A Case Study Of Strategies For Promoting District School-based Research

In2001, China implemented the eighth elementary education curriculum reform.The implementation of curriculum reform has inspired researchers continuously to do school-based research. However, it is very rare to conduct study on the strategies for promoting school-based research from the perspective of district-driven model. Therefore, under the background of elementary education curriculum reform in the era of appealing for balancing educational development within China, this study focused on strategies for promoting school-based research, the case of one district in Changchun city. The study was based on theories of self-directed learning, adult learning and learning organization.Basing on the investigation and analysis of the current situations and problems of school-based research in this district, the study proposed some efficient strategies for promoting school-based research driven by the local educational administrative department, which included activating organization, key figures' leading function, establishing supporting system, setting up a developing platform based on typical activities and assuring institutional system. Through the practice of these strategies in this district, the study found that the strategies promoted teacher-centered professional development including teachers, policy makers, professional mentors and basic executors whose consciousness and competence were updated. Meanwhile, the practice also promoted self-updating research organization to form the multi-cultural community on the basis of trust. In addition, the practice also contributed to the optimization of district educational environment. It was mainly shown as the follows:one, realization of the resource assistance which provided a pre-condition for the district self-organization by opening school education system, two, non-linear feedback which provided powerful impetus for orderly reforms through the introduction of the negative entropy, three, promotion of the information in orderly parameter which provided important supports for the sustaining development of district education by focusing on the sensitive variables, and lastly, the achievement of fluctuation order which brought big increment room for district co-evolution of education through cooperation and competition.Through this study the author has gained further understanding on how to promote district school-based research. The author believes that the major aim of promoting district school-based research is to transform "outside force" to "endogenous force". The measure of promoting district school-based research is through "multidimensional vertical" strategy group and the main body is a continual self-updating organization structure. The "school-based research" has experienced five progressive, spiraling stages. At the same time, the author has realized that promoting district school-based research is some thing which is very complicated. The complexities make the process face some multi-crossed relations which need to be well balanced and well coordinated. We should pay more attentions to the following aspects:Firstly, to locate the professional responsibilities and limited power of the local educational administrative department, secondly, to show more concern on teachers' personal preferences for their professional development and schools in general, thirdly, to balance the gap between new values and the existing culture, fourthly, to handle properly the relationship between society's expectations and educational abilities, and lastly, to explore the possible room for promoting district school-based research by the great extent.