A reply to Charles Clarke by Ko Po Yuk

Citation

Po Yuk, K. (2012), "A reply to Charles Clarke by Ko Po Yuk", International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Vol. 1 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlls.2012.57901caa.006

A reply to Charles Clarke by Ko Po Yuk

A reply to Charles Clarke by Ko Po Yuk

Article Type: Discussion From: International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Volume 1, Issue 3.

The connection between educational research and practice – the China model

Charles Clarke argues for a quality communication amongst the policy makers, researchers and practitioners on important reform agendas. Mainland China, a fast developing country with the largest economy, has developed a long-standing mechanism for connecting the educational research and policy-making communities with the practitioners.

Mainland China has undergone a new round of rigorous education reform, especially in the primary and secondary curriculum since early 2000. As a country which operates a centralized system, reform vision and curriculum changes in China are channelled through a nationwide research network, which has been established since the early 1950s. While education policies are made by an Education Commission in the Ministry of Education, the interpretation and implementation lies with the three-level nationwide teaching research network; namely, the municipal-level Teaching Research Office (TRO), county-level TRO and school-level TRO. Unlike many education offices elsewhere, with duties which are usually administrative, the major duty of the TROs is professional. Education policies and reform agendas are re-interpreted and translated into curriculum guides, textbooks or other teaching materials through the TROs at different levels. In the system, colleges of education and teacher refresher schools take up the supportive role of providing re-training courses for teachers, the central activities being the study of curriculum materials and teacher professional development activities that focus on classroom teaching. At the end of this conduit, new ideas on teaching – generated from local research or borrowed from overseas – are usually “translated” into a “lesson” and tried out, evaluated and refined through the platform of an “open lesson”, either at school or district level, with teachers as the enactors and evaluators.

Chinese education has a long traditional culture of emphasis on classroom practice; practitioners, and in particular, the practical wisdom of outstanding teachers is highly valued. Educational research is not only the business of university professors. Teachers, especially experienced ones, are also held accountable for school-based research. The TRO at school level is a system for teacher collaboration on school-based research, and the focus is always on classroom teaching. Teachers are allocated to different TROs in schools according to their subjects. Experienced teachers serve as mentors to novice teachers in TRO and there is usually a close mentor-mentee relationship established (the terms used for mentor and mentee in China are shi tu, literally meaning master and disciple). Tacit knowledge of teaching is passed through this link. In this process, experienced teachers, also known as “backbone teachers” in China, play an important role. In China, outstanding frontline teachers are highly valued by the state and enjoy status as high as academics in the universities. There is a life-time Special Rank Teacher (SRT) award established since 1978 with the aim of honouring outstanding teachers in various subjects at primary and secondary school level. The SRTs take up multiple roles of teacher leaders, pedagogical innovators, political representatives, role models in the teaching profession and at the same time teach in schools.

At the school-level TRO, led by experienced teachers, analysis of teaching materials and sometimes production of sample lesson plans, are the major activities. Instead of discussing in abstract terms, the reform vision or new policies are discussed in terms of curriculum materials and pedagogy, and the constructs used in discussion are “important points”, “difficult points” and “key/hinge points”. In other words, reform vision and education policies are translated as “content” and “lesson” (ke) when they reach the users at school level. Peer review of lessons is an established cultural practice and public lessons are popular in China. Teachers see teaching public lessons in school, at county level or provincial level as a way to craft their teaching and an activity that contributes to their career development. A popular or award-winning public lesson is often recognized by teachers and educators as representative of a vision of educational reform.

The above is not trying to argue that the China model of linking education reform to practice is a perfect model, or a viable example for the rest of the world to follow, as there are cultural differences amongst nations and complicated issues related to educational borrowing, which are not something that this brief response can address. However, while the rest of the world is interested in learning from China, the several characteristics in her education system identified above, namely a de-centralized system on education research, the focus on classroom teaching and the valuing of practical wisdom, may provide an additional perspective for us to understand the relationship between educational research and practice.

About the author

Ko Po YukDirector of the Center for Learning Study and Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Hong Kong Institute of Education. and can be contacted at: pyko@ied.edu.hk