Reconnecting with Chinese cultural and philosophical resources in education research and practice: xieshang jiaoyan (deliberative teaching research) as an example

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Selves as Methods: Reflexive Dialogue and Praxis in Global Knowledge Production

Proposal

Like their counterparts in many other non-Western societies, contemporary Chinese education scholars are rarely recognized as sources of theory building, but as mere functionaries that apply Western theories. This assumption blocks from viewing their work in mediating dominant global theories and cultural contexts, and in the process producing new theories. This paper focuses on the reflexive explorations and negotiations of Chinese education scholars in this hegemonic labor division. We specifically draw on the experience of one of the co-authors as a university expert in a university-school collaboration project and his reflection on that experience. We aim to illustrate how Chinese education scholars have navigated their theoretical resources in the uneven global knowledge production system and reconnected with their own cultural traditions and philosophies in order to understand and inform education research and practice.

The main purpose of the said university-school collaboration project is to improve the teaching of critical thinking through jiaoyan (教研, lit. teaching research) activities. The co-author involved in this project was inspired by the Western notion of deliberation, mainly based on the work of Habermas, Dewey and Schwab, to guide his collaboration with school teachers. However, in the real process, he realized that their de facto approach was distinct from Western democratic deliberation that is deeply rooted in individuality, self-assertiveness, and skepticism. This reflection has led to our initial attempt to conceptualize the jiaoyan approach based on Chinese cultural and philosophical resources, particularly, the notion of he (和, harmony or attunement). We refer to this approach as ‘xieshang jiaoyan’ (协商教研, lit. deliberative teaching research) and intend to retain this Chinese linguistic origin to stress its cultural and philosophical connotation. In contrast to Western deliberation, xieshang embodies ontological (inter)relatedness. It advocates a sincere embracement and holistic integration of multiple perspectives and self-transformation to achieve the best creative and productive results, which better reflects the Chinese ideal of collaboration.

Inspired by “selves as method,” this paper adopted a dialogic way of collectively reflecting on one co-author’s personal experience. We first examined the co-author’s inquiry into Western democratic deliberation and its application in teacher professional development. To help him sort out his memories and thoughts, all three co-authors had three rounds of in-depth conversation; each lasted for two to four hours. Second, the process of xieshang jiaoyan was investigated. Attention was paid to how participants shared, communicated, and negotiated their ideas to improve teaching plans. Teaching videos, lesson plans, the records of jiaoyan activities and interviews with eight participants were collected and analyzed. Last, three authors collectively revisited this jiaoyan process, with emphasis on the cultural roots and characteristics of the xieshang approach.

Through the illustrative example of xieshang, we aim to offer insights into some of the most salient themes in comparative education: politics of knowledge production, post/decolonial interruptions, and pluriversal futures that includes, as oppose to exclude, potential Chinese contributions.

Authors

• Yun You, East China Normal University

• Liang Cheng, Department of Education，East China Normal University

• Jeremy Rappleye, The University of Hong Kong