The Centre–Periphery Model and Cross-National Educational Transfer: The influence of the US on teaching reform in China's universities

Abstract

This article examines the center–periphery concept by focusing on the impact of educational transfer from the US to China on teaching reform in China's higher education institutions from the early 1980s to the present. As the scale and scope of the Sino–US exchange expanded, the impact on China deepened. This was especially evident in the transformation of teaching ideas, curricula, teaching methods, and administrative systems. Chinese scholars returning from the US bring with them not only knowledge but also American academic models. While the American experience was one of the most important forces advancing teaching reform in China's higher education institutions, it primarily existed as a kind of external cause rather than a fundamental impetus. This article shows that peripheral countries, even gigantic peripheral ones, should only import educational experiences from the central countries selectively, and not copy those models blindly.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks colleagues for their comments on a draft of this manuscript. He is particularly indebted to Mark Bray of the University of Hong Kong for his guidance and comments. This article is also the product of a National Tenth Five Year Plan project (EIB010877).