Interesting work! It sounds like you have some innovative ideas about how to reform education in China. Can you expand a bit about what the concrete changes you are envisioning are? What kind of character education and life skills will you emphasize? How do you plan to make the educational experience more inclusive, interactive, and student-centered? How do your plans differ from China's existing curriculum?
Looking forward to learning more!
Stephanie
----------
Stephanie Marienau
Ashoka Africa Team Associate
Featured Commentator
Stephanie: These are a lot of questions! One way to answer some of them is to send you an outline of the lessons for one year. Here you will see what topics are covered by life skills and character education. These topics need to be defined and made relevant for each country but I think there are some general skills (decision making, communication, goal setting) and universal values (love, peace, respect for differences) that apply to every country.
Inclusive education has two meanings for me. The first is to educate the majority about the minority; the second is to promote self respect and encouragement among the minority. “Majority” means people who represent the major ethnic group in a country (such as the Han in China), who are not disabled in some manner (physical or mental disability) and who generally adhere to the basic cultural norms of the country (for example sexual orientation). By “minority” I mean everyone who does not meet the above definition (for example there are 56 other ethnic groups in China, there are large numbers of people with physical or mental disabilities and there are gays and others with non-traditional sexual orientations. Both groups need to understand and respect each other.
“Student-centered” means focused on the actual needs of the students as opposed to providing education that is based on what the government wants children to learn.
The existing educational system in China (and in much of the rest of the world) is based on rote learning and preparation for standardized tests. Thus teachers teach students what they need to know to pass the tests, not what they need to live a successful life. In my view this traditional education is dysfunctional for life in the modern, complex, interdependent world we live in. There are some schools and educational programs currently in use that go against this tradition. My program is an effort to put these ideas into a national educational curriculum, not just one school. In that sense it is really transformational.
John Martin
----------
John Martin
International Program Manager
UNESCO International Research and Training Center for Rural Education
Beijing, China
After reading your entry it seems your work is more relevant to our Changemakers Competition: "Champions of Quality Education in Africa." Although focused in Africa we are looking to find innovations in the education sector as a whole. I invite you to post this entry on our competition page to be considered for our other challenge: http://changemakers.net/en-us/educationafrica
Thanks for participating Mark- I hope to also see you on our "Champions of Quality Education in Africa" challenge.
----------
Ashoka's Changemakers Global Outreach Coordinator
Comments
John,
Interesting work! It sounds like you have some innovative ideas about how to reform education in China. Can you expand a bit about what the concrete changes you are envisioning are? What kind of character education and life skills will you emphasize? How do you plan to make the educational experience more inclusive, interactive, and student-centered? How do your plans differ from China's existing curriculum?
Looking forward to learning more!
Stephanie
----------
Stephanie Marienau
Ashoka Africa Team Associate
Featured Commentator
Stephanie: These are a lot of questions! One way to answer some of them is to send you an outline of the lessons for one year. Here you will see what topics are covered by life skills and character education. These topics need to be defined and made relevant for each country but I think there are some general skills (decision making, communication, goal setting) and universal values (love, peace, respect for differences) that apply to every country.
Inclusive education has two meanings for me. The first is to educate the majority about the minority; the second is to promote self respect and encouragement among the minority. “Majority” means people who represent the major ethnic group in a country (such as the Han in China), who are not disabled in some manner (physical or mental disability) and who generally adhere to the basic cultural norms of the country (for example sexual orientation). By “minority” I mean everyone who does not meet the above definition (for example there are 56 other ethnic groups in China, there are large numbers of people with physical or mental disabilities and there are gays and others with non-traditional sexual orientations. Both groups need to understand and respect each other.
“Student-centered” means focused on the actual needs of the students as opposed to providing education that is based on what the government wants children to learn.
The existing educational system in China (and in much of the rest of the world) is based on rote learning and preparation for standardized tests. Thus teachers teach students what they need to know to pass the tests, not what they need to live a successful life. In my view this traditional education is dysfunctional for life in the modern, complex, interdependent world we live in. There are some schools and educational programs currently in use that go against this tradition. My program is an effort to put these ideas into a national educational curriculum, not just one school. In that sense it is really transformational.
John Martin
----------
John Martin
International Program Manager
UNESCO International Research and Training Center for Rural Education
Beijing, China
Hello Mark,
After reading your entry it seems your work is more relevant to our Changemakers Competition: "Champions of Quality Education in Africa." Although focused in Africa we are looking to find innovations in the education sector as a whole. I invite you to post this entry on our competition page to be considered for our other challenge: http://changemakers.net/en-us/educationafrica
Thanks for participating Mark- I hope to also see you on our "Champions of Quality Education in Africa" challenge.
----------
Ashoka's Changemakers Global Outreach Coordinator
----------
McMaster University Almuni
Post new comment