China’s education policy-making: a policy network perspective

Policy network approach has become a broadly accepted and frequently adopted practice in modern state governance, especially in the public sector. The study utilises a broadly defined policy network conceptual frame and categories of reference to trace the evolution of education policy-making in China. The study uses The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) as an illustrative case study. This study argues that China’s education policy-making has changed, and the three most prominent changes are the transition from a Party-dominant practice to one primarily driven by the central government, the enhanced role of higher education institutions and scholars as ‘professional interest group’ in the Chinese context and the increasing participation of non-governmental actors in the policy-making process. Essentially exploratory in nature, this study hopes to contribute to the understanding of China’s education policy-making and broader education governance while contributing to the mapping of an important sector of the global education network.     

Tensions and challenges in China’s education policy borrowing

Abstract

Background: This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices.

Sources of evidence: The main sources of evidence that form the basis of the analysis for this article were research data from an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews conducted with 166 school principals, vice-principals and teachers from China between 2013 and 2015.

Main argument: It is argued that the NCR has borrowed selective ideas and practices from elsewhere, such as a school-based curriculum, student-centred pedagogy and formative assessment. It is further suggested that the borrowed policies are mediated and moderated by the ideological attitude of the Chinese educational stakeholders, stemming from the notion of ‘theory-ladenness’ within an exam-oriented paradigm.

Conclusions: The example of China illustrates the effects of an ideological attitude on educational policy borrowing that challenges the notion of universally appropriate ways of teaching, learning and reforming an educational system.     

Research on the teaching quality of compulsory education in China’s West rural schools

The paper has compared the quality of compulsory education of rural schools in West China with the counties, cities, and provincial capitals, and find out that there is a big gap between the quality of West rural and urban compulsory education, the quality of some grades of the rural primary schools has not achieved the basic requirement of the curriculum standards, the gap between the quality of junior high schools in rural and urban areas is relatively severe. The mean score and qualified rate in the subjects of Chinese, mathematics and English of West rural junior high students are distinctly lower than that of the urban and county schools. The main factor that leads to the bigger discrepancy between the urban and rural education quality mainly lies in the difference in the teaching force. Compared with urban schools, the teachers in rural schools is insufficient and poorly-trained, with less access to teachers’ professional development and support. The teaching quality in the West rural schools should be paid attention and improved in light of the rationale of educational equity.     

The funding of early care and education programmes in Sweden, 1845–1943

What significance did donations, bequests, tuition fees and fund‐raising events have for early care and education programmes during the nineteenth and early twentieth century? Through an examination of 24 Swedish infant schools, day nurseries and free kindergartens, this article verifies that donations and bequests were essential for the economy of these programmes. Revenues from fundraisers were, however, not as important as previous research suggests. Balls, concerts and coffee parties were arranged quite frequently, but their function was to create publicity rather than to raise revenues. Instead, fees and interest revenues played a larger part in the economy of these programmes than previous research has suggested. Thus, this article raises a series of questions regarding the funding of such programmes, national differences in this respect and the development of fund‐raising strategies over time, opening up the field for further studies in this area of research.     

On financial support system for compulsory education in China’s Western minority areas

China’s Western Development is a policy adopted to boost its less developed Western regions, that is, a systematic project and a longterm and arduous task. The development of compulsory education in China’s minority areas is the key to it. This paper attempts to use the beneficial experience of developing compulsory education support system of other countries for reference so as to explore financial support system suitable for the situation of China’s compulsory education in minority areas.     

Mrs Thatcher’s first flourish: organic change,policy chaos and the fate of the colleges of education

This paper revisits the abolition of the colleges of education in England and Wales, specialist providers of teacher training which were effectively eradicated in the years after Margaret Thatcher’s 1972 White Paper Education: A Framework for Expansion. Its central argument is that the way in which change was enacted thereafter represented a significant break with the model of policymaking which had held sway since the end of World War Two. Whilst more far-reaching change would come after Mrs Thatcher’s ‘conversion’ to neo-liberalism later in the decade, the fate of the colleges of education was, I argue, an important if largely overlooked episode in the history of education – especially in terms of violating the collaborative relationship between central government and local authorities which had, until that point, dominated education policy in post-war Britain.     

The policy and practice of music education in England, 2010–2020

Since the introduction of the National Plan for Music Education there have been significant changes in music education within England. Whilst some celebrate figures that report increased access and engagement, many teachers and others continue to have legitimate concerns regarding the quality of the music education on offer in schools and Music Education Hubs. There are concerns that the provision of music education is incoherent and patchy across the country. Many would argue that the opportunity to access high-quality music education has become a ‘postcode lottery’. There is a sense that the fragmentation of music education as a result of curriculum reforms and the diversity of approaches taken by Music Education Hubs and other bodies has significantly enhanced this incoherence. This article seeks to review the policy and practice of music education in England over the last 10 years. It draws on recent research from various sources and maintains a particular focus on government policy and the consequences of this for the field as a whole. It reflects on how things could be improved in the future. It argues for a clearer focus on a practitioner-led approach to research and advocacy, in particular one led by the notion of ‘policy as practice’ rather than continuing with the current approach and its intrinsic failings.     

