Experimenting With International Curricula in Shanghai: Policies, Practice, and a Network Ethnography Analysis

Abstract

Purpose Drawing on a study of international schools in Shanghai, this study explores how external experiences and curricula are mobilized as policy tools to inspire local educational innovations and how these experiences are enacted differently by schools. Design/Approach/Methods Based on a review of policy documents and interviews with school principals, senior management stakeholders, and teachers, this study identifies and compares the typologies of international schools in policy design and practice. Then, by deploying the network ethnography method following three key nodes, this study offers some explanations for the gaps between policy design and enactments. Findings This study demonstrates the complex relations, interests, and struggles involved in constructing and shaping the meanings of international curricula within local education. The findings show the autonomy of policy networks and the difficulties of ‘steering’ them in a clear-cut way. Originality/Value This study is one of the earliest attempts, if not the first, to experiment with the method of network ethnography in the context of China. These findings offer a nuanced account of the complex relations and ad hocery involved in policy learning.