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Chinese teachers’ reconstruction of the curriculum reform through lesson study

Chinese teachers’ reconstruction of the curriculum reform through lesson study 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. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies Emerald Publishing

Chinese teachers’ reconstruction of the curriculum reform through lesson study

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References (26)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
2046-8253
DOI
10.1108/IJLLS-02-2013-0011
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

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.

Journal

International Journal for Lesson and Learning StudiesEmerald Publishing

Published: Oct 11, 2013

Keywords: Chinese teachers; Curriculum reform; De‐contextualization; Lesson study; Re‐contextualization; Reconstruction; Thematic teaching

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