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Teachers’ Roles in Evidence-based 

Educational Reform in China 
 

Alan C.K. Cheung 

Department Chairperson & Professor, Department of Educational Administration and 

Policy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China. 

“Education reform has as its main purpose to make sure that 

the education delivered is of quality.” 

–Enrique Pena Nieto 

HE evidence-based educational reform was initiated in the field of med-

icine and now has become a cutting-edge reform wave in the world. As 

a new pattern of educational reform, it aims to optimize educational decision-

making and practice and promote the improvement of education quality, us-

ing scientific research evidence. Contrary to experience-based traditional ed-

ucation practice, evidence-based education emphasizes scientific support and 

data collection, transforms the individual experience into replicable regional 

experience, and provides scientific basis for implementation of educational 

policies, strategies and programs. 

Evidence-based educational reform involves personnel from multiple 

agencies including academic researchers, think tank experts, primary and 

secondary school practitioners, government and school decision makers. 

Among them, teachers are the key force of evidence-based educational re-

search and educational reform. Zhu and Zhu (2020) suggest that teachers’ 

accumulation of practical knowledge and keen insights, the prerequisites of 

educational reform, provide theoretical support for the development of evi-

dence-based research. Some scholars believe that evidence-based educational 

reform is not system reconstruction, but rather a process of improvement 

firmly rooted in school situations and teachers’ practice (Pei et al., 2020). 

 

 
 

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BECE, Vol.9, No.2, 2021 1224 

China’s teaching research system is a special organization in teachers’ 

professional development, differing from other teacher bodies like teacher 

union. It not only organizes teachers’ educational and teaching research, but 

also undertakes certain administrative functions. In this system, Chinese 

teachers receive vocational training compulsory for their teaching career, 

conduct research on teaching methods and strategies, and cultivate abilities 

to examine teaching from the perspective of learners (Darling-Hammond, 

2000). It is an important link between classroom teaching and teaching re-

form. Based on the real teaching situations at school, teachers, under the 

guidance of this system, reflect regularly on teaching practice, discuss with 

their colleagues, and hold exchanges with higher-level teaching experts. In 

this way, teachers are self-motivated to gain a more comprehensive and pro-

found understanding of teaching and their internal enthusiasm for learning 

and internal needs for professional progress are stimulated (Liu, 2021). 

Therefore, some scholars commented that teaching research in China is the 

result of teachers’ professional competence and professional pursuit (Cheng, 

2021). 

With deepened basic educational reform in China, especially the curric-

ulum reform, teaching research has also undergone a comprehensive trans-

formation. The transition from experience to evidence has become a consen-

sus in the development of teaching research reform. Teachers use standard-

ized evidence and personal knowledge in implementing evidence-based 

teaching reform according to teaching objectives, students’ practical situa-

tions and teaching conditions, aiming to improve teaching quality and teach-

ing methods. In the issue of the journal, The Role of China’s Teaching Re-

search System in Promoting Evidence-based Reform in Education: A Case 

Study of Jiangsu Province by Zhou (2021) analyzed the patterns, characteris-

tics and results of China’s evidence-based reform in education and examined 

the roles of China’s teaching research system in this reform, using a 15-year 

exploration of evidence-based educational reform from Jiangsu Province as a 

case study. 

This paper indicates that China’s teaching research system, a large and 

stable teaching research organization, has played a vital part in the follow-up 

evidence-based reform based on education quality survey, represented by 

Jiangsu Province. Its strengths in organization and execution and more im-

portantly its application of accurate and scientific data contribute to the out-

comes of educational reform. The transitions from experience to data and 

from mere knowledge impartment to comprehensive education mark out-

standing achievements of China’s evidence-based reform in education. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

BECE, Vol.9, No.2, 2021 1225 

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13.htm  

 

 

Correspondence to:  

Alan C.K. Cheung, Ph.D. 

Department Chairperson & Professor 
Department of Educational Administration and Policy 

The Chinese University of Hong Kong 

Hong Kong 999077 
China 

E-mail: alancheung@cuhk.edu.hk 

Conflict of Interests: None. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.21.co027 

 

https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.001
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487100051003002
https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.005
https://doi.org/10.13445/j.cnki.t.e.r.2020.04.001
https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.21.or067
https://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2020-%2009/01/nw.D110000gmrb_20200901_2-13.htm
https://epaper.gmw.cn/gmrb/html/2020-%2009/01/nw.D110000gmrb_20200901_2-13.htm
mailto:alancheung@cuhk.edu.hk

