Global education in rural region of China: a case study of basic education teachers’ perceptions and practices

ABSTRACT

Global education in China, particularly in the rural regions, has not been extensively investigated. This paper discussed Chinese schoolteachers’ perceptions of and approaches to global education to address a gap in the Western discourses. A total of 12 in-service schoolteachers were identified by the snowball sampling method. All participants were interviewed in two-round semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data then were analysed based on an open coding system and phenomenological approach. Results show that rural schoolteachers held an integrated definition framework and systematic approach towards global education. Their perceptions of global education encompassed broad arrays of cultural awareness, competencies, environmental issues, and humanistic values in national and international contexts. Factors contributing to this conceptual framework included teachers’ personal teaching experience, the students’ social-economic status, and national and international policies. Additionally, sampled rural schools adopted a whole-school approach to conducting global education, i.e., embedding into formal curricula, using interdisciplinary and integrated studies, involving various school programs, and being part of the schools’ philosophy. It further discussed the gap between teachers’ conceptual framework and their concrete implementation of global education. Overall, this paper provided a distinctive perspective of global education from the rural schoolteachers to reveal global education remains marginalized in China.

KEYWORDS:

• Global education framework
• teacher perception
• rural school practice
• global competencies
• cultural sensitivity
• environmental issue

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank supervisors who provided valuable feedback on draft of this article. They are particularly grateful to Douglas Bourn, Massimiliano Tarozzi, Frances Hunt for their detailed and thoughtful suggestions and comments. The author would also like to thank a friend Ke Ma for her carefully proofreading.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. China is accomplishing nine-year compulsory education, generally including children from 6 to 15 years old.

2. International understanding (or education for international understanding) is a crucial term when discussing global education in the Chinese context. From a worldwide perspective, the education for international understanding originates from the UNESCO initiative after World War II. In China, International understanding scatters in various policies and is embedded in the academic curricula and the essential-qualities-oriented education. In 2016, international understanding officially became a critical component of students’ core competence, which calls to transform education for international understanding into a whole-school approach.

3. Suzhi Jiaoyu (or Essential Qualities-oriented Education in English) is the Chinese version of 21st-century core competencies education that young pupils need to have to navigate well in the process of globalization. It is an educational philosophy that highlights the cultivation of moral integrity and emphasizes the development of creativity of the mind and hands-on abilities (e.g., independent thinking, creative spirit and practical ability). Specifically, through curriculum restructuring and textbook compilation, the Chinese government aims to shift from the examination-oriented education pattern to essential-qualities-oriented schooling, as well as to overcome the drawbacks of the prevailing education system.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council [201906140086].