DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 465 485 RC 023 550

AUTHOR Ordonez, Victor; Montana, Constanza

. TITLE The Head of the Dragon: Comprehensive Rural Primary Education Reform Project, , . Education for All: Making It Work. Innovation Series. INSTITUTION United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Bangkok (Thailand). Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. REPORT NO No-13 ISSN ISSN-1020-0800 PUB DATE 1998-00-00 NOTE 37p.; Photographs and 6 pages with background graphics may not reproduce adequately. Available in English and French." & "For Number 12 in this series, see ED 425 045. AVAILABLE FROM UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, "France Tel: 33-1-45-68-10-29; Fax: 33-1-45-68-56-24; e-mail: efa.yth.unesco.org; Web site: http://www2.unesco.org/ece/uk_default.htm. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Agricultural Education; Curriculum Development; *Educational Change; Elementary Education; Elementary Schools; Foreign Countries; Program Implementation; *Relevance (Education); Rural Development; *Rural Education; Rural Schools; School Based Management; *School Community Relationship; Teacher Education

ABSTRACT Jilin is a rural province in northeastern China, known for its forests and forest products such as ginseng. In the past, Jilin's schools focused on preparing students for higher education and offered little of relevance to most rural students. In addition, the schools were understaffed and were managed by a remote, centralized bureaucracy. In 1987, a project was launched to improve schooling and link it to agricultural production and the economic needs of families, communities, and the province. Jilin education officials used initial funding from UNESCO to develop curricula and supplementary materials and to expand teacher training and community participation in 12 pilot elementary schools. The project introduced school-based management by a committee of educators, parents, and community leaders; developed a locally relevant, practical curriculum that included hands-on experiences in agriculture and daily living skills; and greatly expanded teacher training to align with the new curriculum and used professionals and other specialists as temporary instructors. Today, the program has expanded to 146 schools without additional UNESCO funding and is expected to spread throughout the province. Academic skills have improved dramatically, students cultivate ginseng and many high-production crops, and some schools have set up small businesses. Features that have contributed to this program's extraordinary success and expansion are discussed. (Contains photographs.) (SV)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research andImprovement EDUTIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Thm document has been reproducedas received from the person or organizahon originatmg t. 0 Minor changes have been made to Improve reproductIon Quality.

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IlatLu_e_vot TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1

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BES- COPY AVALAKE Education for All: Making it Work About the project...

The World Conference on Education for All, held programmes to fit their means, needs, and aspirations. in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, recognized that a The project strategy emphasizes educational policy of «more of the same» would not be innovation in practice rather than discourse. The sufficient to achieve the goal of education for all. INNOV database presents many little-known Educational systems in most countries clearly need an experiences, some of them with considerable injection of fresh ideas, a broader vision of how the potential. The most promising and significant ones basic learning needs of all might be met, and the cou- are showcased in the present series of booklets, or rage to turn this vision into practice. through films contained in the EDUCATION FOR ALL VIDEOBANK. Others are grouped together and It was the quest for an expanded and renovated vision compared in a new series of THEMATIC of basic education which prompted UNESCO and UNI- PORTFOLIOS, devoted to critical issues in basic CEF to launch their joint project «EDUCATION FOR education. ALL: MAKING IT WORK» right after Jomtien. The two Organizations decided to disseminate and promo- All these resource materials are used in training work- te examples of educational change both in the realm shops, inter-project visits and similar activities meant of formal and non- formal education through which to support specialists and planners from developing the principles of Jomtien would come to life: pro- countries in their struggle to turn grammes which provide learning education for all into reality. opportunities for children, youth, and adults, including underserved groups and those with special The project team will be pleased to receive new infor- needs; programmes which focus on actual learning mation, comments and suggestions from all those acquisition, rather than on mere participation or certi- interested in promoting change and innovation in fication requirements; programmes which aim to pro- basic education. We particularly appeal to vide a solid foundation for lffe-long learning, which UNICEF and UNESCO colleagues in the field to are responsive to the learning needs and conditions of co-operate actively with the project. the socio-cultural environment, and which build effec- tive partnerships with local communities and parents. For further information about the project, please contact: UNESCO OfficeBangkok UNESCO and UNICEF believe that effective and Principal Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific sustainable change in education arises firMI the Box 967 inventiveness, experience and dedication of Bangkok 10110 Thailand educators, parents and community leaders at the grass- Tel.: (662) 391 8474Fax: (662) 391 0866 roots. The «EDUCATION FOR ALL: MAKING IT Issues 1 to 12 from the Series are out of stock. For WORK» project shows that educational innovation and photocopies, please contact: change are already underway in all developing coun- UNESCO Office - Bangkok or The Global Action tries and that even the poorest countries are able to take Programme on Education for All (EDIEFA) up the challenge of devising educational UNESCO Paris ci 4 -se

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The Head of the Dragon .8

Jilin, the lucky forest province 10

Preparing the groundwork for the experiment 12

Planting the seeds for the experiment 14

Reforming school management 15

Making the curriculum relevant 16

Improving classroom instruction 18 Combining theory with practice, education with production 20

The fruits of labour 21 Cultivating and spreading the reform project 24 Epilogue 28

