Secondary Social Education in the Peoples Republic of China: A Quantitative Study of Classroom Environments in the Guangdong Province

Abstract

Absf racfThis article reports the results of the first phase of a research project on social education in the People's Republic of China. This phase of She project rqlicafed a quantifatine research design used for looking at fhe environment of social education cIassrooms and related s tudenf at fitudes toward social studies. The study involved 38 secondary hisdory classrooms selected from 12 schools in the Gunngdong Province. The data presented in the results produce a picture of a "typical" clnssroom environment, and this description is compared to findings using the same instruments in secondary social studies classrooms in the United States. The findings suggest that while there may be considerable cultural, economic, and political differences between the two educational sysfems, there are common elements in fhe feaching of social studies t hat appear to transcend fhose differences and produce comparable results. Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 17:15 21 March 2015

How to Create a Safe Space When Teaching Controversial Issues in China

“…As previously stated, the teaching and learning structure in Chinese classrooms is homogeneous and teacher-centred, with lessons generally taking the form of the teacher speaking and students listening. (Fouts et al, 1993). However, in such a classroom, students are not engaged.…”

“…In China, however, the concept of safe spaces is rarely mentioned. Because Chinese classrooms are highly structured and monolithic (Fouts et al, 1993), the teacher is an authoritative presence in the Chinese classroom. Chinese students do not have many opportunities to speak, and there is a high tendency for Chinese students to remain silent and not participate in the classroom (Tang et al, 2020).…”