Chinese high school students' perception and experience of competency-based education reform

• In Event: "Rethinking Competency-Based Learning, Accountability, and Equity"

Proposal

In the 21st century, human society has entered the information age, the rapid development of globalization and knowledge-based economy has put forward brand-new requirements for human qualities, higher-order skills are becoming more and more important(Deng & Peng,2021; Deng et al.,2023; Deng & Zhan,2022). Since the end of the 1990s, under the influence of major international organizations such as OECD, EU and other powerful countries such as the United States, more than 100 countries around the world have successively implemented Competency-Based Education (CBE), which has become a "global education policy"(Verger et al.,2018). China initiated CBE in 2014, released the China Student Development Key Competencies Framework in 2016 and incorporated it into national curriculum and generated subject key competencies, and developed curriculum standards for general high school and compulsory education in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
After a global education policy is transferred from global to nation-state and went through macro- and meso-level decision-making and interpretation, it still needs to return to the micro-context, i.e., schools and classrooms, to examine its implementation. Research has proven the successful implementation of new educational reforms depends on schools and teachers(Fullan,2015).Therefore many researchers are going into schools to examine the implementation of CBE from teachers’ perspective, arguing that teachers’ attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors have key impacts on the implementation of CBE(Halász & Michel,2011; Rogers,2021).However, students are also important actors in education reform. Recently, focusing on the students voice in education reform has become the consensus of many researchers(Butler et al.,2017;Mayes,2020), which set off a "new wave" of educational discussions(Fielding,2004). "Student voices" refer to various ways students say and choose to express how they feel about school experience(Robinson & Taylor, 2007). Allowing student to participate and voice out in educational reform has dual meanings of promoting reform implementation and emancipating education. For students, it can create meaningful experience, promote their agency, belonging and competence(Mitra,2004), and help improve grades(Oldfather,1995). For education reform, students' classroom experiences are reliable sources of information in teaching practice(Kane & Staiger,2012) ; It helps teachers understand students' learning situation and provide effective feedback for school reform(Rudduck,2007); It provides a new perspective for re-examining problems being ignored or misunderstood in education reform, and exacerbates the turmoil of education reform(Mitra & Gross,2009). Meanwhile, students also mobilizes teachers and parents to participate in the education reform(Levin,2000).
Given the importance of student participation in educational reform, it is surprising that empirical research of CBE that focuses on how students perceive and experience remains rare(Le et al.,2014; Ryan & Cox,2017). Students' perspectives and voices are often ignored in discussions about educational problem-solving strategies and the success or failure of school reform(Nieto, 1994) and then being sidelined in education reform. In China, researchers extensively discuss "what"(Zhang,2016; Lin,2017; Chu,2016) and "how"(Peng et al.,2019; Jiang et al.,2016; Shi,2016) from macro level. However, there aren’t many studies on the implementation of CBE in schools from the perspective of students. Students have a considerable potential contribution to educational reform, they should be active participants in reform rather than passive recipients, otherwise the effectiveness of educational reform will be severely weakened(Hodgkin,1998). In other words, students' perception and experience are important factors related to the success of CBE reform, it is necessary to carry out relevant research in this field.
In September 2022, Chinese high schools implemented CBE, while primary and junior schools have implemented since September 2018. Therefore, this article focuses on Chinese high schools’ implementation of CBE from the perspective of students. It can verify and develop the applicability and effectiveness of students' voice-related theories and research and take China as a case to understand the process of CBE implementation and re-contextualization and expand the related empirical research. 2 research questions are included:
1.How do students understand or perceive CBE?
2. What are students’ experiences of implementing CBE in their high schools (including challenges and suggestions)? Are there any differences among regions? Why?
This paper uses qualitative research method. First, we determine the research area according to the latest per capita GDP rankings of Chinese provinces. Then, combined with the principles of convenience sampling and snowball sampling, the freshmen majoring in education at E University are selected as the sample (because they have just graduated from high schools and have experienced the latest CBE reform, they may have deep understanding and experience). Finally, a total of 21 students (10 from Shanghai, 5 from Sichuan Province, and 6 from Henan Province) are selected to conduct in-depth interviews for about 1 hour, forming about 240,000 words interview texts. We adopted thematic analysis method for data analysis, 4 researchers independently coded on the basis of being familiar with the data and determining the coding principles, and then measured its consistency. They continued to discuss to reach a consensus and determine the final code to ensure the reliability of the research.
Through preliminary data analysis, the following research conclusions were drawn:
1. Students basically don’t know or only have superficial understanding of CBE, but affirm its importance and necessity;
2. Restricted by economic development, teachers' concepts, educational resources, etc., there are large regional differences in the implementation of CBE in China. High schools in Shanghai have relatively understood and made some attempts in teaching and evaluation, while high schools in Sichuan and Henan provinces have serious symbolic implementation, some schools didn’t implement CBE at all;
3. In general, students believe that CBE hasn’t been implemented in their high schools. Parental attitudes and social atmosphere are the common resistance to reform, and the college entrance examination(Gaokao) is the most fundamental challenge. In the future, China's CBE reform can work towards reforming the Gaokao system, optimizing the allocation of educational resources, strengthening communication and cooperation among families, schools, and communities, and improving students’ participation.

Authors

• Chaonan Wang

• Yue Zhu

• Shiqi Zhang

• 毛 宵, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University