Globalization and curriculum reform for education for all in China

Abstract

This study aims to unpack the dynamics and struggles of China’s curriculum reform for education for all since the 1990s. Since the late 20th century, globalization has compelled many countries to reform their educational institutions and curricula, China included. Numerous studies have examined globalization’s impacts on various domains of human activities, ranging from the economy to education. Globalists have predicted the convergent effects of globalization and the diminishing role of state and national specificities, while other scholars have argued that different states respond to globalization in diverse ways. None of them alone, however, can fully explain China’s tensions between development and sociopolitical tasks in curriculum reform for education for all. The study focuses on China’s curriculum reform since the 1990s, and the economic and socio-political tasks of the Chinese school curriculum. To sustain its growth and rising in the 21st century, China introduced the policy on nine-year compulsory schooling for all eligible children in 1986 and has used nearly 20 years to reform its school curriculum since the early 1990s. The reform was comprised of two sequential stages: Stage I (early-1990s to 2001) involved the promulgation of curriculum standards which were designated for pilot across the nation, while Stage II (2001-2011) saw the release of fine-tuned, final ...