Features - Teachers 30 Mr Liu Bin 31 - Mr Gan 32

Photos: Victor Ordoliez, Zhang Qing Yan Supervising editors: Calligraphy and drawings: Keyin Dieter Berstecher, Photo-engraving: AMC Editions, Paris, France Benedict Faccini, Printed by: Marco Grafico, Madrid, Spain Prancoise Pinzon Gil Art Direction: Jacques Zahles, Hexa Graphic

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The dragon is the symbol of China. This Like many other provinces in China, Jilin province, mythological creature, the only one of the in Manchuria, didn't used to have sufficient numbers 12 Chinese horoscope signs that is not a real of primary school teachers and more than 50 per cent animal, holds a special place in the country's folldore. of its working teachers were inadequately prepared. A In ancient times, the dragon was the mark of the centralised education administration, far away and emperorandrepresentedbenevolence.In often out of touch with local needs and realities, failed contemporary China, the expression "head of the to motivate regional governments and individuals in dragon" has come to mean the start the management of the schools, thus of something important. cutting off parent participation. But, today, a UNESCO project in Jilin For several decades now, China province is turning into the "head of and other countries of the world have the dragon" leading this north eastern been grappling with social and region in its struggle to improve economic inequalities dividing urban learning conditions in rural areas. and agrarian areas.In primary Jilin's Comprehensive Rural Primary education, students living in cities Education Reform Project (CRPERP) achieve higher academic scores and was launched by the province's stay in school longer than their education board in 1987. The project counterparts in rural areas. School has set itself as goals to improve officials based in capital cities are schoolingandmakeitmore also more likely to direct national meaningful to local students and their textbooks, lessons and other learning community's economic development, elements at the urban pupil. As a to narrow the gap between actual result, children in the countryside education and agricultural production, often find themselves studying and link schooling to the economic needs subjects that have little relevance to of Jilin province and its 25 million their daily lives and contexts. inhabitants.

Furthermore, schooling under Jilin education officials used an China's planned economies has focused for many initial contract from UNESCO to develop curricula, years on preparing students for higher education and supplementary materials and to expand teacher not necessarily for the development of needed human training and community participation in 12 pilot resources. Curricular content has provided students primary schools in Jilin. Over the last decade, this has with few skills needed in rural production, let alone grown into a project that has succeeded in achieving health, hygiene and nutrition. reformed school management, in developing curricula

r , 8 which are more relevant to life in Jilin province, in creating parent committees, in training teachers with new skills, and in employing specialists as temporary instructors. Today, the project has expanded, without additional funds from UNESCO, to 146 primary schools

More importantly, this school reform project has achieved its primary goal by successfully linking education to improving rural development. As a result, reading, writing and mathematics skills have improved dramatically, according to a 1993 evaluation of the 4,695 pupils in the pilot project. In addition, students in this northern province now drive tractors, cultivate ginseng and have planted more than 20 different kinds of high-quantity crops. Some schools have set up small businesses selling chickens, seeds and saplings.

"The experiment has been hugely successful, re-orienting curriculum to local learning needs and significantly improving achievement and retention rates," says Mr. Prem Kasaju, of UNESCO's Thailand Office (The Principal UNESCO office for Asia and the Pacific), who has followed this project since its beginning.

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For many years, China has stressed the that would help them tackle the very real need to improve primary education. In problems they faced within their own 1985, the government enacted a law to context. make it compulsory. That year, Chinese officials, including some from Jilin province, TheJilinofficialsdiscovereda attended a UNESCO conference in Tanzania cumbersome education administration on reinforcing the role of primary education in that was too far removed from the local rural areas. At this meeting, delegates from school.Schoolmanagement was Asian, African and Arab countries emphasised centralised in and as a result the role that rural elementary education must failed to motivate local governments and playinmeetingtheneedsoflocal individuals to play an active role.It did development. not encourage parents to participate either.

The UNESCO meeting encouraged its The national curriculum was out of touch with participants to engage in research to develop the needs of rural children. Lessons provided school reform projects that would integrate little information or skills needed to survive in school education to social and economic the countryside. They were weak in teaching development. These events led the leaders of about labour, health and nutrition. Rural primary the Education Commission of Jilin province to education was not connected to other activities analyse the problems faced by their rural outsidetheschool.Students were not schools more closely. encouraged to put into practice at home what they had learned in the classroom. As a result Mr Chen Mo Kai, Director-General of the they could not share these lessons with their Jilin Provincial Education Commission and parents and others in the community. Deputy Director Zhang Yin realised that education under China's planned economies Mr Chen and Ms Zhang discovered the was too narrow and centrally controlled. The persistent problems spawned by shortages of national curriculum focused on preparing teachers, books and financial resources. More students for college and university but failed than 50 per cent of the working instructors to teach them practical skills to improve the lacked adequate training and had difficulty local economy and agricultural production teaching.

