An Introduction to Ethnic Minority Education in China: Policies and Practices

340 Pages·3.701 MB·English

by  Sude, Mei Yuan, Fred Dervin

Sude
Mei Yuan
Fred Dervin
An Introduction
to Ethnic Minority
Education in China
Policies and Practices
An Introduction to Ethnic Minority Education
in China
Sude Mei Yuan Fred Dervin
(cid:129) (cid:129)
An Introduction to Ethnic
Minority Education in China
Policies and Practices
123
Sude Mei Yuan
Schoolof Education Schoolof Education
Minzu University of China Minzu University of China
Beijing,China Beijing,China
FredDervin
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland
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Foreword
Our thanks to Prof. Sude, Mei Yuan, and Fred Dervin for a book that offers a
portrait of both the challenges and the empowering successes of multicultural
education in China.
The book represents an account of multiethnic education in China through the
eyesand discernments ofscholars with the history and knowledge that ensuresthe
accounts are trustworthy, informed, multiperspectival, and contextualized. Sude,
Dean of Education at Minzu University, is highly respected and is perhaps the
leading multicultural educator in China. Sude and his associate editors, Mei Yuan
andFredDervin,havedevelopedthebookwiththesupportoftheircolleaguesand
the communities with whom they worked.
The book offers a careful and instructive study of educational sites throughout
China vying tomeettheneeds ofdiverselearners. Theobservationsarefocusedat
communities and schools that represent a subset of the recognized 56 multiethnic
groups that live throughout China. They represent schools and communities that
dream about a better future for their young and attempt to do so in a fashion that
tries to align with and build from their culture, heritage, language, and life
experiences.
Thebookrevealstheroadmapsprovidedbypolicymakersanddepictshowtheir
guidelines are fitted to local conditions for better or worse. In essence, the book
providesdetailsoftheChineseandlocalgovernments’effortstomeettheneedsof
Chinese minorities with varying success. Across its various chapters, the book
provides snapshots of communities, educators, administrators, and families, but
mostly it celebrates the students attending schools who often must live away from
home to attend schools.
Theportrayalshavemuchtoofferastheyrepresentarangeofsettingsincluding
observations by teams of researchers who have spent time in these sites inter-
viewing school administrators, community members, government officials, the
teachers,andthestudentsthemselves.Theportrayalsarealsoconnectedtodetailed
analyses of the national, provincial, and local policies that govern these develop-
ments and the frustrations that arise when the policies are ignored or not
adapted/adopted in the spirit intended.
v
vi Foreword
For the foreign reader, the book offers spaces to observe the experiences of the
students, teachers, communities, and the family members from whom the students
aredrawn.Attimesthroughoutthebook,snapshotshelplocatetheinstantiationsin
policieshopingtoadvancetheeducationofethnicminorities.Butthesnapshotsare
not akin to political posters, they afford images of struggles that arise as teachers
andstudentsseekaformofthetransformativeculturalaccordthatstirsdreamsofa
better future in harmony. They raise our consciousness to issues that will resonate
with educators globally. They illuminate the struggles—the circumstances and
systems that can be abortive rather than supportive. They introduce the
well-intended and committed, but also the misguided advocates with values that
could contribute to estrangement.
