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, Jilin, China. Education for All:Making It Work. Innovation Series.

INSTITUTION United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization, Bangkok (Thailand). Principal Regional Officefor Asia and the Pacific.

REPORT NO No-13ISSN ISSN-1020-0800PUB DATE 1998-00-00NOTE 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; ElementarySchools; Foreign Countries; Program Implementation;*Relevance (Education); Rural Development; *Rural Education;Rural Schools; School Based Management; *School CommunityRelationship; Teacher Education

ABSTRACTJilin is a rural province in northeastern China, known for

its forests and forest products such as ginseng. In the past, Jilin's schoolsfocused on preparing students for higher education and offered little ofrelevance to most rural students. In addition, the schools were understaffedand were managed by a remote, centralized bureaucracy. In 1987, a project waslaunched to improve schooling and link it to agricultural production and theeconomic needs of families, communities, and the province. Jilin educationofficials used initial funding from UNESCO to develop curricula andsupplementary materials and to expand teacher training and communityparticipation in 12 pilot elementary schools. The project introducedschool-based management by a committee of educators, parents, and communityleaders; developed a locally relevant, practical curriculum that includedhands-on experiences in agriculture and daily living skills; and greatlyexpanded teacher training to align with the new curriculum and usedprofessionals and other specialists as temporary instructors. Today, theprogram has expanded to 146 schools without additional UNESCO funding and isexpected to spread throughout the province. Academic skills have improveddramatically, students cultivate ginseng and many high-production crops, andsome schools have set up small businesses. Features that have contributed tothis program's extraordinary success and expansion are discussed. (Containsphotographs.) (SV)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the ori inal document.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and ImprovementEDUTIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER (ERIC)

Thm document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizahonoriginatmg t.

0 Minor changes have been made to ImprovereproductIon Quality.

o Points of view or opinions stated in this docu-ment do not necessanly represent officialOERI position or pohcy.

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PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE ANDDISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS

BEEN GRANTED BY

IlatLu_e_votTO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)

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By Victor Ordofiez and Constanza Montana

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Education for All: Making it Work

About the project...The World Conference on Education for All, held

in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990, recognized that a

policy of «more of the same» would not be

sufficient to achieve the goal of education for all.

Educational systems in most countries clearly need an

injection of fresh ideas, a broader vision of how the

basic learning needs of all might be met, and the cou-

rage to turn this vision into practice.

It was the quest for an expanded and renovated vision

of basic education which prompted UNESCO and UNI-

CEF to launch their joint project «EDUCATION FOR

ALL: MAKING IT WORK» right after Jomtien. The

two Organizations decided to disseminate and promo-

te examples of educational change both in the realm

of formal and non- formal education through which

the principles of Jomtien would come to life: pro-

grammes which provide learning

opportunities for children, youth, and adults,

including underserved groups and those with special

needs; programmes which focus on actual learning

acquisition, rather than on mere participation or certi-

fication requirements; programmes which aim to pro-

vide a solid foundation for lffe-long learning, which

are responsive to the learning needs and conditions of

the socio-cultural environment, and which build effec-

tive partnerships with local communities and parents.

UNESCO and UNICEF believe that effective and

sustainable change in education arises firMI the

inventiveness, experience and dedication of

educators, parents and community leaders at the grass-

roots. The «EDUCATION FOR ALL: MAKING IT

WORK» project shows that educational innovation and

change are already underway in all developing coun-

tries and that even the poorest countries are able to take

up the challenge of devising educational

programmes to fit their means, needs, and aspirations.

The project strategy emphasizes educational

innovation in practice rather than discourse. The

INNOV database presents many little-known

experiences, some of them with considerable

potential. The most promising and significant ones

are showcased in the present series of booklets, or

through films contained in the EDUCATION FOR

ALL VIDEOBANK. Others are grouped together and

compared in a new series of THEMATIC

PORTFOLIOS, devoted to critical issues in basic

education.

All these resource materials are used in training work-

shops, inter-project visits and similar activities meant

to support specialists and planners from developing

countries in their struggle to turn

education for all into reality.

The project team will be pleased to receive new infor-

mation, comments and suggestions from all those

interested in promoting change and innovation in

basic education. We particularly appeal to

UNICEF and UNESCO colleagues in the field to

co-operate actively with the project.

For further information about the project,

please contact:

UNESCO Office Bangkok

Principal Regional Office in Asia and the Pacific

Box 967

Bangkok 10110 Thailand

Tel.: (662) 391 8474 Fax: (662) 391 0866

Issues 1 to 12 from the Series are out of stock. For

photocopies, please contact:

UNESCO Office - Bangkok or The Global Action

Programme on Education for All (EDIEFA)

UNESCO Paris

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Mlle of contents

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

Calligraphy and drawings: Keyin

Photo-engraving: AMC Editions, Paris, France

Printed by: Marco Grafico, Madrid, Spain

Art Direction: Jacques Zahles, Hexa Graphic

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Supervising editors:

Dieter Berstecher,

Benedict Faccini,

Prancoise Pinzon Gil

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The dragon is the symbol of China. Thismythological creature, the only one of the12 Chinese horoscope signs that is not a real

animal, holds a special place in the country's folldore.In ancient times, the dragon was the mark of theemperor and represented benevolence. In

contemporary China, the expression "head of thedragon" has come to mean the startof something important.

