Abstract
While quality in education has long been a significant issue, definitions of quality are often taken for granted rather than argued for, allowing the possibility that the criteria used by researchers and planners to judge quality may differ from local stakeholders’ perspectives, particularly regarding the place within quality education of the knowledge, culture and language of non-dominant groups. However, there is an accumulating convergence of research that calls for assessments of quality in education of non-dominant linguistic and cultural groups that engage local stakeholders’ understandings. This paper presents a recent study that attempts to do this, investigating the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, and administrators in Sunan Yughur Autonomous County, a multiethnic, multilingual district in rural Gansu, inhabited by several nationalities. Over one hundred participants in three schools were asked what was important for children to learn in school; including what aspects of local (minority) knowledge, culture and language should be taught as part of school-based curriculum. The study found three educational visions in local schools: regular urban education; Chinese-medium, multicultural education; and bilingual, multicultural education. The study also found that stakeholders support the latter vision, which reflects society’s actual cultural and linguistic pluralism, as well as much research on quality education for non-dominant groups. The paper concludes with a call for a comparative approach, both domestic and international, towards the investigation of quality education of non-dominant groups in China.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Adamson, B., & Feng, A. W. (2009). A comparison of trilingual education policies for ethnic minorities in China. Compare, 39(3), 321–333. doi: 10.1080/03057920802436258
Ahmed, M., Cheng, K. M., Jalaluddin, A. K., & Ramachandran, K. (1991). Basic education and national development: Lessons from China and India. New York, NY: UNICEF.
Akinnaso, F. (1993). Policy and experiment in mother tongue literacy in Nigeria. International Review of Education, 39(4), 255–285. doi: 10.1007/BF01102408
Arnold, M. L., Newman, J. H., Gaddy, B. B., & Dean, C. B. (2005). A look at the condition of rural education research: Setting a difference for future research. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 20(6), 1–25.
Arslan. (2006). 也谈用统一的基因符号转写东、西部裕固语的问题 [Further discussion of the problem of unified phonetic symbols for East and West Yughur languages]. 尧熬尔文化 [Yughur Culture], 1(1), 47.
Badeng Nima. (2001). Problems related to bilingual education in Tibet. Chinese Education & Society, 34(2), 91–102.
Ba, Z. L. (2007). A socioanthropological analysis of the function of Yug[h]ur-nationality schools. Chinese Education & Society, 40(2), 77–88. doi: 10.2753/CED1061-1932400205
Bahry, S. (2009). Perspectives on quality in minority education in China: The case of Sunan Yughur Autonomous County, Gansu (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bahry, S. (2011). Changing attainment of higher education among China’s ethnicities: Comparison of 1990 and 2000 national census data. In E. L. Brown & P. Gibbons (Eds.), Ethnicity and race: Creating educational opportunities around the globe (Vol. ii, pp. 49–77). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Bahry, S., Niyozov, S., & Shamatov, D. (2008). Bilingual education in Central Asia. In J. Cummins & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Bilingual education (Vol. v, 2nd ed., pp. 205–221). New York, NY: Springer Science, Business Media LLC.
Bahry, S., & Zholdoshalieva, R. (in press). Educational and linguistic equity for Yughur and Kyrgyz minorities in northwest China: Disadvantages of dominant-language submersion and mother-tongue education. In A. S. Yeung, C. F. K. Lee & E. L. Brown} (Eds.), Communication and language (Vol. vii). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed.). Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.
Banks, J. A. (2008). An introduction to multicultural education (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Beeby, C. E. (1966). The quality of education in developing countries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bender, P., Dutcher, N., Klaus, D., Shore, J., & Tesar, C. (2005). In their own language...Education for all. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Benson, C. (2004). The importance of mother tongue-based schooling for educational quality. Paris, France: UNESCO.
Benson, C. (2005). Girls, educational equity and mother tongue-based teaching. Bangkok, Thailand: UNESCO Bangkok.
Blachford, D. R. (1997). Bilingual education in China. In J. Cummins & D. Corson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Bilingual education (Vol. v, pp. 157–165). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer.
