China Urban and Rural Public Education Service Equalization


Book Description

Centering on issues of disparity and equality in basic public education services in China, this book proposes a performance measurement system that assesses and guides equality of basic public education in urban and rural areas. The author moves beyond traditional research approaches by drawing on methods of public management and mathematics. Pivoted on an improved balanced scorecard model, a complete set of indicators and measuring tools are constructed, whereby the process of education equality can be more effectively measured, managed, and steered. Grounded in empirical studies on public education in the country's Sichuan Province, the book advances suggestions on better policies and optimizing implementation for the purpose of attaining equitable public education services in urban and rural areas. Finally, the study envisages further research directions and possible applications of the performance appraisal model. The title will be of value to scholars and students of education studies, especially those interested in public education, educational equity, and Chinese public education services.




Coordinating Urban and Rural Development in China


Book Description

•The focus of published narrative on the great Chinese urbanization wave was always going to sharpen _ away from the general fascination, assertions, theories and commentaries to specific issues and specific regions. Well here is a first class example




The Educational Hopes and Ambitions of Left-Behind Children in Rural China


Book Description

This monograph highlights the educational experiences of rural children who are 'left behind' by their migrant worker parents in China, analyzing how this situation impacts on their aspirations and self-identity. Via an ethnographic and qualitative case study of a rural school in southwest China, the author presents the real lives of these disadvantaged children along with their challenges and needs, and provides an in depth understanding of how being ‘left behind’ impacts on their future aspirations. Building on the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu, the author makes an original contribution by combining seemingly incompatible disciplinary perspectives, such as cultural capital from sociology, rational action from behavioral economics, and self-efficacy from psychology. Hence, the book endeavors to transfer these Western theories to an Eastern context and demonstrates cultural nuances that are not always captured when applied in the West. The book will attract academic scholars and postgraduate students in the area of socially disadvantaged children and young people as well as those who are working on youth studies and rural education.




Migrant Children in State/Quasi-state Schools in Urban China


Book Description

Highlighting the changing landscape of Chinese urban state schools under the pressure of recruiting a tremendous number of migrant children, this book examines the quality of state educational provisions from demographic, institutional, familial and cultural angles. Rooted in rich qualitative data from five Chinese metropolitan cities, it identifies the demographic changes in many state schools of becoming ‘migrant majority’ and the institutional reformation of ‘interim quasi-state’ schools under a low cost and inferior schooling approach. This book also digs into the ‘black box’ of cultural reproduction in school and family processes, revealing both a gloomy side of many migrant children’s academic underachievement as a result of troubled home-school relations and a bright side that social inclusion of migrant children in state school promotes their adaptation to urban life. The author concludes that migrant children’s experiences in state (and quasi-state) schools turn them into a generation of ‘new urban working-class’. The monograph will be of interest to scholars, students, practitioners and policymakers who want to better understand educational equality for migrants and other marginalised groups.




China's Formal Online Education under COVID-19


Book Description

This book investigates how schools, enterprises and families in China have coped with the formal online education in the light of government policy throughout the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak, with special focus on the problems they have encountered and possible solutions. Using grounded theory, over 1000 posts retrieved from public online forums were analyzed under a 4*4 framework, referring to four special time nodes (proposal period, exploratory period, full deployed period, exiting period) and four major subjects (government, schools, enterprises, families). The book identifies four main issues faced by massive online education during the epidemic: platform selection in proposal period, teacher training in exploratory period, resource integration in full deployed period, and flexibility of returning to schools in exiting period. These findings enlighten us with a deeper understanding of the process of online learning in an educational emergency, helping to develop best countermeasures in similar situations, as well as to provide paths to follow for other countries. The book will appeal to teachers, researchers and school administrators of the online education and education emergency management, as well as those who are interested in Chinese education during the COVID-19 outbreak in general.