For several decades now, Chinaand other countries of the world havebeen grappling with social andeconomic inequalities dividing urbanand agrarian areas. In primaryeducation, students living in citiesachieve higher academic scores andstay in school longer than theircounterparts in rural areas. Schoolofficials based in capital cities arealso more likely to direct nationaltextbooks, lessons and other learningelements at the urban pupil. As aresult, children in the countrysideoften find themselves studyingsubjects that have little relevance totheir daily lives and contexts.

Like many other provinces in China, Jilin province,in Manchuria, didn't used to have sufficient numbersof primary school teachers and more than 50 per centof its working teachers were inadequately prepared. Acentralised education administration, far away andoften out of touch with local needs and realities, failedto motivate regional governments and individuals in

the management of the schools, thuscutting off parent participation. But,today, a UNESCO project in Jilinprovince is turning into the "head ofthe dragon" leading this north easternregion in its struggle to improvelearning conditions in rural areas.Jilin's Comprehensive Rural PrimaryEducation Reform Project (CRPERP)was launched by the province'seducation board in 1987. The projecthas set itself as goals to improveschooling and make it moremeaningful to local students and theircommunity's economic development,to narrow the gap between actualeducation and agricultural production,and link schooling to the economic needs

of Jilin province and its 25 millioninhabitants.

Furthermore, schooling underChina's planned economies has focused for manyyears on preparing students for higher education andnot necessarily for the development of needed humanresources. Curricular content has provided studentswith few skills needed in rural production, let alonehealth, hygiene and nutrition.

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Jilin education officials used aninitial contract from UNESCO to develop curricula,supplementary materials and to expand teachertraining and community participation in 12 pilotprimary schools in Jilin. Over the last decade, this hasgrown into a project that has succeeded in achievingreformed school management, in developing curricula

which are more relevant to life in Jilin province, increating parent committees, in training teachers withnew skills, and in employing specialists as temporaryinstructors. Today, the project has expanded,without additional funds from UNESCO, to 146primary schools

More importantly, this school reformproject has achieved its primary goal bysuccessfully linking education toimproving rural development. As aresult, reading, writing andmathematics skills have improveddramatically, according to a 1993evaluation of the 4,695 pupils in thepilot project. In addition, students inthis northern province now drivetractors, cultivate ginseng and haveplanted more than 20 differentkinds of high-quantity crops. Someschools have set up small businessesselling chickens, seeds and saplings.

"The experiment has been hugelysuccessful, re-orienting curriculum to locallearning needs and significantly improvingachievement and retention rates," says Mr. PremKasaju, of UNESCO's Thailand Office (The PrincipalUNESCO office for Asia and the Pacific), who hasfollowed this project since its beginning.

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For many years, China has stressed theneed to improve primary education. In1985, the government enacted a law to

make it compulsory. That year, Chineseofficials, including some from Jilin province,attended a UNESCO conference in Tanzaniaon reinforcing the role of primary education inrural areas. At this meeting, delegates fromAsian, African and Arab countries emphasisedthe role that rural elementary education mustplay in meeting the needs of localdevelopment.

The UNESCO meeting encouraged itsparticipants to engage in research to developschool reform projects that would integrateschool education to social and economicdevelopment. These events led the leaders ofthe Education Commission of Jilin province toanalyse the problems faced by their ruralschools more closely.

Mr Chen Mo Kai, Director-General of theJilin Provincial Education Commission andDeputy Director Zhang Yin realised thateducation under China's planned economieswas too narrow and centrally controlled. Thenational curriculum focused on preparingstudents for college and university but failedto teach them practical skills to improve thelocal economy and agricultural production

ent

that would help them tackle the very realproblems they faced within their owncontext.

The Jilin officials discovered a

cumbersome education administrationthat was too far removed from the localschool. School management wascentralised in Beijing and as a resultfailed to motivate local governments andindividuals to play an active role. It did

not encourage parents to participate either.

The national curriculum was out of touch withthe needs of rural children. Lessons providedlittle information or skills needed to survive inthe countryside. They were weak in teachingabout labour, health and nutrition. Rural primaryeducation was not connected to other activitiesoutside the school. Students were notencouraged to put into practice at home whatthey had learned in the classroom. As a resultthey could not share these lessons with theirparents and others in the community.

Mr Chen and Ms Zhang discovered thepersistent problems spawned by shortages ofteachers, books and financial resources. Morethan 50 per cent of the working instructorslacked adequate training and had difficultyteaching.

12 A5

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4

At that time, students knew only how to read andte," Ms Zhang says. "They could take exams, buty could not plant vegetables."

:hildren spent their entire school day following a[many set curriculum that provided them with fewIs needed in rural production, and little informationhealth, hygiene and nutrition. Consequently, theonal drive to produce individuals with six years ofnary education was having little impact on thenomic development of Jilin.

Ihildren were dropping out. Parents discouragedn from walking miles to a school that offered themunpty future. Instead, they urged their sons andghters to stay home and help with the farm.

Ir Chen and Ms Zhang also analysed theaparative deficiency of farming in China. Theyised that its improvement depended on science and

4 13

technology. There had to be a way of linking this needfor improvement in farming production withimprovement within the actual education system. Tomeet the challenge, they decided to develop a projectthat would reform Jilin's rural primary schools. Theyagreed that the first goal of this experiment should be tostructure a primary schooling programme that wouldaddress the needs of rural communities. The key was tointegrate learning with productivity and development.They became convinced that reforming rural educationcould have a significant positive impact on thecountry's rural and national economic development.

