Wang, T. orcid.org/0000-0002-8482-0828 and McLaughlin, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-8603-8610 (2024) Promoting learner-centred education amid the culture of test-based accountability: insights from a cross-cultural teacher education programme. Comparative Education. ISSN 0305-0068
Abstract
Based on third generation activity theory, this study analyses the interplay between a test-based accountability mechanism and a pedagogical reform that introduced unfamiliar educational experiences (including those popular in other contexts) to implement learner-centred education (LCE) in a cross-cultural teacher education programme in China. Interviews with principals and teachers and school documents in four schools were analysed. Findings questioned the polarisation of test-based accountability and LCE. Participants supported the pursuit of examination excellence, partly due to the tradition of honouring examinations in China, but also recognised that enhancing examination performance and implementing LCE could align. However, to resolve short-term conflicts between these two objectives, developing school-specific development plans that accommodated both goals became essential. This research revealed the effectiveness of third generation activity theory in investigating the interactions between LCE and test-based accountability. ‘Expansive transformation’ of pedagogics became possible when educators developed a local understanding of the purpose of LCE.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Except as otherwise noted, this author-accepted version of a journal article published in Comparative Education is made available via the University of Sheffield Research Publications and Copyright Policy under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Test-based accountability; learner-centred education reform; the localisation of international pedagogical experiences; third generation activity theory |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 17 Dec 2024 08:52 |
Last Modified: | 17 Dec 2024 08:52 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/03050068.2024.2423445 |
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Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220553 |