Teacher Agency and Local Cultural Integration in Chinese Primary Schools
Keywords:
teacher agency; curriculum standardization; local cultural heritage; Chinese primary education; culturally responsive pedagogyAbstract
The integration of local cultural heritage into school curricula has attracted increasing attention across Asia, yet much of the literature assumes a level of curricular flexibility that is often limited in centralized education systems. This study examined how primary school teachers negotiated the inclusion of local cultural knowledge within China’s standardized curriculum context. Using an exploratory mixed methods design with qualitative priority, the study combined in-depth interviews with 12 teachers and a scoping survey of 50 teachers. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, with maximum variation used for the interview phase. Interview data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis, while survey data were examined descriptively as supportive contextual evidence. The findings showed that local cultural integration was typically enacted through small, situational adaptations rather than formal curriculum redesign. Teachers’ practices were shaped by curriculum pacing, epistemic uncertainty regarding cultural knowledge, and limited access to curriculum-aligned resources, producing an interest–implementation gap despite high student receptiveness. To interpret these patterns, the study proposed the 3C framework—Content selection, Curriculum embedding, and Community collaboration—as an analytical lens for explaining teacher agency under structural constraint. The study suggests that meaningful cultural inheritance in centralized curriculum systems requires curriculum-ready design tools, credible cultural resources, and institutional scaffolding rather than administrative encouragement alone.
https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.6.11
References
Banks, J. A. (2019). An introduction to multicultural education (6th ed.). Pearson.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
British Educational Research Association. (2018). Ethical guidelines for educational research (4th ed.). British Educational Research Association.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Da Silva, J. A., & Araújo, M. L. F. (2021). Education for ethnic-racial relations in the new curriculum guidelines and in the common national base for the initial training of Brazilian teachers: Implications for the teaching of anti-racist science and biology. Science Education International, 32(4), 374–383. https://doi.org/10.33828/sei.v32.i4.13
Ding, Y., & Lv, L. (2020). Are students satisfied with the current school-based curriculum of Chinese traditional culture? A survey of 120 elementary and middle schools in China. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 6(2), 863–879. https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.20.ar079
Gao, D., & Zhang, Y. (2022). Organizing and reconstructing children’s experiences: Compiling national civic textbooks in China. ECNU Review of Education, 5(4), 683–701. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531121990510
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X032004003
Hao, N. R. L. (2022). Curriculum development of traditional culture in rural primary schools based on a situational approach [master’s thesis, Shandong Normal University]. China National Knowledge Infrastructure.
Hegediš, P. J., Anderli?, L., & Hus, V. (2023). Engaging the local community in the exploration of cultural heritage in primary education. Creative Education, 14(10), 1965–1976. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2023.1410125
Johnson, S. (2011). Place- and community-based education in schools. Environmental Education Research, 17(3), 425–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2010.548154
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465
Ladson-Billings, G. (2021). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Asking a different question (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Liang, J. (2024). A review of research on aesthetic education in rural primary schools [??????????]. Art Research Letters, 13(3), 181–188. https://www.hanspub.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=93498
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE.
Litaay, S. C. H., Manuputty, F. M. L., Afdhal, A., & Makaruku, N. D. (2025). Local culture-based education in the hidden curriculum: A strategy for fostering tolerance and peace in Maluku secondary schools. Society, 13(1), 192–207. https://doi.org/10.33019/society.v13i1.777
Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. (2022). Compulsory education curriculum scheme (2022 ed.). People’s Education Press.
Moje, E. B. (2015). Doing and teaching disciplinary literacy with adolescent learners: A social and cultural enterprise. Harvard Educational Review, 85(2), 254–278. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.254
Omusonga, T. O., Simiyu, P., & Chesaro, D. K. (2023). Learning indigenous languages in public primary schools in Kenya: Overview, problems and the way forward. European Journal of Education Studies, 10(12), 30–45. https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v10i12.5091
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury Academic.
Samuels, A. J. (2018). Exploring culturally responsive pedagogy: Teachers’ perspectives on fostering equitable and inclusive classrooms. SRATE Journal, 27(1), 22–30. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1166706.pdf
Sleeter, C. E. (2018). Multicultural education past, present, and future: Struggles for dialog and power-sharing. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 20(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v20i1.1663
UNESCO. (2021a). Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in formal and non-formal education. UNESCO Publishing. https://ich.unesco.org/doc/src/Safeguarding_intangible_cultural_heritage_in_formal_and_non-formal_education.pdf
UNESCO. (2021b). Teaching and learning with living heritage: A resource kit for teachers. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381477
Wang, L. (2022). English language teacher agency in response to curriculum reform in China: An ecological approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 935038. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.935038
Windiyani, T., Sofyan, D., Gani, R. A., Iasha, V., & Setiawan, B. (2025). Elementary teachers’ perceptions of integrating culturally responsive teaching and education for sustainable development: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, 12(3), 488–498. https://doi.org/10.20448/jeelr.v12i3.7396
Zhang, L. (2022). Chinese traditional culture education: Implementing the child’s position and perspective in the elementary school textbook Morality and Law. ECNU Review of Education, 5(4), 702–719. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311211024346
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Liu Lili, Supyan Hussin, Nurfaradilla Mohamad Nasria, Luo Chengli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All articles published by IJLTER are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International License (CCBY-NC-ND4.0).