Blachford, D. R. (1998). Language planning and bilingual education for linguistic minorities in China: A case study of the policy formulation and implementation process (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Bradley, D. (2005). Language policy and language endangerment in China. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 173, 1–21.
Burnaby, B., & Mackenzie, M. (2001). Cree decision making concerning language: A case study. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 22(3), 191–209. doi:10.1080/01434630108666432
Bray, M. (2001). Education for all: 2000 assessment. Community partnerships in education: Dimensions, variations, and implications. Paris, France: UNESCO.
Chapman, D. W., & Carrier, C. A. (1990). Introduction: Improving educational quality in developing countries. In D. W. Chapman & C. A. Carrier (Eds.), Improving educational quality: A global perspective (pp. 3–15). New York, NY: Greenwood Press.
Chen, Y. M. D. (2004). 少数民族地区实施校本多元文化课程初探 [A tentative study of offering school-based-multicultural courses in ethnic minority regions]. 民族教育研究 [Journal of Research on Education for Ethnic Minorities], 15(1), 11–15.
Chen, Z. Z., & Lei, X. C. (Eds.). (1985). 西部裕固语简志 [Introduction to the Western Yughur language]. 北京, 中国: 民族出版社 [Beijing, China: Ethnic Publishing House].
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education. New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer.
Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Creswell, J. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions (2nd. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cummins, J. (1986). Empowering minority students: A framework for intervention. Harvard Educational Review, 56(1), 18–36.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.
Cummins, J. (2008a). BICS and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. In B. Street & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Literacy (Vol. ii, 2nd ed., pp. 71–83). New York, NY: Springer Science, Business Media LLC.
Cummins, J. (2008b). Teaching for transfer: Challenging the two solitudes assumption in bilingual education. In J. Cummins & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Bilingual education (Vol. v, 2nd ed., pp. 65–75). New York, NY: Springer Science, Business Media LLC.
Dello-Iacovo, B. (2009). Curriculum reform and “quality education” in China: An overview. International Journal of Educational Development, 29(3), 241–249.
Farrell, J. P. (2008). Community education in developing countries: The quiet revolution in schooling. In F. M. Connelly, M. F. He, & J. Phillion (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction (pp. 369–389). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Fishman, J. A. (1989). Language and ethnicity in minority sociolinguistic perspective. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Freeman Field, R. (2008). Identity, community and power in bilingual education. In J. Cummins & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Bilingual education (Vol. v, 2nd. ed., pp. 77–90). New York, NY: Springer Science, Business Media LLC.
Gao, Z. H., & He, H. M. (2003). 裕固族通史 [History of the Yughur nationality]. 兰州, 中 国: 甘肃人民出版社 [Lanzhou, China: Gansu People’s Press].
Gee, J. P. (2000–2001). Identity as an analytic lens for research in education. Review of Research in Education, 25, 99–125.
Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 3–12.
Herzog, M. J. & Pittman, R. B. (1995). Home, family, and community: Ingredients in the rural education equation. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(2), 113–118.
Hahn, R. F. (1998). Yellow Uyghur and Salar. In L. Johanson & É. A. Csató (Eds.), The Turkic languages (pp. 397–402). London, England: Routledge.
Haller, E. J., & Monk, D. H. (1988). New reforms, old reforms and the consolidation of small rural schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 24(4), 470–483.
Hansen, M. E. (1999). Lessons in being Chinese: Minority education and ethnic identity in Southwest China. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
Heugh, K. (2002). The case against bilingual and multilingual education in South Africa: Laying bare the myths. Perspectives in Education, 20(1), 171–196.
Hornberger, N. H. (2008). Introduction: Can schools save indigenous languages? Policy and practice on four continents. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Can schools save indigenous languages? Policy and practice on four continents (pp. 1–14). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Howley, C. B. (1997). How to make rural education research rural: An essay at practical advice. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 13(2), 131–138.