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The Jilin officials decided to prepare anexperimental project to reform rural schools inline with the research encouraged by

UNESCO at the 1985 Tanzania meeting. They turnedto China's UNESCO National Commission and askedthem to help launch the project. After signing acontract in November 1986 with the EducationCommission of Jilin province, UNESCOprovided an initial and not too substantial sumto develop curricula, supplementary materials,train teachers and encourage the community toparticipate.

The commission's use of the funds was adeparture from other UNESCO projects. Theydid not dilute the limited sum by spending it ona single reform element such as textbooks orteacher training. Instead, they allocated themoney to all the components of the experimentin a sweeping and comprehensive scheme. Thisfocused method limited the project to a smallnumber of schools.

They then set up a directing committee for theproject that included representatives from theprovince's education commission, the EducationalInstitute of Jilin province and the North East NormalUniversity. The role of this group was to provide

guidance in research, implementation andevaluation. The project was launched officiallyin 1987. The launching was carried out withoutproviding the schools with extra funds orteachers.

Mr Chen and Ms Zhang then began selectingthe appropriate schools for the experiment.They wanted schools that would represent a fair cross-section of the province's economic, cultural andgeographic features. They chose 12 schools in sixcounties from the province's various regions that rangefrom prairie to mountain and areas that have diversifiedeconomies to suburban zones, villages and townships.

-6 14

That first year, the Jilin educators organisedand prepared the materials to be used in thereform experiment. They revised content,teaching methods and the overall approach toeducation with the primary goal to make itmore meaningful for students in ruralcommunities. "The idea behind the project wasto encourage students to stay in rural areas andhelp develop them," Ms Zhang stresses.

Encouraging students to stay in their areameant introducing two specific elements. First,the school calendar was adapted and modifiedto include elective activity periods and work in

the fields. Second, the educational content was revisedby deleting some parts of the national curriculum andadding elements that formed the basis of a newprovincial curriculum. It was local school officials whodesigned new subject matter relevant to their students.

3 7

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efore the project began, officials ran the schoolswith barely a trace of community participation.Jilin officials changed this by asking each

school to form an education managementcommittee that included the school principal andparents as well as village and township leaders.Inclusion of the local political leaders wasimportant to garner their support. "We had totrain the government of the townships about theimportance of this project so that they paidattention to it," Ms Zhang says.

Each management committee's main functionis to ensure that the school meets the needs of thestudents and the local economy. Through regularmeetings this group sets learning goals andestablishes a curriculum. They attempt to reversethe tide of teacher attrition by solving problemsfaced by teachers: housing, employment for theirchildren and spouses, seeds and fertilisers fortheir plots of land. They manage the extra-budgetary education tax allocated to each school.The committee also tries to raise funds from localbusinesses and individuals to buy textbooks andimprove the school's facilities: sciencelaboratories, libraries, clinics, etc.

In Taiping village for instance, the managementcommittee pledged to provide chemical fertilisers,farm tools and seeds to the school and now helpsensure that products are sold at market value.

the school, the local research laboratory or clinicsometimes provides experts as part-time teachers.

Besides supervising the school's internal operation,the management committee establishes outside tieswith local agricultural institutes, hospitals and otherorganisations. Through co-operation agreements with

"We have awakened the people's interest inrunning education," says Gan Pei Tao, theprincipal of the Central Primary School ofWanliang Township in Fusong County.

Each school also has a parent committee. Itacts as the bridge between the home and theschool and meets at least three times eachsemester. At the beginning of the academicperiod, the parents help to select the workshopactivities and the appropriate instructors. Often, ifthey have a special skill or craft, they willvolunteer to teach it at the school. In the middleof the semester, the parents discuss the school andthe family education process. At the last meeting,they evaluate.

This group also tries to motivate other parentsto take an interest in the school. They encouragethem to visit the school, learn about the reformprocess and participate in its evaluation. Theyalso help set up classes that inform mothers andfathers about health and nutrition and the subjectsand methods related to their children's education.These parent schools not only broaden theparents' education, but also provide them withtools to help their children.

"The parent's association is directly involved in themanagement of the school," Ms Zhang says. "Theschool trains parents in how to co-operate with theschools," she adds. "The purpose is to link school,family and society."

15 20

0

s in many countries, in China's elementaryschools, reading, writing and arithmetic are the

main academic subjects. Before the project,the Jilin schools relied on mathematics, reading andlanguage textbooks developed for nation-wide use. Too

often, rural students spent their school daysitting passively behind desks reading stories,

solving problems and performing other tasksdesigned for their urban counterparts.

Jilin officials realised they needed to reverse

this trend. In the reform process, theydeveloped two crucial components thatbecame the cornerstones of the project'spedagogy. First, they tailored the curriculum to

the students' daily lives. Second, theyprovided the pupils with hands-on experience.

"The main problem we met was reformingthe curriculum and the textbooks," Ms Zhangsays. "We had national textbooks and wedeveloped new ones at the provincial and local

level. How to determine the right mixwhat toinclude and excludewas another problem."