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At that time, students knew only how to read and technology. There had to be a way of linking this need te," Ms Zhang says. "They could take exams, but for improvement in farming production with y could not plant vegetables." improvement within the actual education system. To meet the challenge, they decided to develop a project :hildren spent their entire school day following a that would reform Jilin's rural primary schools. They [many set curriculum that provided them with few agreed that the first goal of this experiment should be to Is needed in rural production, and little information structure a primary schooling programme that would health, hygiene and nutrition. Consequently, the address the needs of rural communities. The key was to onal drive to produce individuals with six years of integrate learning with productivity and development. nary education was having little impact on the They became convinced that reforming rural education nomic development of Jilin. could have a significant positive impact on the country's rural and national economic development. Ihildren were dropping out. Parents discouraged n from walking miles to a school that offered them unpty future. Instead, they urged their sons and ghters to stay home and help with the farm.

Ir Chen and Ms Zhang also analysed the aparative deficiency of farming in China. They ised that its improvement depended on science and

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The Jilin officials decided to prepare an They then set up a directing committee for the experimental project to reform rural schools in project that included representatives from the linewiththeresearch encouraged by province's education commission, the Educational UNESCO at the 1985 Tanzania meeting. They turned Institute of Jilin province and the North East Normal to China's UNESCO National Commission and asked University. The role of this group was to provide them to help launch the project. After signing a guidance in research, implementation and contract in November 1986 with the Education evaluation. The project was launched officially Commission of Jilin province, UNESCO in 1987. The launching was carried out without provided an initial and not too substantial sum providing the schools with extra funds or to develop curricula, supplementary materials, teachers. train teachers and encourage the community to participate. That first year, the Jilin educators organised and prepared the materials to be used in the The commission's use of the funds was a reform experiment. They revised content, departure from other UNESCO projects. They teaching methods and the overall approach to did not dilute the limited sum by spending it on education with the primary goal to make it a single reform element such as textbooks or more meaningful for studentsinrural teacher training. Instead, they allocated the communities. "The idea behind the project was money to all the components of the experiment to encourage students to stay in rural areas and in a sweeping and comprehensive scheme. This help develop them," Ms Zhang stresses. focused method limited the project to a small number of schools. Encouraging students to stay in their area meant introducing two specific elements. First, Mr Chen and Ms Zhang then began selecting the school calendar was adapted and modified the appropriate schools for the experiment. to include elective activity periods and work in They wanted schools that would represent a fair cross- the fields. Second, the educational content was revised section of the province's economic, cultural and by deleting some parts of the national curriculum and geographic features. They chose 12 schools in six adding elements that formed the basis of a new counties from the province's various regions that range provincial curriculum. It was local school officials who from prairie to mountain and areas that have diversified designed new subject matter relevant to their students. economies to suburban zones, villages and townships. 3 7 - 6 14 0 ethrminschool_

efore the project began, officials ran the schools the school, the local research laboratory or clinic with barely a trace of community participation. sometimes provides experts as part-time teachers. Jilin officials changed this by asking each school to form an education management "We have awakened the people's interest in committee that included the school principal and running education," says Gan Pei Tao, the parents as well as village and township leaders. principal of the Central Primary School of Inclusion of the local political leaders was Wanliang Township in . important to garner their support. "We had to train the government of the townships about the Each school also has a parent committee. It importance of this project so that they paid acts as the bridge between the home and the attention to it," Ms Zhang says. school and meets at least three times each semester. At the beginning of the academic Each management committee's main function period, the parents help to select the workshop is to ensure that the school meets the needs of the activities and the appropriate instructors. Often, if students and the local economy. Through regular they have a special skill or craft, they will meetings this group sets learning goals and volunteer to teach it at the school. In the middle establishes a curriculum. They attempt to reverse of the semester, the parents discuss the school and the tide of teacher attrition by solving problems the family education process. At the last meeting, faced by teachers: housing, employment for their they evaluate. children and spouses, seeds and fertilisers for their plots of land. They manage the extra- This group also tries to motivate other parents budgetary education tax allocated to each school. to take an interest in the school. They encourage The committee also tries to raise funds from local them to visit the school, learn about the reform businesses and individuals to buy textbooks and process and participate in its evaluation. They improvetheschool'sfacilities:science also help set up classes that inform mothers and laboratories, libraries, clinics, etc. fathers about health and nutrition and the subjects and methods related to their children's education. In Taiping village for instance, the management These parent schools not only broaden the committee pledged to provide chemical fertilisers, parents' education, but also provide them with farm tools and seeds to the school and now helps tools to help their children. ensure that products are sold at market value. "The parent's association is directly involved in the Besides supervising the school's internal operation, management of the school," Ms Zhang says. "The the management committee establishes outside ties school trains parents in how to co-operate with the with local agricultural institutes, hospitals and other schools," she adds. "The purpose is to link school, organisations. Through co-operation agreements with family and society."

15 20 0cuk

s in many countries, in China's elementary The provincial language skills books now used by schools, reading, writing and arithmetic are the fifth and sixth graders teach them about activities never main academic subjects. Before the project, encountered before China began its transformation to a the Jilin schools relied on mathematics, reading and market economy. Pupils now learn how to open a bank language textbooks developed for nation-wide use. Too account instead of stuffing their savings under a pillow. often, rural students spent their school day They master lessons on drawing contracts, sitting passively behind desks reading stories, filling out forms, sending telegrams and other solving problems and performing other tasks practical advice provided by the new designed for their urban counterparts. textbooks.

