Comprehensive Regional Reform: The Transformation and Breakthrough in China’s Educational Reform [1st ed.] 9789811569135, 9789811569142

Table of contents :
Front Matter ....Pages i-xv
Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 1-28
The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 29-63
The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 65-89
Frame the Development Plan for Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 91-124
Search for the Sensitive Factors of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 125-156
The Modernization of Regional Education Governance (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 157-189
Building Distinctive School Clusters of the Region (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 191-232
The Effective Guarantee of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education (Guihua Liu, Xiaofei Wang)....Pages 233-269
Back Matter ....Pages 271-301

Citation preview

Research in Chinese Education

Guihua Liu Xiaofei Wang

Comprehensive Regional Reform The Transformation and Breakthrough in China’s Educational Reform

Research in Chinese Education Series Editors Mingyuan Gu, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing, China Weihe Xie, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China

In recent years, the Chinese economy has grown rapidly, and Chinese society has undergone enormous changes. Education provides strong intellectual support for economic and social development in this process, although it has also encountered a number of problems. In order to address these problems, China has made tremendous efforts in terms of both policies and practices. The “Research on Chinese Education” series presents the current situation and experiences of education in China, addresses local issues and discusses relevant research, providing a reference resources for foreign readers to help them understand education in China and conduct international comparative studies. The editors and authors of this book series are well-known scholars in the field of Chinese education. Based on the concept of China’s reality, and using diverse study methods, such as historical analysis, literature analysis, policy analysis, field study, data analysis and modeling, the authors look inside the educational problems that China is working on through specific and sensitive lens. They interpret the development status and policy measures using new expert studies, explore the common global concerns with insightful and creative thinking, and offer suggestions for improving the education system, school management and classroom teaching practices. This series depicts the features of China’s education from various perspectives, from historical tradition to modernization requirements, from promoting individual growth to participating in the globalization process. The volumes focus on significant educational issues emerging as a result of the social change process. They cover areas such as comprehensive reforms to regional education, education puzzles in urbanization process, education equity and parity, education quality improvement, classroom teaching, and education assessment. For example, how to promote educational reform at different levels of administration in such a large country; how to adapt education policy to the changing population composition, city layout and industrial structure; how to protect the right of every child to go to school and receive impartial education; and how to scientifically assess the academic achievements of students and guarantee education quality by introducing professional monitoring systems. The book series explores the successful practices, accumulated experiences, and ideas in the modernization of China's education, representing Chinese contributions to global education development, and enriching cross-cultural education exchanges and communications. It is intended for researchers, policymakers, teachers, and anyone concerned about education.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16104

Guihua Liu Xiaofei Wang •

Comprehensive Regional Reform The Transformation and Breakthrough in China’s Educational Reform

123

Guihua Liu National Institute of Education Sciences Beijing, China

Xiaofei Wang National Institute of Education Sciences Beijing, China

Translated by Shengqi Wu School of English for Specific Purposes Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing, China

ISSN 2524-4760 ISSN 2524-4779 (electronic) Research in Chinese Education ISBN 978-981-15-6913-5 ISBN 978-981-15-6914-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2 Jointly published with Educational Science Publishing House, with financial support from the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences The print edition is not for sale in the Mainland of China. Customers from the Mainland of China please order the print book from: Educational Science Publishing House. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface

In the 1960s and 1970s, the famous English educator Eric Ashby identified four revolutions in education. The first revolution occurred when the task of educating the young was shifted, in part, from parents to teachers and from home to the school. The second came with the adoption of the “written word as a tool of education.” The third came with the invention of the printing press and books. The fourth came with the advent of electronics, and development in communication, particularly the invention of computers. At the present age, information technologies, represented by big data, intelligent manufacturing and wireless Internet, have a tremendous impact on the time, space, contents and forms of education, and the way of human communication. This transformation is really the fifth revolution in education. A popular saying goes like this: “One who fails to plan for the whole situation is incapable of planning for a partial area.” Faced with the changes of the world situation, national situation and teaching situation, the Communist Party of China, with its strategic vision and superb wisdom, passed the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee (or Decision in short). The Decision makes major plans for the significant fields and crucial issues on comprehensively advancing reforms. The Decision highlights the general requirement of “advancing comprehensive reform in the field of education” put forward in the report of the 18th CPC National Congress, clarifies the striving orientations and targeted measures, and serves as a significant guidance to promote the scientific development of education and provide an education to people’s satisfaction. The promotion of educational reform on the regional level is the most significant and the most effective way to lead the educational development in the future. China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, 2 special administrative regions and 670 “cities” or regions on the municipal level. The population in Chinese mainland in 2013 was 1.36072 billion, and 731.11 million lived in towns and cities, accounting for 53.73% of the total. Today, the 1.36 billion people are from 56 ethnic groups and they speak 130 languages, making China the world’s v

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largest multiethnic country in terms of population. China has a large population, a large land area and a wide regional gap of development. The gap is even wider within the region. These are China’s realistic conditions. Advancing the educational reform on the regional level is compatible with China’s national and local realities. This is the most realistic value of educational innovation and also the most feasible and operational reform model. To start the educational reform on the regional level is the most significant and most effective method to enhance the balanced development of education as a whole. The establishment of the experimental districts of comprehensive educational reform in different regions throughout the country has become a new initiative to lead the region’s educational reform and gradually expand to the whole country. The Outline of the National Medium and Long-term Educational Reform and Development Plan (2010–2020) points out that “We will organize and conduct the reform experiment. We will establish the leading group of advancing the national reform of educational system, and discuss, plan, guide and implement the reform. We will follow the principles of coordinated planning, step-by-step implementation, prior district experiment, and dynamic adjustments. We will select some schools and regions to carry out significant reform experiments.” These are the major guaranteeing measures and guiding principles of advancing regional educational reforms. The regional educational development is the core issue of the decision-making of governments at all levels. It is also a significant theoretical and practical issue in the academic and social circles. Since the 1980s, China’s regional education, based on the regional economic and social development, made great contributions to cultivating the talents, optimizing the educational resources and enhancing the educational equality. China’s renowned economist, Li Daoqui, said that the innovation of a new wave of reform model is reflected in putting practice before debate and judging the model by its practical effectiveness. This approach pays close attention to the top-level design and trial and error (i.e., “crossing the river by feeling the stones”). In May 2008, Yuan Zhenguo, the then director of China Central Institute of Educational Sciences, proposed establishing comprehensive educational reform experimental districts in the representative regions in the eastern, middle and western parts of the country where the conditions were ripe. I was fortunate to be the leader of the expert panel for the first experimental district. I worked in Xiacheng (Hangzhou) Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental District all the year round and experienced the colorful, lively, thriving educational ecological garden. In 2009, I successfully applied for the project of National Office for Education Sciences Planning: “The Research on the Model of Regional Educational Development.” In the past several years, my team and I worked hard to summarize the successful experience of the experimental practices, then use it to guide the educational reform practice and contribute to the educational policy-making of the local governments. Our efforts won the recognition of the local governments, school principals, teachers and academic circle. With their encouragement, we are more determined and confident in comprehensively advancing our exploration of the regional educational development.

Preface

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Today, China is carrying out the task of comprehensively deepening reform. The two keywords “comprehensiveness” and “deepening” are inspiring new confidence and new energy. To comprehensively illustrate the topic of regional educational reform, we need to answer a series of theoretical and practical questions. First, what is comprehensive reform of regional education? This question includes the following aspects: How can we construct the concept system of regional education? What are the past experiences and future direction of regional educational reform? What are the rationales or adequate “theories” of advancing regional educational reform? Are the theories in area studies and ecological studies applicable to the research in regional educational reform? What is the significance or value of advancing regional educational reform? etc. Second, why should we carry out comprehensive reform of regional education? A significant concept in ecology is the carrying capacity. In 1921, Park and Burgess used this concept in human ecology for the first time. Carrying capacity means the maximum capacity of the individuals of a certain species under a certain environmental condition. The meaning of carrying capacity is twofold. One is the self-maintaining and self-adjusting capacity of the ecological system and the holding capacity of resources and the environmental subsystem. This is the supporting part of carrying capacity. The other is the development capacity of the economic and social subsystems within the ecological system. This is the pressuring part of carrying capacity. The gaming of these two forces determines the stability and development of the ecological system. Therefore, the question we need to answer is: Is it the major driving forces of regional educational reform that lead to the loss of balance of the regional educational ecology? How can we measure and calculate the carrying capacity of regional education? Are these theories and methods good enough to be tested by practice? Third, what are the factors that impact on comprehensive reform of regional education? Comprehensive reform of regional education is influenced by many factors. In a given historical environment, the impact differs from factor to factor. Those with tremendous impact are called sensitive factors, whereas those with little impact are called insensitive factors. Only when we accurately identify the sensitive and insensitive factors can we enhance the target and effectiveness of the reform. Therefore, we need to strive hard to examine how to figure out the sensitive and insensitive factors that impact comprehensive reform of regional education and how to select the tools and models of measurement, etc. How can we effectively advance comprehensive reform of regional education? This question involves the research on the major practical pathways to advance reform. For instance, how can we make the development plans for comprehensive reform of regional education? What are the key fields and crucial issues of comprehensive reform of regional education? What are the principles and strategies of advancing the modernization of regional education? How can we establish the distinctive school clusters within the region? What are the guaranteeing conditions to effectively achieve comprehensive reform of regional education? etc.

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In a word, this book strives to integrate theoretical discourse and practical guidance, knowledge innovation and policy-making service, rationale illustration and problem solving, and qualitative research and quantitative research. Regional education is one of the core issues in China’s educational reform today, and the exploration of comprehensive reform of regional education is the key to addressing the issue of regional education. The native experience and knowledge to interpret regional educational reform with Chinese characteristics will surely enrich China’s contemporary educational theories and make Chinese theoretical contribution to the development of the world’s educational development. Beijing, China

Guihua Liu Xiaofei Wang

Introduction

In the context of new normal, the internal and external environment of education is undergoing profound changes. Faced with the new concepts and new requirements of the “Four Comprehensives” strategic layout to education, this book conducts a systematic research on Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education, a new transformational and groundbreaking model in educational reform, and is of great significance to advance China’s educational modernization. By employing theoretical discourse (Chaps. 1, 2 and 3), policy discourse (Chaps. 4, 5 and 6) and practical discourse (Chaps. 7 and 8), this book systematically and profoundly addresses some key issues in comprehensive reform of regional education: What is comprehensive reform of regional education? Why should we carry out comprehensive reform of regional education? What are the factors that influence comprehensive reform of regional education? How can we effectively advance comprehensive reform of regional education? etc. In answering these questions, this book strives to integrate theoretical discourse and practical guidance, knowledge innovation and policy-making service, rationale illustration and problem solving, and qualitative research and quantitative research. It is expected to offer the key for policy-makers, educators and those who are concerned about China’s educational development to understand regional education.

