Last September I led a delegation of professionals in curriculum development and supervision on a two-week tour of China. We were invited by the Chinese Association for the Advancement of International Friendship; the exchange was conducted under the auspices of the Citizen Ambassador Program of People to People International.
In classrooms, universities, and special schools, we met with our Chinese counterparts for a dialogue about common professional issues. During these discussions, we shared experiences and deepened our understanding of the role that curriculum development and supervision play in fostering systemic education reform.
Six years earlier, in 1988, I had visited the People's Republic of China for the first time. On first acquaintance, China seemed complicated and contradictory, yet also a country of great beauty and splendor. This September, it was clear to me that China has been changing with dizzying speed these past six years. Returning to Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, I could see more accepting attitudes toward democracy, the seeming slide toward a market economy, and the Westernization of the culture. The free enterprise system appears to be flourishing, and the Chinese have embarked on a tremendous building program. Still, the government controls the amount of freedom and rewards that the masses receive.
A Period of Reform
China has been undergoing a period of education reform, following the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). Issues related to the structure, curriculum, and assessment methods of secondary education are keenly contested. This is not surprising, given that secondary education had been most dramatically affected by the Cultural Revolution.
Education will contribute significantly to the social, technical, and economic development in the country. Universal education has had a legal basis since the passage of the Compulsory Education Law in 1986. Now primary and secondary general education lasts 12 years in three stages: the primary school and the lower secondary school (nine years), and the three-year upper secondary school.
In recent years, governments at various levels have attached greater importance to education. They have carried out the Compulsory Education Law and have mobilized people to raise money for operating schools. Thus compulsory education has rapidly increased, and primary and secondary schools have greatly improved.
Nonetheless, China is a vast country with uneven economic and cultural development; teachers and schools vary greatly in quality. Student preparation is no more consistent.
National officials and educators formulate policy and regulations, allocate funds, plan curriculums, and choose textbooks. Their decisions are subsequently carried out by provincial, city, and local committees. Teachers focus on what to teach rather than how to teach, following a method described to us as "filling the duck."
Key elite schools base admission decisions on whether applicants pass stiff examinations. Consequently, students' ability to obtain high examination scores is deemed more important than creative thinking.
Teachers enjoy high social prestige and are called the "engineers of human souls." September 10 each year is a national holiday honoring the work of China's teachers. But their morale is strained by low salaries and poor living standards.
Polarization between rich and poor has accompanied China's rapid economic development, and most teachers belong to the poor class. As government functionaries, they are not permitted to do part-time work and many feel rejected by the government. The result is an increase in the rate of teachers leaving the profession for better jobs in the last two years. Universities that train teachers are increasingly having problems recruiting the best and brightest students to the field.
How will Chinese education change in the coming years? The future appears likely to produce a more differentiated system, with a strengthening of the relationship between schools and business enterprises. Current developments in education are closely tied to economic reforms, which aim toward a policy of openness and a diversified domestic economy. If these economic reforms continue, secondary education will probably continue to move toward an even more localized, differentiated structure, with a strong vocational thrust.
Despite all these changes, China retains much of the social and cultural flavor of its ancient traditions. This rich heritage draws upon a diversity of traditions and cultures that are the source of China's essential appeal.