Hong, J., & Qi’a’na’er (2008). 课程失衡: 民族地区农村学校课程的多元文化解析 [Curriculum imbalance: Multicultural analysis of curriculum at rural schools of ethnic regions]. 东北师范大学学报: 哲学社会科学版 [Journal of Northeast Normal University: Philosophy and Social Sciences], (1), 34–39.
Huang, F. Q. (2004). Curriculum reform in contemporary China: Seven goals and six strategies. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(1), 101–115. doi: 10.1080/002202703200004742000 174126
Jiang, M. H. (2002). A study of ethnic minority middle and elementary boarding schools in China: Discoveries made during the investigations of regions with compact ethnic minority communities in Yunnan Province. Chinese Education & Society, 35(3), 23–46.
Junast. (1981). 东部裕固语简志 [Introduction to the Eastern Yughur language]. 北京, 中国: 民族出版社 [Beijing, China: Ethnic Publishing House].
Kalantzis, M. & Cope, B. (1999). Multicultural education: Transforming the mainstream. In S. A. May (Ed.), Critical multiculturalism: Rethinking multicultural and antiracist education (pp. 245–276). London, England: Falmer Press.
Kannapel, P. J., & DeYoung, A. J. (1999). The rural school problem in 1999: A review and critique of the literature. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 15(2), 67–79.
Kanno, Y., & Norton, B. (2003). Imagined communities and educational possibilities: Introduction. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(4), 241–249. doi: 10.1207/S15327701JLIE0204_1
Kipnis, A. (2006). Suzhi: A keyword approach. China Quarterly, 186, 295–313.
Kosonen, K. (2005). Vernaculars in literacy and basic education in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Current Issues in Language Planning, 6(2), 122–142.
Krätli, S. (2000). Education provision to nomadic pastoralists: A literature review (Working Paper No. 126). Brighton, England: University of Sussex Institute of Development Studies.
Li, D. R. (Ed.). (2006). 西北民族地区校本课程开发研究 [Research on school-based curriculum development in north-western minority districts]. 北京, 中国: 民族出版社 [Beijing, China: Ethnic Publishing House].
Liang, J. (2008). 加拿大多元文化教育对内蒙古少数民族教育的启示 [Insights from Canada’s multicultural education for Inner Mongolia minority education]. 内蒙古财经学院 学报 [Journal of Inner Mongolia Institute of Finance and Economics], 6(6), 102–105.
Lin, J. (1993). Education in post-Mao China. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Liu, F. S. (2004). Basic education in China’s rural areas: A legal obligation or an individual choice? International Journal of Educational Development, 24(1), 5–21.
Lucas, T., Henze, R., & Donato, R. (1990). Promoting the success of Latino language-minority students: An exploratory study of six high schools. Harvard Educational Review, 60(3), 315–340.
Luobuzangdunzhi. (2006). 闲谈裕固族文化研究的现状 [Discussion of the current state of research on Yughur culture]. 尧熬尔文化 [Yughur Culture], 1(1), 28–29.
Ma, R. (2007). Bilingual education for China’s ethnic minorities. Chinese Education & Society, 40(2), 9–25.
Marsh, C., Day, C., Hannay, L., & McCutcheon, G. (1990). Reconceptualizing school-based curriculum development. London, England: Falmer Press.
Martin, I. (2000). Aajiiqatigiingniq: Language of instruction. Research paper. Iqaluit, Canada: Department of Education.
May, S., & Hill, R. (2005). Māori-medium education: Current issues and challenges. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(5), 377–403. doi: 10.1080/13670050508668621
May, S. A. (2008). Bilingual/immersion education: What the research tells us. In J. Cummins & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education: Bilingual education (Vol. v, 2nd ed., pp. 19–34). New York, NY: Springer Science, Business Media LLC.