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The provincial language skills books now used byfifth and sixth graders teach them about activities never

encountered before China began its transformation to a

market economy. Pupils now learn how to open a bank

account instead of stuffing their savings under a pillow.

They master lessons on drawing contracts,filling out forms, sending telegrams and other

practical advice provided by the newtextbooks.

The leaders of the Comprehensive RuralPrimary Education Reform Project in Jilinrevised the traditional curriculum by deleting some ofthe chapters from the national textbooks that werefound to be of little relevance to rural children. Theyadded two textbooks for each grade level throughoutthe province: Language skills for Rural Students andPractical Mathematics for Rural Students.

16

The mathematics textbooks teach

calculation skills using problems that thestudent is likely to encounter on his parents'farm. For instance, students learn how tomeasure the area of an uneven plot of land.They work out monthly balances after the sale

of pigs and eggs and the investment in seedand fertiliser. They use apricot kernels, stones,

beans and other items found commonly inrural homes to help them calculate sums.

Each school and/or county also developed

curricula for the project designed to reflecttruly local conditions. These new textbooks,often small paperback leaflets, focus on thelocal economy, health, hygiene and nutrition.

The Homeland books, for example, includelessons on local geography, nature, agriculture, history,

folklore and customs. The Labour books teach practical

skills step-by-step.

Books designed for use in Siping Village, forexample, teach first graders how to brush their teeth

IR

and wash their clothes. Second and third graders learnabout planting vegetables, the use of a hammer,identifying and handling batteries. Students in theupper grades learn how to use wrenches, lay bricks,operate a wood-burning stove safely or how to makesticky paper to trap and kill insects (large quantities ofinsects being a major problem in the countryside).

The schools also provide students with manytextbooks on their local agriculture. The ProductionTechniques series includes such titles as Identifyingand Growing Superior Corn, Ginseng CultivationTechniques, Vegetable Growing Skills and RaisingEconomically Valuable Animals.

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

adopted. Since the Jilin officials could not lengthen theseven-hour school day, they struck a balance betweentraditional academic subjects and new practicalactivities. Now students spend less time in theclassroom and about three hours a week in workshopsand fields.

During specific periods, school officials adjust thesetimes, says Yi Fucai, an education official in JingyuCounty. "During planting and harvesting, studentsspend three days in the field," he explains.

17 2D

I[nniprnvñng d

=donThe new curriculum emphasiseslearning through practical and relevantactivities. But Jilin officials

discovered that many of their teachers werenot qualified to teach these new skills. Theinstructors were often young andinexperienced. Many did not regard teachingas a life-long profession. Teacher attrition washigh. Like their students, the teachers had onlylearned traditional academic subjects. Manyhad completed only secondary school. Mosthad undergone very limited teacher training.

For instance at the Hengdaohe TownshipSchool in Dongfeng County, only 16 of the 26teachers have completed 12 years ofschooling. Their average age is about 31.

To overcome these problems, the projectleaders motivated the teachers to activelyparticipate in the reform experiment byinspiring them to broaden their spheres ofknowledge. First, they introduced the teachersto the reform project's pedagogic ideas andgoals. They pushed the teachers to learn theneeds of their communities, the naturalresources available, the local productionstructure and economic trends. In particular,they encouraged the teachers to discover thedisparities between the province's needs andavailable resources. The instructors evaluatedthe necessity to improve production in

sroo

18

agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry andfishing. They then compared theserequirements to the current limited number ofqualified individuals to meet thesedevelopment goals.

The project leaders asked the teachers tobecome specialists in an academic subject andto learn a practical skill. In addition, theyasked the instructors to be proficient in othersubjects so that they could teach variouscourses. The teachers, therefore, beganlearning practical skills that they could teachas part of the elective courses or other after-school activities.

In the last ten years, many teachers haveattended in-service classes at their schools tolearn these new skills. Others have gone to theteacher training institutes in their counties or inChangchun, Jilin's capital. Others still have used

their holidays to take courses or have turned toexperts in the fields of health, culture, scienceand technology to learn new skills. Now, thesenewly trained teachers instruct elective classesas well as traditional academic subjects.

Xuxiu Feng, a 34-year-old teacher at theHengdaohe school, teaches language andmathematics in the morning and arts and craftsin the afternoon. The project has made herrealise that she needs to strengthen her

teaching skills. "What I know now is notenough," she says. "I think as society develops,I will need more knowledge. I am now workingon getting my university diploma."

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

To solve the constant shortage of skilledteachers, schools employ part-time teachers,professionals and others willing to share theirexpertise with the students as well as theteaching staff. The township educationmanagement committee works closely with theinstitutions providing these professionals as part-time teachers. The institutions provide theteachers and free them from their normal workload to teach at the school. The school sets thetime, the content and provides teacher training to theseprofessionals.

In some schools, doctors teach health and nutrition.In others, local police officers teach law. Farmers andagricultural researchers provide information oninnovative farming techniques or how to use pesticidescorrectly. Teachers also attend these classes to broadentheir knowledge and instruction skills. In this way,other members of the community play an active role intheir local schools while the students benefit from theirknowledge and expertise.

The Jilin project also redesigned classroominstruction to focus on goals by defining specificobjectives to be reached at each grade level. In someschools, more experienced teachers are paired withrookies or master teachers. These people teach theirmore inexperienced counterparts how to preparelessons, teaching materials, lecture, evaluate, andmanage the classroom. They do this through guidance,demonstration and allowing the trainees to observe.