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Contents

1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Define the Terms: Region, Regional Education and Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . 1.1.1 Region: A Relative Spatial Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.2 Regional Education: The Intermediate Education Between Macro- and Micro-education . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.3 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: A Systematic Change in Public Domain . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.4 The Primary Models of Regional Education Reform . 1.2 The Past and Current Situation of the Regional Education Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.1 The Diachronic Distribution of Regional Education Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.2 The Spatial Distribution of Regional Education Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Agglomeration, Floating and Innovation Theory of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 Agglomeration–Succession Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.2 Community Succession and Its Cultural Application . 1.3.3 Agglomeration–Floating Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.4 Agglomeration and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education . . 2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education and the Reasons for Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 What Is the Ecological Capacity of Regional Education? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.2 The Imbalance of the Carrying Capacity of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Carrying Capacity of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 The Construction of the Index System . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 The Positivist Research Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical Examples of the Index System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Research Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 The Factors that Influence Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.2 The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 The Measurement of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 What Is Gray System Theory? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 The Feasibility of Gray System Theory Application . . . . 3.2.3 How to Apply Gray System Theory to Education Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 The Gray Correlation Model of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Frame the Development Plan for Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Frame the Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 Establishing the Planning Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.2 Clarifying the Basis of the Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.3 Framing the Strategic Framework of the Development Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.4 Optimizing the Strategic Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 The Text of the Reform Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 The Basic Structure of the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5 Search for the Sensitive Factors of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 The Sensitive Factors: The Key Fields that Affect the Regional Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.1 The Evolution of Political Structure and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.2 Economic Development, Population and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.3 The Current Situation of Regional Education Reform and the Formation of the Principal Function Areas . . . . 5.2 Regional “Niche”: The Final Distribution Areas of Educational Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 What Is Ecological Niche? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.2 The Proposition of the “Genetic Transformation” of Education Has a Solid Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 On Reform Methods: Environmental Measurement and the Choices of Key Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 Measurements: Reform Environment and Carrying Capacity Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.2 The Selection and Practice Patterns of the Key Elements in Comprehensive Reforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6 The Modernization of Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Define the Term Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.1 Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.2 Regional Education Governance and Regional Education Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.3 The Modernization of Regional Education Governance . . . . 6.2 The Necessity to Advance the Modernization of Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 Adapt to the Needs of China’s Social and Economic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2 Implementing the Requirements of National Educational Development Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3 Meet the Educational Demands of Different Interest Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 The Means of Promoting the Modernization of Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.1 Clarify the Goal of Regional Education Governance . . . . . 6.3.2 Strengthen the Coordination of the Major Actors Involved in Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.3 Innovate the System of Regional Education Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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7 Building Distinctive School Clusters of the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 The Elements and Features of Distinctive School Clusters of the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 The Basic Elements of Distinctive School Clusters . . . . 7.1.2 The Typical Features of the Regional School Clusters . . 7.2 The Proposals and Procedures of Building the Distinctive School Clusters in the Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 Regional Orientation: Working Together to Constructing an Ecological System of the Distinctive Development . . 7.2.2 School Orientation: Construct the Pedigree of the Region’s Distinctive School Clusters in the Diversified School-Running Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.3 The Holistic Symbiosis: Construct the Region’s Distinctive School Cluster in the Comprehensive Interactive Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 The Guaranteeing Mechanism of the Region’s Distinctive School Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 Establish the Cultivating Mechanism of the Distinctive Schools and Promote the Diversified Development of the Schools Within the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.2 Establish the Joint Mechanism of the Regional Distinctive School Cluster and Form a Good Ecology of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . 7.3.3 Create the Inclusive Development Mechanism of the Regional Distinctive Features and Enhance the Quality of the Distinctive School Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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8 The Effective Guarantee of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 Advance Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Through Institutional Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.1 Transform the Role of the Government in the Management of Educational Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.2 Establish Collaborative Innovation Mechanisms to Advance Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.3 Perfect the Inspection Evaluation System of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . 8.2 Information-Driven Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 The Revolutionary Impact of Information Technology on Education Reform and Development . . . . . . . . . . .

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8.2.2 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Needs Information Technology to Push It Further . . . . . . . . . 8.2.3 Speed Up the Wide Use of Information Technology to Promote the Pathways of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 Increase the Investment to Provide Material Guarantee for Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.1 The Measurement and Calculation of the Expenditure in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education . . . . 8.3.2 Strengthen the Overall Coordination of Expenditure on Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.3 Reinforce the Effective Oversight of the Expenditure on Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Afterward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Chapter 1

Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory

The Chinese central government’s determination to promote comprehensive educational reform (CER) is not only a policy signpost for the nation as a whole but also a golden opportunity for the local governments to bolster up regional educational development. The comprehensive educational reform is a systematic but not necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach. The regional authorities are required to implement and accelerate the reform. However, the implementation of comprehensive reform does not necessarily mean to take the regulations literally in complete disregard of the local conditions or ignore the regulations and take an utterly different approach. Then comes the question: What does comprehensive educational reform mean on the regional level? What are the lessons to be learned from the past? What is the prospect of future? What constitutes the legal and theoretical basis for it? What is the value to promote it? Owing to the profound division and integration of modern science, it has become increasingly difficult to explain the issues in education from one-dimensional perspective. With the deepening of reform in China, people are apt to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to address the root cause of the issues. The rise of educational ecology and area studies offers us a fresh perspective in exploring regional education reform.

1.1 Define the Terms: Region, Regional Education and Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Regional education is constrained by the economic conditions and other factors and its developmental model and speed vary from region to region. This is a typical feature of China’s educational development. The concept of regional education can be traced back to the 1980s when China’s regional economic development boosted the local governments’ enthusiasm to promote the development of local education. Admittedly, regional disparity in China’s economic development is a fact of life. Although regional educational development is not necessarily in proportion to the © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_1

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1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory

increase in its economic prosperity, it cannot be denied that there is a high correlation between the two factors.

1.1.1 Region: A Relative Spatial Scope Region, originally a basic term in geography to study the definable characteristics of a particular area, is later widely used in economics, sociology, biology and other disciplines. It refers to an area of land that is unique and distinguishable by such features as political factors, physical landscape, economic conditions and social environment. It is a complex and interrelated entity comprised of natural environment, resources, population, economic and social institutions, infrastructure and cultural and educational background. But this is not an ideal way to define the term “region.” There is no explicit definition of the term in geography, either. Neither is there a clear-cut definition in other disciplines. The prominent American geographer Richard Hartshorne defines the concept of region “in terms of similarity in features of a certain area” (Hartshorne 1981). Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines region by way of “selecting relevant features of specific landscape and ruling out other irrelevant features … Its demarcation is marked by the homogeneity and cohesion of the land features on the surface of the earth. It can also be decided by one or more physical features.” (Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 1986) Fang Shuyun and Dou Wenzhang define the term from the perspective of systemic theory and argue that region is a land area with a certain inner structure, social function and dynamic system. (Fang Shuyun and Dou Wenzhang 1997) Cui Gonghao bases his definition on geographical explanations and concludes that region is a spatial concept. It is the structure of a land area on the surface of the earth which occupies a certain space and has different physical objects. A region has four major features. One, it is part of the surface of the earth and occupies a certain space (i.e., three-dimensional space). Two, it has a certain scope and demarcation. Three, it has a certain systemic structure. Four, it is an objective existence, which is demarcated in accordance with different needs (Cui Gonghao 1999). Obviously, although geography does not offer a universally accepted explanation, the definitions offered by the scholars above throw light on the basic characteristics of the term and offer us a solid foundation to deepen our understanding of the concept. In brief, region has the following characteristics. One, it is a geospatial concept. It has a certain scope or demarcation, formed either through natural forces or deliberately designed. It can also be physical units divided by a certain standard. Two, it has a certain homogeneity, i.e., a certain similarity, commonality or unity. Three, it is a historical concept. Its formation results from a certain historical background, i.e., the combination of social production and division of labor among different regions. Four, it is a systemic concept. It is a complex system with more than one center (usually a county) connected to the core of the system, each playing a different role. It also has its inner state and structure. Five, it is objective. Its formation is constrained by the

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objective circumstances, particularly the physical conditions. But once it has come into being, it is an objective existence per se. On top of that, region is a relative concept. It can be as broad as a country, a province, a state or other layers of administration and as narrow as a village or a street. The study of the concept is also multifaceted and multi-dimensional: economic, political, educational, cultural, resources, customs, daily life, population composition and even the mindset of the local people. This book defines the concept of region as county in the administrative sense except for any particular note.

1.1.2 Regional Education: The Intermediate Education Between Macro- and Micro-education The intermediate education (or meso-education) exists between macro-education and micro-education. From a spatial dimension, educational development is revealed through the expansion of its structure, scale and efficiency. Regional education is the integration of educational activities and specific intermediate spatial environment. Although there is no accurate or universally accepted definition, many scholars have already explored the concept from a variety of perspectives. For example, Gu Jianjun defines it as “a relatively independent and stable educational entity in the local communities comprised of a certain population and natural environment in a particular land area.” (Gu Jianjun 1999) Li Yadong defines the term as “a broad education system compatible with the local needs of social development in a county (or a higher tier of administration).” (Li Yadong 2003) Peng Shihua approaches the issue from the geographical, economic and educational angles. He argues that regional education is a relatively small spatial concept as opposed to national education. It is a spatial scope which is convenient to organize, plan, coordinate and manage educational activities. It takes into account such factors as the uniqueness and variation of educational development, the coordinating capacity of different administrative regions and the impact of localities (Peng Shihua 2003). Shen Xiyun bases his interpretation on the very concept of region and defines it as “an intermediate-tier education (meso-education) somewhere between national education (i.e. macro-education) and school education (i.e. micro-education). It is part of the national educational system and reveals the general trend of national educational development while maintaining its own relative independence and uniqueness.” (Shen Xiyun 2007) To sum up, regional education in this study refers to a relatively independent educational system with a certain degree of homogeneity and cohesion at the municipal and county (or district) level. It is an open educational system to serve the national strategy as well as regional economic and social development.

