Curriculum Development in China

Perspectives from

curriculum design and implementation

Li Jun

East China Normal University

A very brief history review

Rites, Music, Archery, Chariot-Riding, Calligraphy, and Arithmetic

Apply the calculating techniques in solving the real world problem

Nine chapters on the mathematical art

Western mathematics and modern school systems were introduced

Ancient China mathematics was replaced by western mathematics gradually in the modern system

Chinese translation of European, Japanese and American textbooks

Ancient

After 1840

A very brief history review

The Soviet Model was imported

Textbooks were adapted based on those of the Soviet Union

National unified textbook policy (PEP, an affiliated Press of the MOE)

Curriculum was designed based on practical conditions of China

Attempts at a balance between Confucian and Western-style

education. The characters of former Soviet Union textbooks in

1950s sediment in China.

Some of the central control made less rigid.

1949-1958

After 1958

Characteristics of the Chinese Mathematics Textbooks (before 2001)

Coherent, systematic

Few topics, more teaching times

Topics relate toeach other

Theorem-basedcurriculum

Accumulation ofdifficulty

More topics in each item

Multi-steps and theorem-based

reasoning

High compositedifficultyBao, (2004)

Emphasized the rules and regulations of basic knowledge, and the rigor of proof, including the basic training of logic reasoning.

How many different mathematics textbook series are developed and approved for ……

Primary: 7

Junior secondary: 11

Senior secondary: 7

ATTAINEDKnowledge, Ideas,Constructs, Schemas

Textbook is a mediator between general intentions and classroom instructions

POTENTIALLYIMPLEMENTEDTextbooks and Other OrganizedResource Materials

INTENDEDIntentions,Aims & Goals

IMPLEMENTEDStrategies, Practice& Activities

(Valverde et al., 2002)

In China, “less and less” is not true“more and more”

Birth of textbook

A Proposal & Sample Chapters

Approved by MOE

Textbook Writing

Textbook Review by National Teaching Material Authorization Committee

Experiment Report

Modify Textbook

Check and Approved by the NTMAC

Appears on the MOE web site for textbook selection, with price

(Not necessary now)

educational bureau directorsteaching supervisorsheadmastersclassroom teachersparents

Textbook selection• Usually, all schools within a city select the

same textbook series in the same year

Textbook selection Committee

discussion & votedecision making

2 days reading,

Textbook competition becomes strong now. Low price, High quality, Good service Students buy textbooks, exercise books & calculators

textbook evaluation report is provided by Province

Textbook AuthorsGeneral Editor

Subeditor Subeditor

Writer Writer Writer Writer WriterWriter Writer

Famous Mathematician

University Faculty

University Faculty Teaching Researchers Schoolteachers editors

In addition to author textbooks for publisher, they have to finish their regular jobs. They are rewarded by the publisher.

But before 2000, the PEP textbooks were mainly designed and wrote by in-house editors. The authors were also required to collect data at schools and prepare for the experiment reports.

Curriculum Materials

TextbooksTeacher’s manuals Student exercise books

Prepared by the sametextbook writing team

Other Supplemented Materials:Hypertexts in electronic devices, such as CD ROMs, web-based educational products, etc.

Teacher Journals, problem booklets, workbooks, other teachers’ teaching plans, etc.

Various Intensions of the Textbooks

• Mathematical:

– modernization, big ideas

• Pedagogical:

– meaningful learning

• Sociological Contexts:

– technology, application

• Cultural Traditions:

– history, value

The curriculum development after 2000 in China was mainly driven by international comparative studies and guided by university faculty.

Teaching time for different topicsGrades 7- 9

1%

38%

32%

17%

6%6%

introduction

algebra

geometry

statistics

project learning

stage review

Statistics and probability: 69 teaching hoursTotal: 410 teaching hours

SOLO Level Summary Description

P Blank, fully irrelevant, illogical, egotistic answers or inability to become engaged in item answers.

U

Explains that probability just means may or may not happen and believes chance cannot be measured mathematically so chance comparison is impossible.Considers an incomplete set of outcomes in solving problem.

M

May consider all possible outcomes for a one-stage and sometimes for a two-stage experiment in qualifying uncertainty or estimating subjective chance value. For example, assigns an equal chance to each possible outcome for fairness.Interprets most likely to happen as meaning it should happen or interprets chance by frequency but without fully understanding the role of repetition.Uses rudimentary non-proportional reasoning in chance comparison.

R

Groups all possible outcomes in favor of a target event together and uses ratio as a measure of probability.Uses proportional reasoning in chance comparison.Knows that a larger number of repetitions is a more reliable predictor and expresses the idea of making a few repetitions automatically.

E

Assigns a calculated probability value in complicated situations, for example, involving two bags, two spinners and bases chance comparison on the values.Uses a generative strategy to construct sample space in a two- or three-stage experiment to work out probability.Suggests collecting data from a series of experiments and finding trends across sampling.