Jilin officials realised they needed to reverse Themathematicstextbooks teach this trend. In the reform process, they calculation skills using problems that the developed two crucial components that student is likely to encounter on his parents' became the cornerstones of the project's farm. For instance, students learn how to pedagogy. First, they tailored the curriculum to measure the area of an uneven plot of land. the students' daily lives. Second, they They work out monthly balances after the sale provided the pupils with hands-on experience. of pigs and eggs and the investment in seed and fertiliser. They use apricot kernels, stones, "The main problem we met was reforming beans and other items found commonly in the curriculum and the textbooks," Ms Zhang rural homes to help them calculate sums. says. "We had national textbooks and we developed new ones at the provincial and local Each school and/or county also developed level. How to determine the right mixwhat to curricula for the project designed to reflect include and excludewas another problem." truly local conditions. These new textbooks, often small paperback leaflets, focus on the The leaders of the Comprehensive Rural local economy, health, hygiene and nutrition. Primary Education Reform Project in Jilin The Homeland books, for example, include revised the traditional curriculum by deleting some of lessons on local geography, nature, agriculture, history, the chapters from the national textbooks that were folklore and customs. The Labour books teach practical found to be of little relevance to rural children. They skills step-by-step. added two textbooks for each grade level throughout the province: Language skills for Rural Students and Books designed for use in Siping Village, for Practical Mathematics for Rural Students. example, teach first graders how to brush their teeth

16 IR and wash their clothes. Second and third graders learn adopted. Since the Jilin officials could not lengthen the about planting vegetables, the use of a hammer, seven-hour school day, they struck a balance between identifying and handling batteries. Students in the traditional academic subjects and new practical upper grades learn how to use wrenches, lay bricks, activities. Now students spend less time in the operate a wood-burning stove safely or how to make classroom and about three hours a week in workshops sticky paper to trap and kill insects (large quantities of and fields. insects being a major problem in the countryside). During specific periods, school officials adjust these The schools also provide students with many times, says Yi Fucai, an education official in Jingyu textbooks on their local agriculture. The Production County. "During planting and harvesting, students Techniques series includes such titles as Identifying spend three days in the field," he explains. and Growing Superior Corn, Ginseng Cultivation Techniques, Vegetable Growing Skills and Raising Economically Valuable Animals.

Bringing the curriculum to life through hands-on experience was the second major reform this project

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The new curriculumemphasises agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and learning through practical and relevant fishing.Theythencomparedthese activities. ButJilinofficials requirements to the current limited number of discovered that many of their teachers were qualifiedindividualstomeetthese not qualified to teach these new skills. The development goals. instructors were often young and inexperienced. Many did not regard teaching The project leaders asked the teachers to as a life-long profession. Teacher attrition was become specialists in an academic subject and high. Like their students, the teachers had only to learn a practical skill. In addition, they learned traditional academic subjects. Many asked the instructors to be proficient in other had completed only secondary school. Most subjects so that they could teach various had undergone very limited teacher training. courses. The teachers, therefore, began learning practical skills that they could teach For instance at the Hengdaohe Township as part of the elective courses or other after- School in , only 16 of the 26 school activities. teachers have completed12years of schooling. Their average age is about 31. In the last ten years, many teachers have attended in-service classes at their schools to To overcome these problems, the project learn these new skills. Others have gone to the leaders motivated the teachers to actively teacher training institutes in their counties or in participate in the reform experiment by , Jilin's capital. Others still have used inspiring them to broaden their spheres of their holidays to take courses or have turned to knowledge. First, they introduced the teachers experts in the fields of health, culture, science to the reform project's pedagogic ideas and and technology to learn new skills. Now, these goals. They pushed the teachers to learn the newly trained teachers instruct elective classes needs of their communities, the natural as well as traditional academic subjects. resources available, the local production structure and economic trends. In particular, Xuxiu Feng, a 34-year-old teacher at the they encouraged the teachers to discover the Hengdaohe school, teaches language and disparities between the province's needs and mathematics in the morning and arts and crafts available resources. The instructors evaluated in the afternoon. The project has made her the necessity to improve production in realise that she needs to strengthen her

18 teaching skills. "What I know now is not enough," she says. "I think as society develops, I will need more knowledge. I am now working on getting my university diploma."

Every Friday afternoon, she and the other teachers also attend an in-service class. Mr Bin, a civics teacher, has taught drawing at some of these after-school courses for the staff. "The teaching level has improved," Mr Liu says. "Now all the teachers can teach reading as well as another subject."

To solve the constant shortage of skilled teachers, schools employ part-time teachers, professionals and others willing to share their expertise with the students as well as the teachingstaff.The township education management committee works closely with the institutions providing these professionals as part- time teachers. The institutions provide the teachers and free them from their normal work load to teach at the school. The school sets the time, the content and provides teacher training to these The apprentice teachers then practice these new professionals. methods themselves.

