Changes and Innovations in the Education Institutions
From Regulation to Empowerment
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- General Preface to “China’s Path to Education Modernization” Book Series
- Introduction: Education Institutions and Education Reform
- I. Institutions, Education Institutions and Education Institution Research
- II. The Methodology of Education Institutions Research
- III. The Structure of This Book
- Chapter One Government, Society, and Schools
- Section 1 The History of Education Institutions Reform in China
- I. Gaining Order from Chaos: The Restoration and Reconstruction of the Education Institutions (1978–1984)
- II. Reforming the Education Institutions: The Deployment and Development of Education Institutions Reform (1985–1991)
- III. Exploring Market Mechanisms and Promoting the Development of Education with Institutional Reform (1992–2002)
- IV. From Efficiency to Equity, Adjustment, and Sustainability of Educational Institutions Reform (2003–2009)
- V. Deepening the Comprehensive Reform in the Field of Education and Moving towards the Participation of Multiple Parties in Education Management (2010–Present)
- Section 2 Values and Strategies of Education Institutions Reform
- I. Persisting with Education Serving the People
- II. Continuing to Deepen Education Reform
- III. Continuing to Open Up Education
- IV. Persisting with Education as a Priority of Development
- Section 3 The Adjustments and Innovations of the Education Institutions
- I. Adjusting the Relationship between Governments at the Central Level and Local Level
- II. Straightening out Intergovernmental Relations
- III. Restructuring Government-School Relations
- IV. Giving Play to the Role of Social Organization and Market Participation in Education
- V. Promoting School Running Autonomy for Schools
- Chapter Two The School Leadership and Administration Institutions
- Section 1 Development History of the School Leadership and Management Institutions
- Section 2 The Gradually Stabilizing School Leadership Institutions
- I. Basic Education: From the School Principal Responsibility Institution under the Leadership of the Party Branch to the Principal Responsibility Institution
- II. Higher Education: From the Principal Responsibility Institution to the Principal Responsibility Institution under the Leadership of the Party Committee
- Section 3 Comprehensive Advancement of the Reform of the Principal Ranking Institution
- I. From the Administration Ranking Institution to the Principal Ranking Institution
- II. The Principal Ranking Institution: From “Trial” to “Complete Advancement”
- Section 4 The Emerging Modern School Institutions Construction
- I. Gradually Forming a Structure of “One School, One Regulations Charter”
- II. Advocating a Pluralistic Democratic Participation Institutions
- Chapter Three Curriculum and Teaching Materials Institutions
- Section 1 The Trajectory of Curriculum and Textbook Reform
- I. Restoration of Curriculum and Textbook Order after the Cultural Revolution
- II. Curriculum Textbook Reform against the Background of Quality Education
- III. Basic Education Curriculum Reform since the Beginning of the New Century
- Section 2 Concentration and Decentralization of Curriculum Management Power
- I. Centralized and Unified Curriculum Management
- II. The Three-Tiered Curriculum Management Model
- III. Exploration of the School-Based Curriculum Development Institutions
- Section 3 Institutionalization and Diversification of Teaching Material Development
- I. Development of Teaching Materials in the Era of Editing
- II. Development of Teaching Materials Diversity
- III. Development of Teaching Institutions and Mechanisms at the Beginning of the New Century
- IV. The Scientific and Standardized Review of Teaching Materials in the New Era
- Section 4 Autonomy and Abundance of Course Electives
- I. Elective Institutions Based on Separation of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- II. Beyond the Liberal Arts and Sciences Separation Elective Institutions
- III. More Selective Elective Institutions Attempts
- Chapter Four The Institutions of Teachers Development and Appointment
- Section 1 The Institutions of Teacher Training
- I. Establishing “The Four-Level Teacher Education Institutions”
- II. Restoring the “Three-Level Teacher Education Institutions”
- III. The Construction of an Open Normal Education Institution
- Section 2 The Institutions of Teacher Management
- I. The Professional-Oriented Teacher Qualification Institutions
- II. The Standard-Oriented Appointment Institutions
- III. The Equity-Oriented Teacher Quota Institutions
- IV. The Incentive-Oriented Teacher Salary Institutions
- Section 3 The Institutions of Teacher Development
- I. The “Compensatory” On-the-Job Teacher Training Institutions
- II. The “Universal Improvement” Teacher Training Institutions
- III. Integrated Institutions of Teacher Cultivation and Training
- Chapter Five The Education Evaluation Institutions
- Section 1 Development History of the Education Evaluation Institutions
- I. Reconstruction of the Education Evaluation Institutions
- II. Adjustment of the Education Evaluation Institutions
- III. Diversified Development of the Education Evaluation Institutions
- Section 2 The Developmental Student Evaluation Institutions
- I. The Traditional Student Evaluation Institutions Shifts to the Developmental Student Evaluation Institutions
- II. The Construction of the Developmental Student Evaluation Institutions
- III. Practical Reform Orientation of the Developmental Student Evaluation Institutions
- Section 3 Education Quality Monitoring Institutions
- I. The Necessity of Constructing an Education Quality Monitoring Institutions
