Resistance to Cultural Intervention: Formation of Inhibitory Collective and children’s Self-Defensive Regulation in a Chinese School

Abstract

A sequel to the previous article "Roots of Excellence: The Releasing Effect of Individual Potentials through Educational Cultural Intervention in a Chinese School" (in press), the present study is on the unexpected reversal phenomena in the process of cultural intervention. The goal of the intervention is to construct the dynamics of Jiti (well-organized collective in Chinese) through creative activities to promote students' development. In the intervention, the releasing effect (Wu et al. 2016) emerged as well, but the teacher's concern about worsening discipline and academic performance evoked and reinforced his habitual notions and practices of education, turning the joint activities into a way of strengthening discipline. The energy that had been discharging at the beginning of the intervention was inhibited, so that many more problematic behaviors took shape. The whole class formed an inhibitory atmosphere, within which pupils formed self-defensive regulation strategies. By comparing with the productive collective in which intervention was effective and analyzing this unexpected reversal process, we can not only see pupils' self-construction status in the inhibitory culture but illuminate the formation of the teacher's resistance to educational and cultural transformation as well. Resistance is originated from teachers not being able to interpret pupils' inner developmental needs but instead anxious about the ongoing problems.

Why Are High-Achieving Students Susceptible to Inhibition? An Idiographic Analysis of Student Self-Identity in China

“…The activity centered on telling stories based on pictures provided. Four images were used from prior research (Wu et al, 2017), with these pictures respectively showing (1) students in a class, (2) two kids playing games, (3) a child talking with an adult, and (4) five children standing in a circle. These particular images were chosen because their themes would be familiar to the students and so would likely elicit stories more easily.…”

“…Almost all of their teachers and students come from the countryside but currently live in cities. Additionally, a recent study found that one of the characteristics of migrant schools is their non-comprehensive view toward education—that is, their emphasis on the development of arithmetic and literacy skills while disregarding learning through folklore, games, and activities (Wu et al, 2017). In fact, the students and teachers at the migrant schools are often familiar with such folklore, games, and cultural activities as they are from these traditional cultural backgrounds.…”