Abstract
The current political and social backdrop in China that is characterized by rapid educational reforms to the K-12 education system, rapid growth in the number of science museum institutions, and Central Government policy which encourages collaboration between museums and school has the potential to be fertile ground for meaningful engagement between museums and schools. Notwithstanding, the Chinese K-12 education system generally does not utilize museum resources to support the curriculum, as is common in Western countries. This hermeneutic phenomenographic study elucidates the current Chinese views and perceptions among three stakeholders—school teachers, museum staffs and science educators—around this collaborative concept. The outcomes demonstrate that strongly entrenched cultural views and long-standing practices among stakeholder groups are obstacles to meaningful collaboration despite Central Government policy which encourages such engagement. The cultural values and perceptual views of stakeholder groups were discerned with the purpose of promoting mutual understandings and ultimately enabling meaningful collaboration in support of K-12 education in China.
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Notes
The term “interface” in this context refers to the shared boundary or interconnection between systems. It is the points at which independent systems or diverse groups interact.
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Acknowledgments
This research was made possible by a grant from the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. 9073017) and a special award from Canadian Studies (SACS). We also acknowledge the work of Li Li from China Science and Technology Museum, as well as other colleagues and graduate students at Beijing Normal University in their assistance with the study.
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Kang, C., Anderson, D. & Wu, X. Chinese perceptions of the interface between school and museum education. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 5, 665–684 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-009-9197-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-009-9197-2