Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have been recognized as a promising infrastructure for teacher professional development and student achievement. There has been increasing research interest in PLCs outside mainstream Western contexts. Based on literature and documentary analysis, this paper outlines the historical development of PLCs in…

The history of curriculum reform from 1978 to 2008 in mainland China may be divided into three phases, each--respectively--committed to the recovery of the curriculum system ruined by the Cultural revolution, construction of a curriculum system in concert with the nine-year compulsory education, and pursuit of quality education under the changed…

Basic education is universal education, which aims to improve the basic quality of a nation's people. In the three decades since reform and opening up, earth-shaking changes have taken place in the quality of China's basic education. This article describes the path of development and changes in China's basic education over the past thirty years…

China's "Compulsory Education Law," determining the development of compulsory education, was first promulgated in 1986 and then amended in 2006. It has been a symbolic milestone in the history of Chinese education. During two decades, there have been totally 8 influential reforms in compulsory education funding policy. From the viewpoint…

The balanced development of compulsory education, with a focus on the goal of educational equality, is both a matter of policy orientation and a practical educational issue. At present, people are mostly concerned with the unbalanced state of development of compulsory education, its causes, and issues regarding its administration. Various modes of…

Compulsory education is the fundamental education for citizens and is the source of state power, which radically determines thought level, political awareness, cultural sense and production ability of the entire nation. Therefore, to popularize compulsory education is the root of a country. This paper explains the meanings of compulsory education,…

This volume is the first to comprehensively examine Chinese's affirmative action policies in the critical area of minority education, the most important conduit to employment and economic success in the People's Republic of China after the economic reforms begun in the late 1970s. This book contains four parts. Part I, "Debating China's…

China has initiated experiments on "Learning in Regular Classrooms" (LRC) since the mid-1980s in response to the international trend of inclusive education and the domestic need of serving large numbers of children with disabilities. LRC is the main strategy to promote compulsory education for youngsters with disabilities. Despite the…

When William Moore, a Scottish Presbyterian pastor, established the first special school in China in 1874, the country began her long and circuitous journey toward establishing formal educational services for individuals with special needs. Special education in China developed slowly on the infertile soil of continual wars, political instability,…

As the first year of the Sixteenth National People's Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as well as the first year for the new government, the year 2003 witnessed new events and new expectations in Chinese society. The universalization of compulsory education and the elimination of adult illiteracy made new advancements. Secondary…

The People's Republic of China has employed two means of literacy promotion: a campaign approach and a legislative approach to meet the needs of nation-state building through education. From 1949 through to the late 1970s, the campaign approach was motivated by a political rationale, but later an economic rationale also became important. From the…

Reports on a study tour of China and argues that, although China has bright, highly motivated students, the country has serious problems. Discusses the impact of the Cultural Revolution and presents four case studies exemplifying issues in Chinese education. Includes two teaching activities based on the report. (CFR)

This paper, written in outline form, summarizes the history and current situation of special education in China. The paper begins by listing milestones in Chinese special education from 200 B.C. to 1990 A.D. and noting that currently there are an estimated 6,500,000 children (ages 7-15, with disabilities, of whom 70,000 are being served in special…