Reconsidering curriculum theory and the way of doing education in China: applying Paraskeva's Itinerant Curriculum Theory (ICT)

Over the past four decades, an astonishing economic boost has been achieved by China. It is not a surprise that China’s curriculum and its education system contribute greatly to this socio-economic miracle. Starting from the dawn of last cen-tury, China started encouraging a more learner-centred and holistic educational strategy by referencing Western curriculum policies and practices in the name of catching up with globalization. However, problems such as inequal access to education, exam-oriented teaching for instrumental purposes, and family pressure generated by high-stakes testing have still been there and even more serious. In this article, the author suggests that more attention should be paid to social theory level when looking at the curriculum and the way we are doing education. Therefore, the purposes of this article are (1) to analyse what are the challenges caused by the obsession of positivism; (2) to advise a deeper blend of dialectical materialism; (3) to suggest Paraskeva’s Itinerant Curriculum Theory (ICT) to current China’s curriculum and education system, also offering as an inspiration for other East Asian nations.