The apprentice teachers then practice these newmethods themselves.

The experimental programme also transformedteaching styles. It discouraged teachers from simplylecturing and providing facts while students absorbedinformation passively. The project's in-service trainingand other instruction spurred teachers to make theclassroom environment livelier with attention focusedon the learner not the teacher. As a result, teachers andstudents adopted more active approaches in theirteaching and learning.

Teachers also learned to encourage students to solveproblems with the knowledge they had learned. Theyurged the pupils to ask questions and to discover theirown solutions. "The schools reformed teachingmethods," says Luan Chanda, the vice-president of theJilin Educational Science Research Institute. "Forexample, in mathematics we experimented on thethinking of studentsfrom the deductive to theinductive".

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cl'ilin's experimental schools shine in their hands-on elective courses.Each week students spend an average of two hours in classroomworkshops 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 andmany other subjects. The pupils also learn agricultural techniques such asraising animals, planting seeds and vegetables, using farm tools andmachinery.

"We think that if we teach them some real life activities such as sewingand embroidery while they are young, we can help them to earn a livingwhen they enter society," says Wang Youmei, vice principal at HengdaoheTownship School.

Boys and girls at her school learn how to operate sewing machines. Theymake shoe liners, red school scarves, and other useful items. Students at theXinli Primary School in Fuyo County even drive tractors. In the CentralPrimary School of Sanshengyu, Nong'an County, the boys repair bikes. Theroot carving group of Fusheng Primary School of Dongfeng County hasproduced more than 500 sculpted handicraft articles.

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

20 23

its of kbour

The results of this ten-year experiment arevaried and far-reaching. They can be summedup as the following:

- the transformation of the management of Jilin'sschools through the effective inclusion of parents,village leaders and others;the development of curricula, more relevant andbetter-adapted to life in rural provinces, which helpprevent the alienation of students from their culture;

- the creation of parent committeesthat take a direct interest in theirchildren's education;

- the improvement of the trainingand scope of teachers;the employment of specialists astemporary and part-time teachersthereby providing students withexpert knowledge and involvingspecialist institutions with theschool. As a result this projecthas built a closer relationshipbetween schools and society.the change in attitudes with communities no longerviewing schools as isolated learning institutions, butas a vital part of their local economy and its future,students holding key knowledge of direct interest tothe community.

More significantly, children's reading, writing andmathematics scores have improved considerably.Several factors account for this progress. Though theyspend less time in the classroom, students spend moretime on activities that use their classroom-acquiredskills. The project has trained teachers to make theschool environment livelier. A 1993 evaluation of theproject's first seven years revealed the followingadvances: among the students in the 12 pilot schools,average scores in composition skills rose to 45 per cent

from 29 per cent when theproject began in 1987. Theability to solve and analysemathematical problems rose to48 per cent from 32 per centduring the same period. Incomparison, student scores atschools not involved in theComprehensive Rural PrimaryEducation Reform Project(CRPERP) did not improve atthe same pace. For example,their composition skills and

their ability to solve math problems only rose to 33 percent in 1993.

Students in this programme now drive tractors, repairbicycles and have planted more than 20 kinds of high-yield crops. Some schools have set up small businessesthat sell chickens, seeds and saplings. Pupils havevoiced a preference for going to school rather thanstaying at home. The drop-out rate has decreased.Parents are benefiting directly from the new farmingtechniques their children have learned at school.

"This project has helped schools in poor countiesimprove their academic conditions and lure back drop-out students," Mr Chen says. "After reforming theschools, we educated the students to work for the localeconomy."

Integrating education to serve the goals of localproduction is, as stated before, one of the foundinggoals of the project. As a result, the schools now serveas local labour bases ready to help the community.They not only create and maintain crop-producing

21 2,\,,

fields but they are also centres of experiment andresearch yielding insights and data to improve localagriculture.

In addition, the project has begun to developstandards to evaluate the practical skills learnt,especially those related to agriculture. For instance, inthe lower primary grades pupils are expected to beable to identify the plants on their school campus andfields. They should be familiar with commonfarm tools and have some basic knowledgeon how to use them. In the middle grades,students should be able to work on their ownprojects, have basic knowledge of animalhusbandry and be able to identify chemicalfertilisers and pesticides. By the upperelementary grades, they should know how touse farm tools, natural and chemicalfertilisers and pesticides. They shouldpossess the skills to do one or two kinds offarm work, such as the planting, caring andharvesting of corn.

The project has also succeeded indeveloping a working model of rural primaryeducation that contributes to development byintegrating society, school and the family. Ithas done so by developing

textbooks withrelevant content and forming teaching teamsthat include specially trained professionalteachers and experts from other fields ofknowledge. It has enriched the idedof ruralprimary education by combining theory withpractice.

use of traditionalteachers versed in only one subject.Instead, one of the major activities is training teachersto teach several subjects. These subject areas include atleast one dealing with agricultural production andanother that is a suitable after-school activity. Theproject has also developed the idea of teaching teamsconsisting of the regular teacher, part-time andtemporary teachers. These part-time and temporaryteachers, often experts in another field, enhance andbroaden the education provided to students.They also serve as role models. By reformingthe management team of the schools toinclude community leaders, the project hassucceeded in making schools an integral partof local development and economic plans.This has benefited the schools because localleaders take a direct interest in the school's

operations, goals and performance.

