Many traditional ethnic cultural items are being endangered in China. Using the Dongba dance culture of the Naxi people as a case study, this paper seeks to analyze and interpret the endangerment of culture from an educational perspective, based on an analysis of the interaction between the cultural transmission mechanism of Dongba dance and the formal schooling of the Naxi people in Lijiang, China. By describing and comparing the traditional and current forms of Dongba dance transmission, the paper shows how the institution of formal education competes with older modes of cultural transmission, resulting in the endangerment of Dongba dance as a living cultural relic. So, in order to truly realize and improve the function of education in transmitting cultural heritage and to guarantee educational equity, we should prioritize sophisticated ethnic minority cultural items in the assessment and selection phases of education, grant them institutional cultural capital, and put greater effort into developing an appropriate school-based curriculum so that ethnic minority culture may be transmitted and inherited via formal schooling.
Shimenkan is a remote and mountainous village in Weining county, Guizhou province, an area traditionally populated by Miao ethnic minority. The arrival of Christian missionaries just over 100 years ago began Shimenkan’s transformation from an illiterate school-less place, to a “revered site of Miao education.” Today, Shimenkan has returned to being the worst performing part of Weining county in terms of educational attainment. By investigating and analyzing the impact of Christianity on Miao school education and community education, this paper will discuss how Miao students are coping with cultural aspects of education and community amidst social change, and the impact of the cultural context on their academic achievement. Where foreign culture meets local demands, little resistance to cultural education exists. In such circumstances, outside culture is likely to be accepted in the community, and may generate positive outcomes.
This study considers the role of teachers’ multicultural awareness in promoting minority students’ ethnic identity by considering the situation in one particular middle school. A case study of a Hani student is presented to show how teachers’ multicultural awareness affects ethnic identity and the academic achievement of minority students. This case study enables the authors to assess the significance and value of teachers’ multicultural awareness as an educational concept. Through the study, the authors point to a need to strengthen multicultural awareness in teachers’ education to meet requirements of cultural diversity. The authors also emphasize that such awareness should be an objective of teacher training.
In the last three decades, along with rapid economic and social changes in China, dramatic changes have taken place in Chinese higher education, where Chinese universities have been experiencing a variety of systematic reforms. Chinese universities are also facing some new issues yet they have largely neglected the task of establishing their own internal values and taking up their social responsibility.
In this paper, the authors explore the implementation of the government mandate in Hong Kong to move from three-year to four-year undergraduate degree programs which include studies in general education (GE), through an analysis of policies and activities related to the curriculum reform. While the authors are interested in the substance of these reforms, the primary objective is to explore the relationships between policy initiatives and implementation approaches at different levels. Using Scott’s (2001) new institutional theory as a framework, the authors discuss the policy implementation at the governmental, institutional norms, and cultural levels. By focusing on the complex interrelationships among influences at different levels within the institution, this paper identifies challenges in the implementation of the new four-year curriculum, and using a case study of one institution, offers suggestions for facilitating that implementation.
The balanced development of compulsory education has been given due and lengthy coverage in the “Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020)” which, to some extent, reflects the needs of our time and the demands of the general public. However, detailed analyses reveal that many aspects remain to be improved. The authors hold that the balanced development of compulsory education should be people-oriented and a fundamental right of modern citizens. The paper makes a preliminary research on the question of balance in compulsory education, discussing participants, potential to achieve balance, and how to evaluate the ongoing development towards balance.