Education Policy In China Research Articles

Strategic Evolution of Language Education Policy in the Information Age

Language education is an important part of modern education in China. The orderly development of language education not only enhances the language level of students, but also has a very important significance for the future development of students. The language education in modern education in China mainly includes mother-tongue education and English education. Mother-tongue education aims to improve students’ ability of Chinese expression and communication. English education aims to improve students’ mastery and reading of English, so that students can better adapt to the development of modern society. This paper analyzes and studies the development of language education policy in China, points out the problems and deficiencies in the current language education policy, and proposes reasonable solutions, hoping to promote the development of language education in China.

A Comparative Study of Chinese, American and European Foreign Language Education Policies

This paper constructs the theoretical framework of foreign language education policy analysis from the theory of educational policy, which compares the foreign language education policies of China, the United States and European Union from the dimensions of the process, content and value. Experiences and lessons are proposed from the practice of United States and European Union, which provide suggestions on the study of foreign language education policy in China.

A Comparative Study of Foreign Language Education Policies Between China and the United States From the Perspective of National Interests

Based on the theory of educational policy, this paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework of foreign language education policy, which makes a comparative analysis of foreign language education policies in China and the United States from three dimensions—the process, content and value of foreign language education policy. We should learn from the advanced experience of the United States and reflect on the research of foreign language education policy in China so as to make suggestions.

Review and Critique on the New Higher Education Policy Promoting “The First-Class Major Programs” in China

Purpose: After the concepts of first-class universities, first-class research disciplines, and first-class undergraduate education, China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) proposed a new concept of first-class undergraduate major programs and also proposed policy initiatives for relevant selection and funding. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the motives, historical background, policy texts, core concepts, and unintended consequences of the policy and proposes six criticisms. Design/Approach/Methods: This education policy analysis article uses two research methods. The first is a content analysis that focuses on policy text. The second is comparative and historical research that focuses on the history of the undergraduate education organization model in China and the background of the four first-class concepts. Findings: This article argues that the first-class major programs in undergraduate education include provincial-level points of these programs, which stealthily narrowed the scope for comparison from potentially the whole world to that of provinces. The policy also essentially strengthened the traditional concept of zhuanye as a physical unit and caused unintended consequences in its attempts to cultivate innovative talents and to adjust the zhuanye structure. Originality/Value: This article addresses a new education policy in China and its unintended consequences.

The Discursive Politics of Education Policy in China: Educating Migrant Children

AbstractThis article explores the discursive functioning of education policies, bringing into consideration community perspectives regarding policy enactment in contemporary China. With the intention of building upon ongoing discussions surrounding both the conceptions and purposes of policy sociology, we critically analyse policies directly related to the education of migrant children living in and around China's largest urban centres, with a specific focus on those implemented in Beijing. We emphasize two important aspects that previous studies of China's education policies have tended to underplay given their focus on social-economic perspectives. The first argument is that education policies have an underlying agenda that extends beyond that of simply addressing the educational needs of migrant children – evidenced through the discursive functions of policy texts. The second argument is related and seeks to raise questions about who is best served by these policies and for whom these policies are intended.

Early education policy in China: Reducing regional and socioeconomic disparities in preschool attendance

In China, enhancing preschool attendance has been an education policy priority since 2010. This study describes trends in preschool attendance and examines the associations among family socioeconomic status, geographic region of residence, and preschool attendance, from 2010 to 2016. This was done by examining parent-reported data on 9271 three- to six-year-olds from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS, waves 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016) nationwide survey. Analyses indicated that preschool attendance rates for three- to six-year-olds increased from 59.34% to 66.33%, and that increases were larger for rural areas and for the less developed Western region (15.27% and 12.71%, respectively). There were also decreases in both regional disparities and gaps in attendance rates between children of more educated mothers and those whose mothers were less educated. Logistic estimates indicated that children who were younger, of mothers with relatively lower educational levels, from lower-income families, and from less economically developed areas were still less likely than other children to attend preschools after the policy. The use of grandparental childcare and parental expectations for children's education were also associated with preschool attendance. Implications of the findings for early education policy are discussed.

Individual agency and changing language education policy in China: reactions to the new ‘Guidelines on College English Teaching’

ABSTRACT Cooper’s (1989) LPP framework focuses on ‘who’ the policy planner is and ‘who’ implements the policy to ‘whom.’ These are particularly significant factors in a highly centralized education system such as China’s, where the effect of different individuals as actors in LPP remains largely unexplored. This article examines the controversy around the predominant status of College English and the resulting adjustments that have been made in a new English education policy – Guidelines on College English Teaching (GCET) – in 2017, and categorizes the relevant stakeholders into five groups from macro to micro levels and examines their agency roles through investigating their attitudes, interpretations and reactions towards the change in the status of College English in the GCET. The results show that multiple layers of individuals have been endowed with disproportionate powers in status planning. Compared with English teachers and people with expertise, people with influence in society and university administrators constitute the more powerful forces in effecting language policy making.

Chinese Educational Policy Research: The Arduous Formation of a Research Paradigm

Purpose: Through combing the 40 years’ history of the development of Chinese educational policy research, this article attempts to sort out the efforts and lessons learned by researchers in the field of education policy in China. Design/Approach/Methods: As one of the earliest scholars engaged in the study of Chinese education policy, based on the academic publications, symposia, and thematic research, the author has found efforts in four directions in the field: proposals for policy-oriented research and research-oriented policy, disciplinization-based endeavors, empirical research on theory-guided educational policy, and guidance on major educational policy research topics and a think tank for educational policy decisions. Findings: This article argues that there is now a correspondence among the ideas, themes, forms, and frameworks of the educational reform promulgated by the government in recent years that have appeared in educational policy research, but there is no clear demarcation of what makes an educational policy researcher; no stable academic community has been formed that might strive together toward the foundation of a disciplinary paradigm, the rational organization of academic ideas, and the establishment and handing over of a theoretical framework to a succeeding generation. Originality/Value: This article takes a step back to claim that a paradigm for Chinese educational policy research is still nascent in the arduous process of formulation.

The Origin of NCCT International School Accreditation in China

This article is a condensed translation from Chinese of the original PhD thesis by Dr Mo Jingqi and illustrates how international accreditation was introduced in China during a time of rapid government structural change. The article is valuable from three perspectives: first, it provides a rare insight into the means for introducing change in the education system in China; secondly, it describes the evolution of the role of the National Center for Curriculum and Textbook Development, a non-governmental organization, and how it became authorized by the Ministry of Education to implement education policy in China; and thirdly, the idea of transplanting into China a joint accreditation system for international schools is by itself a major historical change, the model of which may one day expand to other types of schools in China. It should be noted that the titles of Chinese references have not been translated as they can be found only in Chinese language. In addition, during those years of rapid change, the titles and roles of many government organizations also changed, including that of the National Center for School Curriculum and Textbook Development (NCCT). It is important to appreciate the challenges of language translation as many of the concepts have different meanings in Chinese and have changed during that time period. This includes the meanings of ‘international school’ and ‘accreditation’.

Impacts of education policies on intergenerational education mobility in China

This paper used the CHIP 2013 dataset to investigate the effects of two important education policies in China on intergenerational education mobility, including the Compulsory Education Law implemented in 1986 and college expansion policy (CEP) started from 1999. In general, our results reflect a relatively optimistic picture in urban China, but a less favorable pattern in rural areas. For the urban sample, both the Compulsory Education Law (CEL) and college expansion policy increase the probability of upward mobility at lower parental education level, and the college expansion policy further increases the intergenerational education mobility in urban China. In contrast, each of the two policies indeed reduces the intergenerational education mobility for the rural sample, and the effects found on upward mobility in urban China are non-existent for the rural sample. The unfavorable results in rural China can be attributed to poor enforcement of the policy or the lack of demand-side education reforms.

Fostering Intercultural Awareness in a Chinese English Reading Class

AbstractSince the turn of the century, higher education policy in China has highlighted the importance of cultivating students’ intercultural competences, particularly in the context of English language teaching. In spite of this, studies show that to this day Chinese ELT classrooms in higher education have rarely taken a cultural turn and teachers’ understanding of interculturalism remains insufficient. This paper reports an action research study on how intercultural awareness was developed in the context of an English reading course at an independent college of a major Chinese university. The study followed a teaching flow that integrates intercultural learning with critical thinking by challenging students to select, analyze, and raise questions about English texts on aspects of Chinese culture. Mapping the outputs of a cohort of 77 second-year undergraduate students onto Baker’s (2012; 2015) model of intercultural awareness, the study shows that a majority of participants demonstrated a level beyond basic awareness. The paper concludes that reading courses can be used to help foster intercultural awareness among Chinese students, and it offers some pedagogical and theoretical reflections on integrating intercultural learning with ELT, and formulates a number of suggestions for further studies.

Efficiency Evaluation and Influencing Factors Analysis of Governmental Expenditure on Preschool Education

With the DEA-Tobit analysis method and based on the panel statistic of thirty-one provinces from 1998 to 2015 in China, this paper studies the efficiency upon local government expenditure of preschool education and its’ influence factors. First, the efficiencies on preschool education spending of local governments, including the overall technical efficiency, scale technical efficiency and pure technical efficiency, were evaluated by the data envelopment analysis approach (DEA). Based on the research result from the 1st step, Tobit model was used to investigate the connection of the efficiency measurement outcomes and preschool education policy variable fiscal decentralization, the connection of the efficiency measurement outcomes and social factors, such as density of population, GDP per capita and the public education degrees and so on. With the explanation of the measurement outcomes, it is noticed that the expenditure efficiency on local government preschool education has improved and have showed significant differences in CN. The influences of degree of urbanization, the density of population and education degree upon the efficiency of governmental preschool education spending and GDP per capita are positive. After the control of population, social and economic factors, the influence of fiscal decentralization upon the efficiencies on preschool education public spending is negative, the efficiencies on preschool education spending of local government has been greatly improved by preschool education policy in China.

Education and Non-Cognitive Skills

In this paper we estimate the causal relationship between schooling and non- cognitive skills in later life. We exploit two exogenous changes in education policy in China and Indonesia and estimate the effect of schooling on non-cognitive skills as measured by the Locus of Control and five-factor model. We employ Regression Probability Jump and Kink Design (RPJK) for identification. Our results indicate that schooling leads to a less Internal Locus of Control, and makes individuals more conscientious, open and extroverted. The effect of schooling on non-cognitive skills can explain significant variation in returns to schooling on the labor market.

An Analysis of Early Childhood Education Policy in China

China has given high priority to develop its entire educational system including early childhood education. Through secondary data and empirical studies, this paper critically analyzes the policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation of China’s national plan for medium and long-term education reform and development (2010-2020) with regard to early childhood education. The study indicated that formulation of the plan was done with high collaboration of the government and the people. Both ordinary people and experts in the field participated through various platforms. So far, the plan is meeting its objectives, although there are discrepancies between different provinces, and within municipalities. The study will enable to shape the education policy in practice, and share the experiences of China to other countries with similar initiatives.

From ‘Cinderella’ to ‘Beloved Princess’: The Evolution of Early Childhood Education Policy in China

Early childhood education (ECE) in China has been relegated to the role of ‘Cinderella’ by its educational authorities since 1980s, due to the policy of ‘marketizing and privatizing non-compulsory pre-school education’. In 2010, dramatically and suddenly, ‘Cinderella’ emerged as the ‘beloved princess’ as the central government of China decided to pay more attention to ECE. This paper aims to understand why and how the Chinese government changed its attitude and policies, by conducting a critical analysis of the evolution of ECE policies in the past century with a particular focus on the post- 2010 development. On the basis of this analysis, we offer our outlook on what the Chinese government should do to better deal with the future development of its ECE. Our results revealed three vertical and horizontal trends. First, from a vertical perspective, the top-down reform has been the most prevalent during the evolution of ECE policy in China. Second, from a horizontal perspective, the significance of public and private kindergartens can be ascertained by their numbers: the number of public kindergartens has decreased sharply since 1980s, while that of private kindergartens increased substantially as a supplement. Last but not the least, combining the vertical and horizontal perspectives, we found that accessibility, affordability and accountability problems, and the social justice and sustainability of the ECE system, are all realistic challenges imposed on the inevitable evolution of ECE reform in China. Yet, they also present equally considerable opportunities for establishing more efficient funding and monitoring reforms and policies.

Leading university education policy in China

Leading university education policy in China

An Analysis of Teacher Education Policies in China

Education is a value-laden mechanism serving various national purposes. While politics were the most prominent factors driving Chinese education reform in the past, recent history indicates that additional factors also play a significant role. In our article, we examine teacher education and how educational policies have affected it in contemporary China. We begin by providing a historical description of teacher education in China; then, we use a shortened version of critical analysis of educational policies related to teacher education–- particularly, the most recent education policy of not charging fees to students who are enrolled in teacher education programs. Our findings reveal the following: (1) Reforms about teacher education are driven by political and economic needs rather than the development of teacher education programs or the needs of the Chinese public; (2) there is still much to be done to improve the quality of teacher education and education equity in China; and (3) bottom-up initiatives are needed to actually improve teacher education in China.

In pursuit of the Dao in policymaking: Toward a cultural approach to understanding engineering education policy in China

Approaching policy research from a cultural perspective, this paper proposes that understanding engineering education practice and policymaking in China requires considerable sensitivity to context. By adopting a historical–philosophical analysis methodology, this paper analyzes how three fundamental concepts (engineering, engineer, and education) are linked to a variety of beliefs, assumptions, and ideas that are partially unique to the Chinese cultural context. More specifically, these concepts are discussed in relation to three partially distinct philosophical frameworks: Confucianism, Marxism, and economic pragmatism. Our analysis in this paper draws on studies in comparative education and Chinese studies as well as policy reports released by the Central Government. Based on the analysis, the paper suggests taking a cultural approach to studying engineering education policy, with important implications for both Chinese and Western scholars and policymakers. This paper should be of interest to comparative education scholars, international engineering educators, and education policymakers with a global focus.

Study of the Impacts of the Quality Assessment of Undergraduate Education Policy in China: Students’ Perceptions

This paper analyzes a higher education policy issued in China in 2002: the Quality Assessment of Undergraduate Education Policy. It examines students’ perceptions of the policy impacts and students’ roles in the evaluation process by semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys. It reveals that the quality assessment in China has facilitated the improvement of teaching infrastructure and led to the intensification of school discipline in evaluated higher education institutions significantly. However, its impacts on teaching/learning are not noticeable. As an information publisher, quality assessment seems not very influential for students. Moreover, students do not think their voices have been demonstrated in the current quality assessment sufficiently, and expect their roles to be enhanced. Based on students’ perceptions of the policy impacts, this study ends up with an examination of the problems with quality assessment approaches and related suggestions to improve them.

The Impact and Transformation of Education Policy in China edited by Tiedan Huang and Alexander W. Wiseman. International Perspectives on Education and Society, vol. 15. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011. 406 pp. $134.95 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-7805-2186-2.

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Impact and Transformation of Education Policy in China edited by Tiedan Huang and Alexander W. Wiseman. International Perspectives on Education and Society, vol. 15. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011. 406 pp. $134.95 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-7805-2186-2.Jinyuan MaJinyuan Ma Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 57, Number 1February 2013 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/669472 Views: 94Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.