- II. Development History of the Education Quality Monitoring Institutions
- III. The Future Direction of the Education Quality Monitoring Institutions
- Section 4 Third-Party Education Evaluation Institutions
- I. The Necessity of Building a Third-Party Education Evaluation Institution
- II. Vigorously Promoting the Third-Party Education Evaluation Institutions
- III. The Practice Reform Orientation of the Third-Party Education Evaluation Institutions
- Chapter Six The Examination and Admission Institutions
- Section 1 Recovery and Reform of the College Entrance Examination Institutions
- I. Establishment and Abolition of the College Entrance Examination Institutions
- II. The Restoration of the College Entrance Examination Institutions
- III. Reform and Improvement of the College Entrance Examination Institutions
- IV. The New Round of Reform of the College Entrance Examination Institutions Is Fully Launched
- Section 2 Reform of Examination Form and Content
- I. The Transition of Examination Subjects from Separation to Integration
- II. Examination Content from Knowledge to Ability
- III. Standardization of Examination Forms
- Section 3 Reform of the Enrollment and Admissions Institutions
- I. Reform of the Admissions Institutions
- II. The Establishment of a Diverse Admissions Model
- III. Improvement of the Independent Admissions Institutions
- Chapter Seven The Education Supervision Institutions
- Section 1 Development History of Education Supervision Reform
- I. Recovery and Reconstruction of the Education Supervision Institutions
- II. The Preliminary Formation of the Education Supervision Institutions with Chinese Characteristics
- III. Building a Comprehensive Education Supervision and Guidance Institutions with Chinese Characteristics
- Section 2 The Strategic Position of Education Supervision and Guidance
- I. Education Supervision and Guidance in Transformation
- II. The New Era Calls for a Deepening of Education Supervision and Guidance Reform
- III. The Strategic Position of Education Supervision in the New Era
- Section 3 Reform of the Education Supervision and Guidance Institutions
- I. Independence of Education Supervision and Guidance Institutions
- II. Professionalization of Education Supervision and Guidance Personnel
- III. Integration of Supervision and Guidance Functions
- IV. Socialization of Supervision and Guidance Services
- Section 4 Reform of the Education Supervision and Guidance Mechanism
- I. Supervision, Guidance and Monitoring Mechanism
- II. Supervision, Guidance and Evaluation Mechanism
- III. The School Supervision Responsibility Mechanism
- IV. The Supervision and Guidance and Accountability Mechanism
- Chapter Eight The Education Finance Institutions
- Section 1 Exploration of the Education Finance Institutions in the Early Period of Reform and Opening Up
- I. Hierarchical Contracting Financial Institutions
- II. The Embryonic Form of the Decentralized Education Finance Institutions
- III. Analysis of the Decentralized Education Finance Institutions
- Section 2 Establishment of Multichannel Financing Institutions for Education
- I. Raising Funding for Education through Multiple Channels
- II. The Establishment of Education Investment Theory and the 4% Target
- III. The Practice of Increasing Investment in Education Funding
- IV. Analysis of Multichannel Education Financing Policies
- Section 3 The Public Education Finance Institutions
- I. The Public Finance Institutions
- II. Composition of the Public Education Finance Institutions
- III. The Increase in Financial Education Funds under the Guidance of “the Three Growths”
- IV. Analysis of the Public Education Finance Institutions
- Section 4: The Future-Oriented Modern Education Finance Institutions
- I. Full-Caliber Education Budget Institutions
- II. Investment in Financial Education Funds in the Post 4% Era
- III. The Combination of Improving the Education Investment Mechanism and Promoting Education Reform
- IV. Build Education Investment into a Model Area for National Fiscal Reform
- Chapter Nine The Institutions of Opening Education to the Outside World
- Section 1 Historical Retrospect of an Education Institutions Open to Foreign Countries
- Section 2 The Study Abroad Institutions
- I. Restarting the Study Abroad Institutions
- II. Promoting the Study Abroad Institutions in China
- Section 3 The Talent Attraction Institutions
- I. The Returning to China to Serve Institutions: From Compulsory to Encouraging
- II. Service Institutions in China: From Restricted to Open
- Section 4 Foreign-Related Schooling Institutions
- I. The Establishment of an Open Curriculum Institution
- II. The Expansion and Standardized Development of Cooperative School Running
- III. The Booming Development of Overseas School Running
- Section 5 Global Education Governance
- I. Trade in Educational Services
- II. Multilateral Education Cooperation
- III. International Education Assistance
- References
- Afterword
- Contributors
General Preface to “China’s Path to Education Modernization” Book Series
Deepening Reform in an All-Round Way and Accelerating the Realization of Education Modernization
In December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China established the ideological line of emancipating minds and seeking truth from facts, and made major decisions with regard to Reform and Opening Up. Since Reform and Opening Up began, China’s economy has had 40 years of continuous growth. Per capita GDP has jumped from 171st in the world to 70th1, total GDP has jumped from 9th to 2nd2, and China’s contribution rate to the global economy has increased from 3.05% in 1978 to 31.53% in 20163. This is a miracle in Chinese history and a miracle in world history.