For too many years, preparing students to enter highschool has been the main goal of primary schools. Thisreform project still seeks to train students to completethe nine-yearcompulsory education successfully. Butbeyond this, it aims to arm pupils with basic knowledgeon local production,

labour and other skills that shouldhelp to make them self-reliant.

A high-quality teaching team is an integral part ofany thriving school. The Jilin project has rejected the

22

The Jilin experiment has not only developed aviable system of rural primary education. Ithas also succeeded in promoting studentindividuality, mostly through the rich andvaried after-school

activities. Furthermore ithas succeeded in linking education to thefamily and improving local development. As aresult, the project schools have introducedmore than 200 kinds of improved crops intothe local farms such as golden melon and seagarlic. School experiments have producedbetter strains of beans and rice. The studentshave planted at least 80 hybrids of corn andother high-yield crops in the fields and rollinghills near their schools.

"Now we can see some results," says Lu Sid, aFusong County education official. "Before the project,the students could just read and write. They could donothing with their hands. Now they can do practicalthings. They know agricultural techniques. They canplant corn and rice and they can help farmers inplanning and implementing the use of fertilisers."

What is more important, the students can pass onthese innovative techniques to their parents, Mr Lu

25

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4,141'r

notes "most of the students come from farmingfamilies. But their parents have never been exposed tonew methods. Now the students teach their parents."

For instance, the average income per person inFusong County's Wanliang Township has risen in thelast two years, says Xu Bin, Fusong County'smagistrate. Now a farmer earns about 2,700 yuan amonth compared to the 2,000 yuan * he earned in 1994when this town's primary school first joined the project.

Success stories abound elsewhere. The pupils atXinli Primary School have provided about 50,000 kilosof improved seeds to the inhabitants of Fuyu County.Students working at the chicken-breeding farm in theCentral School of Hengdaohe Township haveintroduced a new chicken called the "super yisahe."They generate extra income for the school by sellingthis breed, as well as the corn, rice and grapes theygrow on the school's 90 mu (six hectares) of fields.

At the Yaodao Primary School in QiangangTownship, students tend a nursery of grape vines andweeping willow trees. They donate many of their

23

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saplings to the community. They share their cultivatingskills with farmers through their newsletter.

Huajia Commune students in Nong'an work on 540mu (36 hectares) of mostly wheat and corn. Theirlabour has earned the school an annual income of about10,000 yuan school officials say.

The project schools have also changed communityattitudes. Farmers and residents now see the school as apositive factor in their economic development. They view

investing in the school as a way to improve their future.

In the first phase of this project, 1987-93, the localgovernments reached into their pockets and spent morethan 3.2 million yuan to repair and rebuild theexperimental schools. Hengdaohe Township built a new

building in 1994. The Sanshengyu government ofNong'an County spent 400,000 yuan and built newclassrooms and renovated others. Shanyou Township inFuyo County invested 240,000 yuan in new facilities.

* US$ 1 = approx. 8 Yuan

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spreakng e ref= projectThe Jilin project is important because it not onlybegan but also succeeded, lasted and expanded.The major elements of the reform

programmea relevant curriculum, electivecourses and field activitiesare not especiallyoriginal or new. Their implementationrequired revising the curriculum, preparinglocal or school-based education materials,training teachers and attracting the activeparticipation of parents as well as communityleaders. These components on their own arenot particularly innovative. Educationauthorities in many countries haveincorporated them into reform projects insome combination or another with varyingdegrees of success. The Jilin project stands out

because it has endured and widened. One ofthe keys to its longevity and success is thepace and depth at which Jilin educationofficials have implemented it. From 12 pilotschools in six counties it spread to 146 schools

in 46 counties during the second phase thatbegan in 1994. A third phase that was to begina few years later had planned to include all ofJilin province's 11,000 elementary schools.But after completing the first seven-year cyclein 1994, Jilin officials realised that it waspremature to make it a province-wideprogramme so quickly. They learned somelessons from the first phase and revised theirplans for the second and third stages. Much of what theylearned is a result of a detailed evaluation that theprovincial educators published in 1994.

When this programme began in 1987, the aim of theproject was to develop a rural primary education model

that linked schools to society's developmentgoals. The Jilin officials regarded it as anexperiment to make schools contribute towardseconomic progress. But seven years later theyrealised that research into certain problemsneeded to be "developed and deepened."

L. 24

The Jilin project addresses only primary schoolsor the first six years of China's nine-yearcompulsory education requirements. The education

officials saw that they needed to find a way tospread and integrate the experiment to high schools

as the students graduated. They also came to theconclusion that this reform project also needed tobe extended to informal education for adults.

The Jilin officials realised that designing booksand other teaching materials with content thatwas local, rural and relevant was fundamental forthe success of this reform project. But they alsodiscovered what a phenomenal task it was toensure the quality and uniformity of theseeducational tools. They agreed to compile a newset of textbooks.

Beyond books and other supplementarymaterials, the project leaders saw that theexperiment could not be expanded to further

schools without more, and better-trained teachers. Theydiscovered, that despite the additional training providedto the project teachers, many were still saddled with

27

traditional educational theories, attitudes and practices.The Jilin officials decided they needed to strengthenteacher training by making sure that local teachinginstitutions focused on preparing instructors for theneeds and demands of working in rural primaryschools.

