Think Big, Act Small: 21st-Century Curriculum Reform in China

• In Event: 46.047 - Education for the 21st Century: A Six-Country Examination of National Curricular Frameworks and Priorities

Abstract

Purpose
This paper explicates the approaches that China has taken to advance education for the 21st century, focusing on curriculum reform and concludes with the lessons that are distilled from experiences of China that might be applicable in other contexts and countries.

Perspectives
China’s curriculum to teach 21st century competencies, intended and implemented, is contingent upon historical context and policy reforms implemented on a larger scope. Hence the paper takes a dual perspective: historical and systemic. First, it reviews historical contexts that had an impact on shaping education for the 21st century in China; second, it examines how the concept of education for the 21st century has taken shape in the policy reforms and landscape of curriculum as a result of the reforms, specifically changes in the strategy, content and ways to deliver education.

Method and data
This is a case study that presents changes in the strategy, content and ways to deliver education in China in the 21st century. Data comes from multiple sources including policy documents, scholarly articles, government reports, research reports, book chapters, and web-based data. Data also include observations from interviews with officials and professionals as well as author’s experiences of working in the education system in China.

Results
The paper concludes with five lessons of 21st century curriculum reform for potential replication, namely, evidence-based, participatory policy-making; provision of professional support for teaching; learning from the world; experimentation; and balancing between centralization and decentralization, emphasizing both unity and diversity.

Significance
There are many studies attempting to shed light on the chemistry of educational progress in China, while quantitative analysis could only expose part of the picture, qualitative studies merely limit to factors such as teacher professional development and cultural heritage. A systemic analysis of changing approaches to reforming education for the 21st century, with curriculum reform standing at the core is lacking. Hence this paper focuses on big ideas or fundamental lessons that underpins China’s curriculum reforms from a systemic perspective and thus draw lessons for wider application.

Author

• Yan Wang, National Institute of Education Sciences