The development of Global Citizenship Education (GCE) in China has spurred some transitions in cultural education related to English curriculum development. Notwithstanding researchers have discussed cultural education in the field of English language teaching, there is still a dearth of study in Chinese academia about the diachronic analysis of…

Numerous studies have noted the difficulties in promoting a common national identity curriculum due to increasing tension between the concepts of local autonomy and national cohesion. Hong Kong's promotion of Moral and National Education provides an interesting case to examine two aspects of this tension -- what national identity education goals…

This historical study is an extension of an earlier study "The Origins of Multicultural Music Education in Chinese Secondary Schools' General Music Classes." In the earlier study, I examined multicultural music education in middle school music classes in the People's Republic of China from 1989 to 2010. The present study examines the…

Nation-states have concerns about the health and wellbeing of their citizens and these concerns have directly or indirectly influenced educational reform and curriculum development. In 2000, China issued a directive of 'Health First' which applied to all elements of the education system. In its scale and scope, this represented a significant and…

As China increasingly engages in global human rights mechanisms, it has demonstrated a commitment to reforming its national curriculum. Through examining textbooks published during Xi Jinping's tenure, this study investigates how China embeds human rights issues in the English language curriculum. The findings indicate that the human rights issues…

This paper analyses the current situation of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing in basic education in mainland China with a focus on the English curriculum standards, instruction and assessment. The National English Curriculum Standards launched by China's Ministry of Education ratified a general framework for EFL writing instruction and…

The shaping of people's identities as members of the Chinese nation is crucial to China's nationalist discourse at school. What kind of image of the Chinese nation does the state intend to transmit to its new generation of citizens? Does the constitutional separation of religion and education prescribe a secular image for the collective identity…

Internationally, there is a clear turn towards inquiry as a core approach to learning secondary school geography. This research critically compares how inquiry learning is expressed and justified in six jurisdictions (Australia, China, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA). Through content analysis of national curriculum documents, we found that…

Using the comparative case study (CCS) method, this article compares the findings from a longitudinal ethnographic research project of rural children in Northwest China (2005-2012) and a second longitudinal study of migrant children in eastern China (2015-2019). It examines rural and migrant students' and educators' (re)interpretations and uses of…

Alignment between curriculum standards and teachers' classroom instructional practices is critical in assessing curriculum implementation effectiveness and students' learning. Using a modified version of the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) for music, this study explored the alignment between the enacted curriculum and the national curriculum…

China's 2017 'classroom revolution' call intends to "transform" current teacher-centered pedagogies with brand-new philosophies and technologies. As a new entry point for classroom research, I problematize a naturalized (mis)belief--" teacher-centered (Confucian) didactic pedagogies are not conducive to critical thinking…

In response to the 2001 National curriculum review in China, which explicitly promotes scientific inquiry in science-related subjects, many editions of new textbooks were published. Among them, this study explored the quality of scientific inquiry in the most popular science textbooks. There are nine sets of high school science textbooks published…

Since the 1990s, the emphasis on intelligibility as a goal in pronunciation teaching rather than near-native or nativelike competence has been reinforced by the increasing use of English as a lingua franca. The insight of the intelligibility principle has greatly impressed researchers in China's English education, but has "very limited and…

The centralized compilation and use of educational materials for the three subjects of language arts, ethics and the rule of law (ideology and politics), and history are important moves in the fundamental task of creating educational materials to build up the state's authority and instill virtue and nurturing the young. Here, centrally compiled…

Through analysis of a classroom lesson led by a decorated teacher, we illustrate how instructional practices favor students seeking empirical patterns at the expense of using mechanistic reasoning. In the lesson, when students spontaneously come up with hypothetical mechanisms to explain why a light bulb in an electric circuit does or does not…