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1.1.3 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: A Systematic Change in Public Domain Regional reform and development are a focal point of China’s Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006–2010). This is initially reflected in the economic sector. China’s regional developmental plans and relevant guiding principles have been laid out at an unprecedented speed across the country, be it in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Sea rim area in the east, the Yellow River Delta, the Wanjiang (in Anhui Province) City Belt and the Poyang Lake (in Hunan Province) Eco-economic Region in the center or the Guanzhong-Tianshui (Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces) Economic Zone in the northwest and Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt in the northeast. Regional development has become the engine of China’s reforms and innovations. Meanwhile, the focal points have also shifted gradually from the initial overemphasis on the economic sector to a more comprehensive, integrated and systematic social reform. It is in this historical context that a comprehensive reform in the public sector, including education, is about to arise. Regional education has three major developmental trajectories, chronological, spatial and mega-trend in reform. In the chronological dimension, it is a linear process, characterized by a rapid increase of the educational scale. In the spatial dimension, it is an optimization process, typified by the improvement of the educational structure and function on the intermediate plane. In the mega-trend dimension, it is a transformational process, pushed by a systematic reform and an ensuing transformation of the structure and function of the regional education on the microplane. Such a transformation prompts the formation of the mega-trend of comprehensive reform of regional education, thereby boosting the interconnectivity between different regions. In recently years, it has become a new trend in public domains and the specific decision-making process concerning educational development in many countries to promote a systematic educational reform on the regional (primarily the county) level. In China, the task of deepening comprehensive reform in education was clearly revealed in the document of the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform (or simply put the Decision) adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on November 12, 2013. Comprehensively deepening the reform is a prerequisite to implement the strategic planning adopted at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on January 8, 2012, boost a sustainable economic and social development, build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and speed up socialist modernization. As the country’s foremost mission in the reform and innovation in the social sector, deepening comprehensive reform in education is in line with the mega-trend of the times and conducive to meeting the expectations of the public. The education reform in the past 30 years has laid a solid foundation for China to accomplish the new objective in the new century. It has also promoted China’s transformation from a country with a large population to one rich in human resources.

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China’s education development, as a whole, has thus reached the world’s medium level. However, it should also be noted that imbalance, incompatibility and unsustainability are still the three primary problems in China’s educational development. China’s education reform now enters the most difficult period. The obsolete views, institutions, mechanisms and the interest groups all become the major obstacles to the promotion of education reform. Now China has no choice but to take effective measures to tackle these problems, for if China does not deepen comprehensive reform, it would be difficult for education to play its vital role in building a moderately prosperous society and realizing the dream of rejuvenating the Chinese nation. The Decision highlights the importance of promoting a systematic, integrated and compatible education reform and stipulates that the focal points of comprehensive education reform should be on eliminating the institutional obstacle that hinders educational development and enhancing the coordination between education reform and the reforms in other social sectors. The Decision systematically illustrates the general requirements for comprehensively deepening China’s education reform. Its basic policy guidelines aim to “address the most pressing issue the public are concerned with” and move ahead with “providing the public with a diversity of social service and better meeting the demands of the people.” The deeper and more strategic intentions of the Decision should be at least threefold: (a) clarifying the differences among the basic public education, the non-basic public education and the non-public education, (b) constituting a new model of relations among the government, schools and society and (c) adhering to the principles of guaranteeing the basic public education, strengthening the district schools and building up effective mechanisms to stimulate the enthusiasm of all parties concerned to participate in education reform. All these are intended to provide every child with more choices for their personal development, every family with the benefits of a better education and every citizen with a fair chance to succeed through public education. Extended Reading In 1985, the Decision of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Education System Reform issued in 1985 pointed out, “The basic education, in this context, compulsory education, is the most basic part of China’s education system. It is in the charge of different levels of the local governments.” In 1993, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development (the Outline in short), which further stipulates that “We must change the monopolistic role of the government in education, and gradually establish the education system with the government playing the dominant role, and participated by all the sectors of society. At the present stage, the basic education should be in the charge of the local governments. The higher education should be put in the charge of the Central and provincial (autonomous regional and municipality) governments, and gradually participated by all the sectors of society. The vocational and adult education should mainly rely on the efforts of the relevant industries, enterprises, government agencies and all sectors of the society.” The seventh clause of the newly

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revised the National Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (which came into effect on September 1, 2006) stipulates that “Compulsory education is led by the State Council, planned by the provincial, autonomous regional and municipality governments and administered by the county governments.”

1.1.4 The Primary Models of Regional Education Reform Choosing to promote education reform on the regional plane is a new trend taken by the national governments around the world in the process of making macroeducation policies or proposing specific initiatives in education development. Based on China’s experience in regional education reform and by examining its causes, characteristics, forms and assessments, it is safe to conclude that China’s governmentled, research-oriented and practice-tested education reform takes on the following models. 1. The Project-Cooperation Model (a) The Causes The project-cooperation model is a more traditional and still popular model in regional education reform. This model originated from the researchers in the academic institutes to take initiative in starting projects. It has a strong academic imprint. (b) The Characteristics The researchers in the academic institutes define the goal of a research project, its theoretical basis and research plan, seek suitable regional partners (e.g., the government institutions, schools or teachers) and thus promote educational research in a given field. (c) The Forms Field study, investigation, experimenting to turn education theory into practice and the combination involving production, teaching and research are the major forms of cooperation models. (d) Assessments The advantages of the project-cooperation model lie in its diversity in content and form, its clear division of labor and the role of research in enhancing regional education in a particular area. However, the disadvantages of this model are also obvious. For instance, the diverse sources of the projects result in the uncertainty and instability of cooperation in terms of content and form and the inevitability of the theory-equipped researchers playing an unfairly dominant role in the process of cooperation.

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2. The Planning and Development Model (a) The Causes In the chronological dimension, education planning falls into three major categories, near-term planning, mid-term planning and long-term planning. In terms of the content, education planning can be categorized as macro-planning, regional planning and school development planning. Regional education planning and development model derive from the reform of the administrative system in education. To promote education development on the planning level is intended to boost education reform on a macro-level. (b) The Characteristics Compared with macro-planning on the national level, regional education planning and development model is strategic, holistic, proactive, macroscopic and easy to manage. It is the government institutions on the regional level that usually take the initiative to promote regional education reform. (c) The Forms The cooperation takes the form of either a tightly organized or loosely organized association comprised of the senior executives and their representatives from the administrative institutions and the experts from the research institutes. The administrative institutions are governmental departments in charge of the decision-making of educational affairs in the region. Their representatives have the power to allocate and use education resources. The regional governments (e.g., municipal, county or district) take initiative to seek cooperation from research institutes. In this process, the government and the research institutes need to have a thorough understanding of the economic structure and social character at a given time. They need to make allowance for such factors as the national education guidelines, policies, developmental strategy and rationale, the forecast of the prospect of the regional development, the subjective and objective conditions of the region when designing a specific education planning and development model for a designated period. (d) Assessments The planning and development model is conducive to promoting a comprehensive, balanced and well-coordinated development in regional education reform, enhancing coordination between relevant parties and offering consultations to those engaged in the planning of regional education development. This model plays a significant role in guiding the decision-making and execution of the regional education development. However, the planning and development model also has some drawbacks, such as the lack of adequate education practice on the micro-plane, the lack of sufficient leverage of the academic institutions in the cooperative relationship as a result of the dominant role of the regional government institutions and the lack of adequate professional guidance from the experts (Fan Weiping 2005; Li Xiaoling 2008).

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3. The Distinctive Exemplary Model (a) The Causes Compared with the two models mentioned above, the distinctive exemplary model is designed to transform the Intro-Regional and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation (IRMBC) mechanism from a more microscopic and specific perspective. The distinctive exemplary model derives from the region’s self-motivation to explore the distinctive education development. Its goal is to enhance a comprehensive and balanced development of education through its radiating functions. (b) The Characteristics In the distinctive exemplary model, the research institutes are taking the initiative to work for the government decision-making and policy implementation. This model sets its goal to promote the education modernization with Chinese characteristics. Since the reform and opening up in the early 1980s, China’s regional education has accumulated much experience from its long-term developmental practice and formed its own distinctive characteristics such as the theory and practice of balanced education development, education modernization in rural areas, the classic triad of moral education: school, family and community, and the establishment of education corporations, etc. These characteristics are well adapted to the reality of the local conditions. For instance, the departments of education of the three provinces in the northeast of China worked with Northeast Normal University and established a Teacher Development Experimental District (Chen Fanbo and Wang Dantong 2008). Qinghai Province worked with Shaanxi Normal University and established a Teacher Development Innovation District (Chen Lina 2008). These are the distinctive exemplary experimental districts for teachers’ development. China’s Distinctive Exemplary Counties Program on Regional Education launched by the Oversight and Assessment Center of National Institute of Education Sciences affiliated to China’s Ministry of Education in 2003 is another case in point. (The Research Center of Education Oversight and Assessment, National Institute of Education Sciences 2008) (c) The Forms The distinctive exemplary model is a typical form of the cooperation between the government and research institutes in promoting the distinctive regional and school development. In this model, the government, schools and researchers work together to promote education reform, with the regional barriers and restrictions gradually removed and the educational resources shared in the process of reform. (d) Assessments Does the distinctive exemplary model really have its unique features? Can these features serve as a model? Its effectiveness still needs to be borne out by further practice.

