Rebuilding Hope and Sustainability: Constructing the Meaning of “Green” in a Postearthquake Rural School in China

• In Event: Cases of Places: Place-Based Education and International Environmental Ed Approaches

Abstract

This paper explores the significance of local - global interactions in the construction of meanings and practices of education for sustainable development (ESD) through a case study of an international NGO-funded “green” primary school in rural China. Findings from participatory observation, document analysis, and interviews with teachers, parents, students, state officials and international donors indicate how multiple and contradictory green school practices are shaped by China’s changing socio-economic and political policies, uneven implementation of ESD, rural education reform initiatives designed to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, and school-community relationships. The findings of the project illustrate how interaction among global ideals, national and provincial policies, and local school actors have mapped the “green idea” onto China’s education reform agenda.

Author

• Yimin Wang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign