Music inmainland China's schools and community

After the late 1970s, China entered a period of social and economic reforms-opening up to reforms domestically and opening to the outside world. China today is experiencing globalization culturally as much as it is economically and socially. With a view to achieving the goal of "quality education," the Chinese Government has been pushing for more emphasis on building creativity and critical thinking skills. As the Chinese Government strives to continually improve student learning, the nurturing of creativity, imagination, self-expression, and whole-person education is a recurring theme in school education in the new global age. There have been calls for increased "creativity" to reform educational practices and ideology, and to move public schools toward a more liberal education. In response to social change, this chapter will first trace the evolution of building a modern and creative society in China. Then, it will examine the development of school education in China, focusing on creativity. With particular reference to Beijing's school music education, it will also illustrate the integration of creativity into the school curriculum by expanding students' abilities' in critical thinking through official approved music textbooks. This chapter will conclude with a discussion on how music education may help initiate a policy dialogue on creativity in China's school music education and the challenges of two pairs of relationships: between contemporary cultural and social values and communist ideologies, and between collectivism and individualism.