Education Commision, 2011).

In recent years, there has been a heightened interest in issues associated with the education of migrant children in China. Researchers have undertaken studies to investigate the educational and social conditions of the migrant workers’ children (Chen & Feng, 2013; Goodburn, 2009; Liang & Chen, 2007; Song, Zhu, Xia, & Wu, 2014), the marginality of these disadvantaged children(Nyland, Nyland, & Zhang, 2011; Wang, 2008), their psychological wellbeing(Wong, et al., 2009), and challenges for managing migrant education(Mok, Wong, & Guo, 2011). However, there is a lack of empirical studies on teachers in the schools for migrant children in China. Little is known about teachers’ professional lives, occupational status, and professional development. 

Education equity is considered a fundamental basis of social equity and harmony in China. The national government has identified migrant children's education as a key issue in response to the concern that this generation of migrant children may develop into China's first urban underclass.Given the imperative of addressing education equity, it is significant to examine the perspectives of teachers in schools for migrant children.This paperpresents some findings of a large scale research project on promoting education equity in China. Itfocuses on two research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of occupational status and professional lives of teachers in schools for migrant students in Shanghai? (2) What are the challenges and strategies for teacher professional development in the migrant schools?

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