Armed with the results and insights of the initialevaluation, the Jilin officials moved towards theexperiment's second cycle by extending this reformscheme to hundreds of schools in the province. First,they identified other rural schools in the province's59 counties. They discovered that 13 of the countieswere too poor to implement compulsory primaryeducation. They could not burden schools in theseareas with an experimental project that relies on solidlocal government and community financialbacking. The educators eventually settled on thecurrent 146 schools.

Floods, fires and other natural calamities beyondtheir control also forced the Jilin officials to revise theirexpansion plans. "We must adjust to actual realities,"Ms Zhang says. "For example, we did not count on35 natural disasters last year which took much of oureffort and resources just to keep the school systemviable in the affected areas. We did not anticipate theextent to which materials needed to be re-organised andteachers re-trained."

The difficulties encountered in the first two phaseshave led Jilin officials to reconsider their original plansto expand the programme rapidly throughout theprovince. They realised that it was a herculean task tohelp 146 schools maintain the same innovative spirit andhigh standards set by the original pioneer group of 12.

"The reform project takes much preparation," saysJin Hede, a professor at Jilin's North East Normal

25 2{9

University. "You have to traincommunity leaders, train teachers,improve the management of theschool and develop new textbooks.Jilin province is a big province witha large population, so it is not easyto expand fast. We must do so stepby step."

Jilin officials have now revised theirtargets for the reform programme. The

second cycle should end in 1998. Thethird phase involving about 2,000schools should begin two years later.They are still not sure when they willimplement these reforms throughoutthe province's 11,000 schools.

"Why didn't we expand province-wide in the second cycle?," Mr Chen asks rhetorically."Because our purpose was to make this project trulyprogressive," he says. "The key to the survival andflourishing of this project is that it has learned to bebalanced and flexible."

Expanding too fast would compromise the project'sreputation, Mr Chen explains. Many schools would notbe capable of implementing the reform correctly andconsequently their academic scores or local economywould not improve. This would cast a shadow on thesuccess stories of the pilot schools.

However, Mr Chen warns against expanding tooslowly. This might generate an elite breed of superiorschools that would siphon resources from the countygovernments at the expense of more needy schools.

Mr Chen stresses that only schools that manage toget strong backing and interest from their communitywill truly succeed. "It is important to judge thereadiness of the local community," he says. "One of thekeys to the success of this project is the seriousness anddedication that townships and schools give to strivingto qualify and to sustain the high standards andreputation of the project."

26

Despite cutting back on the original ambitious plansto implement this project in all of Jilin's elementaryschools, the reform programme is spreadingspontaneously beyond the official 146 schools in thecurrent cycle. Many elementary and some middleschools are unofficially adopting some of itsapproaches and methods.

"There are many counties which have learned fromthe few official pilot schools in their areas," Ms Zhangsays. "On their own initiative, some educationalcommittees in these counties have applied these lessonsto other schools within their districts. More than 100other schools are using the textbooks designed by theprovince for the project." For example, "the CentralPrimary School of Sanshengyu Town in Nong' anCounty produced a major effect on neighbouringschools", says Bai Yuaxia, deputy chairwoman of thisnorth western county's education department. Otherelementary schools in the county have adopted materialsproduced and used in this pilot school, she explains.

In addition, the project has expanded unofficially byfollowing students from the experimental schools asthey move up the academic ladder to junior highschool. "There is another informal spill-over from the

29

success of our pilot school," Ms Bai adds. "Ourstudents (from the experimental school) are nowentering middle schools, and we have had to adjust thecurriculum contents, teaching methods, indeed thewhole philosophy of the middle schools that receivethem."

Ms Zhang refers to Nong' an as an example thatschools throughout the project will eventually adoptthis reform plan. The lessons learned in implementingthis experiment should gradually transform the policyand practice of the entire primary school system.

To spur this informal process, Jilin officials said theywere considering preparing guidelines for educationalcommittees and schools that would help themimplement this reform plan. With these guidelines,communities and or schools could begin implementingtheir reform plans at their own pace.

The careful expansion of the Jilin project is part of acomprehensive plan to reform education at all levels inthe province, Mr Chen explains. "We are now trying tomove towards overall reform of the elementary,vocational and adult education schools," he says. "Allof them should eventually integrate education withagriculture and technology."

The unflagging dedication of Mr Chen and MsZhang is another major key to the reform project'ssuccess. Since its very beginning, these two educatorshave followed the experiment closely. They haveattracted Beijing's interest in the plan. They have beenunfailing in their commitment to making sure theproject is carefully monitored and evaluated.

Mr Chen and Ms Zhang e.xpect all the province's11,000 elementary schools to implement thisprogramme eventually. They anticipate that Jilin willbe the "head of the dragon" leading China'seducational reform. "One aim of our project is tospread our expertise to Asia and the Pacific and otherThird World countries," Ms Zhang says.

