Minjian: Toward an Approach to Researching Education in China From Below

• In Event: AERA Research-in-Progress Roundtable Session 1
  In Invited Roundtable: International Perspectives on Comparative Education Research, History Curriculum, Artificial Intelligence, and School Infrastructure (Table 16)

Abstract

This conceptual paper aims to bring into education research the Chinese concept of minjian (民间), which literally means “among the people”, and unpacks it as a rich theoretical resource for the exploration of education. Minjian has been increasingly used in social sciences and humanities; however, it has little presence in education studies. Given this, central questions I sought to answer include: What is minjian? How has it been used in research? What contributions can it make to education research? To answer these questions, I reviewed key literatures on minjian in both English and Chinese, identified dimensions of the concept, including unofficialdom, bottom-upness, and folk/tradition, and discussed its significance and implication for education research.

Author

• Baiwen Peng, University of Minnesota