McCarty, T., & Watahomigie, L. J. (1999). Indigenous community-based language education in the USA. In S. May (Ed.), Indigenous community-based education (pp. 79–94). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
McLaughlin, M. (1982). What worked and why. In P. M. Nachtigal (Ed.), Rural education: In search of a better way (pp. 279–286). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Moukala, E. (2003). Language revitalization in China. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.sil.org/asia/ldc/parallel_papers/edmond_moukala.pdf
Nieto, S. (2001). We speak in many tongues: Linguistic diversity and multicultural education. In C. P. Díaz (Ed.), Multicultural education for the twenty-first century (pp. 152–170). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.
Nieto, S., Bode, P., Kang, E., & Raible, J. (2008). Identity, community, and diversity: Retheorizing multicultural curriculum for the postmodern era. In F. M. Connelly, M. F. He, & J. Phillion (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction (pp. 176–197). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nima, B. (2001). Problems related to bilingual education in Tibet. Chinese Education & Society, 34(2), 91–102.
Nugteren, H. (2003). Shira Yughur. In J. Janhunen (Ed.), The Mongolic languages (pp. 265–285). London, England: Routledge.
OECD. (1979). School-based curriculum development. Paris, France: OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.
Ou, Y., & Jiang, M. (2009). 加拿大多元文化教育对云南少数民族教育的启示 [Insights from Canada’s multicultural education for Yunnan minority education]. 科技信息 [Science & Technology Information], 33, 92–93.
Pajares, F. M. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307–332. doi: 10.3102/00346543062003307
Phillion, J., & Wang, Y. (2011). Introduction: Minority students in East Asia. In J. Phillion, M. T. Hue & Y. X. Wang (Eds.), Minority students in East Asia: Government policies, school practices and teacher responses (pp. 1–12). New York, NY: Routledge.
Pope, M. L., & Scott, E. M. (2003). Teachers’ epistemology and practice. In M. Kompf & P. M. Denicolo (Eds.), Teacher thinking twenty years on: Revisiting persisting problems and advances in education (pp. 93–102). Lisse, Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Postiglione, G. A., Jiao, B., & Manlaji. (2007). Language in Tibetan education The case of the Neidiban. In A. W. Feng (Ed.), Bilingual education in China: Practices, policies and concepts (pp. 49–71). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Qian, M. H. (2007). Discontinuity and reconstruction: The hidden curriculum in schoolroom instruction in minority-nationality areas. Chinese Education & Society, 40(2), 60–76.
Qorro, M. A. S. (2009). Parents’ and policy makers’ insistence on foreign languages as media of education in Africa: Restricting access to quality education-for whose benefit? In B. Brock-Utne & I. Skattum (Eds.), Languages and education in Africa: A comparative and transdisciplinary analysis (pp. 57–82). Oxford, England: Symposium Books.
Roos, M. E. (2000). The Western Yugur (Yellow Uygur) language. Grammar, texts, vocabulary. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://members.home.nl/marcmarti/yugur/biblio/ROOS_WesternYugurLanguage.pdf
Rosenfeld, S. A., & Sher, J. P. (1977). The urbanization of rural schools, 1840–1970. In J. P. Sher (Ed.), Education in rural America: A reassessment of conventional wisdom (pp. 11–42). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Ruiz, R. (1988). Orientations in language planning. In S. L. McKay & S. C. Wong (Eds.), Language diversity: Problem or resource? (pp. 3–25). New York, NY: Newbury House.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London, England: Maurice Temple Smith.
Sher, J. P., & Tompkins, R. B. (1977). Economy, efficiency, and equality: The myths of rural school and district consolidation. In J. P. Sher (Ed.), Education in rural America: A reassessment of conventional wisdom (pp. 11–42). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Skattum, I., & Brock-Utne, B. (2009). Introduction. Languages and education in Africa: A transdisciplinary discussion. In B. Brock-Utne & I. Skattum (Eds.), Languages and education in Africa: A comparative and transdisciplinary analysis (pp. 15–54). Oxford, England: Symposium Books.
Skilbeck, M. (1984). School-based curriculum development. Paris, France: OECD.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1995). Introduction. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas (Ed.), Multilingualism for all (pp. 7–20). Lisse, Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
ai]Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Su, X. H. (2002). Education in China: Reforms and innovations. Beijing, China: China Intercontinental Press.
