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1 – 10 of over 9000This chapter integrates current Chinese education reform into the unique socioeconomic context of China in a transitional time and explores the complexity of education…
Abstract
This chapter integrates current Chinese education reform into the unique socioeconomic context of China in a transitional time and explores the complexity of education decentralization in China through an in-depth analysis on changes in education finance, administration, and curriculum development. Mark Hanson's theory of education decentralization is cited to build a conceptual framework for examining education decentralization in China. Previous studies, government documents, laws, and regulations related to the current wave of Chinese education reform are reviewed to capture a true picture of education decentralization in China. In investigating the background, actual actions, and motive of the current Chinese education reform, the chapter demonstrates that the on-going Chinese education reform is moving toward a centralized decentralization. Linking education with the unified national goal of economic modernization, the paradoxical mixture of centralization and decentralization is a strategic means to avoid loss of centralized control. Literature on decentralization reform in Chinese education primarily concentrates on changed Chinese education policies in the reform. This chapter places the focus on the contextual factors that shape the decentralization trend in current reform.
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Alexander W. Wiseman and Tiedan Huang
As China's educational policy and reforms continue to evolve and adjust to shifting social, economic, and political conditions, this chapter provides a template for conceptually…
Abstract
As China's educational policy and reforms continue to evolve and adjust to shifting social, economic, and political conditions, this chapter provides a template for conceptually framing education research on and in China. To do so this chapter first identifies focus areas in comparative education research related to China, which reflect researcher perspective, perceived advantage, and demonstrated resistance to these educational policy reforms. The authors develop a conceptual framework for comparatively understanding education research on and in China, which focuses on the intersection of comparative education themes, institutional change agents or methods, and Chinese educational reform topics. This conceptual framework specifically accounts for overlap, complexity, and the evolving nature of educational policy reform in China. This chapter concludes by emphasizing the importance of comparative education researchers, national policymakers, and consumers of the research using new data and methods as they become available to continue to revise understandings of Chinese educational policy and reform.
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Some studies have claimed that Chinese thinker Hu Shi (or Hu Shih) received and responded to John Dewey's educational ideas only at a theoretical level and did little for education…
Abstract
Purpose
Some studies have claimed that Chinese thinker Hu Shi (or Hu Shih) received and responded to John Dewey's educational ideas only at a theoretical level and did little for education at a practical level. This paper reexamines Hu's reception of Dewey's ideas with a focus on how he used those ideas to solve China's educational and social problems during the late 1910s and 1920s.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws upon what Schriewer (2012) has called “theories of reception.” Rather than focusing on the international dissemination of ideas and knowledge, this approach emphasizes the reception of foreign ideas from the perspective and needs of the receiver, interpreter and/or reader who apprehends such ideas within a particular socio–cultural context.
Findings
This paper finds that Hu not only received — and examined — Dewey's educational ideas in a systematic way, but also used them pragmatically to reform China's systems of education as part of the New Culture Movement after 1919.
Originality/value
This research offers a new understanding of Hu's reception of Dewey's educational ideas. It shows that Hu was not merely a “thinker” in the field of education but also a “doer” who sought to apply Dewey's ideas in practice. This new view allows us to reevaluate Hu's role in the modernization of Chinese education.
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Tiedan Huang and Alexander W. Wiseman
Tingting Qi's chapter titled, “Moving toward Decentralization? Changing Education Governance in China After 1985,” provides the historical and policy context for the volume. This…
Abstract
Tingting Qi's chapter titled, “Moving toward Decentralization? Changing Education Governance in China After 1985,” provides the historical and policy context for the volume. This chapter integrates the post-1978 Chinese educational reforms into the socioeconomic context of China. The special contribution of this chapter is that it explores the complexity of educational decentralization in China through an in-depth analysis of changes in education finance, administration, and curriculum. Qi reviews prior studies, government documents, laws, and regulations related to Chinese education reform since 1978 within the context of education decentralization in China. Qi also demonstrates that China's educational policy reforms are moving China toward “centralized decentralization” because decentralization is driven by a common, centralized national goal of economic modernization. The chapter presents evidence that “centralized decentralization” is a strategic maneuver that maintains centralized control while providing the reform legitimacy of decentralization. By focusing on decentralization as the core of Chinese educational policy reforms, this chapter situates the following chapters within the social, cultural, and political context of post-1978 China.
Yen-Han Lee, Timothy Chiang, Mack Shelley and Ching-Ti Liu
The Chinese society has embraced rapid social reforms since the late twentieth century, including educational and healthcare systems. The Chinese Central Government launched an…
Abstract
Purpose
The Chinese society has embraced rapid social reforms since the late twentieth century, including educational and healthcare systems. The Chinese Central Government launched an ambitious health reform program in 2009 to improve service quality and provide affordable health services, regardless of individual socio-economic status. Currently, the Chinese social health insurance includes Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance, Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance, and New Cooperative Medical Insurance for rural residents. The purpose of this paper is to measure the association between individual education level and China’s social health insurance scheme following the reform.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the latest (2011) China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data and multivariable logistic regression models with cross-sectional design (n=11,960), the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are reported.
Findings
The authors found that education is associated with all social health insurance schemes in China after the reform (p<0.001). Residents with higher educational attainments, such as technical school (OR: 6.64, 95% CI: 5.44–8.13) or university and above (OR: 9.86, 95% CI: 8.14–11.96), are associated with UEBMI, compared with lower-educated individuals.
