A Study Of Successful Implementation Mechanism Of Curriculum Reform

The dissertation aspires to analyze the lessons from the shift of the Phase I Reform (1992-1997) to Phase II(1998-2003) in the State of Victoria in Australia. It is classified as seven chapters and composed of three parts; The first part focuses on external and internal causes of the contemporary Curriculum Reform (1992-1997) in the State of Victoria in Australia, as well as a theoretical framework of a successful implementation mechanism of curriculum reform; The second part discusses and narrates the three dimensions of successful implementation mechanism, which are alignment, initiative and mobilization; The third part is concerned with comparisons and implications.Introduction, Chapter One and Chapter Two concentrate on the background of successful implementation mechanism of curriculum.In the Introduction, the author discusses the origin of his research, his objectives ,and the framework of his thesis .In Chapter one, the author explores the causes of curriculum reform(1992-1997) in the State of Victoria in Australia; In the external perspective, he argues that Victorian Curriculum Reform(1992-1997) results from globalization, neoliberalism and neoconservatism;In the internal perspective, he claims that the need for international competition, the failure of values education, decreased quality in some subjects, teaching techniques not keeping pace with the age, the unsatisfactory school design, changing attitudes to curriculum policy, and the existing problem of resource allocation are the main driving dynamics for the curriculum reform in the State of Victoria.In Chapter Two, the author seeks to explore the theoretical foundation of his research assumptions, in the process of which he analyzes the key categories of a successful implementation curriculum reform in both levels of governmental and school. By doing this, he concludes that alignment, initiative and mobilization are the three key components of a successful implementation of curriculum reform. In the dimension of alignment, it should consists of four related phenomena: (l)a culture's deep-seated public-policy preference, (2)a problem defined as political, (3)an alternative policy or a set of alternative policies, and(4)favorable supportive environment; In the dimension of initiative, it should consists of two subdimensions ,which are curriculum policy initiative and curriculum initiating practices; In the dimension of mobilization, it should consists of the characteristics of leadership and leader's mobilizing strategies.With the theme of "Aspects of Australia's Curriculum Reform", the following three chapters report empirical studies. In Chapter Three, the author continues to analyze the topic of alignment in the context of the curriculum reform (1992-1997) in the State of Victoria in Australia, recognizing the specific strategies used by the State of Victoria.Chapter Four focuses on the topic of initiative. In this chapter, the author discusses and narrates the major curriculum policy and curriculum practices from the transition of Phase I Curriculum Reform(1992-1997) to the Phase II Curriculum reform(1998-2003) in the State of Victoria in Australia.Chapter Five focuses on the theme of mobilization. Mobilization is concerned with the characteristics of leadership and strategies. It is argued that the Minister of Education Hayward (1992-1996 on position) in the State of Victoria in Australia in the first phase of curriculum reform is the leader of curriculum reform. The strategies Hayward used can be of much implication.The last chapter functions as the comparisons and implications between China's curriculum reform and that of Australia. In this chapter (chapter Six), the author emphasizes the importance of the comparison between these two countries with regard to the curriculum reform, and explores the comparative dimensions of any successful implementation curriculum reform. By comparing these three dimensions one by one , it is concluded that even though the curriculum reform in the context of Australia schooling has made much success, when Australia moved forward its curriculum reform Phase I to Phase II, it also met with some severe challenges China now are facing. With these difficulties , instead of withdrawing from the reform, Australia continued to deepen its planned change into the field of classroom. It is argued that the lessons from the curriculum reform of Australia are of much implication to the deepened curriculum reform in China. On the one hand, the problems faced with China now are sure to happen in the course of curriculum reform, so China can take it easy ;On the other hand, since the solving of these existing problems are the key to the final success of the reform, so China should also take it seriously. Therefore, following are some important actions to be taken: (1) restructuring leadership of the curriculum change,(2)developing shared culture in harmony with the need of the country,(3) implementing devolution strategies and enhancing students outcomes, (4) changing the traditional patterns of teachers' training, and facilitating their professional development more effectively, (5) emphasizing the planning and coordinating of teachers' professional developing, while enforcing to their monitoring, (6)strengthening the law-making with regard to education,(7)building a high quality pedagogy framework with the characteristic of China, (8) reforming the educational policy, hence connecting the managing ideals of higher education with schooling , (9) nurturing principal's leadership, ; 00) emphasizing information campaign, and (11) coordinating individual's attitudes to curriculum reform, hence facilitating China's smooth shift to its next phase of curriculum reform.