An investigation of School-Based Curriculum Development in Chinese state-run high schools: A multi-cases study on curriculum leadership and teacher participation

This study aims to investigate the implementation of SBCD in high school context of mainland China based on Marsh’s matrix of SBCD variations (1990; 2009). It also investigates the roles and responsibilities of school leaders and teachers in the process of implementation. Most empirical studies in the field have been written in primary and middle school contexts, but few studies were carried out at high schools with a deep consideration of the Chinese University Entrance Examination (UEE). As the fact that UEE has long been deeply embedded in Chinese high school context, little is known about how UEE would affect the implementation of SBCD.

A mixed-method design was used to collect and analyse the study data in two state-run high schools of mainland China. The aim of using both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools is to illuminate the way leaders and teachers implement SBCD in a high school, and how they implement and understand the SBCD to afford the existing school structure in relation to the school needs and improvement. Data were collected sequentially according to the explanatory sequential design. In the first phase of the study, a questionnaire was employed to investigate the whole teacher population of two focused schools. In the second phase, 20 participants including leaders and teachers were interviewed through a semi-structured interview. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were undertaken.

Eight themes with twenty associated sub-themes were identified from the analysis. The findings indicated that the implementation of SBCD mainly depended on the school culture, history and leadership. The results revealed two leader roles and three main responsibilities in leading SBCD, and two different patterns of teacher participation in SBCD such as individual with self-actualisation and passive with a lack of agency. Also, this study confirmed a dilemma of SBCD caused by long-standing traditional exam culture in Chinese state-run high schools.