‘The Art of Being Governed’: Unravelling Teachers' Agency in Reconciling Academic Burden Within China's High‐Stakes Exam System

ABSTRACT The excessive academic burden that undermines students' well‐being has become a matter of global concern. Drawing on Archer's social realist theory, this qualitative case study identified three forms of teacher agency in navigating academic burden under the ‘Double Reduction’ policy: methodological refinement that rendered the workload more engaging and sustainable; epistemological reconfiguration that transformed burden through recognition and inclusive participation; and ontological reconstruction that reframed burden as an opportunity for deep intellectual inquiry. Teachers emerged as culturally embedded, reflexive agents who reconciled institutional pressures with moral commitments. This agency challenges the compliance–resistance binary and emphasises the importance of teacher‐informed, context‐sensitive policy design.