Crafting Curriculum Reform: Differentiating and Diversifying School Curriculum for the Needs of Students

• In Event: 58.083 - Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: 58.083-10 - Curriculum Reform in Chile, South Korea, China, and the United States

Abstract

This paper looks critically at international curriculum programs that are newly established by top-rated Chinese public high schools and approved by the Chinese government. Drawing on critical curriculum studies and David Harvey’s critiques of neoliberalism, I examine the selection, organization, and legitimation of school curriculum at the Sunny High (pseudonym) International Curriculum Program in Moon City (pseudonym) in China. The paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the school. Using the data from participant observation, semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, and site documents, I argue that educational reforms influenced by neoliberal ideologies and globalization enable public and private actors to work together for the selection and organization of school knowledge to cater to the needs of privileged Chinese students.

Author

• Shuning Liu, Ball State University