Translating Global Policy into Local Reality: Key Competencies-Based Education Reform in China

This book analyses the global diffusion of key competency-based education (CBE) as a 'global education policy' (GEP), focusing on China's process of adoption and adaptation.

Based on a six-year empirical study combining interviews, observations, and document analysis, it examines how national and local actors (including education ministry officials, university experts, teaching and research officers, principals, teachers, students, and parents) interpret, modify, and resist CBE. Constructing and applying a four-stage framework for the GEP transfer process, the book integrates macro-level analysis of global forces with micro-level analysis of specific policy changes at the national level, and bridges theoretical and practical perspectives through both macro-level policy analysis and micro-level case studies.

The book provides valuable insights and implications of policy formulation and educational practice for educators, policy makers, and researchers interested in the dynamics of global policy transfer, localised educational reforms, and the complexities of reform in a globalised world. The case study of China's implementation and localisation of CBE will also inform global efforts to adapt and integrate CBE in diverse educational contexts.