Classroom-Based Curriculum Development: A Perspective From Language Teachers in Higher Education in Mainland China

• In Event: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching in an International Context

Abstract

This case study examines an under-theorized area of curriculum development, namely teachers' enactment of curriculum materials at the classroom level. It explores English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' utilization of the prescribed textbooks concerning delivering lessons in Higher Education in mainland China. Drawing on qualitative data from four Chinese EFL teachers and six students in two successive semesters in one university, the interactive patterns of teachers' curriculum development at the classroom level were generalized. Further, the mediated relations among teachers, students and other stakeholders that afford and constrain teachers’ curriculum development were also identified. A conceptual framework was then developed to theorize the classroom-based curriculum development. This study also provides recommendations for material development, teacher education and professional development.

Author

• Zhan Li, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law