Teng, X. (2001). The idea of plurality and unity in the configuration of the Chinese nationality and China’s bilingual education for its ethnic minorities. Chinese Education & Society, 34(2), 75–90.
Teng, X., & Guan, K. (2007). 教育领域中的国家整合与地方性知识 [National conformity and local knowledge in the education field]. 中南民族大学学报 [Journal of the South-Central University for Nationalities], 27(5), 31–34.
Teng, X., & Wang, Y. (Eds.). (2001). 20 世纪中国少数民族与教育 [Twentieth century China’s minority nationalities and education]. 北京, 中国: 民族出版社 [Beijing, China: Ethnic Publishing House].
Teng, X., & Weng, Y. H. (2001). Bilingualism and bilingual education in China. In N. Shimahara, I. Z. Holowinsky & S. Tomlinson-Clarke (Eds.), Ethnicity, race, and nationality in education: A global perspective (pp. 259–278). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Theobald, P., & Nachtigal, P. (1995). Culture, community, and the promise of rural education. Phi Delta Kappan, 77(2), 132–136.
Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement. Berkeley, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence.
UNESCO (2004). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005. Education for all: The quality imperative. Paris, France: UNESCO.
Wang, J. (2002). 民族教育学 [The study of nationality education]. 兰州, 中国: 甘肃教育 出版社 [Lanzhou, China: Gansu Educational Press].
Wang, J., & Wan, M. G. (2006). 多元文化教育比较研究 [Comparative research on multicultural education]. 北京, 中国: 民族出版社 [Beijing, China: Ethnic Publishing House].
Wang, C. Z., & Zhou, Q. H. (2003). Minority education in China: From state’s preferential policies to dislocated Tibetan schools. Educational Studies, 29(1), 85–104.
Willig, A. C. (1985). A meta-analysis of selected studies on the effectiveness of bilingual education. Review of Educational Research, 55(3), 269–317. doi: 10.3102/00346543055003269
World Bank. (1995). Priorities and strategies for education: A World Bank review. Washington, DC: Author.
World Bank. (1999). Education sector strategy. Washington, DC: Author.
Yang, P., & Zhou, G. (Eds.). (2002). 谁来决定我们学校的课程: 谈校本课程的开发 [Who should decide our school curriculum? A discussion on school-based curriculum development]. 北京, 中国: 北京大学出版社 [Beijing, China: Beijing University Press].
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zheng, X. Y., & Gao, Z. H. (Eds.). (2004). 裕固族: 甘肃肃南县大草滩村调查 [The Yughur: An investigation of Dacaotan village in Sunan County, Gansu]. 昆明, 中国: 云南大学出 版社 [Kunming, China: Yunnan University Press].
Zhou, M. (2004). Minority language policy in China: Equality in theory and inequality in practice. In M. L. Zhou & H. K. Sun (Eds.), Language policy in the People’s Republic of China: Theory and practice since 1949 (pp. 71–95). Norwell, MA: Kluwer.
Zhou, M. (2007). Legislating literacy for linguistic and ethnic minorities in contemporary China. In A. J. Liddicoat (Ed.), Issues in language planning and literacy (pp. 102–121). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Zhou, N. Z., & Zhu, M. J. (2007). Educational reform and curriculum change in China: A comparative case study. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Education.
Zhu, M. J. (Ed.). (2002). 走进新课程: 与课程实施者对话 [Marching into new curriculum: A dialogue with curriculum implementers]. 北京, 中国: 北京师范大学出版社 [Beijing, China: Beijing Normal University Press].
Zhu, Z. Y. (2007). State schooling and ethnic identity construction in the school context: The politics of a study of a Tibetan “neidi” boarding school in China. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bahry, S.A. What Constitutes Quality in Minority Education? A Multiple Embedded Case Study of Stakeholder Perspectives on Minority Linguistic and Cultural Content in School-Based Curriculum in Sunan Yughur Autonomous County, Gansu. Front Educ China 7, 376–416 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03397150
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03397150