An Appraisal Of The Curriculum Reform Of The Basic Education Since The Opening And Reform In China

History, if forgotten, is bound to reoccur in the future. This dissertation, with the purpose of using the past as a mirror for the present, attempts an appraisal of the curriculum reform of the basic education,which has been performed since the opening and reform in ChinaThe curriculum reform carried out from the time of the opening and reform to the end of the 1990's has built the basis of the current curriculum system of the basic education. It has become,therefore, a milestone in the history of the curriculum construction of the basic education. From the perspective of value, the leading value incarnated in this reform meets the demand of the social development and the need of our country. It is fair to say that this value-focus reflects the concern for-and accurate grasp of China's conditions of the time, hence a necessary step at the time when China was confronting the unprecedented developmental pressure. On the other hand, when related to the realization of the leading goals of the social development, this reform bears the drawbacks of the ineffective "means", to put it more precisely, the development of the individual "being" has not been given enough attention. Furthermore, the impact of the examination-oriented education, objectively speaking, has aggravated the imbalance of the "aims" and the "means". As a result, the "means" has lagged behind the "aims", which has undermined the realization of the leading value. The reason why the curriculum reform has not given enough attention to the development of the individual can be traced back to the social factors such as the vestige of the planned economy, a tightened possible space for the individual development which has been curbed by the less-developed economic development and steady and closed social structure, and ideological factors such as theory of knowledge, of human nature and of development that have formed a restraining force. Hence, the drawbacks existing in the curriculum reform of this particular time is,in a sense,inevitable.The following-up curriculum reform initiated at the turn of the century still holds as its leading value the meeting of the needs of the social development with an outstanding emphasis on the development of "the individual" within the framework of the curriculum, which lays a solid foundation for the realization of the leading goals of fee curriculum and surpasses fee curriculum reform in fee past On one hand, fee concern for and emphasis on fee development of each student's ability is fee necessary product of taking fee commitment to fee construction of fee socialist modernization as fee leading value of fee curriculumreform as our basic education is challenged with the severe international situation. On the other hand, its appearance is closely related wife fee requirements for the development of the individual beings raised by the changes of domestic politics, economy, culture and the way of life. In the ideological respect, it is closely linked to the changes in the theory of knowledge, of human nature and of development However, the new reform has its own drawbacks. For example, it shows to some extent an inadequate consideration for the educational conditions of our country, the conservativeness in the values and the premature-advance in the method of the curriculum reform.The appraisal of the curriculum reform of the basic education since the opening and reform in China can lead to the following conclusions: (1) meeting the needs of the social development should remain the leading value in the curriculum reform. This value-focus is not only in agreement with the historical materialism that defines the relationship between human beings and the society, but also determined by the particular temporal-spatial situation of the China's modernization. And as a matter of fact, it is the general tendency in the international curriculum reform; (2) in spite of the great enthusiasm towards the reform, what we need most is a down-to-earth attitude. We should take the current conditions of our country into full considera...