The various sections of the book are powerful in different ways. The second
sectionisabriefintroductionprovidinganoverviewofmultiethnicdevelopmentsin
China by Sude. This section is an important introduction that affords the reader an
orientationtoChina’sethnicpopulations,abriefhistoryofethniceducationinChina
andthestudyitself.Thethirdsectionisanintroductiontothepertinentpoliciesthat
have been developed over the past 50 years. What is striking is how Sude and his
collaborators delve into thediscourse ofthe policies themselves soas to afford the
reader a more critical understanding of the policies including the license afforded
provincial,andlocalgovernmentsinhopesofadaptationsandadjustmentsbefitting
thecommunitiesthattheyareintendedtoserve.Howthesepoliciesplayoutinthe
real world of implementation is a concern, however, and such concerns are high-
lighted in the third and closing sections detailing the overall findings and recom-
mendationsfromthestudy.Thenextsection,whichaccountsformostofthebook,
includesthe11casestudiesofschoolsandcommunitiesthattheteamofresearchers
studied. These case studies do not provide a uniform image of multicultural edu-
cation in China, rather they portray the different needs and struggles of each com-
munity. While there may be some common considerations, the book details the
difference in schooling across these sites—especially in response to the diverse
backgrounds—cultural, social,economic, and geographical—of thestudents. They
explorethestrugglesoftheadministratorsandteachersinconjunctionwithdetailing
theeverydaylivesofteachers(withvaryingculturalbackgroundsandexpertise)and
the students in and out of school as well as within the setting of dormitories for
boardingthatentailslongperiodsawayfromhomeandoftenbeginningatayoung
age. The cases offer a rather raw portrayal of the ongoing struggle to improve
multicultural education inChina.
Thefinalsectionisapowerfulbookendasitaffordsthereaderanopportunityto
engage with Sude and his colleagues in a conversation about the cases, as pre-
sented,whattheyseeaskeyissuesthatneedtobeaddressed,includingadiscussion
ofculturalpositioningalongwiththeirrecommendationsforpolicydevelopmentat
the national, provincial and local level. Sude and his colleagues also point to
changes needed to the curriculum, the preparation of teachers and school–com-
munity–family relationships including how best to respond to the nature and
function of after-school needs including adjustments to the approach needed to
support students who board.
Foreword vii
ThediscernmentsforChinaofferedbySude,MeiYuan,andFredDervinconcur
with those developments globally that are rooted in the notion that effective edu-
cation occurs when you connect with the learners and their communities in a
mannerthatbuildsfromratherthanovertheirpriorlearningandculturalmoorings.
Itrequiresustoreckonwiththeneedtorespectandthereforevalidateculturesand
understanding that is transformative for all rather than attending to the interest of
some over others. Globally, indigenous and various multiethnic educators in vari-
ouscountrieshaveseriouslychallengedthesupremeorthodoxyofboththestructure
and purpose of a Eurocentric, the colonizer’s or a dominant groups sole interpre-
tation of education. Diverse peoples are declaring and asserting their rights and
freedoms for more culturally affirming and responsive curriculum content, assess-
ment procedures, and teaching methods. Growing numbers of indigenous schools
or multiethnic schools have been created to fulfill the educational aspirations that
indigenous and multiethnic parents have for their children, and higher education
institutions have emerged affording indigenous and multiethnic students and
scholarstheopportunitytopursueknowledgeinaculturally safeandintellectually
enriching learning environment.
The book offers those of us, who are interested in China or global education
matters, an opportunity to explore China’s recent efforts to meet the needs and
educational aspirations of their multiethnic populations and to do so with the raw
footageprovidedbySudeandhiscolleagues.Thefootageisnotunfamiliartothose
of us perplexed by these matters with our own peoples. Yet, in other ways, it is
unfamiliarandrequiresareadingconsistentwithreadingacrosscultures—avoiding
presumptuousness and prejudgments. It may be reassuring to learn with Chinese
colleagues that they are committed to multiculturalism and are intently wrestling
withtheseissues.Whatremainstotormentsomeofusisthateducatorsworldwide
seemtobestrugglingagainstsimilargravitationalforcestiedtotheinterestofsome
to assimilate rather than accommodate, to standardize rather than diversify, to
impose rather than support situated learning and self-determination. We would do
well to interrogate and reform our own country’s policies and practices through
such lens.
