De-contextualization and Re-contextualization:The Dynamics of Discourse Representation in Teachers' Understanding of Reformative Practice

A problem that educational reform faces is the disintegration of meanings of reform at the school level.This research uses qualitative methods to examine the process of a lesson study in a primary school in Beijing,which has introduced "thematic teaching" as a reformative practice.Discourse analysis is employed to look into the process of the teachers' discussions on the reform practice.A series of teachers' native concepts have been found to have been playing an important role as a system of description and interpretation of the outside reform.As a mode of local interpretation, school discourse has re-constructed the meanings of reformative practice through dynamics of " de-contextualization" and " re-contextualization",which has helped teachers understand the reform in a way that is meaningful to them.We call this function of meaning-making the "representation" of school discourse.