Böcker av Kai Yu

Intermediate-Advanced user level

School culture is playing an increasingly important role in school performance and educational development. Within the national campaign in China for the innovative and sustainable development of education, local governments in Beijing Municipality have encouraged and facilitated educational innovation toward better school culture. In recent years various initiatives have been undertaken by a select group of schools to develop strategies and further action toward innovation and change. This book documents an investigation of how teachers and principals perceive school culture development in China. A survey was conducted among 1,992 informants from 37 schools (located in four different districts) in Beijing Municipality. The results of this study indicated that the respondents had overall positive perceptions of school culture construction and development in the educational change process. In general, they showed a positive attitude toward the school culture improvement initiatives, reported satisfaction about their current school culture and held confidence in the direction their school culture is heading. The study demonstrated that certain factors, such as school geographical location and respondents' job duty, job title, and gender, make a difference in how participants perceive their school's culture. Teachers and principals from a less economically developed district had less awareness of, involvement in, and understanding of school culture development in all its aspects. A notable gap between teachers and principals was identified in their perception of the core values and norms of the school and of communication between teachers and principals. This study suggests that for educational development to be further carried forward successfully, there is an urgent need for better distribution of educational resources (both financial and leadership), common understanding, agreed-upon goals, and efficient communication between principals and teachers. KeywordsEducational philosophy, Ethics, Chinese context, Gender, Learning

Diversification to a degree

The education implementation process in China remains uncharted by researchers. The Implementation of Inclusive Education in Beijing: Exorcizing the Haunting Specter of Meritocracy puts forth a general theory on China's education programs, encompassing policy processes, actions, and interactions and grounded on the views of street-level bureaucrats in China. Kai Yu investigates these processes and presents teachers' reflections on the change process, as well as implementation stories from four Beijing schools. He reports on their attitudes, their beliefs, and their pedagogical practices for implementing the innovative education program. Yu argues that the imperatives of meritocratic ideology have undermined the detracking policy and its practice. The strength of a program of change rests not so much on the power of the ideas, purposes, and values as on the reinterpretation of the implementers based on their personal understandings of institution and practice.