In some schools, doctors teach health and nutrition. The experimental programme also transformed In others, local police officers teach law. Farmers and teaching styles. It discouraged teachers from simply agricultural researchers provide information on lecturing and providing facts while students absorbed innovative farming techniques or how to use pesticides information passively. The project's in-service training correctly. Teachers also attend these classes to broaden and other instruction spurred teachers to make the their knowledge and instruction skills. In this way, classroom environment livelier with attention focused other members of the community play an active role in on the learner not the teacher. As a result, teachers and their local schools while the students benefit from their students adopted more active approaches in their knowledge and expertise. teaching and learning.

The Jilin project also redesigned classroom Teachers also learned to encourage students to solve instruction to focus on goals by defining specific problems with the knowledge they had learned. They objectives to be reached at each grade level. In some urged the pupils to ask questions and to discover their schools, more experienced teachers are paired with own solutions. "The schools reformed teaching rookies or master teachers. These people teach their methods," says Luan Chanda, the vice-president of the more inexperienced counterparts how to prepare Jilin Educational Science Research Institute. "For lessons, teaching materials, lecture, evaluate, and example, in mathematics we experimented on the manage the classroom. They do this through guidance, thinking of studentsfrom the deductive to the demonstration and allowing the trainees to observe. inductive". ombinin practice, education pmduthon

cl'ilin's experimental schools shine in their hands-on elective courses. Each week students spend an average of two hours in classroom workshops and one hour in the fields, depending on the season and the needs of the locally grown crops.

Elective courses include calligraphy, painting, theatre, computing and many other subjects. The pupils also learn agricultural techniques such as raising animals, planting seeds and vegetables, using farm tools and machinery.

"We think that if we teach them some real life activities such as sewing and embroidery while they are young, we can help them to earn a living when they enter society," says Wang Youmei, vice principal at Hengdaohe Township School.

Boys and girls at her school learn how to operate sewing machines. They make shoe liners, red school scarves, and other useful items. Students at the Xinli Primary School in Fuyo County even drive tractors. In the Central Primary School of Sanshengyu, Nong'an County, the boys repair bikes. The root carving group of Fusheng Primary School of Dongfeng County has produced more than 500 sculpted handicraft articles.

"Before this project, many students did not like to come to school," Ms Xuxiu, the Hengdaohe school teacher says. "But now, they find it very interesting and their concentration has improved."

20 23 its of kbour

The results of this ten-year experiment are More significantly, children's reading, writing and varied and far-reaching. They can be summed mathematics scores have improved considerably. up as the following: Several factors account for this progress. Though they spend less time in the classroom, students spend more - the transformation of the management of Jilin's time on activities that use their classroom-acquired schools through the effective inclusion of parents, skills. The project has trained teachers to make the village leaders and others; school environment livelier. A 1993 evaluation of the the development of curricula, more relevant and project's first seven years revealed the following better-adapted to life in rural provinces, which help advances: among the students in the 12 pilot schools, prevent the alienation of students from their culture; average scores in composition skills rose to 45 per cent -the creation of parent committees from 29 per cent when the that take a direct interest in their project began in 1987. The children's education; ability to solve and analyse -the improvement of the training mathematical problems rose to and scope of teachers; 48 per cent from 32 per cent the employment of specialists as during the same period. In temporary and part-time teachers comparison, student scores at thereby providing students with schools not involved in the expert knowledge and involving Comprehensive Rural Primary specialist institutions with the Education Reform Project school. As a result this project (CRPERP) did not improve at has built a closer relationship the same pace. For example, between schools and society. their composition skills and the change in attitudes with communities no longer their ability to solve math problems only rose to 33 per viewing schools as isolated learning institutions, but cent in 1993. as a vital part of their local economy and its future, students holding key knowledge of direct interest to "This project has helped schools in poor counties the community. improve their academic conditions and lure back drop- out students," Mr Chen says. "After reforming the Students in this programme now drive tractors, repair schools, we educated the students to work for the local bicycles and have planted more than 20 kinds of high- economy." yield crops. Some schools have set up small businesses that sell chickens, seeds and saplings. Pupils have Integrating education to serve the goals of local voiced a preference for going to school rather than production is, as stated before, one of the founding staying at home. The drop-out rate has decreased. goals of the project. As a result, the schools now serve Parents are benefiting directly from the new farming as local labour bases ready to help the community. techniques their children have learned at school. They not only create and maintain crop-producing

