Chapter 4 – Shanghai permit system whereby persons who have obtained a Shanghai residential permit and accumulated 120 points by meeting educational, employment, investment and other conditions may enjoy corresponding social benefits. One of these social benefits is the eligibility of their children to take gaokao in Shanghai. Migrants who have obtained a Shanghai residential permit without accumulating 120 points, or migrants who have legal and stable residence and employment may enjoy public education services equivalent to those received by urban hukou holders. These services include compulsory education and eligibility to take local secondary vocational school entrance exams for their children. CURRICULUM REFORMS EMPHASIS<strong>IN</strong>G STUDENT-CENTRED TEACH<strong>IN</strong>G AND LEARN<strong>IN</strong>G Shanghai has long been viewed as a pioneer in education reform. In particular, the city’s curriculum reform has received wide attention. Curriculum reform in Shanghai follows the general framework of national reform, as described earlier. But Shanghai is often given the privilege of experimenting with reforms before they are endorsed by other parts of the nation. Since 1988, Shanghai has launched two series of curriculum reform. The reform series have focused on overcoming “examination orientation” practices in schools in order to build quality education. The first phase of curriculum reform started in 1988, with an attempt to allow students to select courses by personal interest. A curriculum comprising three blocks was established: compulsory courses, selective courses and activity curriculum. Accordingly, textbooks and teaching materials were developed and phased in. Curriculum reform moved into its second phase in 1998. It aimed at integrating natural science with the humanities, the national curriculum with school-based curriculum, and knowledge acquisition with active inquiry. The purpose was to transform students from passive receivers of knowledge to active participants in learning, so as to improve their creativity and self-development and to fully achieve their potentials. Traditional subjects were reorganised into eight “learning domains”: language and literature, mathematics, natural science, social sciences, technology, arts, physical education, healthcare and a comprehensive practicum. Schools were encouraged to develop their own curricula specific to their individual conditions. Museums and other “youth education bases” became crucial spaces for implementation of the new curriculum. The new curriculum has three components: the basic curriculum to be taught to all students, mainly implemented through common compulsory subjects; the enrichment curriculum, which aims to develop students’ potential and is realised mainly through courses selected by students; and research-oriented curriculum, which is designed as limited selective courses for all students. The research-oriented curriculum asks students who are supported and guided by teachers, to identify research topics independently. Through independent learning and exploration, students can learn efficiently, think creatively and critically, participate in social life and promote social welfare. Since 2008, the government has implemented the new curriculum in all grades of primary and middle schools throughout the city. In parallel to the curriculum reforms are reforms of teaching practice. These reforms aim to change the real, lived experience of students in classrooms and to better facilitate student learning. One very significant change has been made in recent years through the slogan “return class time to students”. This calls for more group work and student activities in classes relative to teacher lecturing. This has caused a fundamental change in the perception of a good class. The standard of good teaching used to be lecturing and well-designed presentations by teachers. Shifting from summative evaluation to formative evaluation is also an important goal of these reforms. The function of evaluation has long been to select talented students. The guiding principle of evaluations has now shifted to encouraging students who show improvements. The evaluation system that is currently under development emphasises diverse criteria with more focus on individual development. References Jingwei, Y. (2015), “ 盘 点 1977 年 以 来 历 次 高 考 改 革 : 时 间 提 前 获 赞 ” [Rounding up of each Gaokao reforms since 1977: Time has proven that the reforms are right], http://edu.qq.com/a/20150607/001939.htm (accessed 9 November 2016). NCEE (n.d.). “Shanghai-China Overview”, www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/ top-performing-countries/shanghai-china/. OECD (2015), “Executive summary”, in OECD, OECD Urban Policy Reviews: China 2015, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi. org/10.1787/9789264230040-3-en. Shanghai Bureau of Statistics (2015). “Shanghai Statistic Yearbook”, www.stats-sh.gov.cn/data/toTjnj.xhtml?y=2014e. 44 – <strong>EDUCATION</strong> <strong>IN</strong> CH<strong>IN</strong>A: A SNAPSHOT © OECD 2016
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