Practical implications
The Chinese Central Government announced a plan to combine all social health insurance schemes by 2020, except UEBMI, a plan with the most comprehensive financial package. Further research is needed to investigate potential disparities after unification. Policy makers should continue to evaluate China’s universal health coverage and social disparity.
Originality/value
This study is the first to investigate the association between residents’ educational attainment and three social health insurance schemes following the 2009 health reform. The authors suggest that educational attainment is still associated with each social health insurance coverage after the ambitious health reform.
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Olli Suominen, Johanna Kallo, Risto Rinne and Yihong Fan
Different aspects of the globalisation of Chinese basic education have been examined in recent studies. This paper aims to contribute to this research base by examining the…
Abstract
Purpose
Different aspects of the globalisation of Chinese basic education have been examined in recent studies. This paper aims to contribute to this research base by examining the relationship between global quality assurance and evaluation (QAEVAL) trends and reforms in the Chinese basic education system.
Design/methodology/approach
Relevant research literature in English and Chinese was reviewed to assesses whether a movement of increasing convergence with global QAEVAL policy contents and policy instruments has taken place in China following the introduction of the so-called “equality education”. A guiding theory regarding the basic features of QAEVAL was used to conceptually structure the findings of the authors.
Findings
The findings indicate that several subtle convergences are evident in China with global trends in QAEVAL, but a few notable exceptions are also evident.
Research limitations/implications
Albeit the research indicates certain convergence, the authors acknowledge that further research is still needed to examine causal mechanisms of QAEVAL policy convergences and the processes and logic through which global trends are localised.
Originality/value
Both the importance of QAEVAL in global education governance as well as China’s importance to world affairs are increasing. However, so far, the effects of QAEVAL policies on China’s education system have not been thoroughly examined. This paper can serve as a concise starting point for examining the topic more deeply.
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Yen-Han Lee, Timothy Chiang and Ching-Ti Liu
China launched a comprehensive health reform in 2009 to improve healthcare quality. Because preventive care utilization in China has not been frequently discussed, the purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
China launched a comprehensive health reform in 2009 to improve healthcare quality. Because preventive care utilization in China has not been frequently discussed, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the association between education level and preventive care before and after the initiation of the reform. Education has been referred to as the best health outcome indicator and China’s educational reform has been progressive, such as the health reform.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed data from four China Health and Nutrition Surveys (CHNS): 2004 (n=9,617); 2006 (n=9,527); 2009 (n=9,873); and 2011 (n=9,430). Variables were selected based on Andersen’s healthcare utilization model (predisposing, enabling and need factors). Multivariable logistic regression models, odds ratios (ORs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (95 percent CI) were conducted and reported.
Findings
In the adjusted multivariable logistic regression models, the authors found that general education was associated (p<0.05) with access to preventive care in 2004, 2009 and 2011, but not in 2006. Individuals with higher education had higher ORs for utilizing preventive care, compared with lower education (primary school education or none).
Practical implications
Policy implications include providing educational protocols regarding preventive care’s significance to residents educated at lower level schools, especially younger individuals.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comparative assessment on education level and preventive care utilization before and after the implementation of the Chinese health reform.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the achievements of Chinese educational management in the past 30 years, conclude the characteristics of Chinese educational management and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the achievements of Chinese educational management in the past 30 years, conclude the characteristics of Chinese educational management and indicate the problems of Chinese educational management and the countermeasures.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews the research of educational management in China in the past 30 years from four aspects: research purpose, research methods, research contents and disciplinary system.
Findings
The paper sums up the main achievements, the main characteristics and the main problems of Chinese educational management in the past 30 years. It suggests that the disciplinary relationship should be further clarified; the role of disciplinary research accomplishments has to be further developed and the specialization level in disciplinary research needs to be further improved.
Practical implications
This paper indicates the direction for the construction of Chinese educational management in the future: to further clarify the relationship among related disciplines; to put the role of the research results into full play; to further improve the specialization level of disciplinary research.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the construction of Chinese educational management both theoretically and practically.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the key developments in Sino‐foreign cooperation in higher education (HE) in China in terms of policy initiatives and legal frameworks and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key developments in Sino‐foreign cooperation in higher education (HE) in China in terms of policy initiatives and legal frameworks and to highlight the main challenges for the sector in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
Numerous policy papers, academic literature sources and legal acts are analysed to produce a meta analysis of the understanding to date of the issues involved in partnerships in HE in China. Secondary data sources are accessed and compared for consistency.
Findings
The analysis reveals a clear path of initially slow, enhancing, and then rapid developments in the framework of Sino‐foreign HE cooperation. It also reveals some serious issues in the motives behind cooperation, quality of provision, and relevance to China's future development.
Practical implications
The findings of this paper suggest that cooperative partnerships in HE in China need to be much clearer on strategy and purpose and there is an urgent need for a proper assessment of their contribution to the country's education capacity building, educational, and knowledge exchange and future social and economic development.
Originality/value
This paper offers an insight into how it arrives at where it is in terms of these partnerships, how to improve them and raises questions that may well be uncomfortable reading for some.
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Describes the programme of reconstructing higher education which is currently under way in China. Outlines the history of formal education in China from the beginning of the…
Abstract
Describes the programme of reconstructing higher education which is currently under way in China. Outlines the history of formal education in China from the beginning of the twentieth century and explains the national system of administration of higher education. Sets out ten major aspects in which Chinese higher education has to be reformed in order to meet the demands of the twenty‐first century
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