21 2,\,, fields but theyare also centres of research yielding experiment and use of traditional insights and datato improve local teachers versedin only agriculture. Instead, one of one subject. the majoractivities is training to teach several teachers subjects. Thesesubject areas In addition,the project least one dealing include at has begunto develop with agriculturalproduction and standards toevaluate the another that isa suitable practical skillslearnt, after-school activity. especially thoserelated to project has also The agriculture. Forinstance, in developed the ideaof teaching the lowerprimary grades consisting of the teams pupils areexpected to be regular teacher, able to identifythe plants temporary teachers. part-time and on their schoolcampus and These part-time fields. Theyshould be familiar teachers, often and temporary with common experts in anotherfield, enhance farm tools andhave some basic broaden the and on how to use knowledge education providedto students. them. In the They alsoserve as role models. middle grades, By reforming students shouldbe able to work the management on their own team of theschools to projects, havebasic knowledge include community of animal leaders, theproject has husbandry and beable to identify chemical succeeded in makingschools an integral fertilisers andpesticides. By of local part the upper development andeconomic plans. elementary grades,they should This has benefited use farm tools, know how to the schoolsbecause local natural and leaders takea direct interest fertilisers and chemical in the school's pesticides. Theyshould operations, goalsand performance. possess the skillsto do one farm work, or two kinds of such as theplanting, caring The Jilinexperiment has harvesting of and not only developeda corn. viable systemof rural primary has also education. It succeeded inpromoting student The projecthas also individuality, mostly succeeded in through the richand developing a workingmodel of rural varied after-school education that primary activities. Furthermoreit contributes todevelopment by has succeededin linking integrating society, family and education to the school and thefamily. It improving local has doneso by developing development. Asa textbooks with result, the projectschools have relevant contentand forming more than 200 kinds introduced teaching teams of improvedcrops into that includespecially trained the local farms professional such as goldenmelon and teachers andexperts from other garlic. School sea fields of experiments haveproduced knowledge. It hasenriched the idedof better strains of rural beans and rice.The students primary educationby combining have planted theory with at least 80 hybridsof corn and practice. other high-yield crops in the fieldsand rolling hills near theirschools. For toomany years, preparing students to enter school has been high "Now we the main goalof primary can see some reform project schools. This results,"says Lu Sid,a still seeksto train students Fusong Countyeducation official. the nine-year to complete the students "Before the project, compulsory education could just readand write. They beyond this, it successfully. But nothing with could do aims to armpupils with basic their hands.Now they on local production, knowledge can do practical labour and other things. Theyknow agricultural help to make skills that should techniques. Theycan them self-reliant. plant corn andrice and they can help farmersin planning andimplementing the A high-quality use of fertilisers." teaching team is any thriving school. an integral part of The Jilin project What is moreimportant, the has rejected the these innovative students canpass on techniques to theirparents, Mr Lu

22 25 No. 1 ta( 4,141'r

, N N, *A %

notes "most of the students come from farming saplings to the community. They share their cultivating families. But their parents have never been exposed to skills with farmers through their newsletter. new methods. Now the students teach their parents." Huajia Commune students in Nong'an work on 540 For instance, the average income per person in mu (36 hectares) of mostly wheat and corn. Their Fusong County's Wanliang Township has risen in the labour has earned the school an annual income of about last two years, says Xu Bin, Fusong County's 10,000 yuan school officials say. magistrate. Now a farmer earns about 2,700 yuan a month compared to the 2,000 yuan * he earned in 1994 The project schools have also changed community when this town's primary school first joined the project. attitudes. Farmers and residents now see the school as a positive factor in their economic development. They view Success stories abound elsewhere. The pupils at investing in the school as a way to improve their future. Xinli Primary School have provided about 50,000 kilos of improved seeds to the inhabitants of Fuyu County. In the first phase of this project, 1987-93, the local Students working at the chicken-breeding farm in the governments reached into their pockets and spent more Central School of Hengdaohe Township have than 3.2 million yuan to repair and rebuild the introduced a new chicken called the "super yisahe." experimental schools. Hengdaohe Township built a new They generate extra income for the school by selling building in 1994. The Sanshengyu government of this breed, as well as the corn, rice and grapes they Nong'an County spent 400,000 yuan and built new grow on the school's 90 mu (six hectares) of fields. classrooms and renovated others. Shanyou Township in Fuyo County invested 240,000 yuan in new facilities. At the Yaodao Primary School in Qiangang Township, students tend a nursery of grape vines and weeping willow trees. They donate many of their * US$ 1 = approx. 8 Yuan

23 2g uMva6ng spreakngeref= project

The Jilin project is important because it not only When this programme began in 1987, the aim of the began but also succeeded, lasted and expanded. project was to develop a rural primary education model The major elements of the reform that linked schools to society's development programmea relevant curriculum, elective goals. The Jilin officials regarded it as an courses and field activitiesare not especially experiment to make schools contribute towards original or new. Their implementation economic progress. But seven years later they required revising the curriculum, preparing realised that research into certain problems local or school-based education materials, needed to be "developed and deepened." training teachers and attracting the active participation of parents as well as community The Jilin project addresses only primary schools leaders. These components on their own are or the first six years of China's nine-year notparticularlyinnovative.Education compulsory education requirements. The education authoritiesinmanycountrieshave officials saw that they needed to find a way to incorporated them into reform projects in spread and integrate the experiment to high schools some combination or another with varying as the students graduated. They also came to the degrees of success. The Jilin project stands out conclusion that this reform project also needed to because it has endured and widened. One of be extended to informal education for adults. the keys to its longevity and success is the pace and depth at which Jilin education The Jilin officials realised that designing books officials have implemented it. From 12 pilot and other teaching materials with content that schools in six counties it spread to 146 schools was local, rural and relevant was fundamental for in 46 counties during the second phase that the success of this reform project. But they also began in 1994. A third phase that was to begin discovered what a phenomenal task it was to a few years later had planned to include all of ensure the quality and uniformity of these Jilin province's 11,000 elementary schools. educational tools. They agreed to compile a new But after completing the first seven-year cycle set of textbooks. in 1994, Jilin officials realised that it was premature to make ita province-wide Beyond books and other supplementary programme so quickly. They learned some materials, the project leaders saw that the lessons from the first phase and revised their experiment could not be expanded to further plans for the second and third stages. Much of what they schools without more, and better-trained teachers. They learned is a result of a detailed evaluation that the discovered, that despite the additional training provided provincial educators published in 1994. to the project teachers, many were still saddled with

