New study reveals a “Chinese-style STEM” model achieving deep curriculum integration in Shanghai school

STEM education, emphasizing innovation and practical skills, is a global priority. However, integrating it systematically into core national curricula remains a challenge. A new study reveals that a school in Shanghai has developed a replicable “Chinese-Style STEM” model. This Deep Integration Teaching approach successfully achieves deep subject integration, thematic learning, and competency development without increasing instructional hours or student workload.

Globally, educators seek effective ways to integrate STEM into schooling to foster future-ready skills. In China, this pursuit is framed within national education policies like China's Education Modernization 2035 and the Compulsory Education Curriculum Plan (2022), which mandates at least 10% of instructional time for interdisciplinary thematic learning. This persistent challenge has been moving beyond temporary, add-on programs to achieve deep, sustainable, and large-scale curriculum integration that benefits every student, especially under reforms like "Double Reduction" aimed at alleviating student burden.

In a study published online on November 25, 2025, in ECNU Review of Education, a team of researchers from Shanghai Jing’an Education College Affiliated School documents their school's transformative, decade-long journey. Initiated in 2013, this reform through the whole school, named as “Deep Integration Teaching” was designed to overcome fragmented subject teaching and cultivate students’ key competencies through interdisciplinary, theme-based inquiry aligned with the national curriculum standards.

“The goal was not to simply add more science or tech classes, it was to strategically dismantle the walls between subjects within the constraints of the national curriculum, without asking for more time from students or teachers,” explain Xu and Zhang.

The study outlined a detailed, research-based development process spanning several phases. Beginning with pilot projects in specific grades, the model was gradually expanded across all grades 1-9 and continuously refined with teacher empowerment and digital tool development. The study found the model’s success depended on several key innovations. First, it strategically categorized national curriculum subjects into coverage disciplines (e.g., science, labor studies, Information Science & Technology (IST), and comprehensive practice), whose content is fully integrated into thematic modules, and involved disciplines (e.g., math, Chinese, and physics), where selected elements are woven into themes while maintaining systematic subject teaching. Second, to create space for deep inquiry, it reorganized class hours from the coverage disciplines. For example, in Grade 6, nine weekly class hours were combined from multiple subjects to form extended, thematic learning blocks, accounting for 25% of the total instructional time without increasing the weekly total. Third, it employed a structured 10-step teaching process across three stages: Theme and Context, Organization and Implementation, and Evaluation and Reflection. This process was supported by a digital platform called TRIP that facilitated real-time collaboration, process tracking, and competency assessment throughout the thematic projects.

This model provided a “Chinese solution” to STEM education. The impact is significant and measurable. The participants have demonstrated outstanding performance in municipal assessments of creative thinking and practical skills. Notably, the school reports the lowest myopia rates in its district, nearly 20 percentage points below the city average, while maintaining strong and balanced academic achievement. The model ensures all students receive consistent, grade-spanning development in key areas like IST literacy, which is often inconsistently addressed in official schedules.

A representative example is the Grade 6 module “Urban Rooftop Smart Herbal Garden.” Across 15 lessons, students engaged in authentic interdisciplinary tasks: learning plant biology and systems thinking (science); using sensors and smart agricultural tools (technology); designing and building irrigation systems with open-source hardware (engineering); measuring and analyzing environmental data (mathematics); and participating in hands-on cultivation and maintenance (labor). This deep integration mirrors core STEM competencies while being fully embedded in mandated national subjects. This case helps to explain how this model can be specifically implemented in a real teaching environment.

The researchers concluded that the Deep Integration Teaching model offered a practical and large-scale blueprint for schools in China and internationally, seeking to deeply embed STEM-like, competency-focused education into their core curriculum. “It demonstrates that systemic change is possible. We can cultivate students’ innovative and practical competencies within the framework of compulsory education with the help of strategic curriculum restructuring, supportive teacher professional development, and integrated digital tools, importantly, we can do it while preserving student well-being,” conclude Xu and Zhang.

Funding information

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article is one of the interim research outcomes of the Ministry of Education Key Project of the National Education Science “14th Five-Year Plan,” titled “Practical Research on School-based ‘New Teaching Research’ in the New Era” (Grant No. DHA230398).