Education systems change: cultural beliefs and practices that support and inhibit deep learning in Vietnam

Global education agendas and scholarly literature are increasingly focused on systems change in education, in part stemming from a concern around student learning. But there is less attention in the literature about cultural change, meaning the everyday narratives, norms, values, and purposes that get enacted and reshaped within education systems. This paper examines everyday cultural practices in schools and in the social arena that contribute to and inhibit efforts toward education system change in Vietnam. It examines the contested narratives, including values and purposes of schooling and goals for learning, that circulate among policymakers, principals, and teachers. The authors draw on data from their long-term engagement with the education system in Vietnam, as well as a mixed methods study of the education system over six years. We show the shared narratives as well as the contestations around learning, pointing to changes that are occurring in the Vietnamese education system. However, a key component of cultural change—a deliberative dialogue that can shift norms and practices—is insufficiently attended to amidst other technical and policy efforts.