The new basic education and the development of human subjectivity: A Chinese experience

During the last two decades, the Chinese school system has developed dramatically. Reforms have taken place at all levels, from educational policy and discourse, through curricula and programmes, to schools and classrooms. Among many efforts at reforming Chinese schooling, the New Basic Education (NBE) (xin jichu jiaoyu 新基础教育) is one of the most influential and has developed its own theory and practice. Born in the 1990s, NBE was envisioned as an answer to the call for a way to deal with challenges facing education in a new era characterized by the emergence of a market economy and accom panying rapid social and cultural transition. Initiated by Ye Lan 叶澜, a professor of education at East China Normal University, NBE is a whole school reform programme aiming at the development of active, self-aware human beings. This chapter discusses the historical background against which NBE is developed, the theoretical underpinning upon which NBE isbased, and the translation of NBE’s theory into school and classroom reform.