The unbearable lightness of the curriculum: what drives the assessment practices of a teacher of English as a Foreign Language in a Chinese secondary school?

Abstract

The Chinese authorities have spelt out their educational vision in a series of documents and provided explicit guidelines in terms of curriculum and assessment. How are these policy visions and curriculum standards translated into the classroom practices of the teacher? This paper tries to answer this question by looking into one teacher’s instruction and assessment practices in one unit of teaching. Interviews of an experienced teacher and video recordings of one unit of her teaching at a school in Beijing provide insights into the dynamics of classroom teaching and assessment in relation to curriculum and textbooks in the Chinese context. Findings suggest that textbooks provide the backbone of the what; teaching experience guides the how; high-stakes examinations define the what and the how; and curriculum standards become the garnish only. Discussion emphasises the importance of communication in curriculum implementation. Teacher assessment literacy is seen as another crucial factor in assessment reform.