L. 24 27 traditional educational theories, attitudes and practices. Floods, fires and other natural calamities beyond The Jilin officials decided they needed to strengthen their control also forced the Jilin officials to revise their teacher training by making sure that local teaching expansion plans. "We must adjust to actual realities," institutions focused on preparing instructors for the Ms Zhang says. "For example, we did not count on needs and demands of working in rural primary 35 natural disasters last year which took much of our schools. effort and resources just to keep the school system viable in the affected areas. We did not anticipate the Armed with the results and insights of the initial extent to which materials needed to be re-organised and evaluation, the Jilin officials moved towards the teachers re-trained." experiment's second cycle by extending this reform scheme to hundreds of schools in the province. First, The difficulties encountered in the first two phases they identified other rural schools in the province's have led Jilin officials to reconsider their original plans 59 counties. They discovered that 13 of the counties to expand the programme rapidly throughout the were too poor to implement compulsory primary province. They realised that it was a herculean task to education. They could not burden schools in these help 146 schools maintain the same innovative spirit and areas with an experimental project that relies on solid high standards set by the original pioneer group of 12. local government and community financial backing. The educators eventually settled on the "The reform project takes much preparation," says current 146 schools. Jin Hede, a professor at Jilin's North East Normal

25 2{9 University. "You have to train community leaders, train teachers, improve the management of the school and develop new textbooks. Jilin province is a big province with a large population, so it is not easy to expand fast. We must do so step by step."

Jilin officials have now revised their targets for the reform programme. The second cycle should end in 1998. The third phase involving about 2,000 schools should begin two years later. They are still not sure when they will implement these reforms throughout the province's 11,000 schools.

"Why didn't we expand province- wide in the second cycle?," Mr Chen asks rhetorically. Despite cutting back on the original ambitious plans "Because our purpose was to make this project truly to implement this project in all of Jilin's elementary progressive," he says. "The key to the survival and schools,the reform programmeisspreading flourishing of this project is that it has learned to be spontaneously beyond the official 146 schools in the balanced and flexible." current cycle. Many elementary and some middle schools are unofficially adopting some of its Expanding too fast would compromise the project's approaches and methods. reputation, Mr Chen explains. Many schools would not be capable of implementing the reform correctly and "There are many counties which have learned from consequently their academic scores or local economy the few official pilot schools in their areas," Ms Zhang would not improve. This would cast a shadow on the says. "On their own initiative, some educational success stories of the pilot schools. committees in these counties have applied these lessons to other schools within their districts. More than 100 However, Mr Chen warns against expanding too other schools are using the textbooks designed by the slowly. This might generate an elite breed of superior province for the project." For example, "the Central schools that would siphon resources from the county Primary School of Sanshengyu Town in Nong' an governments at the expense of more needy schools. County produced a major effect on neighbouring schools", says Bai Yuaxia, deputy chairwoman of this Mr Chen stresses that only schools that manage to north western county's education department. Other get strong backing and interest from their community elementary schools in the county have adopted materials will truly succeed. "It is important to judge the produced and used in this pilot school, she explains. readiness of the local community," he says. "One of the keys to the success of this project is the seriousness and In addition, the project has expanded unofficially by dedication that townships and schools give to striving following students from the experimental schools as to qualify and to sustain the high standards and they move up the academic ladder to junior high reputation of the project." school. "There is another informal spill-over from the

26 29 success of our pilot school," Ms Bai adds. "Our students (from the experimental school) are now entering middle schools, and we have had to adjust the curriculum contents, teaching methods, indeed the whole philosophy of the middle schools that receive them."

Ms Zhang refers to Nong' an as an example that schools throughout the project will eventually adopt this reform plan. The lessons learned in implementing this experiment should gradually transform the policy and practice of the entire primary school system.

To spur this informal process, Jilin officials said they were considering preparing guidelines for educational committees and schools that would help them implement this reform plan. With these guidelines, communities and or schools could begin implementing their reform plans at their own pace.

The careful expansion of the Jilin project is part of a comprehensive plan to reform education at all levels in the province, Mr Chen explains. "We are now trying to move towards overall reform of the elementary, vocational and adult education schools," he says. "All of them should eventually integrate education with agriculture and technology."

The unflagging dedication of Mr Chen and Ms Zhang is another major key to the reform project's success. Since its very beginning, these two educators have followed the experiment closely. They have attracted Beijing's interest in the plan. They have been unfailing in their commitment to making sure the project is carefully monitored and evaluated.

Mr Chen and Ms Zhang e.xpect all the province's 11,000 elementary schoolsto implement this programme eventually. They anticipate that Jilin will be the "head of the dragon" leading China's educational reform. "One aim of our project is to spread our expertise to Asia and the Pacific and other Third World countries," Ms Zhang says.

