Teaching Chinese In A Tibetan Primary School

This research was conducted in a boarding primary school providing Tibetan-Chinese bilingual courses in Ganjia Township, Xiahe County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province between September 2001 and December 2002. The project adopted action research as its principal approach while incorporating other specific research methods such as interviews, observation and documents analysis. The objectives of the project are: 1) to find out an effective way of teaching Chinese in the school and other schools with the similar situations in the region; 2) to discover a successful mode guiding teachers in poor minority nationality regions to implement action research; and 3) to search for empirical evidence that the new "national curricula" can be implemented in the regions smoothly.The research was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, I taught a "comprehensive activities" course, which combined contents from music, physical education and fine arts curricula. The course changed students' attitude and unproved their Chinese performance. It also attracted teachers' attention to my research and stimulated their interests in trying new teaching methods. The research in the first phase laid a foundation for that in the second phase, which was collaborative in nature. In the second phase, I worked very closely with Mrs. Zhuoma in designing and implementing instruction plans, identifying problems, reflecting and searching for solutions. Throughout the process, we explored and developed an effective way of teaching Chinese. As a result, her teaching style changed noticeably.My research demonstrated that it is not only feasible but quite necessary to implement the new "national curricula" in the school and other schools in the region. In order to successfully implement the new national curricula, it is crucial to stimulate students' interest and provide them with successful experience. "Comprehensive activities" courses are an effective way to raise the performance in Chinese proficiency among Tibetan students. Moreover, involving teachers in action research is the key to changing their teaching ideas and improving their teaching practice. My research experiences also suggest that successful implementation of action research relies on the support and participation of school leaders, teachers and students. Finally, promoting activity-based learning does not mean replacing lecture-based instruction completely with activities. When implemented, the amount of activities must be appropriate.