Research Into The Implementation Of The New Curriculum In Ethnic Minority Areas In Northwest China

Curriculum implementation is generally used to address the process in which the newly developed curriculum is applied into educational practice, namely, the transformational process of documentary curriculum into educational practice. The research in this regard focused upon such issues as what actually happened in the implementation and what are the possible causal factors. Two elements are taken into consideration in the research in this respect: the one is what is implemented in the practice and the other is what adjustment has been made in the implementation.The present research treats what happens in the implementation of the new curriculum instead of such issues as the means, approaches, principles and norms of the implementation. It is here that the very concept of the curriculum is highlighted, that is, since curriculum is supposed to be the authorized educational texts, for a bystander, the implementation of curriculum is a process of interpreting such texts, whether the acceptance or the evaluation of curriculum is concerned in this process. As a research into"implementation of curriculum", it focuses upon the established"curriculum fact", which includes the"value fact"and"object fact"in the present curriculum. The former refers to the subjective matters, such as ideology, values, purposes and pursuits embodied in curriculum; the latter refers to those elements which are not subjective but objective and practical. By the same token, the"research"involved can be classified into two categories, namely"the value research"and the"fact research". The former is based on the researcher's viewpoint of value and subjective intensions in analyzing and judging the"curriculum fact"in the ethnic minority areas, while the latter carries out an empirical description, explanation and prediction of"curriculum fact"in the ethnic minority areas.The first part is introduction, introducing background, purpose and significance of this research, and the defining of some conceptions. It begins with the descriptive provisions of the connotations of"basic education in the ethnic minority areas in Northwest China": first, it should be based on the specific cultural resources in these areas; second, it should lay a foundation for the future life of the native inhabitants in these areas; third, it should aims at laying a foundation for the education receivers'integrating into the ethnic society in which they live.The second part deals with the development and features of curriculum reform in the ethnic minority areas. It focuses on the similarities and differences between the education reform in minority areas in the nationwide scales and that in Northwest China in order to highlight the features of the latter.The third part covers the background and requirements of carrying out new curriculum implementation in the ethnic minority areas in Northwest China. The necessity of curriculum implementation is explained in this part. Reflecting many problems in ethnic education, we can find that the key point is not having the"root"of school education based in the"soil"of ethnic cultures. The breakthrough in dealing with this problem is carrying out curriculum reform in ethnic minority areas depending on the existing policies and practical experiences. The forth part describes the research design form the following six aspects: research questions, the frame of research, the method of research, the selection of sample areas, case subject and the collection of questionnaires. The theoretical basis of this research includes anthropology of education, implementing theory of curriculum, local knowledge and universal knowledge. The research questions involve teachers and students'understanding, accepting, reconstructing and denying of their original knowledge under the specific cultural and geographical background and the influence of social roles and community culture; the transformation of authorized curriculum culture into"classroom culture"that in effect influences the socialization of both the teachers and the students; the revelation of the evaluation of the new curriculum texts by the concerned social roles players (educational administrators, teachers, parents, students). The research method integrates interpreting the theoretical mode of anthropology and the theoretical frame of structure duality. Besides, the subject and object study method of cultural materialism is also used in analyzing the history and the present situation and studying the several problems concerned on the basis of the field work. During the research process, the statistic selection method of classroom observation and semi-structure interview, induction and deduction, and the comparison are used as well. The chosen cases are the Tibetan Middle School and Lapuleng Tibetan Primary School of Xiahe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gannan. Then the collected statistics are sorted out and analyzed.The fifth part describes the present situation of the new curriculum implementation in Northwest China on the basis of statistical analysis, trying to find out the problems appeared in the implementation and analyze the causal factors. The section of"the causal factors of policies which influence the new curriculum implementation in Northwest China"is based on the theories of"cultural reproduction"of Pierre Bourdieu, the"knowledge and control"of Michael F.D.Young,the"compulsory education"of Hayek and"the theory of freedom and democracy".The sixth part is measures and suggestions. The research shows that:1. The systematical theory and complete reform blueprint in carrying out the curriculum implementation in ethnic minority areas in Northwest China haven't been established. Either the quantity, or the quality, or the structure and quality of research stuff are at the initial stage of"curriculum study". Therefore, it is of urgent need to look for the reasonable basis of implementing curriculum reform in ethnic minority areas.2. How does the curriculum reform in ethnic minority areas conform to the life reality of native inhabitants and lay a foundation for the living and development of the nationalities. Two aspects should be taken in to consideration: the teaching stuff and the curriculum. The basic educational curriculum for minorities is not the deduction of national authorized curriculum, but a kind of self-construction. Therefore, the direction of curriculum reform in Northwestern ethnic minority areas should be made clear.3. Curriculum reform is not only a business of schools. It involves various aspects of the society and requires the social support and the implementation of relevant administrative measures. Based on the present situation and the existing problems in implementing curriculum reform in Northwestern ethnic minority areas, we propose to establish standard educational input mechanism and increase the input.4. There isn't a curriculum reform success without the participation and support of many teachers. It means that the reformers should better understand and respect teachers, understand and respect the original ideas and ways of action of the teachers, understand their living conditions, not pass and focus the problems and contradictions on teachers, not put all the blame for the defects of education and teaching on teachers'ideas and practice so as to win the understanding, support and initiative participation of the teachers. So, except for the curriculum that suits the psychology of both teachers and students and displays the culture in ethnic minority areas, excellent teachers are also required. Therefore, it is also one of the important contents to strengthen the training of teachers in ethnic minority areas with curriculum reform as an opportunity.5. When the matter of education of minorities is reduced to the transformation hardware facilities and the security of the study opportunities, the comprehensive thinking and profound master of educational matters in ethnic minority areas that we have are sheltered. So,it's time to quicken the reconstructed steps of systems in ethnic minority areas of Northwest China, which includes policies, theories and practice.The seventh part is the conclusion: look forward to the future of the implementation of the new curriculum in ethnic minority areas of Northwest China.