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The economic development, social environment, cultural background and the size of population differ from region to region. That means there is no one-sizefits-all model in education reform. The aforementioned factors have to be taken into account in choosing which model to adopt to boost regional education reform. Regional education reform is the intermediate medium between the macro-education reform at the national level and the micro-education reform at the school level. It is a relatively independent structure and operating mechanism compatible with the integrated development of the region. 4. The Comprehensive Reform Model (a) The Causes As early as May 1995, China’s Ministry of Education, together with the provincial, regional and municipal governments, launched “the Prairie Fire Program,” which was designed to set up comprehensive reform experimental centers in over 100 counties to promote education reform in rural areas. The Ministry of Education also formulated a Ten-Year Education Reform Outline (1990–2000) (Ministry of Education 2001). This model integrated education reform into the holistic social and economic reform in the rural areas and initiated a new form of cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the provincial governments. It was also one of the first models to raise and incorporate the concept “Comprehensive Reform” in the field of education. At the turn of the new Millennium, people began to have a better understanding of the importance of the nation’s comprehensive reform “experimentation.” The Intergovernmental (i.e., the central government and the regional governments) Cooperation Model has come into being. For instance, the central government and the provincial governments worked together to establish a series of comprehensive education reform experimental areas, such as Shanghai Pudong Comprehensive Education Reform Experimental District, Guangdong Comprehensive Reform Experimental District on Education Modernization, Chengdu Reform Experimental District on the Integration of Education in Urban and Rural Areas and Wuhan Comprehensive Education Reform Experimental District. (Ministry of Education 2008) By combining the aforementioned education reform models, the regional comprehensive education reform model will highlight the active role of the government institutions in promoting education reform and expect the government institutions to provide more professional expertise in the decision-making process and coordinate the inter-regional cooperation and development to promote mutual benefits. The abovementioned four models are a few typical examples of China’s regional education reform endeavor. The list can go on and on. These models clearly reflect the mega-trend in China’s education reform, which is promoted from the national level (i.e., the central government) to the regional level (i.e., provincial, municipal, county, etc.). It is a top-down approach. Besides, the role of the research institutes in education is becoming more prominent. They used to be in the margin, but now they are close to the center of the decision-making process. Moreover, the participants in education reform have diversified and the regional government institutions have become more active in advancing education reform. In addition, the comprehensive reform model

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has become more popular, and pushed by education research and integrating the merits of the first three models, it enhances a more balanced development in regional education reform. Since the reform and opening up in the early 1980s, with the deepening of economic institutional reform, the promotion of economic reform alone cannot keep up with the realities of China’s rapid economic development. Therefore, promoting a comprehensive reform by integrating the economic, social and political reforms has become the most important task in China’s domestic reforms. It is also the key to the success of building a harmonious society. Education reform is part of this endeavor. To sum up, the project-cooperation model emphasizes the leading role of the experts in promoting the project, the planning and development model highlights the leading role of the national government in the promotion of education reform, and the distinctive exemplary model stresses the distinctive development and the exemplary impact of the successful cases in education reform. All the three models accentuate the mutual benefits of inter-regional cooperation, but the comprehensive reform model puts more emphasis on systematically promoting education reform and comprehensive governance. Therefore, the comprehensive reform model, led and pushed forward by the central government, is better suited to China’s current social environment and will be the primary model to lead China’s public education reform in the foreseeable future.

1.2 The Past and Current Situation of the Regional Education Reform Education occurs and develops in a certain chronological and spatial domain. With the shift of the ecological environment, communities and their cultures could oftentimes migrate or drift in a certain period and space. From the chronological perspective, the shift of the cultural centers would inevitably lead to the change of education models. From a spatial perspective, regional education would often be influenced by political, economic and social factors as well as the size of population. Be it at home or abroad, there would always exist some clusters of education centers, whether they are formed spontaneously or designed by the government.

1.2.1 The Diachronic Distribution of Regional Education Reform The diachronic research of the development of regional education is different from the macro-chronological study. Wu Xuande argues that regional study, as a matter of fact, is “an attempt to reconstruct the history of education.” (Wu Xuande 2003) This “micro-approach” is relatively new in education, but it has already been widely

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adopted in economic geography, demography, anthropology, cultural studies and other disciplines. The diachronic distribution of regional education means the transformation of education in different regions. This transformation reflects a balance–imbalance– rebalance process (i.e., striking, upsetting and restoring the balance process) and the different characteristics of regional education over different periods or even the same period. This is a fact of life in education. Different from the macro and abstract chronicle study, the diachronic distribution of regional education puts more stress on the study of regional “structure.” On the surface, this structure seems related to such “static” factors as society, culture and natural environment. However, on a deeper level, it reveals the specific, micro and practical features of the “dynamic” factors in development. 1. The Regional Connotation of Diachronic Distribution Regional education has two prominent features. First, in terms of the content, it is comprehensive education, so it has the general characteristics of national education. Second, in terms of its chronological and spatial existence, it plays a cohesive role and serves the interests of a certain region. It is national education in a certain region and therefore has a distinct regional character. These two features determine the two major elements of regional education: national education and distinct regional character. The former influences the structure of regional education while the latter shapes its developmental trend. In brief, the diachronic distribution actually contains the two elements of regional education: the structure and the development. 2. The Distinctive Regional Features of the Diachronic Distribution Different disciplines and research goals have different principles and criteria of classification. Regions fall into different categories: natural, administrative, economic and educational. Even for the same category, the approach of classification differs owing to the differences in historical periods. Examined from the diachronic dimension and particularly combined with the “structural” and “developmental” elements, it is safe to conclude that in addition to such features as being specific, micro and practical, regional education exhibits such characteristics unique to national education such as integrity (as opposed to the intro-regional education), (distinct) differentiation, radiation and openness (reflecting the interaction and mutual impact among different regions). Integrity refers to the interaction and reciprocal effects of various geographical elements (both natural and humanistic). Differentiation refers to the uniqueness, which distinguishes itself from other regions. Openness means the interaction with other regions. In other words, regional education cannot stand alone. The change and development in one region will inevitably affect or even radiate its neighboring regions or other related regions. 3. The “Sudden” Change of the Diachronic Distribution The methodology in the study of the chronicles bears the “static” or “linear” features. Its focus is on unity and coherence. But regional studies, particularly the structural

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studies of the “diachronic distribution,” emphasize the “sudden change” in the structure of regional development. Such a sudden change is revealed in the cultural and educational ecological sense. For instance, as a rule, the study of educational development should follow a time order, just like the conventional approach taken in the study of political, economic and cultural development. However, history does not follow a linear route. The pace of the political, economic, cultural and educational elements is not necessarily synchronous with each other. Occasionally, one element might develop faster or earlier than another. This phenomenon is particularly prominent in the region with a more cohesive structure. Europe has a long history in higher education. It is no accident that higher education thrived in the regions where famous universities clustered. The prosperity of higher education in Europe resulted from and reflected the political, economic, religious and cultural progress. The development of higher education in the Middle Ages did not go hand in hand with the slow pace of political and economic development. Rather, it experienced a rapid development. Before the eleventh century, the levels of the political, economic and cultural development in European countries were different. Europe had no comparative advantage over other regions. However, many famous universities sprang up in that period. The occurrence of this historical phenomenon resulted from many factors combined. In a sense, the conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and the kings resulted in the separation of the state and the church, which freed education from the chains of the church and boosted the rapid development of education. In the like manner, owing to the strong government planning in the age of planning economy, some regional centers in the middle and western part of China attracted vast resources or talents from all over the country and thus became the clusters of education. This phenomenon was particularly prominent in higher education. Xi’an in Shaanxi Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province are typical examples. This unique phenomenon in regional education, i.e., the diachronic distribution of regional education and its sudden change of the regional structure do not fit into the linear chronicle paradigm. Rather, it is similar to the European paradigm that argues that political forces brought about the sudden change of social structure which, in turn, pushed forward the development of higher education. In this case, the conflict between the church and the state provided two requisites for the rise of higher education. First, both the church and the state needed the support of the intellectuals who had rich knowledge in law and theology. The two disciplines thrived in some emerging universities. Second, since the state was eager to win the support of universities, it granted many charters to universities and thus ensured their survival and success. Likewise, the policies in the era of planning economy facilitated the movement of the talents and education resources to the middle and western parts of China, and thereby boosted the emergence of clusters of (higher) education in the region.

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1.2.2 The Spatial Distribution of Regional Education Reform From a geographical perspective, region is a relative concept, for it is part of a whole. Regional geography defines the spatial relationship between geographical environment and regions from a stereoscopic point of view. The theory of spatial structure is a new topic in the study of regional development. It is usually applied in regional economics for future development planning. 1. The Rationale Behind the Theory of Spatial Distribution Regional geography is based on the topographical features. It is the rationale behind the theory of spatial distribution in regional education. For instance, the demarcation of regions is usually based on their topographical features (i.e., rivers, lakes, mountains, etc.). In the process of urbanization and with the improvement of transportation, the economic centers along the rivers are more likely to become the educational and cultural centers of the region. This demarcation approach in regional study was strongly advocated by George William Skinner (Skinner 1977). According to the theory of spatial distribution, macro-education falls into three major categories, international education, national education and regional education. The intermediate and micro-education are in a better position to reflect various dimensions of education, like such details as the points, lines, planes, domains or networks of education. International education refers to the education system controlled by different conventional nation states. It utilizes the educational resources around the world, influences each country through the education exchanges and the spread of education science between different countries and connects different countries by shared values and patterns in education. National education is the education for the citizens in a sovereign country. It has its own border. Regional education is conducted in different regions of a sovereign country. It is restricted by the country’s educational system and controlled by the central government. It also refers to the education which shares some common features within a given region. According to Wu Xuande, viewed from the spatial dimension, the development of China’s education exhibits an obvious topographical feature and a multicenter structure. It takes on different forms in different periods (Wu Xuande 2003). These changes include the aforementioned dimensions such as the points, lines, planes and domains. 2. The Regional Patterns of the Spatial Distribution The points, lines (axes), planes, domains or networks are not simple spatial patterns. They have specific economic, cultural or educational connotations and relevant functions of public service. Regional spatial structure is comprised of various points, lines, planes, domains or networks. Based on these patterns, the spatial distribution of regional education takes on the following forms. (a) The points constitute the joint system, meaning the striped belts in the distribution of urban schools or block clusters of urban schools.