The Welfare System of Universal Integration in China


Book Description

This book presents the concepts: the welfare system of universal integration and the welfare mode of universal integration. In this book, the author explores the foundation of fair baseline about the universal integration on the basis of critically inheriting the domestic and international social welfare theories, comprehensively explains the connotation, subject and application of fair baseline theory. It systematically discusses the theoretical basis, basic features, scientific evidence, system composition and operating mechanism, introduces the experience in the west and Asia about the construction of social welfare system, further investigates and understands the public needs about the social welfare, talks about the system design of the welfare system of universal integration and provides some realistic, individualized and operative suggestions for promoting the welfare system of universal integration.




Constructing Social Support Systems for Left-behind and Migrant Children in China


Book Description

The book studies the educational needs of two disadvantaged groups of children in China (left-behind children in rural areas and migrant children in urban areas), aiming to optimize the social support system so that these disadvantaged children can realize their full potential. The author conducts two separate researches and introduces the research background, methodology, related theories and advanced theories. Main difficulties of left-behind children and migrant children include parents’ lack of attention to their children’s mental health, teachers’ lack of expertise in working with these two groups of children, and a lack of collaboration between schools and NGOs. It suggests promoting systematic reform, helping parents to develop effective parenting skills, and establishing positive interactions among the stakeholders of social support for these disadvantaged children. The book will be of interest to people who work with left-behind children in rural areas and those who work with migrant students in urban areas, including teachers, school administrators, local educational authorities, community-based service providers, and provincial and central departments of education.




Between Sacred and Secular Knowledge


Book Description

This book examines how different social forces, including state ideology and policies, religious culture and ethnic identities, and economic market forces, affect Muslim parents’ perceptions and attitudes toward public and religious education. Combining ethnographic fieldwork and a cognitive rationality framework, this book investigates ethnic minorities’ educational attainment and its shaping mechanisms. Instead of attributing the undereducation of ethnic minorities solely to structural factors such as economic constraints, cultural conflicts and state policies, this study focuses on the critical role of perceptions and expectations through which many structural factors function. The fieldwork in a predominantly Muslim village in northwest China reveals that public education and religious education are complementary in the daily pursuit of well-being. And the study further argues that the practical oriented logic of rural Muslims sheds light on the research of inequality in educational attainment. The book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students studying ethnic minority education in China. Those who are researching on Islam and Muslims’ identity, especially in a multiethnic society, may also find this research insightful and helpful.




Education Policy and Reform in China


Book Description

This book examines educational development and reform in contemporary China and focuses on some of the major issues facing education in both rural and urban areas, across the spectrum of primary, secondary, higher, adult and vocational educational pathways. The book reflects on Chinese educational strategies at a time of rapid development of the market economy and the need to promote the modernization of education. It also considers how social reform and educational changes go hand in hand and discusses the right to education irrespective of gender, nationality, particularly examining the case of children from migrant families. From the rapid development of preschool and compulsory education to the modernization of the university system, this book highlights China’s ambition to create a top tier education system, fostering talent to match its requirements in a fast moving employment market and knowledge economy. ​




Transforming China's Public Services


Book Description

This book explores the developmental direction of the modernization of China's basic public services in the context of national governance modernization. Describing the blueprint for the modernization of China's basic public services in 2030, including basic public education, basic medical and health services, basic old-age services, and basic public cultural services, this book reflects Chinese public management scholars' strategies for the modernization of China's public services in the next 10 years and the path to get there. This book will interest scholars of Chinese governance, as well as readers who want to understand the current status, challenges and development strategies of China's public service and social policy fields. The authors of the book are professors from the School of Public Management and School of Education of Renmin University of China. The author team was led by Professor Dong Keyong, deanof the School of Public Management and Professor Wei Na, and includes contributions from Professor Liu Peng, Professor Li Wenzhao, Associate Professor Tang Jie, Dr. Ouyang Wei, and Professor Zhou Guangli, Associate Professor Zhou Xiang from the School of Education, and many post-doctoral, doctoral and master students.