Classroom Teaching Transitions in K–12 Schools in China

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, research and debates around classroom teaching reform have flourished, generating some popular classroom teaching theories, like life practice pedagogy, contextualized teaching, language immersion teaching, subjective teaching, and student-centered teaching, in response to the rapid development of economy, education, information technology, and international communication. At the same time, teaching experiments have been conducted in elementary and secondary schools under these theories for two decades or longer. Officially, a nationwide curriculum reform was launched in China at the beginning of the 21st century, to meet the educational goal of students’ full development. As a result, the long-existing traditional classroom teaching, as the core of the reform, has witnessed some significant changes. Teachers, as the key to classroom teaching, have gone through transitions from knowledge imparters to facilitators. Meanwhile, students have become more active learners, interacting with teachers and other fellow students. Thus, the teaching process became more learning centered, interactive, and dynamic. Courses on teaching content, previously the only required courses in the National Instructional Guideline (jiao xue da gang), have been enriched by optional courses and activity courses with a concentration on life experience and interactions with National Curriculum Standards. Furthermore, with new technologies being adopted in the 2010s, classroom teaching is now organized in the form of a flipped classroom or micro-lecture, to enhance quality education (su zhi jiao yu). However, in classroom teaching practice, students’ subjectivity (zhu ti xing) as unique individuals with autonomy and creativity has not yet been truly realized, and their non-intellectual development, such as will power, engagement, critical thinking, and creativity, are not emphasized as expected. In addition, inequality exists in different areas and different types of schools. Great efforts from all sectors in China are still required to create a healthy and ecological education system.