Bridging the implementation gap

An ethnographic study of English teachers' implementation of the curriculum reform in China

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12894226
AutoresChunmei Yan (0000-0002-4288-2043, Central China Normal University, autor correspondente), Chuanjun He (Central China Normal University)
Ano2012
Volume7
Fascículo1
Páginas1-19
Data de publicação2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEthnography & Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1745-7823 • E-ISSN: 1745-7831
EditoraRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17457823.2012.661585
OpenAlexW2015204172
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas59

This article reports on a study of secondary English teachers' perceptions of and implementation of the New English Curriculum Reform in China initiated in 2009. Ethnography and triangulated data collection methods were employed to gather information about three senior secondary English teachers' interpretations of the New Curriculum and their teaching behaviours. It was found that a considerable implementation gap emerged as a major obstacle to teachers' implementation of the New Curriculum requirements in their classroom practices due to a series of contextual constraints, namely teacher intransigence, examination imperatives, learner reluctance and pedagogy/policy inconsistencies. The study suggests the necessity to address the gap between reform ideas at the macro level and the school realities at the micro level throughout the implementation process, particularly at the initial stage. The study highlights three conditions to be fulfilled to bridge the implementation gap, that is, long-term goals, teachers as contextual decision makers and nurturing and developing teachers

Bridge (graph theory · Bridging (networking · China · Curriculum · Curriculum development · Ethnography · Mathematics education · Obstacle · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching