Understanding Social Justice and Equity in Chinese Exam-oriented Education- Comparing Bourdieu's Theory of Cultural Reproduction and Nussbaum's Theory of the Competence Approach

Abstract

Test-based education in China is often seen as an educational system that focuses on test scores, memorization and problem-solving, with the main aim of improving students' adaptive skills. However, there are problems with this model that inhibit students' autonomy and creativity. This paper will therefore compare Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital and social reproduction with Nussbaum's theory of a competency-based approach to understanding social justice and equity in Chinese exam-based education. Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction objectively examines the development of students in test-based education at the level of "capital", where each student's academic performance is determined by multiple capitals. Nussbaum's competency approach theory explains the problems with this model in terms of freedom and choice, and that it is up to the student to decide what functions are valuable. The competency approach theory has been found to provide a more comprehensive and human-centered explanation of teaching to the test. There are therefore various drawbacks to teaching to the test, so how to overcome or mitigate these drawbacks is something that needs to be taken seriously in education today.