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(b) The lines constitute the transportation, industrial and other economic hub system. The cultural and educational system around the economic hubs becomes the center of education. (c) The domains and planes constitute the city-region system. It takes on the form of the clusters of urban schools (or urban education) and those of economic and educational service centers. (d) The combination of different lines (axes: from line to line) constitutes the transportation, communications, electricity, water service system, drainage and other public facility systems. They help to facilitate the formation of public service systems such as cultural and educational facilities. (e) The combination of the lines and planes (or from line to plane) constitutes the regional industrial system, which brings about the service system such as regional educational system. (f) The combination of different planes (or from plane to plane) constitutes the macro-economic regional system, such as economic regions, economic belts and thus bringing about the clusters of regional education. (g) The combination of the points, lines and planes (or from point to line to plane) constitutes a system of spatial economic integration, from which a system of spatial integration on regional education is brought about. 3. The Regional Clusters of the Spatial Distribution The relationship of the points, lines and planes shows that the joint points are interconnected, the planes and domains are coordinated for further development, the pathways operate smoothly, a variety of spatial entities are closely interwoven, and thus a networking system is formed. The points in the regional spatial structure reflect the dotted distribution patterns of the clusters of some public service activities in geographical space. As a rule, the industry, commerce, service, education and other organizations in public sector take on the dotted form in space because they have to cluster to function well. Therefore, the relevant industrial centers, commercial centers, service centers and school clusters come into being. Since most of the points are gathered in the same place, the people and the social activities within the region tend to gather around these centers. Thus, cities, which accumulate relevant economic and social activities as well as a certain number of people, begin to emerge and become important dots in the regional spatial structure. The clustering points are the important and focal centers of the regional economic or educational activities. Just as there is a large or small size of clusters in economic or educational activities, so is a division of the scale in the regional spatial structure. The points of different sizes within the region are interconnected and form a hierarchical system. The principle of regional clustering takes on different forms because of the different focuses of social and economic development. For instance, in the process of urbanization in ancient times, the topographical features such as mountains and rivers became the basic requisites in the spatial distribution of regional education.

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However, in the process of modernization, the logic sequence of agricultural, industrial, post-industrial and ecological development became the foundation of the spatial clustering of regional education centers. On the international level, the four ancient civilizations were four clusters of regional education, and they were all born and developed along the rivers or river basins (i.e., the Nile River, Mesopotamia, the Ganges River and the Yellow River or the Yangtze River). Wu Xuande examined China’s regional education from the theoretical perspective of the spatial distribution. He concluded that in the past two thousand years, the basic spatial structure in China’s regional education was a multi-center structure. For instance, he made a comparative study of the regions, each of which produced over 30 great writers. He found that there were 38 regions, each of which had over 50 great writers. Among the 38 regions, 18 of them were located in the Yangtze River basin, seven located in the Yellow River basin, one located in the Huai River basin and one located in the Pearl River basin. Besides, Zhejiang, Fujian (the Min River basin and along the coastal areas), Beijing and Hebei (the Liao River basin and Hai River basin) belong to other river systems, which had nothing to do with the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, a longtime cultural center in the western part of China, is located along the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River in the Guanzhong basin, and Nanyang, another longtime cultural center in Henan Province, is located in the Nanyang basin at the confluence of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Huai River. Other regional cultural centers are located in the North China Plain Area, the vast plain area in the middle and lower part of the Great Yangtze River basin (Wu Xuande 2003). The clusters of cultural and educational centers in China (concluded from the distribution of great writers) and around the world indicate that the layout of regional education is heavily influenced by the topographical features and categories. In other words, most of the cultural and educational centers are located along the major rivers or in the basins formed by these rivers. These regions also represent the regional clusters of cultural centers in China and around the world. This spatial clustering pattern demonstrates that water resources are the indispensable conditions for regional culture and education to thrive in traditional agricultural societies, for the convenient transportation along the water resources drastically reduced the costs, improved the efficiency, increased the volume of trade and thus facilitated the formation of towns and cities (i.e., the clustering of regional centers in a spatial sense) in which human beings constitute the actors of education.

1.3 Agglomeration, Floating and Innovation Theory of Regional Education In the long history of the world, there are a diversity of theoretical schools, categories, models and characteristics of regional development. These theoretical models and features are all applicable to comprehensive reform of regional education. In

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Table 1.1 Survey of theories of regional development The first phase Time

The second phase

From the beginning of From the 1950s to the the nineteenth century to 1970s the 1940s

The third phase From the 1980s to the present time

Major Theories (a) Agricultural location theory (b) Industrial location theory (c) Central place theory (an element of location theory) (d) Market location theory

(a) Dual structure theory (a) Human capital (b) Growth poles theory theory (b) Knowledge-spatial (c) The inverted-U spillover theories theory (d) Dependency theory (c) Theory of regional innovation (e) The gradient theory environment of phase transition

Major models

Agglomeration–floating

Agglomeration

Spillover–innovation

particular, the pathways characterized by agglomeration, floating and innovation are consistent with the basic patterns of education reform and development (Table 1.1). Where there is agglomeration, there inevitably exists regional migration or floating. “Agglomeration” is easy to understand, but what about “floating?” As mentioned early in this chapter, in the ancient times, the education agglomeration mostly occurred in the areas centered around the waters. Such geographical features as mountains and rivers are the basis of the spatial distribution (i.e., floating) of regional education. In the process of modernization, the development trend from agriculture to industry, then to post-industry and finally to ecology is the major timeand-space principle of regional education. The energy flow and physical cycles of community culture or ecological structure determine the agglomeration and floating of the current and future regional education.

1.3.1 Agglomeration–Succession Theory The formation of new cultural and educational centers is accompanied by the changes in terms of political regime, civilization (e.g., from agricultural to industrial), economic centers or industrial structures, particularly ecological environment or resources. In the nomadic or agricultural civilizations, educational floating follows the principle of migrating to wherever water and grass are abundant. In industrial times, it follows the movement of industrial centers. In modern times, particularly in the post-industrial era, it follows the succession of ecological communities. 1. The Ecological Community System and Its Succession The diversity of species is a hot topic in the academic and social circles. For quite some time, its ecological community and ecological system draw much attention of

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ecological and interdisciplinary researchers. One reason is that identifying the diversity of ecological communities and comprehensively summarizing their common patterns are of great significance to social sciences and other disciplines. So are they to social progress and regional education research. (a) The System and Function of Ecological Communities Biotic community refers to the collection of bio-population within a certain area or niche, or the totality of all living things within a natural region. No living organism or individual is able to survive outside the environment. Ecological communities succeed from the lower to the higher, from the simple to the complex and after a long-term evolution, ultimately becomes stable. In the primary state, there were fewer species, and they were rarely connected with each other. Their survival was determined by the innate niche factor. As the aggregate of groups of various species in ecological systems, ecological communities are the real physical entities in the natural world. Of them, the plant communities on land are the most prominent and most significant in the structure and function of the ecological communities. Community is the aggregate of species. It is a higher and more complex level of living organization than population. Communities differ from species to species. For instance, if the plant species living in a certain area interact with one another in various ways and form a collection with certain patterns, they are called plant communities. They are a loosely organized unit comprised of different plant species. The ecological communities in the natural world can be large or small. They are diversified and have quite different features. Their boundaries can be implicit or explicit. The birch trees on the slope, the reeds in the wetland, a meadow in the river center and even a lawn, all are different types of communities. They can be as small as a meadow, a pool or as large as a lake, an ocean, a forest, a prairie, etc. The individual plants and animals usually live together in the form of communities. The animals migrate regularly, their communities are loose, and therefore, scientific research focuses more on populations and seldom uses the term “animal communities.” The plant communities are the sources of food, shelter and habitat of the animals. Therefore, there are no plant communities without animals. Nor are there animal communities having nothing to do with plant communities. Microbes inhabit the plant and animal communities or even the bodies of plants and animals. Hence, in the natural conditions of a certain area, the groups of closely connected animals, plants and microbes comprise what we call communities of living organisms. Every living community is an integrated entity existing in the natural world. They occupy a certain area of the ecosphere, have a certain composition and structure and play a distinct role in the exchange of matter and energy. There are about two million individual living organisms. They combine with one another and form their own living communities. They rely on the nutrients in the air, water and soil on the surface of the earth for survival and development. These living communities are interdependent in a certain region and form a dynamic and balanced system within the same living environment.

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Fig. 1.1 Three modes of successional development: facilitation model, tolerance model and inhibition model. Note: A, B, C and D stand for four species. The arrow stands for being replaced. Adapted from Ge Feng (2002). Modern Ecology. Beijing: Science Press, 309

(b) The Succession of Ecological Communities The emergence, evolution, development and even the fundamental succession of communities are called community succession or ecological succession. Community succession evolves with the passage of time. It is an ecological process transformed from one type to another. With the progression of succession, the types and quantities of the living organisms in the ecological communities will change accordingly. As long as the succession process is not disrupted by human beings or disturbed by various natural forces, the general trend will be the increase of species diversity until they develop into the climax communities. When summarizing the succession mechanisms in 1977, Joseph Connell and Ralph Slatyer proposed three main modes of successional development: facilitation model, tolerance model and inhibition model (Fig. 1.1). Ecological succession occurs when communities experience fundamental changes as a result of climate change, floods, fires, landslides, animal migration, activities, plant propagule dispersion and the change of the internal environment as a result of community activities or the result of human activities. Ecological succession is a common phenomenon. In a certain region, a community is succeeded by another community with different character until it becomes a mono or pluralistic climax community, which is the ultimate result of community succession.

1.3.2 Community Succession and Its Cultural Application As mentioned above, ecology per se is an interdisciplinary research, whose best value is reflected in its interdisciplinary character and its application. The significance of community lies in regions constituting a separate system. Therefore, the

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basic rationale of ecological community is equally applied to the examination of regional communities, educational system and cultural application. The survival and development of communities need a healthy environment (such as sunlight, water and soil). This environment is an “atmosphere” and “a culture” as well. Culture moves in cycles and transforms itself with times. The succession of communities is also the migration and transformation of community cultures. There are two tendencies in the research on cultural application. One is to apply the theory of ecological communities to studying issues in regional education. The other is to apply the research on a particular educational phenomenon or the types of succession mechanism to the research on regional education development. Both tendencies have their own theoretical merits and defects. The merit lies in the interdisciplinary character while the defect lies in the suitability and objectivity. The theory of community succession has three major components. First, the development of communities follows certain sequences and patterns and is therefore predictable. Second, succession results from the physical change of the community. In other words, succession is controlled by communities. Third, the climax of succession is the formation of a stable ecological system (Ge Feng, 2002). There are various natural communities on the earth, such as forests, prairie, deserts and swamps. They are all the products of billions of years of succession of the earth’s historical development and the most reasonable and effective ecological communities through longtime natural selections. We study the community phenomena and draw theoretical insights from the study, which enable us to be in a better position to adequately create and modify the natural communities. For instance, examined from the perspectives of complex self-organization systems and ecological physics, we will find that in the formation of industrial belts, the industrial ecological niches, industrial clustering nuclei, regional industrial areas and industrial agglomeration trends will play an increasingly significant role, and the analysis of the industrial agglomeration trends and their curves will help us to have a better understanding of the mechanisms and evolving patterns of regional economic communities and their systems. Let us come back to the ecology itself. The current studies on ecological communities mainly focus on certain habitats and organisms such as plants, birds and insects. These findings are not necessarily applicable to other habitats or organisms. The succession universality of the temperate zone forests is not applicable to that of the tropical zone forests (Ewel 1982). In the same fashion, in the study of the agglomeration and floating of regional education, we cannot apply the study of the cases and issues of a certain type of education to that of another type of education. Therefore, to conduct research on regional education from the community and systemic perspectives is suitable, objective and feasible.