27,

' t is rare to see a project so successful and sowidespread from such small beginnings. Indeed,UNESCO's initial contribution was quite modest

and yet the project still worked. This paradox offersmuch hope for organisations such as UNESCOworking with basic education projects throughout theworld. Providing education for all is a huge challengethat requires enormous investment, yet UNESCO canonly deliver limited human and financial resources. It isestimated that international assistance for basiceducation from all agencies combined, includingbanks, constitutes far less than 1% of that contributedby national governments and increasingly by localcommunities. Therefore, if agencies such as UNESCOare to make any significant impact it is imperative thatthey fashion or seek out interventions actively whichare not just supports to ongoing usual work. They mustback initiatives, activities, projects and programmesthat provide genuine breakthroughs which can beexpanded and sustained over time.

So with a modest contribution from UNESCO, usedstrategically to transform a handful of schools, the Jilinofficials succeeded in drawing lessons from the initialphase and applying this knowledge systematically to alarger number of schools. It was the proverbial reapingof the hundred-fold. It is particularly heartening to seehow the Jilin project grew from its beginnings intosuch a vast programme when so many seemingly goodprojects stay small or even wither and die once outsideproject funding is exhausted.

In a more fundamental sense, the Jilin experienceseems to contain lessons on how successful small pilotprojects, whether externally assisted or not, can grow totransform virtually an entire school system. UNESCOcan claim to be the spark that contributed to kindling

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 28

the experiment. However, it is the officials and peopleof Jilin who deserve the credit for making it succeed,grow, endure and flourish. The desire for change wasalready there and the project would have no doubtsucceeded regardless of whether the catalyst wasinternal or external to Jilin.

Observing both the successes and the difficulties ofthe Jilin experience over the years, several key lessonsappear important for others:

1.Perhaps the first lesson to be learned from theJilin story is that reform efforts must be founded ona fundamentally valid premise. In this case, thedriving force of the reform was to make ruralprimary schooling more relevant so that it wouldhave a direct impact on the productivity and well-being of the community. This sound principle madeit easy to mobilise and sustain the support of parents,teachers, local communities and the centralgovernment.

2.Understanding the internal rhythms emanatingfrom a successful small-scale pilot or experimentalproject to a large province- or nation -wide policy is thesecond lesson. There is a tendency to rest on the laurelsand accomplishments of a small project and make itsucceed to a point where replicating becomes tooexpensive or complicated. There is the reversetendency to want to expand too rapidly in the flush ofinitial success, as the Jilin officials were originallytempted. To their credit they learned by experience thepitfalls of too ambitious an expansion plan. Theseexperiences and the natural calamities that befell Jilinand slowed down progress persuaded the educators thata more long-range time frame for expansion was morerealistic and viable.

a 1

3. A third lesson is the value of preserving abalanced and integrated approach to educationalreform. Many similar projects lapse into emphasisingonly one dimension of reform. Too often the projectleaders draw up an expansion formula focusing on onlythat single aspect such as teacher in-service training orcurriculum/materials development or innovative schoolmanagement approaches. The architects of the Jilinproject stuck doggedly to the entire recipe forcomprehensive school reform. They ensured thatschools that joined the programme paid due attention towork productivity, maintenance and improvement ofschool grounds, teacher training, local curriculumdevelopment and many other aspects.

4.Creating and maintaining a winning spirit and aculture of success proved important to set the climatethat made joining the project a highly desirable goal forother schools. Other schools began examining thereform project unofficially and soon realised thatparticipating required much prior participation. Thissimplified and spurred the expansion process becauseonce the project was ready to absorb other schools theyhad already done their groundwork.

5. Finally, it is important to recognise the goldenthread that ties all the elements of success togetherthe continuity of a highly motivated and inspiredleadership at all levels. At the project level, the currentchairman of the Jilin Provincial Education Committeeand vice chairwoman specifically in charge of theproject are the same two individuals who started theproject seven years ago. They provide the originalleadership and the drive, undiminished and sustained tothis day, that makes the project flourish; they also bringthe memory of accumulated experience and lessonslearned from the string of success, setbacks,opportunities and obstacles that the project hasundergone over ten years. Schools and communitiesthat were part of the original phase of the projectcontinue at high success levels, sustained by theadditional responsibility of serving as models for manyothers. Beyond this, officials of local and nationalcentral governments have never failed to provide thestrongest policy support for the project, disseminating

BEST COPY AVPOLABLE 29

key policy statements and slogans that convincecommunities that education is the key to futuredevelopment and must always be first priority.

The publication of the Jilin experience in theInnovations series appeared fitting for a number ofreasons. Certain of its elements are not ground-breaking but others are. Its goal of making primaryeducation more relevant, more beneficial to thecommunity, is commonplace. Even the disparateelements modifying the curriculum to meet localneeds, in-service teacher training, parent involvement -are not new to many educators. In one sense, theproject is not innovative. Its objectives and componentsare well known to scholars and practitioners ofeducation reform. What makes this programmeinnovative is the way the objectives have beentranslated into practice and the way the elements havebeen combined and juxtaposed to effect a fundamentalimprovement in quality and relevance.

In a more profound sense, and unlike so many otherpilot projects that fail or that do not last beyond alimited initial stage, the Jilin project is innovativein weaving its objectivesand components into asustainable and seamlessprocess of fundamentallyupgrading and transformingan entire network of11,000 schools servicing25 million people. Itsmethodical expansion,long-term sustainability,community ownership andremarkable success areprecisely its innovation.And that is worthcloser study by allinterested in improvingbasic education.

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