Chinese teachers’ reconstruction of the curriculum reform through lesson study

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to reveal how the meanings of the current national curriculum reform in China changed in its transmission from the outside authoritative mandate to the local school practice through a case study of a lesson study on a reform practice called the "thematic teaching" in the Chinese language course. Design/methodology/approach -By a longitudinal study of the case for more than two months in a primary school in Beijing, China, the authors of this paper followed all the steps of the lesson study cycle conducted by all the Chinese language teachers in the school. Observations, interviews and document analysis were employed to capture the teachers' thoughts, actions and especially group interactions in trying to understand and implement this new reform practice. Findings -The study found that due to the marked differences between the professional reform discourse and the teachers' native discourse, the meanings of the reform tended to look alien to school teachers. In order to make meanings out of the reform, the teachers in this lesson study resorted to their own native discourse to understand the reform. Such strategies as "de-contextualization" and "re-contextualization" were found in the teachers' joint efforts to reconstruct and reenact the reform. Originality/value -This research points to the importance of school teachers' own belief system in teaching as revealed by their native discourse. Only by finding an adequate link between the outside reform discourse and the teachers' native discourse, can the national curriculum reform truly take hold in the school.

Improving teaching, developing teachers and teacher educators, and linking theory and practice through lesson study in mathematics: an international perspective

“…In Mainland China, a teaching research system has been practiced nationally since the 1950s (Chen and Yang 2013;Wang 2009;Yang 2009). The system focuses on "guiding teaching research, overseeing teaching administration in schools on behalf of educational bureaus, providing consultation for educational authorities, mentoring the implementation and revision of new curricula, building the bridge between modern educational theories and teaching experiences, and promoting high-quality classroom instruction" (Huang et al 2014, p. 240).…”

Typical practices of lesson study in East Asia

“…Lesson study open house is another new practice that allows groups of teachers to learn from each other. Open houses are often held in conjunction with regional or national conferences of professional teacher organisations (Chen & Yang, ). Written lesson study reports are circulated among instructional superintendents and teachers.…”

“…Broadly speaking, Mainland China's model of lesson study has existed for at least 116 years. It has been marked by the establishment of the Chinese Association of Education by Yuanpei Cai in 1902 which is responsible for providing research-based teacher training (Chen & Yang, 2013). With the rapid development of basic education across the country, the Ministry of Education issued a policy in 1935 requiring that each middle and normal school with more than five teachers establish a research committee on teaching (Yu, 2007).…”

“…In the ancient Chinese cultural tradition, knowing and action are unified and doing is considered as being above knowing (Chen, 1991). This means that teachers value how to do a lesson rather than how to talk about it (Chen & Yang, 2013).…”

“…Learning study in Hong Kong, however, distinguishes itself in that it is informed by the variation theory with a narrower focus on how the intended learning for students can be best achieved (Pang & Lo, 2012). Although many Chinese mathematics teachers follow Linyuan Gu's (1991) Bianshi theory (similar to the variation theory), there is rarely a learning theory as overarching guidance for Mainland China's model (Chen & Yang, 2013) and the same is true of the Japanese model. Perhaps this difference exists partly because learning study in Hong Kong started much later and was initiated by scholars as an intentionally crafted activity supported by policy makers, whilst the other two are closer to the way things are developing in the folk art (Györi, 2018).…”