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1.3.3 Agglomeration–Floating Theory According to the theory of ecological succession, the development of community culture also experiences succession. First, it is diachronic. Second, it is transformational. In other words, community culture is closely linked with the environmental change and its development is both an active (i.e., changing the environment) and a passive (i.e., being changed by the environment) process. Accompanied with the ecological evolution of the environment, the cultural core areas will also change, thereby bringing about the floating cultural or educational phenomenon. Similar to ecological communities, the social community centered around human beings also has its own ecological environment, which is called “culture.” In fact, the succession of social community also has the succession of community culture. The succession and change of community culture will inevitably affect the educational development. Education changes with the succession of community culture. For instance, rivers will constantly change directions with the mountain features. The change of flowing direction is also called “floating.” The floating can be longitudinal (on the surface) movement from the center to the margin. It can also be horizontal (or the internal structure) movement from balance to imbalance and then to rebalance. 1. The Center-to-Margin Floating Community culture and the formation of the symbols of its “regionalization” are usually closely related to the core areas of the region. Community culture and the symbols of its regional decline are invariably linked with the transition or “marginalization” of the core areas. Therefore, the center-to-margin floating succession constitutes the “superficial” mechanism of the transformation of the region or its community culture. “Superficial (mechanism)” means that its change is reflected on the specific forms. What triggers the changes includes the overall development background, conditions, levels and external environment on the deeper level of regional development, such as the regional political structure, level of economic development, transportation conditions, urbanization level and population change. Take China as an example. From the perspective of its whole historical development, the formation of the region’s core areas is closely related to the overall migration of China’s (cultural community) cultural centers. During the agricultural civilization, China’s cultural centers mostly gathered around the northern Yellow River basin where there existed a densely populated core area or core region of education. Of course, within this region, the core-to-margin floating was in a constant change. After South Song Dynasty, with the expansion of human activities and the change of geographical environment and climate conditions, the Yangtze River Civilization, dominated by the rice culture, began to rise. Therefore, another group of densely populated core centers of regional education came into being. The political and economic advantages of the south gradually influenced or even supported the rise of culture and education. Based on the number and distribution of great writers, Wu Xuande studied the core-to-margin formation process from China’s northern and southern cultural centers. He believes that the transformation of China’s cultural

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and educational centers was quite conspicuous after South Song Dynasty. Particularly from the number of great writers in China’s northern and southern provinces in different historical periods, we can see a clear decline of the north and the rise of the south (Wu Xuande 2003). Specifically speaking, from the following tables, we can see a clear trend in terms of the change of the number of great writers in three northern provinces and three southern provinces. The former includes Henan, Shandong and Shaanxi and the south includes Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui (Figs. 1.2 and 1.3). Great writers are the most visible “symbols” (superficial characteristics) of the educational and cultural achievements in regional education in ancient China. Seen from Figs. 1.2 and 1.3, the three most representative regions in the north display the

Shaanxi Shandong Henan

Before Sui

South Song Ming and Tang to Qing North Song to Yuan

Fig. 1.2 Distribution trend of great writers in Henan, Shandong and Shaanxi

Anhui Jiangsu Zhejiang

Before Sui

South Song Ming and Tang to Qing North Song to Yuan

Fig. 1.3 Distribution trend of great writers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui

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changing trend of moving from core to margin. However, the three representative regions in the south display the changing trend of moving from margin to core. The two changing trajectories, in fact, represent the floating process of Chinese cultural and educational centers floating from the north to the south in ancient times. Since the reform and opening up in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, a large number of talented people migrated to the southeastern part of the country. Therefore, the core areas of China’s regional cultural and educational centers moved from the west to the east as a result of the policy guidance of reform and opening up. Likewise, from the global perspective, after the industrial revolution in modern times, the advantageous positions of the agricultural civilizational centers represented by four ancient civilizations gradually gave way to the industrial civilizational centers represented by Europe and the USA. In the contemporary era, the advantageous positions of the core regional centers represented by the traditional industrial giants in Europe gradually gave way to the regional information centers represented by the USA. The succession of the community civilizations and cultures on the global level are reflected on the core-to-margin floating trend of the regional educational centers in the world. The so-called American Dream or study-abroad boom of the developing countries like China is examples of such floating. 2. The Balance-to-Imbalance-to-Rebalance Floating Just as the community demands stability, so does the ecological system. The stability of the ecological community means that the system needs to constantly develop to preserve the integrity of its structure and function. This integrity means that the ecological system must follow the basic cyclical pattern of maintaining, upsetting and restoring balance (i.e., balance-to-imbalance-to-rebalance) all the time. China’s national education is characterized by regional education at the county level. That means the top priority of regional education is to maintain the balance and stability. Its regional characteristic requires the regional educational system to have self-organization and self-maintenance capabilities to keep the ecological balance. Public school education is the dominant and the most basic ecological niche. On top of that, there are also many other forms of formal and informal educational ecologies. The survival and development of the educational ecological system have its own basic organizational feature and need to apply the views and criteria of adaptation and development to identify, sort out and evaluate its educational structure. The educational concepts to inherit, duplicate and reproduce all the component elements will exhibit different features in different periods of time. The balanced development of regional education ecology refers to the balanced, fair and sufficient development of every educational subsystem and every actor related to education. To construct a balanced ecological system of regional education and endeavor to guarantee the educational rights of the disadvantaged groups is a significant strategy to ensure a reasonable educational structure and a favorable educational ecology, which is comprised of “the basic ecological niche” on the basis public educational system and “the realized ecological niche” on the basis of lifelong education. The ecological principles of the balanced development of regional education are shown below. As shown in Fig. 1.4, the floating from maintaining, upsetting and restoring

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Community system

The basic

Individual

Regional

Social

development

development

development

ecological

ecological niche

The realized

School

Public

Lifelong

development

educaƟon

educaƟon

niche

Community environment

Fig. 1.4 Ecological principles of the balanced development of regional education

balance (i.e., balance, imbalance and rebalance) actually reveals the ecological succession process of facilitation, tolerance and inhabitation, ultimately reaches a higher level of balance and creates a fairer, better education and lifelong educational system. (a) A Higher Level of Balance A higher level of balance refers to a balance of the levels of school management, a coordination of different types of education and a diversity of school forms. It is a process of constant cyclical movements and spiraling increases from imbalance to balance. It is an integrated development, a relatively idealistic state and a continuous process of achieving higher levels of balance. It is the result of school competitions and the responsibility of government regulation. The strive for inter-school balance in the region does not mean all the schools should reach the same level or adopt the same model. Rather, it means under the relative balance of school conditions and teaching staff, the schools are encouraged to advance school reforms, display their distinctive features and ultimately achieve the rapid expansion of all types of outstanding educational resources. (b) A Fairer and Better Education (Education Equality and Quality) A fairer and better education aims to ensure that every student in the region has a fair chance to public education. That means to see to it that the disadvantaged groups in society have equal access to education, such as children of peasant workers, children of absent parents, disabled children and students from the poor families. To comprehensively enhance the students’ quality, the social favorability with education, the students’ individualized development and educational equality, we need three types of resources: solid, liquid and implicit. Solid or physical resources refer to sufficient education investment, all the necessary facilities and stable technological supporting systems. Liquid resources refer to the flowing resources, such as the information flow and intellectual flow, including advanced educational concepts and shared human

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capital. Implicit resources include scientific and humanistic environment, open and democratic managerial mechanisms, etc. (c) Lifelong Education Lifelong education aims to expand high-quality education resources and build a learning society with a wider coverage of education forms and a higher level of education development. It also means to accomplish the education goal of a moderately prosperous society: more sufficient education resources and a more harmonious, people-centered sustainable education. The ideal of a balanced educational ecology is to ensure everybody to have an overall and full development. However, in reality, we cannot evade the competition for the lack of resources. Therefore, building a lifelong education system and a realized ecological niche conducive to the balanced development of education of all types and levels has become one of the goals of a balanced regional education.