China’s education has been an important component of this miracle and an important driving force for creating it. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education in China increased from 12.62% in 1981 to 77.4% in 2016, surpassing the average level of middle- and high-income countries by 5 percentage points; the consolidation rate of nine-year compulsory education reached 93.4% in 2016, surpassing the average level of high-income countries; and the gross enrollment rate for high-school education increased from 39.56% in 1981 to 87.5% in 2016, which is 5 percentage points higher than the average of middle-and-high- income countries. The gross enrollment rate for higher education increased from 1.6% in 1981 to 42.7% in 2016, surpassing the average level of middle-and-high- income countries by 6 percentage points. At the same time, China has performed outstandingly well in terms of PISA scores and the development of universities, showing a significant increase in the quality of education.
The development of education has brought about major changes in China’s human resources structure. The average number of years of education received by those aged 16–59 rose from less than 5 years in 1981 to 10.35 years in 2016, and the proportion of people with a college education or above rose from 0.58% in 1982 to 12.44% in 2015.4 The expected years of schooling in China in 1990 was 8.8 years, ranking 119th in the world; in 2015, expected years of schooling increased to 13.5 years, and China’s world ranking rose to 83rd.5 China has transformed from a populous country into a human resources country and is increasingly moving towards becoming a human resources power.
Revealing the successful experiences and reasons for China’s Reform and Opening Up is becoming an increasingly strong interest in the academic world, and also the responsibility of Chinese scholars. The famous American Sinologist John King Fairbank (1907–1991) published the book The United States and China 70 years ago. This was the first time a Western scholar had created a monograph with a comparison between China and the United States. In this work, Fairbank said that China was undergoing a modernization movement. The most fundamental feature of this movement was China’s decision to abandon all the traditions and institutions of its own country, and then to use all Western civilization and institutions, including language, as a counterpart. Therefore, China’s modernization was a process in which the West continued to impact China and China continued to respond. For a long time, this “impact-response model” was a consensus among Western scholars on the nature of China’s upcoming modernization path (Fairbank, 2000: 132–134, 451). However, in the book China: A New History published two days before his death, Fairbank (2001: 492–493) wrote: “After 50 years of experience and observation, I have found that China’s modernization is probably not a result of the impact-response model, but a result of its own internal genetic changes and internal development impulses.”
Ronald H. Coase (1910–2013), a Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, published a book called How China Became Capitalist when he was 102 years old with his assistant Ning Wang. In this book, he wrote: “China is very successful, and her development will continue. However, China’s economic development cannot be explained using traditional Western economics. China’s successful reform is an unexpected result of human behavior” (Ronald & Wang: 1, 206–210).
This world is a pluralistic one. There is not only one path to modernization, and most certainly, there is not only one standard path. The successful practice of China and its education modernization proves that there are multiple channels and forms for realizing modernization, and fully demonstrates the global significance of China’s modernization success.
Education Modernization Is a Consistent Theme in China’s Reform and Opening Up of Education
Practice has shown that the history of reform and development in Chinese education since Reform and Opening Up began is a history of exploration and struggle for the modernization of education, and it is a history of leaping forward in the modernization of socialist education with Chinese characteristics.
