The Yuanpei Program in Peking University: A Case Study of Curriculum Innovation

ISBN-13: 9783642375149 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 165 str.

Wanying Wang

Opis

The Yuanpei program is an institution wide curriculum innovation, modeling on the core curriculum in Harvard which is committed to carrying out general education. This research investigated the major conflicts that arose in the process of initiation and implementation of the Yuanpei program, how these conflicts evolved during the process, and what were the sources of these conflicts. The conflict model, primarily derived from conflict theory, was adopted to interpret and analyze the process of curriculum innovation in this context. The study employed a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected primarily through interviews, observations and document analysis. The administrators, teachers and students were interviewed to gain insight into major conflicts arose, their processes and sources in process of the curriculum innovation. The researcher primarily observed program practices and operations, including program setting, the human, social environment (how participants interact and communicate), and program activities and participant behaviors. The researcher distinguished between conceptual conflicts and practical conflict in light of the different stages in which conflicts emerged. The researcher mainly identified three conceptual conflicts that represent the focus of debates: first, the two opposing opinions on how to balance between general education and specialized education; second, potential incongruence in the idea of the Yuanpei program; third, conflict between the changing need of society and traditional system of training. The researcher summarized four categories of practical conflicts in light of various issues: free-course selection, free-major selection, faculty advisor as well as general education elective courses, in each of which sub-themes were identified and analyzed. The researcher described how both conceptual and practical conflicts evolved. Each major conceptual conflict seems to go through similar stages based on the data, involving issue, confrontation and integration of claims of both sides. For practical conflicts, factors contributing to the escalation and de-escalation, moderation of conflicts were found by the researcher. The research identified different roles, incompatible values, contested resources and structural constraints as the main sources of conflict. Any conflict may involve more than one category or may be mainly due to one category. As such, the study is exploratory and contributes to the scholarship on educational change through its analysis of the curriculum innovation for general education in Peking University.

Spis treści

Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding the Innovation.- Chapter 3 The Concept of General.- Education Chapter 4 Methodology.- Chapter 5 The case of the Yuanpei program: Background and contextual factors.- Chapter 6 Findings—Major conflicts, its process and sources.- Chapter 7 Conclusions and Discussion.- References.- Appendix.

Blurb

This study explores the process of curriculum innovation—the Yuanpei Program, which is intended to provide general education at Peking University and offers key insights in terms of theory and practice.
 
First, it contributes to development of the understanding of curriculum innovation and the enrichment of knowledge on general education, its principles and practice in China. More specifically, it enriches the literature on the curriculum reform in higher education by describing the complexity of the process in the Chinese context. The conflict approach to examining the curriculum change has allowed the author to better understand the difficulty and constraints involved in the innovation. Many studies conducted before tend not to focus on conflicts and constraints in a systematic way, thus leaving many aspects to be investigated. The data on general education reforms practices obtained from the study will expand the understanding of general education reforms in the Mainland context.
 
Second, this study will provide a valuable reference work on reforms in higher education in China. The general education reforms, though conducted at several universities, are still in the trial stage. The lessons learned from the study illustrate what kinds of conflicts and problems might arise, supporting practitioners by addressing sources of conflicts that could be avoided or effectively defused.