Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/18542
Title: Neo-liberal Education Policy in China: Issues and Challenges in Curriculum Reform
Contributor(s): Tan, Charlene (author); Reyes, Vicente (author)
Publication Date: 2016
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/18542
Abstract: A quick glance at the historical developments of China since the early 1980s, and particularly focusing on the introduction of market reforms and the Open Door policy (Guan, 2000) reflects the nation's deliberate move away from a centrally-planned regime to one where markets perform a greater role. Such a move is reminiscent of administrative states that previously took primary responsibility for human welfare and economy to one that "gives power to global corporations and installs apparatuses and knowledges" where individual members of the population are "reconfigured as productive economic entrepreneurs" (Davies & Bansel, 2007, p. 249) and given responsibility to take care of their own lives. This shift is clear evidence of the influence of neo-liberalism in the development trajectory of China. Educational changes in China take place against a backdrop of global competition and economic globalisation. The shift from a centrally planned economy to one of a market economy has ushered in major curriculum reforms in China for the past few decades. Underpinned by the administrative structure of decentrised centralism, these reforms reflect neo-liberal education policies and practices such as decentralisation, school autonomy, student-centred teaching, critical and innovative thinking and real-life application. This chapter critically discusses the key characteristics and ideological assumptions of neo-liberal education policy, and its impact on curriculum reform in China. To illustrate the adoption and consequences of neoliberal education policy in China, this chapter focuses on recent educational changes in Shanghai through its 'Second phase curriculum reform'. Before we explore the issues and challenges of curriculum reform in China, it is instructive to understand the concepts of neo-liberalism and neo-liberal education policy.
Publication Type: Book Chapter
Source of Publication: Spotlight on China: Changes in Education under China's Market Economy, p. 19-33
Publisher: Sense Publishers
Place of Publication: Rotterdam, Netherlands
ISBN: 9789462098817
9789462098800
9789462098794
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 130103 Higher Education
130302 Comparative and Cross-Cultural Education
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 390303 Higher education
390401 Comparative and cross-cultural education
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 930501 Education and Training Systems Policies and Development
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 160205 Policies and development
HERDC Category Description: B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book
Series Name: Spotlight on China
Series Number : 1
Editor: Editor(s): Shibao Guo and Yan Guo
Appears in Collections:Book Chapter

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