Research InfluenceData-based Reasoning

Experience to Uncertainty

Estimate Chance by Relative Frequency

Predict Probability by Formula

Examine Probability by Different Approaches

Make Learning be Attractive

• Connection– Students’ mathematical reality (cognitive

structure) – Students’ living reality

• Context– Game “Run to 30” fairness of games

• Concrete– Standard deviation formula reasonable

• Challenge not all mathematics could be or should be “make up” challenge the limits of oneself or exceed others

– Spinner size misconception

Voices of mathematicians, standards writing group, and schoolteachers

• The principles should be reconsidered；

• The framework should be reconsidered；

• Geometry teaching should be reconsidered；

• Curriculum development should not be in haste

Stick to the principles；Encourage practical research；Enhance communications with other interested parties

Basically agree with the principles;Suggest to revise both standards and textbooks immediately;Need practical supports rather than high expectations;Worry about students’ achievements in assessments and their future studies in senior high schools

(Bao,2004)

Old: PEP, 2001New: ECNU, 2001Grade 8 textbooks

Comparison on composite difficulty between new and old textbooks (Bao, 2004)

Investigate into Textbooks Use (Grades 7~9)

• Zhu & Song, (2004): Investigation and research of adaptability to new mathematics curriculum standards-based textbooks in the south-west area

– More than 1000 schoolteachers took the questionnaire

– More than 50 schoolteachers and students were interviewed

– Four series of new standards-based textbooks at junior high school level were investigated

• Yang, (2005): An investigation of new standards-based mathematics textbooks use in junior high schools

– 76 schoolteachers and 862 students from 16 junior high schools in the region of Hefei took the questionnaires

– Two series of new standards-based textbooks were investigated

How Well Textbooks Satisfy Schoolteachers?

• Textbooks published before 2000– Before 2000, the PEP series dominated the

textbook market, constituting more than 70% or more of the market’s supply. The PEP series modified time after time in the past 50 years and satisfied schoolteachers well at that time.

• New standards-based textbooks– The new standards and the first volume

textbook was published at the same year. So each series of new standards-based textbooks have to be modified year by year but major changes on the curriculum arrangements are happening after 4 years experiments.

Southwest Schoolteachers’ Evaluations of the Standards-based Textbooks Zhu & Song, (2004)

A: 4.00~5.00; B: 3.00~3.99;C: 2.00~2.99;

D: 1.00~1.99; E: 0.00~0.99

Average scores

Grades

Curriculum Arrangements

City teachers 3.88 BCountryside

teachers 3.94 B

Contents Difficulty

City teachers 3.01 BCountryside

teachers 2.90 C

Practical Operability

City teachers 3.18 BCountryside

teachers 3.18 B

Connections to other school

subjects

City teachers 2.63 CCountryside

teachers 2.75 C

To what extent do you feel satisfied with the new standards-based textbooks? Yang,

(2005)

• The majority of teachers and students felt satisfied with the new editions mathematics textbooks, but the quality of the textbooks should be improved. Especially, “Examples” and “Exercise Problems” need to be redesigned very carefully. The spiral curriculum model should be applied appropriately.

0 31 2 4 5

1.3% 5.3%

Very MuchNot at all

32.9% 46.0% 14.5% 0%Teachers

Students

1.7% 2.2% 9.5% 31.2% 37.8% 17.5%

The role of textbooks in teachers’ teaching

• The majority of the teachers depended highly on the

textbooks, and they depended on textbooks in deciding what to

teach more than in deciding how to teach. Teachers usually

did not depend on textbooks in “review lessons”.

• Over 90% of the teachers admitted that they did add some

contents not required by the new curriculum but appeared in

the old textbooks, such as some important theorems, formulae

and examples.

• Teachers used almost all the textbook examples in their

classroom teaching. However, they also selected examples

from other teaching materials and exercise books or they

simply designed or modified examples by themselves.

The use of columns in textbooks

• All columns, except “project learning”, were emphasized by the teachers. But the students seem enjoy “project learning”

• The two columns that students like most are “explore” and “reading material”

• The three kinds of teaching methods that students like most in order – whole class discussion leading by teacher– Manipulation– questioning and answering between teachers and

students

the burden of junior high school students

• About 75% of the students answered

that the time they spent doing

exercises outside textbooks is as long

as or longer than the time they spend

on doing exercises in textbooks.

Textbook Reading

• over 60% of the teachers said they

usually or often requested their

students to read textbook before (or

after) lessons and to be active in

classroom, while the students read less

than they were expected.

Overview

• A very brief history review and the forming of the characteristics of our textbooks

• The number of series, the birth of, the selection of, the authors of, the intensions of our textbooks

• The investigations into textbooks use