Purpose The purpose of this article is to analyze educational changes, in particular transformational changes, and suggest a new approach to shift the paradigm in education using an ecological conceptual framework.Design/Approach/Methods An ecological analysis of two key factors in education: prescribed curriculum and student autonomy.Findings Paradigm shift can happen in schools, but it cannot be imposed by systems, and systems typically are unable to propose transformational changes. Such changes should happen within schools, but not affecting the entire school. Thus a "school within a school" approach is proposed with some examples. The small change could affect entire systems from the perspective of panachy theory.Originality/Value This article brings a fresh perspective on making the much needed transformational changes possible in schools. AI partnership, personalized learning, student autonomy and self-determination, self-directed learning are all fascinating and hopeful ideas that could bring the best education possible for all students. But implementing these would demand a paradigm shift in schools. Schools are the most resilient social entities, but they are also the easiest to change organizations. For over 200 years, the essence of schooling has not changed, but there have been significant changes in curriculum, textbooks, testing, and pedagogy. Today, we need schools to operate with a different education paradigm to enable students to have more autonomy and control of their learning in order to survive and thrive in the uncertain age of Artificial Intelligence. It seems apparent that the school system has successfully resisted paradigm shifts or transformational changes.
“Deficit remediation” as an educational governance paradigm has given rise to many problems, whereas principal positive leadership under the “strengths development” paradigm has the potential to give new impetus to school development. Based on large-scale survey data within a provincial region, this study investigates how the school context and principal positive leadership impact student academic achievement using structural equation models. Research findings show that principal positive leadership as a structural latent variable has positive impacts on student academic performance and significantly mediates the effects of the school context on student academic results; and that the patterns of the impacts of principal positive leadership differ according to the variations of the school’s autonomy in operation.
Purpose Infancy and early childhood are critical stages for the development of both cognitive and socioemotional skills, which are predictive of subsequent academic success, labor market outcomes, and socioeconomic achievement. Empirical research both in China and in other countries has revealed that nurturing quality is increasingly divergent among social classes, leading to intergenerational accumulation of advantage/disadvantage, declining social mobility, and exacerbating class inequality. The article aims to systematically examine existing theoretical and empirical research on early childhood development and social mobility and provide a holistic comparative and analytical framework for future research in the context of China.Design/Approach/Methods This article systematically reviews relevant theories and empirical research in the field and provides preliminary findings of early childhood education investment in China, using the data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Specifically, the article focuses on the differences in early childhood education investment and child development among families of different socioeconomic statuses and discusses the potential impact of these differences on children's future development.Findings The findings of this study reveal distinct patterns in early childhood education investment and child development across diverse socioeconomic strata in China. China's initiatives to enhance children's education and human capital have robust theoretical foundations and timely policy implications. However, despite the ongoing efforts, early childhood parenting and education programs lack systematic research, emphasizing the urgent need for intervention programs and comprehensive databases to inform evidence-based policymaking.Originality/Value The article concludes with a comprehensive analytical framework for the study of early childhood development and social mobility in China, which has implications for promoting human capital investment and facilitating social mobility.
With the adoption of competency reconstructing path of functional analysis in the organizational behavior theory, and the consideration of the core mission and attributes of educational organizations plus the urgency for digital transformation, this paper concludes four pillar competencies for teachers: curriculum development and teaching competency, human–computer collaboration competency, effective moral education competency, and self-growth competency. From the perspective of supporting the digital transformation in education, curriculum development and teaching competency is the premise and guarantee of “learning-centered”; and human–computer collaboration competency is the transformation direction of teachers’ information and communications technology capabilities in smart environments; effective moral education competency determines the primary role of teachers in the process of digital transformation; and self-growth competency is the purpose and means of digital existence. Teacher education needs to face up to the current problems in teacher capacity development and reshape teacher education around the core competencies required by digital transformation.
With the application of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in education, a new form of textbook construction has been developed, promoting digital textbook development. However, problems during digital textbook construction still exist. This study analyzes the necessity of intelligent textbook development and explains the educational characteristics of intelligent textbooks, such as intelligent adaptation learning, intelligent guidance, accompanying evaluation, and in-depth learning interaction from the perspective of instruction theory. Moreover, combining the technical advantages of AI, including knowledge mapping, learning analysis, online tracking, learner digital profiles, and in-depth interaction, and taking existing achievements for reference, it describes the methods and strategies of intelligent textbooks to achieve corresponding educational functions and also makes interpretation with specific cases. Given the educational and engineering characteristics of intelligent textbooks, this study analyzes the strategies for promoting the construction of intelligent textbooks from adhering to the instruction theory, paying attention to the iteration of practice, and adopting technical methods to supervise and regulate.