Stakeholders’ views of South Korea’s higher education internationalization policy

The study investigated the stakeholders’ perceptions of South Korea’s higher education internationalization policy. Based on the research framework that defines four policy values—propriety, effectiveness, diversity, and engagement, the convergence model was employed with a concurrent mixed method sampling strategy to analyze the stakeholders’ perceptions. According to the findings, the stakeholders perceived that the government’s internationalization policy to date has contributed to the international competitiveness of Korean universities by and large in a quantitative manner. Their views however signaled that the government should consider the quality and identity of Korean higher education institutions when designing and implementing internationalization policy. Based on the implications that the findings have in the policy context, this study suggested two points for future policy research into Korean higher education internationalization: (1) develop a glonacal definition of world-classness for Korean universities and (2) build up a mixture model of centralization and decentralization for the government-university relations, which encourages internal self-governance of Korean universities.     

The European Union's discourse of ‘equality’ and its education and training policy within the post‐compulsory sector

This paper provides a critical overview of the development of European education and training policy and its relationship to the discourse of ‘equality’. This development reflects significant shifts within the European Union's discourse of economic growth and peaceful unity‐‐that is, the economic and social concerns of the European Commission. Interwoven into both these discourses is the European discourse of ‘equality’.

In the first section of the paper the historic development of the Commission's education and training policy is considered in relation to the discourses of equal opportunities and social exclusion, paying particular attention to the influence of the Action programmes for equal opportunities between women and men. This is followed by a brief section in which the recent interpretation of EC policy by the UK government is examined. In the final section the focus is on the equality discourse itself and the consequences of its application for under‐educated long‐term unemployed people. The paper concludes that although the differences between equal opportunities and social exclusion can appear as radical redefinition, they are nevertheless simply discursive shifts in a fundamentally unchanged equality discourse. Their significance, however, lies in the need for such an apparent shift.     

Pre-service teachers’ interpretations of religious policy in citizenship education in China

Studies about religion and education in post-Mao China have become more common in recent years, but very few have touched on teacher and religious education at the basic education level. This study adopted a mixed methodology approach (questionnaire, interview and lesson design analysis) to report Chinese pre-service teachers’ interpretations of religious policy in citizenship education. The analyses of the findings reveal that pre-service teachers actively constructed their understandings of religion-citizenship, rather than passively adopting the officially promoted religion-citizenship relationship.     

The recruitment of VET teachers and the failure of policy in England’s further education sector

England’s further education (FE) sector has been characterised by instability and policy churn for at least three decades during which time reform of vocational education and training (VET) has been piled on top of reform, with few resulting in lasting change. In the context of another ambitious new reform of VET in England, this article reports on a study that examined the chronic difficulties in recruiting teachers of vocational science, engineering and technology (SET) to FE colleges. We argue that these difficulties in recruiting SET teachers reveal persistent weaknesses in policy planning for the English VET sector and help to explain the serial failure of VET policy in England.     

Flaying Freire? The Workers’ Party and education policy in Brazil, 1980–2007

This article analyses the progression of education policy by the Workers?? Party (PT) in Brazil from its experience of municipal administration to national government. The first section presents this development, noting its progression from a participatory, social(ist) project to a more reformist, elite-directed model. The second section accounts for the domestic influences that led to a more reformist PT education policy by the 2000s. These include: (1) increasing electoral success, (2) changing membership composition, (3) policy innovations supported by its members and (4) a growing asymmetry in resources (and influence) towards the party leadership and its members. The third section presents the global changes in education thinking that coincided with the PT??s entry into national government. It distinguishes between a neo-liberal and neo-conservative ??first generation?? and a state-oriented ??second generation?? Washington Consensus, associated with the New Right and the centre-left that emerged across the region after 2000 respectively.     

The Labour Government's further education policy 1945–51

Despite the 1945 Labour Government's commitment to social reform, it did not have a very radical education policy beyond its determination to implement the 1944 Education Act and raise the school leaving age to fifteen. Nevertheless, the Minister of Education, Ellen Wilkinson, and her senior civil servants, were keen to expand and reform further education. In 1947 they produced a detailed national plan for further education, although ominously its publication was delayed because its capital expenditure implications fell foul of the increasing economic stringency of the Government. There was a heavy emphasis in the plan on vocational further education and its most far‐reaching aspect was the proposal to introduce compulsory part‐time education and training up to the age of eighteen for all who had left school, to be provided in new county colleges. However, this proposal was overtaken by the deepening economic crises faced by the Government in the later 1940s, and was not implemented. Voluntary part‐time vocational education and training did expand considerably but in a much more limited form than originally envisaged. There were also plans to encourage local education authorities to extend their non‐vocational further education or ‘learning for leisure’ activities in partnership with other providers, including the universities and the WEA. These plans were quite ambitious and broadly liberal in concept, and did lead to a significant postwar expansion, but this was somewhat uneven, depending on the commitment and drive of individual local authorities. Although practical activities (the traditional ‘night school') constituted the bulk of this non‐vocational further education, the Ministry encouraged the local authorities to secure adequate provision of ‘theoretical studies’, foreign languages, cultural studies and education for citenzenship. It also included outdoor recreational activities, youth work, specialized women's subjects, but not literacy. However, in the end many of the intended new schemes were blighted by the worsening economic situation, or by inertia.     

The role of education in Sudan’s civil war

This article addresses the role that education plays in conflict, with specific reference to the civil war in Sudan. It analyses the ideological basis of the Sudanese government (GoS) during the civil war, with special reference to the role of religion and ethnicity. It shows how the primary education system was based on the Islamist ideology of the GoS, with limited consideration of the country’s various cultural and religious groups. It then discusses the political discourse of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the secular curriculum that SPLM’s Secretariat of Education produced during the war. It identifies differences between the Islamist and the secular educational discourses as one reason why many young people in the South took up arms against the Islamist government. With South Sudan now emerging as an independent nation, a dramatic improvement in the education sector is needed both to heal conflicts in South Sudan and to provide hope for the future to people in the South.