In 2000, the "Western Development" plan of the Chinese Mainland attracted attention of educators and policy makers. Around that period, the Chinese government also launched large scale and systemic curriculum reforms in basic education and secondary education in achieving quality education across the vast country. Despite significant progress that has been made in educational investments and attainments in China, issues of quality and regional disparities across China remain, especially in the less developed, western part of China where the significance of ethnic diversity, urban-rural disparity and variations in school development exists. In addition, there have been entrenched problems of teacher and teaching quality, resources inadequacy and 'left-behind' children. Written by a group of Chinese and international scholars, the book provides an updated analysis and discussion of educational development and related issues in the less developed part of Western China. These chapters cover broad contextual issues of educational development and reforms, issues of quality and equality in different sectors of education, as well as curriculum implementation, teaching innovations and professional development of teachers.

Educational Development in Western China: Towards Quality and Equity; Review of the Pressing Research Issues on West of China's Ethnic Minority Education.- Development of What, for What, and for Whom? Deweyan Perspectives on Education for Minority Nationalities in Western China.- Gender Inequality and Ethnicity: Educational Stratification in Western China, 1949-2004.- The Welfare and Education of Left-Behind Children in Western China: Problems, Solutions and Challenges.- The Pathways to Higher Education for Ethnic Minorities in China Are Not Easy; A Glimpse of Quality and Equity Issues in Education in West China: A Narrative Inquiry into a Novice Mongolian Teacher's Life in Northwest China.- Reluctant to Serve Their Hometowns and Country: Xinjiang Class Graduates and Teaching in Xinjiang's 'Bilingual' Schools.- Developing Trilingual Education in Western China.- Innovation and Change in English Teaching in the Western Provinces of China: The Impact of Overseas Training; DecipheringDifference: Educational Policy and Practice for Western China's Muslim Women.- Intentions and Influences of Teachers' School Based Curriculum Development in Primary and Secondary Schools in Northwest China.- Research on Mathematics Teaching Experiment of "Situated Creation and Problem-Based Instruction" in Middle and Primary Schools.- Teacher Commitment in Northwest China: A Comparative Study of Han and Uighur Teachers.- Challenges and Insights of Early Childhood Education in West China: From the Perspective of Quality and Equity.- Development of Special and Inclusive Education in Western China.- Changing University Governance: A Case Study of a Top University in Western China.- The Contribution of International Aid to the Development of Basic Education in Western China.