In 1983, Xiaoping Deng wrote an inscription for Beijing Jingshan School, “Education should be oriented towards modernization, facing the world, and facing the future.” This reflected the Chinese people’s yearning and determination for the development of education in a focused way and established the ideological foundation and strategic direction for the reform and development of China’s education.
In 1985, The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Reform of the Education institution clarified the grand mission of the modernization of socialist education: “Not only must we make full use of and make efforts to improve existing talents, but we must also greatly enhance the Party’s understanding of education work. Facing modernization, facing the world, and facing the future, for the development of China’s economy and society in the 1990s and the beginning of the next century, we will prepare new and qualified talents at all levels that can adhere to the socialist direction on a large scale.”
In 1993, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued The Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development, which further clarified the goal of China’s education reform and development: “After several decades of efforts, establish a relatively mature and perfected socialist education institution and realize the modernization of education.”
In July 2010, The National Medium-and-Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) clearly stated: “By 2020, education modernization will have been basically realized, a learning-based society will have been basically formed and China will have entered the ranks of powerful countries when it comes to human resources.” This outline required the preparation of human resources in advance to realize the country’s basic modernization.
In 2017, at the 19th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, it was once again stressed: “Becoming a strong country in terms of education is a basic project of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Education must be prioritized, the modernization of education must be accelerated, and education must be carried out in a way that satisfies the people.” The report further emphasized the sense of urgency needed to achieve education modernization.
In summary, education modernization has always been a consistent theme and distinctive banner in China’s reform and development of education. It has become the ideal pursuit and the spiritual motivation for concentrating the powers of all aspects of the country on education development. It not only provides talent security and intellectual support for the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense and science and technology, it also is of decisive significance for building a prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful modern socialist country.
The Deepening of Reform and Opening Up Is a Powerful Driving Force in Education Modernization
The modernization of Chinese education has always been accompanied by Reform and Opening Up. Education modernization has established an overall direction for the reform and development of education. Reform and Opening Up has not only provided a powerful impetus for the realization of education modernization but also pointed out the basic path for the rapid advancement of China’s education modernization.
In 1977, the college entrance examination (gaokao) institution was reinstated and students were sent abroad to study, announcing the arrival of China’s Reform and Opening Up. Since then, education reform has gradually developed and constantly deepened in the context of Reform and Opening Up across the whole country. After the period 1977–1985 of bringing about order from chaos, the general launching of Reform and Opening Up from 1985 to 1993, the comprehensive deepening of Reform and Opening Up from 1993 to 2010, and the deepening of comprehensive education reform since 2010, a completely new situation in the modernization of socialist education with Chinese characteristics has been created.
1977 to 1985: Liberating thought and bringing about order from chaos. From the late 1950s onwards, since the focus of the work of the whole party was never transferred to economic construction, and because of the influence of “leftist” thinking with “class struggle as the key link,” not only had education not been given the important status it deserved for a long time, it was also frequently attacked in previous political movements. “The Cultural Revolution” even went to the extreme of using this mistaken “leftist” thinking to reject knowledge and abolish education. As a result, the cause of education was seriously damaged, and a vast number of educators were severely devastated, not only delaying the growth of a whole generation of young people but also rewidening the gap between China’s education industry and those of developed countries throughout the world, which had been narrowing in many respects. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, following the guiding ideology of restoring order, the Party Central Committee made a series of new judgments and decisions on education, and China’s education cause was restored and reemerged on the road of vigorous development.
1985–1993: Education reform is fully initiated. Three feet of ice and snow are not formed overnight. In the early days of Reform and Opening Up, the mistaken idea of holding education, knowledge, and talented people in contempt was still widespread; the influence of the “Left” of the education front had not been completely overcome; and the situation of education work not meeting the needs of socialist modernization had not yet been fundamentally reversed in the short term. Faced with China’s opening up to the outside world, invigoration of internal affairs, the full-scale development of economic institution reform, and the emergence of a new global technological revolution, the backwardness of China’s education industry and the drawbacks of the education institution were even more prominent. In particular, in the division of administrative authority for education, the relevant government departments overregulated and overcontrolled schools, especially colleges and universities, resulting in a lack of vitality in schools at all levels; and the situations that the government should have been managing more closely were not managed properly. In terms of education structure, basic education was weak, the number of schools was insufficient, quality was not high, and there was a serious lack of qualified teachers and necessary equipment; vocational and technical education, which was urgently needed for economic construction, was not properly developed; the proportion of the curriculum, professional structure, and school-running levels was out of balance within higher education. At the same time, schools of all levels and types had outdated curriculums, uninspired teaching methods, monotonous teaching methods, and serious neglect of practical stages, each separating from the needs of economic and social development to different extents and falling behind in the development of contemporary scientific culture. To this end, The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Reform of the Education institution clearly stated: “To fundamentally change this situation, we must start with the education institution and systematically carry out reforms.” The decision also established the fundamental guiding principle of “education serves the building of socialism and the building of socialism depends on education,” which was the need to start with the reform of the education institution, and, correspondingly, reform the labor and personnel institution by means of streamlining administration and decentralization and expanding schools’ autonomy in running themselves, allowing a significant increase in awareness and abilities needed for education institutions of all kinds at all levels to actively adapt to the needs of economic and social development.