27, ' t is rare to see a project so successful and so the experiment. However, it is the officials and people widespread from such small beginnings. Indeed, of Jilin who deserve the credit for making it succeed, UNESCO's initial contribution was quite modest grow, endure and flourish. The desire for change was and yet the project still worked. This paradox offers already there and the project would have no doubt much hope for organisations such as UNESCO succeeded regardless of whether the catalyst was working with basic education projects throughout the internal or external to Jilin. world. Providing education for all is a huge challenge that requires enormous investment, yet UNESCO can Observing both the successes and the difficulties of only deliver limited human and financial resources. It is the Jilin experience over the years, several key lessons estimated that international assistance for basic appear important for others: education from all agencies combined, including banks, constitutes far less than 1% of that contributed 1.Perhaps the first lesson to be learned from the by national governments and increasingly by local Jilin story is that reform efforts must be founded on communities. Therefore, if agencies such as UNESCO a fundamentally valid premise. In this case, the are to make any significant impact it is imperative that driving force of the reform was to make rural they fashion or seek out interventions actively which primary schooling more relevant so that it would are not just supports to ongoing usual work. They must have a direct impact on the productivity and well- back initiatives, activities, projects and programmes being of the community. This sound principle made that provide genuine breakthroughs which can be it easy to mobilise and sustain the support of parents, expanded and sustained over time. teachers, local communities and the central government. So with a modest contribution from UNESCO, used strategically to transform a handful of schools, the Jilin 2.Understanding the internal rhythms emanating officials succeeded in drawing lessons from the initial from a successful small-scale pilot or experimental phase and applying this knowledge systematically to a project to a large province- or nation -wide policy is the larger number of schools. It was the proverbial reaping second lesson. There is a tendency to rest on the laurels of the hundred-fold. It is particularly heartening to see and accomplishments of a small project and make it how the Jilin project grew from its beginnings into succeed to a point where replicating becomes too such a vast programme when so many seemingly good expensive or complicated. There is the reverse projects stay small or even wither and die once outside tendency to want to expand too rapidly in the flush of project funding is exhausted. initial success, as the Jilin officials were originally tempted. To their credit they learned by experience the In a more fundamental sense, the Jilin experience pitfalls of too ambitious an expansion plan. These seems to contain lessons on how successful small pilot experiences and the natural calamities that befell Jilin projects, whether externally assisted or not, can grow to and slowed down progress persuaded the educators that transform virtually an entire school system. UNESCO a more long-range time frame for expansion was more can claim to be the spark that contributed to kindling realistic and viable.

BEST COPYAVAILABLE 28 a 1 3. A third lesson is the value of preserving a key policy statements and slogans that convince balanced and integrated approach to educational communities that education is the key to future reform. Many similar projects lapse into emphasising development and must always be first priority. only one dimension of reform. Too often the project leaders draw up an expansion formula focusing on only The publication of the Jilin experience in the that single aspect such as teacher in-service training or Innovations series appeared fitting for a number of curriculum/materials development or innovative school reasons. Certain of its elements are not ground- management approaches. The architects of the Jilin breaking but others are. Its goal of making primary project stuck doggedly to the entire recipe foreducation more relevant, more beneficial to the comprehensive school reform. They ensured that community, is commonplace. Even the disparate schools that joined the programme paid due attention to elementsmodifying the curriculum to meet local work productivity, maintenance and improvement of needs, in-service teacher training, parent involvement - school grounds, teacher training, local curriculum are not new to many educators. In one sense, the development and many other aspects. project is not innovative. Its objectives and components are well known to scholars and practitioners of 4.Creating and maintaining a winning spirit and a education reform. What makes this programme culture of success proved important to set the climate innovative is the way the objectives have been that made joining the project a highly desirable goal for translated into practice and the way the elements have other schools. Other schools began examining the been combined and juxtaposed to effect a fundamental reform project unofficially and soon realised that improvement in quality and relevance. participating required much prior participation. This simplified and spurred the expansion process because In a more profound sense, and unlike so many other once the project was ready to absorb other schools they pilot projects that fail or that do not last beyond a had already done their groundwork. limited initial stage, the Jilin project is innovative in weaving its objectives 5. Finally, it is important to recognise the golden and components into a thread that ties all the elements of success together sustainable and seamless the continuity of a highly motivated and inspired process of fundamentally leadership at all levels. At the project level, the current upgrading and transforming chairman of the Jilin Provincial Education Committee anentirenetworkof and vice chairwoman specifically in charge of the 11,000 schools servicing project are the same two individuals who started the 25 million people. Its project seven years ago. They provide the original methodical expansion, leadership and the drive, undiminished and sustained to long-term sustainability, this day, that makes the project flourish; they also bring community ownership and the memory of accumulated experience and lessons remarkable success are learned from the string of success, setbacks, precisely its innovation. opportunities and obstacles that the project has Andthatisworth undergone over ten years. Schools and communities closer study byall that were part of the original phase of the project interested in improving continue at high success levels, sustained by the basic education. additional responsibility of serving as models for many others. Beyond this, officials of local and national central governments have never failed to provide the strongest policy support for the project, disseminating

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