1.3.4 Agglomeration and Innovation Since the late 1990s, with the development of human capital theory, innovation has been regarded as the major engine to push forward regional development. Human and knowledge capital draw increasing attention and technology and intellectual capital are viewed as the major factors in regional development. Therefore, the intraregional innovation becomes the key to regional development. Specifically speaking, agglomeration–innovation theory falls into three major categories, human capital, knowledge spillovers and regional innovation environment. 1. Human Capital Theory Human capital is highly indispensable to promote economic growth, enhance market competitiveness and achieve a sustainable regional development. Therefore, regional innovation theory highlights the role of human capital and the dynamic and creative social actors in breaking the barriers in technological innovation, policy mechanism, cultural concepts and cross-regional activities. The link between regional innovation and human capital was first mentioned by Joseph A. Schumpeter in his classic work The Theory of Economic Development. His focus was mainly on entrepreneurship, innovation and its system background. He argues that the entrepreneurs’ innovative activities are able to break through the static cycles of the current economic relationships and promote economic development. These innovative activities include introducing a new product or creating a new quality, adopting a new production method, opening a new market, obtaining the source of raw materials or semi-products and taking a new form of enterprise organization. These entrepreneurs are skilled at organizing, adventurous, experienced, daring and possessed of entrepreneurial flair. Therefore, the root cause of the gap in regional development lies in the lack of entrepreneurship. However, the cultivation of

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entrepreneurship is closely linked with the local culture, including the social values, social class or class structure, educational system, the attitude toward the business and commercial performance and other social rewards in a given place at a given time. To promote regional innovative development, human capital cannot be merely limited to the entrepreneurs. In the 1960s, American economists Theodore W. Shultz, Edward F. Denison and Gary S. Becker created the theory of human capital. Shultz argues that the secret of economic growth in the developed countries lies not only in physical investment but also in human capital factors such as knowledge, qualifications and skills. The improvement of physical capital and human capital is a significant factor of “increased differentials.” Therefore, he argues that the economic development of a country lies not in the stock of capital or the natural resources but in the quality of the people. The intellectual structure and quality of the labor force are the vital factors that impact on economic growth. According to Shultz, human capital substitutes or supplements all other elements, and the source of social progress and economic growth lies in the accumulation of human capital, or the investment in people, a significant part of which is the effective use of time. He also argues that education helps people to gain the abilities to handle imbalance and therefore is a significant means of solving the problem of the imbalanced distribution of individual income and enhancing the equality of social distribution (Shultz 1990). Denison argues that education is not the single factor in production but a significant component of human capital. Education factor and investment refer to the years of formal schooling. “Increased knowledge,” a significant part of human capital, includes the quality of the students’ study at school and the knowledge they acquire through self-study and further education after graduation. The larger a person’s stock of knowledge is, the less time he/she needs in its application. Only three-fifths of formal education is useful to economic growth. Becker argues that the purpose of human capital investment should take into account not only current economic gains but also future economic benefits. In-service training is a significant part of human capital. So is the collection of information and intelligence materials for its economic value. He puts forward the formula to calculate human capital benefits and the yield rate of higher education and finds out the difference of yield rate of different levels of education. We can come to four conclusions from the research of the above three scholars. First, human capital is the most significant of all resources. Accumulation of human capital plays a significant role in achieving regional innovation and development. Second, in the process of regional economic growth, human capital plays a larger role than physical capital. The speed of economic growth arising from human capital is faster than that from physical resources. Third, the essence of human capital is to improve the quality of population. Education investment is the main part of human capital input. The reproduction of human capital should not be viewed as a consumption but as an investment, whose economic benefits far outweigh those from physical investment. Education is the most essential and the most significant means of enhancing human capital. Therefore, human capital investment is also education investment. As one of the three elements of production, human resources

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can be further divided into those of technological knowledge of different degrees. Production increases with the increase of technological knowledge. Therefore, the impact of education on regional innovation and development is obvious. Fourth, education investment should be based on the supply and demand of the market and measured by the price fluctuation of human capital. 2. Space and Knowledge (Knowledge and Spatial) Spillovers Capital is broadly defined to include physical capital (machines), human capital (skills) and knowledge capital (technology). The all have spillover effects. Knowledge and spatial spillovers are produced by the enterprises of specific locations and affect the production process of the neighboring enterprises. Such spillovers can be local and global. The former means that the production process within a region benefits only from the region’s knowledge accumulation and thus leads to the imbalanced spatial distribution and the diffusion of regional economic growth. The latter means that the region’s knowledge accumulation will benefit the productivity of all enterprises in all regions. Comparatively speaking, global spillovers will not reinforce the agglomeration process. It is a general view that the accumulation of the enterprises in a region will produce different levels of localized and global knowledge spillovers. The discussion of knowledge and spatial spillovers derives from the understanding of the nature of knowledge and space. As early as 1966, Michael Polanyi classified knowledge into two categories: explicit (or expressive) and tacit. The former refers to various symbols that can be readily articulated, codified, stored, accessed and easily transferred to others. The latter is inexpressible, highly professionalized and customized and difficult to express and transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. It cannot be purchased and can only be acquired through learning. Paul S. Armington and other scholars point out that even though the stock of knowledge is easily accessible and unlimited in time and space, owing to information asymmetry, the same knowledge will not mean the same to any two persons. Therefore, only some people are able to transform knowledge into new inventions or rare resources. So, tacit knowledge is obtained through individual channels such as work and social relationships and daily life. Therefore, those who possess specialized knowledge have special qualifications, such as technological workers, scientists and engineers. The flow of these people will have an impact on the digestion, absorption and innovation capabilities of new knowledge. Even in the age of the rapid development of information and communications technologies and wide use of Internet and local area net, the space–time relationship is usually viewed as flat and the impact of such factors as distance and transportation costs on the economic development is weakened. The tacit character of the local spillovers remains unchanged. Daniel points out that knowledge is different from information. Knowledge is tacit in a large scope. This tacit knowledge is cohesive to the geographical location of enterprises. Given the costs, it is not easily transmitted. Therefore, in order to fully utilize knowledge, the proximity between the individuals and enterprises and the source of knowledge still remain important. Therefore, the reason for the widening gap of economic development between different regions is the agglomeration of research and innovation activities in specific areas.

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Knowledge spillovers are related to geographical proximity. The spatial spillovers of knowledge (space and knowledge spillovers) influence the economic development of specific areas in three major ways. First, space and knowledge spillovers reinforce the accumulation of industries. As a significant factor to push forward regional economic growth, innovation is basically the function of the amount of possessed knowledge. It includes the accumulation of knowledge within and outside the enterprises. The knowledge outside the enterprises is becoming increasingly important. Enterprises of the same kind and supporting industries within the industrial agglomeration, higher education and research institutions and other innovation bodies, on the one hand, provide the enterprises within the industrial group with a relatively low-cost external net of knowledge and thereby greatly enhance the innovation efficiency of the enterprises. On the other hand, according to the Myrdal model of accumulation (Karl Gunnar Myrdal), they also attract more enterprises to agglomerate and thereby facilitate the sustainable development of the local economy. Second, space and knowledge spillovers bring about the agglomeration of human capital. A significant reason for local knowledge spillovers is the individualization of tacit knowledge. This knowledge, not easily transferable, is technology, skill or intellectual model acquired by individuals. Therefore, this part of knowledge can only flow in the form of human capital. Knowledge is mastered by technical personnel and therefore the flow of senior technical personnel brings about the flow of ideas. Third, space and knowledge spillovers promote face-to-face communication. Localized tacit knowledge spillovers and the flow of human capital are both to be achieved through face-to-face communication, which is conducive to innovation by increasing the informal knowledge spillovers of enterprises and individuals, by competitive behaviors and the mutual transparency of the competitors’ reaction, or by enhancing the mutual cooperation and competitiveness of the enterprises. The three approaches all reinforce the innovative agglomeration, which is, in turn, conducive to the formation of more abundant knowledge spillovers. However, tacit knowledge spillover is difficult to be obtained through other convenient ways outside the agglomeration, and this is the localization of knowledge spillovers. 3. The Environmental Theory of Regional Innovation The environmental theory of regional innovation argues that innovation capabilities are determined not only by the main actor (human capital) but also by the interactive efficiency between different actors and between other regional institutions. This theory is based on the theoretical framework of regional innovation systems. Regional innovation environment is a relatively stable system between local actors through long-term formal or informal cooperation and communication. So what is innovation environment? Scholars differ in their views. The European Innovation Environment Panel is the first to put forward the concept of regional innovation environment. They integrate regional features and innovation activities and emphasize the collective efficiency of the innovation actors and the coordination of innovative actions. Carl Magani stresses that innovation environment mainly refers to innovation network, including the individual networks between entrepreneurs, the formal or informal economic networks between enterprises, the cooperative and

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social R&D networks between the enterprises and the local universities, research institutes, professional associations and local governments. Dietz interprets innovation environment as social capital to enhance mutual understanding and mutual trust between the regional institutes and the formal or informal systems and regulations. Other scholars maintain that innovation environment refers to the special cooperative and competitive (co-petitive) cultural atmosphere formed between the enterprises. There is no innovation without this atmosphere. Freeman argues that the purpose of institutional establishment is to offer strong support for enterprises in the context of intensified global competition and rapid technological transformation. Therefore, the institutes should strengthen their interaction with the enterprises. They should establish a close cooperative relationship with business enterprises to support the latter to improve their capabilities of technological development, modification and diffusion. How to cement this cooperative relationship is the essence of environmental innovation, which, in an abstract sense, refers to a mechanism to promote innovation of innovative actors and their coordination with other actors. The theory of regional innovation environment offers a new interpretation to innovate economic effects from a systemic perspective. In recent years, the discussion of innovative environment is becoming a focal point in the study of innovation system. However, based on the systemic theory, it highlights the impact of regional culture, system and other factors and the interaction and connectivity between different factors, so it is difficult to independently generalize the factor that affects regional innovation and more difficult to find suitable indicators and apply mathematical and statistical models to effectively test the performance of different regional innovation systems. Therefore, most current studies remain on the superficial theoretical level. Although regional education is not a new concept, comprehensive reform of regional education is a novel thesis. It seems a little “immature” to interpret comprehensive reform of regional education from the ecological theory or perspective. However, we offer a fresh perspective to study the deepening of comprehensive reform of regional education. In a relative spatial range, and through the mediumand-three-dimensional examination of the relationship between educational actors and the environment, we can find out the common problems or patterns of the reform and development of regional education.

Chapter 2

The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

China is a large country. Education development differs from region to region. Therefore, the focal point of comprehensive education reform is on the regional level. Considering the realities of regional education, instead of taking the traditional approach, i.e., elaborating the reasons for educational reform from the political, economic, cultural and social dimensions, this chapter will adopt a fresh perspective, i.e., the ecological capacity of regional education.

