Teacher Preparation in China: A History of Education for Excellence and Obedience

Teacher Preparation in China offers a comprehensive overview of the history of Chinese teacher preparation and curriculum reform. The authors identify connections between past and present teacher preparation and discuss future directions of China as a growing education powerhouse.

Providing an overview of the history of Chinese teacher preparation spanning a millennium, the authors begin with an introduction for a non-Mandarin Readership to Chinese education history and teacher preparation practices beginning at the era of Confucius (551-479 BC) emphasising the stability of Confucian ideology over centuries and how education of the elite underpinned Chinese social values. The remaining chapters convey the dramatic changes China experienced as a result of its 19th century interaction with Western powers and the Nationalist Revolution which democratised China and modernised education in China prior to World War Two. The modern history of China since the 1949 Communist Revolution is also explored by focusing on the realities of teacher preparation during each Chairmanship of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping.

Appealing to historians, futurists, teachers and teacher educators who are curious about being a teacher in the world’s most populous nation, the chapters provide an insight into previously hidden knowledge about China’s curriculum and pedagogy, linking ancient Confucian legacies to the radical reforms of various Communist leaders, whilst seeking to understand where education and power are going to lead in the coming decades.

Christine Cunningham is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, who leads research projects studying educational administration, management and leadership and teaches about the latest developments in her research field from a comparative and cross-cultural educational context. She currently co-leads an Australia-wide and international team of education researchers conducting, publishing and disseminating research about the effects of crises on educational leaders’ administrative practices in ’Ring of Fire’ nations including Australia, Bolivia, New Zealand, China and Fiji.

Wei Zhang is a Research Assistant within the School of Education at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Her research explores identity development of Chinese international students in Australia. Her doctoral thesis traces identity work of international students trans-nationally and identifies Moral Education curriculum in China as an important empirical realm for research.