How Has Recent Curriculum Reform in China Influenced School-based Teacher Learning? An Ethnographic Study of Two Subject Departments in Shanghai, China

Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 40, Issue 4, 2012, pages 347-361

China has been implementing a curriculum reform and this poses challenges to teachers as they need to develop new pedagogical skills and knowledge to deal with new educational demands that arise.

This ethnographic study investigates the impacts of current curriculum reform on teacher learning using two subject departments from two schools in Shanghai, China.

This study shows that teachers direct much attention towards searching for good practices and norms of practice to encounter new curriculum challenges.

Findings show that outside experts who act as ‘boundary brokers’ are crucial in teacher learning.
They also identify two modes of teacher learning activities: hierarchical, which relies on imported expert knowledge; and reciprocal, which depends on exploiting local knowledge.