Robert Tierney
University of British Columbia |
Unceded Musqueam Territory and Honorary Professor
The University of Sydney
Sydney, Australia
Bob Morgan
Board of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education
and Research (BATSIER)
Callaghan, Australia
Contents
1 Studying Chinese Minority Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Contextualising Minority Education (Sude) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Research Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Chinese Education for Ethnic Minorities: Achievements
and Experiences Since the Founding of New China . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Chinese Ethnic Education Policy Development
and Achievements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.1 The Development Situation of Chinese Ethnic
Education Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.2 Achievements of Chinese Ethnic Education Policy. . . . 11
2.2 Chinese Ethnic Education Disciplines Development
and Achievements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2.1 Definition of the Discipline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.2 The Establishment of Ethnic Education Basic
Knowledge System and Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.3 Related Research Achievements of Minzu
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Chinese Ethnic Education Research Achievements . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3.1 The National Education Research Field Is
Expanding with an Increasing Number
of Scientific Research Achievements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3.2 Growing Scientific Research Teams
and Institutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3.3 The Service Capacity for Guidance and Coordination
of Scientific Research on Ethnic Education Is
Improving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ix
x Contents
2.4 The Different Stages of Development and Achievements
of Chinese Ethnic Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4.1 The Achievements of Minzu Elementary
Education Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4.2 Development and Achievements of Higher
Education for Ethnic Minorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.3 Ethnic Vocational Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.4 Development of National Unity Education. . . . . . . . . . 30
2.5 Overview and Achievements of Bilingual Education
in China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.5.1 Construction and Improvement of Bilingual
Education Policy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.5.2 Achievements in Bilingual Education in Various
Ethnic Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5.3 Bilingual Education Is Based on a Good Teaching
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5.4 Ethnic Bilingual Education Has an Important
Status and Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.5.5 Achievements in Bilingual Education Research . . . . . . 35
2.6 Basic Values in Ethnic Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6.1 Ethnic Socialist Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6.2 Increase Investment in Education and Deepen
Education Reforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.6.3 Seeking Truth from Facts and Local Conditions. . . . . . 37
2.6.4 “Bilingual” and “Multilingual” Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.6.5 Seek Support from the Whole Nation
and Developed Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.6.6 Uphold the Principle of Separation of Religion
and National Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 Policy Analyses of Minority Education in China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1 Background and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.2 Research Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1.3 Theoretical Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1.4 Legal Bases for Educational Autonomy
in Autonomous Areas for Ethnic Minorities. . . . . . . . . 45
3.1.5 Educational Law Concerning Minority
Elementary Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.1.6 Operation Mechanism of Policies for Elementary
Education for Ethnic Minorities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.2 Analysis of Policy Documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Contents xi
3.2.1 Policies for Ethnic Minority Elementary Education
at the National Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2.2 Local Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.2.3 Reflections on National Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3 Problems Linked to Current Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.3.1 Inconsistencies in the Objectives of the Basic
Education Policies of Ethnic Minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3.2 Conflicts Between Different Policy Texts. . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3.3 Contradictions Between National Education Policy
and the Particularities of Education for Ethnic
Minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.3.4 Lack of Supervision, Evaluation and Feedback
Mechanism in the Policy Management System
of Basic Education for Ethnic Minorities . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.3.5 Lack of Clear Division of Responsibilities
in Fund Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.3.6 Lack of Continuity, Stability, and Innovation
in Policy Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.3.7 Lack of Cultural Indicators in Policy Evaluation . . . . . 74
3.3.8 Staff’s Lack of Cultural Awareness in Policy
Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.3.9 Difference in Motivation and Level of Autonomy . . . . 74
3.4 Refocusing the Policies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.4.1 Layout Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.4.2 Boarding System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.4.3 Bilingual Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4.4 Teacher Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4.5 Two Exemptions and One Subsidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.4.6 New Curriculum Reforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.4.7 Ethnic Culture in Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.4.8 Controlling Dropout Rates and Ensuring
Enrollment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.5 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4 Case 1—Fengping Ethnic Middle School, Yunnan Province. . . . . . 81
4.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.1.1 Ecological–Cultural Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.1.2 General Situation of the School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.2 Research Methods and Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.3 Focus on Basic Education Policies for Ethnic Minorities. . . . . . 84
4.3.1 Boarding System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.3.2 Ethnic Cultures Entering School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.3.3 Two Exemptions and One Subsidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88