Beijing Academy: Innovation, Design, and Learning - Purpose, Design-Approach, Findings, Originality-Value

Oct 15, 2026

Taking Beijing Academy as an illustrative example, the article examines a model of “design-as-learning, learning-as-design” grounded in direct school-based observation. It synthesizes data from classroom observation, focus groups with students, meetings with teachers and administrators, and sessions with governmental officials and external partners. The study argues for learning environments built around powerful learning theories, continuously critiqued and revised using evidence. It further contends that adults and young people have no fundamental role difference, and calls for adults to transfer agency for students’ learning amid policy-driven reform.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Purpose and Approach

Findings and Value

Policy-Driven Reform and Learning Organization

Transitional Markers for Learning and Schooling

Learning Variability and Social Inequality

ECNU Review of Education ISSN: 2096-5311 CN: 31-2150/G4 [http://www.roe.ecnu.edu.cn](http://www.roe.ecnu.edu.cn) Beijing Academy: Innovation, Design, and Learning DOI 10.30926/ecnuroe2018010108 Richard F. Elmore Harvard University © East China Normal University & East China Normal University Press Beijing Academy: Innovation, Design, and Learning Richard F. Elmore Harvard University © East China Normal University & East China Normal University Press, Shanghai, China Abstract Purpose—Taking Beijing Academy as an illustrative example, this article aims to discuss a model of “design-as-learning, learning-as-design”. Design/Approach/Methods—As a member of an international panel of the school, I have involved significant periods of observation of classroom work, focus group discussions with students, meetings with teachers and administrators, and sessions with governmental officialsand external partners for the school. This has provided rich first-hand data for the analysis. Findings—This article argues that learning environments should be constructed around powerful theories of learning, that those theories should be subjected to constant and repetitive critique and revision in light of evidence, and most importantly that there is no fundamental difference in roles between adults and young people in the organization. Originality/Value—This article has the potential to address the transitional issues resulted from the policy-driven reform and institutionally-determined definitions of learning and urges adults to transfer agency for learning of individual students. Keywords Beijing Academy; design-aslearning; learning-as-design; learning organization How governments and societies organize learning has been a central preoccupation of industrialized countries for at least three decades. Throughout this period a common discourse has developed around the problems presented by learning in advanced societies, the types of solutions that are appropriate or promising in addressing those problems, and the role of public institutions in addressing those problems and solutions. The dominant paradigm in this period might be called“policy-driven reform”. In this paradigm, governmental responsibility toward learning is expressed through the deliberate use of policy—incentives, sanctions, and supports—to alter the structures and processes of institutions—typically schools and the organizations charged with managing them—which in turn results in changes of the behavior adults and children within those institutions to accord with the overarching goals of society, as expressed in policy (see, e.g., National Academy of Sciences, n.d.) . In this model, learning is delivered by organizations called schools, which are nested within complex institutional structures designed to assure their compliance and accountability to public purposes, populated by adults and children Corresponding Author: Richard F. Elmore [richard_elmore@gse.harvard.edu](richard_elmore@gse.harvard.edu) 136 Richard F. Elmore whose responsibilities are largely determined by institutional goals. This model has become so deeply embedded in public discourse and professional behavior that it is virtually invisible to those who engage with schools. There are signs, however, that this model is losing its public influence and social authority. Advocates and critics of reform have begun to question the power of policy to achieve broad-scale changes in learning and the distribution of privilege in society. Public institutions themselves are beginning to be subject to a more skeptical analysis focusing on their self-interested, protective behavior in contrast to their broad, often ambiguous social goals. Broad-scale “solutions” to matters of learning are increasingly being judged by how well they fit in specific social contexts, rather than how well they appeal to the sensibilities and ideological positions of policy makers. Perhaps most importantly, lear

FAQs

What is the article’s central model for learning and design?

The article promotes a model of “design-as-learning, learning-as-design,” using Beijing Academy as an illustrative example.

How does the author obtain the evidence used in the analysis?

Evidence comes from observation of classroom work, focus group discussions with students, meetings with teachers and administrators, and sessions with governmental officials and external partners.

What does the article argue about roles between adults and young people?

It argues there is no fundamental difference in roles between adults and young people in the organization, urging adults to transfer agency for students’ learning.

Oct 15, 2026

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