New Curriculum Reform Implementation And The Transformation Of Educational Beliefs, Practices, And Structures In Gansu Province

Chinese Education and Society, vol. 44, no. 6, November–December 2011, pp. 47–72. © 2011 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1061–1932/2011 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/CED1061-1932440604

4 Tanja Carmel SargenT

New Curriculum Reform Implementation and the Transformation of Educational Beliefs, Practices, and Structures in Gansu Province
Abstract: Response to the implementation of thenew curriculum reforms varies by regional context. A study of the effects of reform implementation on basic education in rural Gansu contributes to understanding the reforms in resource-constrained environments in China. Drawing on rich data from linked teacher, principal, student, and county administrator questionnaires available in three waves of the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, thisarticle examines the relationships between new curriculum reform implementation and the transformation of educational beliefs, practices, structures, and student outcomes in primary and junior middle schools in rural Gansu. The new curriculum reforms have aimed at changes in educational beliefs, practices, and structures with the goal of enhancing student well-being and all-around development (Guanand Meng 2007; Shi and Liu 2004). Very little rigorous evaluation data are, as yet, available to determine whether the reforms have succeeded in achieving these aims (Dello-Iacovo 2009). What attitudes do
Tanja Carmel Sargent is an assistant professor at Rutgers University. Data used in this article came from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, which is supported by a grant from theUnited Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council and Department for International Development (ESRC RES-167–25–0250). Earlier support for data collection came from the Spencer Foundation Small and Major Grants Programs, the World Bank, and the National Institutes of Health (grants 1R01TW005930–01 and 5R01TW005930–02).
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teachers and principals have aboutthe new curriculum reforms? Have beliefs about the goals of education been affected by the reforms? What do classroom practices look like after several years of reform implementation? To what extent have teachers received new curriculum training and professional development? How has the structure and production of curriculum changed? What are the main challenges to successful implementation of thereforms? Finally, and most importantly, what are the student outcomes of reform implementation? In this article, I draw on student, teacher, principal, and county level data from three waves of the Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF) to examine the beliefs, practices, structures, and student outcomes during the period of new curriculum reform implementation in primary and junior middleschools in rural Gansu province. Beliefs Underlying the curriculum reforms is a collection of principles based on educational philosophy incorporated under the concept of suzhi jiaoyu, commonly translated as “quality education”(Dello-Iacovo 2009; Guan and Meng 2007; Murphy 2004; Woronov 2009). Suzhi jiaoyu is conceived of in opposition to yingshi jiaoyu, or “examination-oriented education.”Educators have been exhorted to replace transmissional, text-driven, teacher-dominated, examination-centered, and mimetic notions of education with more progressive notions that are aimed at the development of the whole child—moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic capacities as well as the ability to apply knowledge in practice (de zhi ti mei lao; Dello-Iacovo 2009; State Council 1999). Atransformation in beliefs about education (jiaoyu linian) has been the foundation of the new curriculum reforms. Thoughts and ideas are the forerunners to behavior. The renewal and transformation of educational concepts are a prerequisite to the implementation of quality education (suzhi jiaoyu; People’s Republic of China Ministry of Education 2002: 3). What do the teachers and principals in Gansu...