Study Of Curriculum Development In An International Division Of A Public School

With China joining in WTO and the strengthened communication between countries, the number of overseas students choosing to study in Shanghai is constantly increased, therefore different types of international schools and international divisions have been springing up accordingly. Curriculums are the core and most distinguished part of a school. At the moment, the curriculum studies based on the elementary education for the overseas students are mostly focused on the discussion of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) curriculum. However the area of self-developing curriculums is lack of exploration.The thesis is based on the study of an individual case which is an international division of a public school in Shanghai, in the hope of meeting the needs of curricular system for the overseas students and their parents and meanwhile offering the theoretical support of curriculum development and design for the international division of the public school. Moreover, same types of school can benefit a lot from the experience and achievements of the curricular construction and also the realization of students receiving elementary education internationally.The researcher analyses the curriculum problems of international school S. The primary cause is because the school is short of the attention to parents and students. Therefore, the researcher conducted the survey of the parents and students, and the interview with some teachers and students as well. As a result, the author finds out the needs generally coming from five parts, which are expectation of low pressure by parents and students, taking Chinese, Maths, English, and Moral Education seriously, valuing morality, interests, reading and ability of expression most, hoping school can give consideration to both Chinese and Western culture, and the individual development of each kid. Based on this, the researcher improved the curricular target and reposition of the curricular concept.Within the support of education theory, the researcher constructs new curricular system for international school S and clearly positions them.'Core Courses'is founded upon students'development and guided by the cultivation of competence and interest; 'Learning and Cultivation Courses' is based on the traditional Chinese culture and characteristic by the combination of Chinese and Western culture;'Special-needed Courses' is targeted by individual difference, potential development, and multi-development. Three courses are complemented mutually and not a single one can be omitted. Through practice, some effects are achieved, which not only enrich school curriculums and make the structure more clear, but also facilitate the comprehensive improvement of students' interest and competence, realizing individual development; more importantly, strengthen teachers' awareness of curriculum, study, cooperation, and study, enlarging the influence the school.The reform is endless. In the process of curriculum development and innovation, some problems appeared which need to be further discussed and explored. For example, how to ideally combine Chinese and Western culture and narrow the gap between and reality and ideality; how to manage the bilingual language and overcome the situation of more emphasis on Chinese; how to balance the different levels of students; and etc. The thesis also makes some suggestions according to these problems such as designing the curriculum to merge Chinese and Western culture, adding more trainings to enhance teachers' bilingual teaching ability, increasing individual education, in the hope of making the curriculum development and innovation study more effective.