Abstract:
Small-class teaching is a crucial step for basic education to move toward personalized and high-quality development. Currently, China is at a critical window of opportunity for promoting small-class teaching: fluctuating declines in the school-age population provide a precondition for its implementation, the policy orientation toward high-quality education injects endogenous impetus, and international experience offers valuable insights. However, challenges remain in practice, including the tension between flexible scaling and precise provision, the gap between reducing class size and improving educational quality, and the conflict between unified principles and diverse realities. To address these issues, it is essential to conduct dynamic data analysis for scientific planning of small-class teaching, deepen reforms in key areas such as teacher development, curriculum design, and evaluation to ensure teaching effectiveness, learn from international practices while adapting them to local conditions, and implement pilot programs led by exemplary teachers and schools to promote effective implementation. Through these measures, small-class teaching can be advanced to foster personalized and high-quality development in basic education.