1993 to 2010: Education Reform Is Comprehensively Deepened. During this period, after the return to order and the gradual development of various educational reforms, nine-year compulsory education began to be implemented in a planned and phased manner; vocational and technical education was developed to a considerable extent; higher education developed rapidly, a system with various levels, various forms, and subjects was basically completed; adult education and ethnic education of various forms was greatly developed; and the institution of rural basic education enacting local responsibility and hierarchical management achieved remarkable results. However, China’s education was still relatively backward in general, and still was not suited to the needs of accelerating Reform and Opening Up and modernization. The strategic position of education had not yet been fully implemented in practice; education investment was insufficient, teachers were underpaid, and school conditions were poor; educational ideology, teaching content, and teaching methods were different from reality to different extents; there were obvious weak links in school ideological and political work; and the education management institution and operational mechanisms appeared to be relatively rigid. To this end, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated that “education must be placed in a strategic position of priority development and we must strive to raise the ideological, moral, and scientific and cultural level of the entire nation. This is the fundamental plan for realizing China’s modernization.” In order to implement this major strategy, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued The Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development, which proposed “national fiscal education expenditures” (including: financial allocations for education at all levels, urban and rural education surcharges, funds for corporations to run primary and secondary schools, and tax reductions and exemptions for school-run industries) for the first time, accounting for 4% of the gross national product at the end of the century. At the same time, it was decided that a comprehensive and step-by-step approach should be adopted for the reform of the education institution; the pace should be accelerated; the overly managed and overly controlled institution should be reformed; and a new education institution compatible with the reform of the socialist market economic institution, political institution, and scientific and technological institution should be initially established. The issuance of this programmatic document promoted China’s education to a new level of internationalized, long-lasting, and diversified schooling.
Since 2010: Education Enters a New Phase of Comprehensive Reform. After more than 30 years of hard work, the Chinese education institution is gradually improving and the level of schooling is continuously improving. In the first decade of the 21st century, urban and rural free compulsory education was fully realized, vocational education developed rapidly, higher education entered the stage of popularization, and education fairness took a major step forward. However, in the face of the deepening of economic globalization, the rapid advancement of science and technology, the increasingly fierce competition for talents, and the new demands on education in the face of economic upgrading and social transformation, China’s education still faces a series of major challenges. There are many deep contradictions. These are mainly manifested in the following ways: Concepts of education are relatively backward, content methods are relatively old, primary and secondary school students are overburdened with school work, and quality of education is difficult to advance; students are not adaptable to society and employment, and innovative, practical, and compound talents are extremely scarce; the education institution mechanism is imperfect, teaching in schools is uninspired, the education structure and layout are not reasonable, education development in urban and rural areas and regions is not balanced, and the education development in poverty-stricken areas and ethnic areas is relatively lagging; and there is a lack of investment in education and the strategic status of education as a priority for development has not yet been fully implemented. To this end, it is necessary to deepen the comprehensive reform of education, especially the reform of key areas and key stages, with the fundamental mission of developing the moral character of young people, with reform and innovation as a powerful driving force, and promoting fairness and quality as a strategic focus to promote reform of the examination enrollment institution and deepening the separation of management and evaluation as an important starting point, and making efforts to cultivate innovative, compound, practical, and international talents. In this regard, The National Medium-and-Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010–2020) promulgated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in 2010 made a comprehensive deployment, from which a new journey of transitioning from a big education country to a strong education country and realizing profound development began.
Details
- Pages
- XXVI, 392
- Year
- 2023
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781433194481
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781433194498
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433169083
- DOI
- 10.3726/b19271
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2023 (June)
- Keywords
- 40 years of China's reform education modernization education policies and regulation
- Published
- New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2023. XXVI, 392 pp., 6 b/w ill., 13 tables.
