Selecting the case schools

As a unique aspect and challenge of case study approaches (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Stake, 2003), the selection of cases to study was carefully considered. Research indicates that many important cultural and political sentiments that adults hold have roots in their early years (Coles, 1986). In early adulthood, through experiencing a variety of social interactions, children become increasingly aware of the wider context in which they are set and develop considerable skills. Therefore, primary school, which can exert significant influence on children’s early development, was determined as the general type of school to select for the cases. Subsequently, the question of the number of cases to include was considered (Small, 2009). To facilitate comparison between the cases, as well as an in-depth understanding of each case (Meyer, 2001), Phoenix Primary School and St Andrews Primary School (pseudonyms) were identified as the case schools1

in the Chinese and Scottish contexts respectively.

Founded in 1948, Phoenix Primary School comprises four campuses. The main campus, where the fieldwork was conducted, has 157 members of staff, 1,662 students and in excess of 40 classes taught from Grades One to Six, with an average class size of 40. Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education of the PRC, the school focuses on seven national curriculum areas: Chinese, Mathematics, English, Morality and the Rule of Law, Art, Music and Physics. Following the national curriculum framework to conduct teaching and learning activities, the

1 _{The information of the case schools provided in this section is summarised based on the data} gathered from the schools’ websites, the interviews with teachers and the focus groups conducted with students.

school has limited freedom to develop its school-level curriculum. Each teacher is responsible for one subject area.

Founded in 1976, St Andrews Primary School is a non-denominational school. Serving one of Glasgow’s city centre communities, the school has 25 members of staff, 220 students and 10 classes taught from Grades One to Seven, with an average class size of 22. The school is committed to the principles of the CfE and provides a broad general education with eight curriculum areas: Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Languages, Mathematics, Religious and Moral Education, Sciences, Social Sciences and Technologies. Due to the flexibility of the Scottish education system, the school tries to meet the requirements of the CfE, but in their own way and with their own resources to meet local needs. With the exception of the teachers who deliver special nurture and language help, class teachers are responsible for teaching all curriculum areas to a specific level or grade.

The selection of the two schools was not random, but took the following factors into account. Practicability was the first consideration. Phoenix Primary School and St Andrews Primary School are respectively located in Changchun, which is the city in which I grew up and was educated, and Glasgow, where I have been studying for my PhD degree. The obvious convenience of the school being a short walk from my home and office not only freed me from having to spend a lot of time commuting, but also helped me build an insider’s perspective due to my familiarity with both schools’ locations. Access to schools was the second key factor considered, as the researcher needs to know the sites and to work cooperatively with them (Crowe et al., 2011). As a former student of Phoenix Primary School, I had personal relationships with some of the teachers, and therefore it was assumed that my access to people, activities and resources would be favourable. In addition, the school’s emphasis on developing different levels of students’ social identity could facilitate the ideas and sentiments regarding identity development liable to be explored. My second supervisor (Dr Alan Britton at the time) had a pre-existing relationship with the head teacher of St Andrews Primary School, and therefore was familiar with the educational philosophy and

practice promoted in the school, which ensured that I could favourably collect the related data in the fieldwork.

Phoenix Primary School and St Andrews Primary School were deemed appropriate as the case schools based on two equivalences they share. First, both of them are public schools that follow the national curriculum frameworks. They are shaped and influenced by their respective national economic, political, cultural and social environments, and can therefore provide perspectives to understand the wider picture of Mainland China and Scotland. Second, both schools’ values were determined under the distinctive leadership of their present head teachers. Previously employed as the head of the Faculty of Education at the university that Phoenix Primary School is attached to, the present head teacher joined the school in 2014 and has exerted a profound influence on transforming the school’s philosophy. Influenced by his personal research interest in educational philosophy, he has promoted Free-spirited education as the school’s key value, which advocates protecting children’s nature, respecting children’s uniqueness, and cultivating children’s social consciousness. Joining St Andrews Primary School in 2007, the present head teacher felt that it was essential to have straightforward and agreed values replacing the previous wordy mission statement to reflect the work of the school. By taking the multicultural community within the school into consideration, the present school philosophy, Respect, Nurture, Empower,

Achieve, was arrived at through a process of consultation with parents, students

and teachers. In summary, this study wants to explore how the two case schools under the guidance of their respective national curricula and the distinctive leadership of their head teachers conduct national identity education and global identity education.

It cannot be denied that neither Phoenix Primary School nor St Andrews Primary School is typical. First, it must be acknowledged that neither Phoenix Primary School nor St Andrews Primary School can be said to represent all schools within their national contexts (as, indeed, no single school can). They are shaped not only by their nations, but also by their local communities. Phoenix Primary School is located in an area where the culture of the Han people, which is the majority ethnic group in China, is dominant. Consequently, the stakeholders within the

school are likely to have different perceptions of Chinese identity from individuals living in ethnic minority regions. St Andrews Primary School has an international flavour, with children from many different countries and over 20 languages spoken on campus. Alongside an Arabic group, which forms the largest ethnic minority group, the school has a big Chinese demographic and a growing Indian contingency, while the Scottish local group only accounts for 30% of the whole student body. The students’ studies and life experiences might therefore be different from those of students who are living in relatively homogenous communities. Second, in terms of students’ family backgrounds, both schools are unusual in certain aspects. Phoenix Primary School is attached to a university, and half of its students come from university staff families and have international study or travel experience. This indicates that the students may have a higher standard of living than the norm. Conversely, in St Andrews Primary School, there is a large group of students who come from disadvantaged families, where the parents do not have post-secondary education experiences. Because of the studying or working status of the students’ parents, the school also has high student turnover rate. Third, regarding students’ educational achievement, neither of the case schools is representative of the national averages. Phoenix Primary School is a renowned one with a great reputation at home and abroad. Because of its outstanding achievements in quality education and comprehensive innovation, the school has achieved a strong reputation in its region and is praised by staff as “an example of basic education in Jilin province” and “a pearl of basic education in China”. St Andrews Primary School, although it continues to provide a broad range of opportunities for individual students’ development, is still struggling to raise attainment and close the achievement gap.

To sum up, Phoenix Primary School and St Andrews Primary School are not typical schools in their respective contexts, and the findings generated from the two schools cannot be generalised to draw a comprehensive comparison between Mainland China and Scotland. As stated in Section 4.2.1, statistical generalisability is not the concern of this study. Instead, it aims to explore national identity education and global identity education in the two case schools. Therefore, the typicality of the schools does not threaten the trustworthiness of

the findings. However, the findings generated from each school will need to be analysed in the light of the particular characteristics of the cases.