International Collaboration in Researching Curriculum Reform and Its Impact on Chinese Middle Schools: An International Social Research Methods Case Study

Abstract

The study reports on a small international qualitative research project on the implementation of national curriculum reform in Chinese middle schools, involving a team of eight researchers from the University of Leeds and two Chinese partnership institutions in Zhejiang and Beijing. Data were collected from six case study schools based on a combination of individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with school principals, senior management teams, heads of department and class teachers in the core subjects – Mandarin, English and Science. Informal observations and school documents provided additional contextual data. The case study covers the methodological challenges faced by the project team at all stages of the research process from the initial planning to the dissemination of the findings through publications, seminars and conferences.

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