On Bridging The Gap In Ancient Poetry Education In Secondary Schools Under The New Curriculum Criteria

Teaching ancient poetry constitutes an important part of Chinese education. However,there has been a gap in ancient poetry education between junior and senior high schools as they have differential instructional objectives. This gap has exerted much negative influence on the teaching of ancient poetry in secondary education. Thus, bridging the gap from a systems perspective is crucial to the improvement of ancient poetry education. It is imperative to explore how to design a comprehensive system that coheres ancient poetry education in junior and senior high schools.The Introduction overviews the extant scholarship on bridging ancient poetry education in junior and senior high schools and describes the contribution, goals, and contents of this study.Chapter One analyzes the New Curriculum Criteria of Chinese, Examination Guideline,and Chinese textbooks in secondary schools. It identifies the differences in instructional objectives, teaching materials, pedagogy, examination contents, and their corresponding number of points regarding ancient poetry education in junior and senior high schools. This analysis reveals the current state of students' learning of ancient poetry in secondary schools.Chapter Two points out the causes of the gap in ancient poetry education: the differences in Chinese teachers' pedagogy and consciousness of bridging ancient poetry education as well as in students' cognitive levels and learning methods in junior and senior high schools.Chapter Three discusses some prerequisite conditions for bridging the gap in ancient poetry education in secondary schools. It argues that it is necessary to recognize the differential instructional objectives and their connections regarding ancient poetry education and specify the distinct requirements of students' mastery of ancient poetry in junior and senior high schools. Also, this chapter examines the commonalities and differences of the key points in the poems from the Chinese textbooks in junior and senior high schools respectively.Clarifying the discrepancies is the first step to design a system that coheres ancient poetry eduction in secondary schools.Chapter Four analyzes the factors that directly influence student's ability to comprehend and appreciate ancient poetry: the systematic selection of ancient poems by the editorial board,the active selection of fine points for teaching by Chinese teachers,the overlapping themes of ancient poems, and the integration of the pedagogy of ancient poetry.Chapter Five provides some specific strategies to bridge the gap in ancient poetry instruction in secondary education. It argues that comparing backgrounds, aesthetic images,themes,techniques of expression,and "eyes" of ancient poetry and identifying their commonalities could effectively transform "passive" transition of ancient poetry education in secondary schools into "active" bridging.