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education and the Reasons for Reform 2.1.1 What Is the Ecological Capacity of Regional Education? 1. The Concept of the Ecological Capacity of Regional Education Carrying capacity used to be a concept in mechanics. At the end of eighteenth century, English economist, Thomas R. Malthus gave it a modern connotation, which had a far-reaching impact. At the end of the nineteenth century, this concept was widely used in the ecological field. In 1921, Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess used it in Introduction to the Science of Society and defined it as “the maximum population size of a given species in a given circumstance.” (Guo Xiurui 2000) Therefore, carrying capacity is essentially a reflection of the mutually restricted contradiction between the internal development and the external environment of the ecological system. 2. The Concept of Regional Education Most educational researchers in China categorize education by the administrative divisions, such as Education in Zhabei District in Shanghai and Education in Linxia City in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The nature, content, means, methods and © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_2

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external supporting system of education within a region are characterized by their connectivity and unity and bear a distinctive regional feature. To divide regional education by this standard is consistent with China’s realities. “Regional education, in a broad sense, refers to the education of a certain administrative division or a combination of several administrative divisions which share distinctive common features.” (The Working Group on “The Study of the Sustainable development of Regional Education” 2000) In 1994, the Central Commission of the Communist Party of China and the State Council held the second national conference on educational work since the reform and opening up. The conference decided to divide China into three major areas according to the level of economic development and educational basis, i.e., Area One, Area Two and Area Three. The three areas were given separate guidance in education development, and they later developed into Eastern Region, Middle Region and Western Region (Xu Mei 2008). The region with better economic development and educational basis includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan (eleven provinces and municipalities). The region with average economic development and educational basis includes Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan (eight provinces). The region with poor economic development and educational basis includes Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia (twelve provinces and autonomous regions). We will do a positivist analysis of the carrying capacity of compulsory education and high school education in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions (owing to the lack of data, Taiwan Province, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region are not included in this study) in Part Three of this chapter. On this basis, we will compare the ranking of the carrying capacity of the above administrative divisions and find out the relationship between the level of regional economic development and the carrying capacity of regional education. On the county level, we will select Qingyang District of Chengdu City in Sichuang Province as a case study and conduct a positivist analysis of the carrying capacity of the primary schools between 2002 and 2010. 3. The Concept of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education Regional education is an ecological system. A significant and obvious indicator of the level of its development is the scale of education. However, the development of the ecological system of regional education is finite. It is constrained by the supply of educational resources (educational investment, faculty, facilities and other infrastructure, the quality of students, academic atmosphere, etc.) and the development environment (politics, economy, culture, the demand for regional education, etc.). To achieve the sustainable and steady development of regional education, we must protect the consistency between quality and quantity, and structure and efficiency. We also need to make sure that regional education is in its maximum adaptable to the supply capacity of social resources and the sustainable social and economic development. In other words, to maintain the stable, sustainable development of the restructure, scale, quality and efficiency of regional education, we must have the school-running environment that is compatible with the corresponding educational

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

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resources and capable of supporting its development. This is the carrying capacity of regional education. We can conclude from the above definition that the carrying capacity of regional education consists of two parts: One is the carrying capacity of educational resources and environment, and the other is the development scale, with corresponding criteria, that regional education system is able to carry. Scale, environment and resources affect the carrying capacity of regional education. Based on the above analysis, we believe that considering its connotation, the carrying capacity of regional education should include the following dimensions: educational resources, educational environment, population size and population migration. (a) The Carrying Capacity of Educational resources The sustainable and healthy operation of the ecological system of regional education requires the continuous and orderly exchange of matter, energy and information with the social ecological system. The obtaining of necessary educational resources is the basic conditions to guarantee the operations of the educational ecological system. In this sense, resources are the key factor to determine the carrying capacity of education. The conditions of educational resources are of great significance to ensure the healthy development of regional education. Based on this, in a broad sense, the carrying capacity of educational resources refers to human, financial, material, information and other necessary resources to guarantee a certain scale and quality of educational activities. In a narrow sense, the carrying capacity of educational resources refers to the necessary resources for school running, which mainly includes a certain amount of funding, human power, materials, etc. Of course, among the many educational resources, financial input is the most significant one that draws most attention, because sufficient funds and financial resources are the prerequisites to obtain educational resources. Based on these prerequisites, the research focus of the regional educational resources is the issue of funding. After analysis and comparison, we conclude that the factors that affect the financial resources of regional education include whether the actual funding for education is in shortage or not, whether the distribution of the educational resources is balanced or not and whether the educational resources are effectively utilized. In the following part, we will explore these issues from the perspectives of the historical development and the current status quo of China’s regional educational resources. The primary concern is about the shortage of educational resources. Although the Chinese government started relevant reforms on the distribution of educational resources in the 1980s, the funding shortage continued to deteriorate. After the issuing of the Decision on the Reform of the Education System by the Central Committee of CPC in 1985, China’s investment in education witnessed a rapid increase. By 1993, China’s financial investment in education had grown from RMB 27.844 billion in 1985 to RMB 86.767 billion in 1993. On the surface, China’s financial investment in education witnessed a dramatic increase. However, a careful comparison would lead us to conclude that the percentage of educational funding in the gross national production in 1993 was actually lower than that of 1985 (a decrease from 3.25% in 1985 to 2.66% in 1993), and the gap with the world average widened from 1.75% in

32

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

NaƟonal income

primary distribuƟon

financial income

government

school A

primary distribuƟon

the income of enterprises

market

school B

second distribuƟon second distribuƟon

the income of social the third organizaƟons sector the income of the families and individuals

private sector

school C

…

Fig. 2.1 Flow of educational investment

1985 to 2.44% in 1993. It was not until 2012 that the China’s financial investment in education amounted to RMB 2116.5 billion, accounting for over 4% of the GDP, the first time ever so in history. These data suggest that China’s financial investment in education still does not suffice to meet the basic need of national education. Figure 2.1 presents a decomposed image of China’s national investment in education and showcases the concrete sources of the regional education. China is a country with a large population. The increasing need of education is in relative conflict with the finite educational resources. If this conflict cannot be effectively resolved, it will inevitably affect the healthy and sustainable development of regional education. Therefore, it is quite certain that the lack of educational resources is the key factor that constrains the carrying capacity of regional education and the operation of its ecological system. It is the malefactor that leads to the rising debts of universities, the decrease of educational quality and the loss of balance in educational ecology. The second concern is about the imbalance of the distribution of educational resources. From the social ecological perspective, the meaning of the distribution of educational resources is twofold. One refers the geographical spatial distribution of all resources. The other refers to the use of all kinds of resources in the national and economic activities. The distribution of educational resources is more consistent with the latter explanation. It is embodied in the use of human, material and financial resources. The problem in any link will upset the balance of the resources distribution. This unbalanced distribution is reflected in three areas: the imbalance in the spatial distribution, the school distribution and the chronological distribution. Let us take the layout of China’s colleges and universities in different provinces as an example and describe the unbalanced distribution of educational resources (Table 2.1). The evaluation statistics include 980 colleges and universities (not including the military academies and the higher education institutions in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). Among them, there are 119 key public universities, 599 ordinary

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

33

Table 2.1 Distribution of China’s colleges and universities Ranking (Number)

Provinces

The number of colleges and universities

Key universities

Ordinary universities

Private universities

The region

1

Beijing

62

27

26

9

East

2

Jiangsu

62

13

29

20

East

3

Shandong

62

2

36

24

East

4

Guangdong

56

5

29

22

East

5

Liaoning

50

6

34

10

East

6

Shaanxi

49

8

24

17

West

7

Shanghai

44

9

20

15

East

8

Hebei

44

3

30

11

East

9

Hubei

43

7

27

9

Middle

10

Sichuan

40

5

26

9

West

11

Henan

40

1

29

10

Middle

12

Anhui

38

3

26

9

Middle

13

Fujian

37

2

17

18

East

14

Zhejiang

36

1

24

11

East

15

Hunan

36

4

22

10

Middle

16

Heilongjiang

32

5

19

8

Middle

17

Guangxi

28

1

19

8

West

18

Jilin

27

3

21

3

Middle

19

Yunnan

25

1

18

6

West

20

Jiangxi

25

2

17

6

Middle

21

Shanxi

22

2

15

5

Middle

22

Chongqing

21

3

12

6

West

23

Tianjin

19

3

15

1

East

24

Guizhou

18

0

17

1

West

25

Inner Mongolia

17

1

11

5

West

26

Gansu

14

1

12

1

West

27

Xinjiang

13

1

10

2

West

28

Hainan

8

0

4

4

East

29

Ningxia

6

0

4

2

West

30

Qinghai

3

0

3

0

West (continued)

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2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

Table 2.1 (continued) Ranking (Number)

Provinces

31

Tibet

Total

The number of colleges and universities

Key universities

Ordinary universities

Private universities

3

0

3

0

980

119

599

262

The region

West –

Note The statistics were collected in January 2010. The key universities in the Table refer to the universities affiliated to China’s Ministry of Education, or sponsored by the “211 Project” or “985 Project.” Source Qui Junping and Wen Fangfang, 2010. “The Studies on the Regional Distribution of China’s Higher Educational resources: A Positivist Analysis of the Professional Assessment Results of China’s Colleges and Universities and Their Disciplinary Majors in 2010”, China’s Research on Higher Education (7): 17–21

public universities and 262 private universities. The three types of universities are allocated in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). Seen from Table 2.1, it is obvious that the distribution of China’s educational resources is unbalanced. Most universities are concentrated in the eastern and middle parts of the country and very few are located in the western region. However, a detailed study leads us to the discovery of two phenomena. One is that the financial input of China’s Ministry of Education to key universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University is higher than that to other universities. The universities affiliated to China’s Ministry of Education receive more resources than those affiliated to the provinces. The universities belonging to “985 Project” and “211 Project” receive more resources than other universities. This phenomenon naturally leads to the imbalance of the distribution of regional educational resources. The other is related to the imbalance of the educational resources in the chronological dimension. Viewed from the historical period of education, with the economic development, the related policies of the country also changed, which in turn leads to the change of the input of educational resources. This change will consciously or unconsciously affect the chronological distribution of the regional educational resources. The imbalance of spatial, chronological and school distribution, respectively, results in the imbalance of the carrying capacity of education in the spatial, chronological and school dimensions. Besides, we should also be concerned with the waste of educational resources. Waste is a common phenomenon in social ecological system. In essence, waste exists in the three major processes of the social system: production, circulation and consumption. The waste illustrated in this book mainly refers to the waste on the plane of educational ecological system. It is different from the waste we often discuss in the process of production and consumption. It mainly exists in the flow of educational resources. First, the educational resources are allocated in the educational ecological system in which schools of all types and levels play a key role. Then, a series of production process occurs within the school ecological system. Finally, the graduates as the final outcome of the production are ultimately distributed in

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

35

the social ecological system, i.e., employment. It should be noted that the waste of educational resources exists more or less in all these links. The waste of educational resources is mainly reflected in the ineffective use of the faculty, school funding and the low rate of the employment of the graduates, etc. The fundamental reason for the waste is the inadequate use of educational resources, the failure to achieve the economic benefits of educational ecology and the continuous weakening of the carrying capacity of education. Consequently, the goal of education fails to be obtained and more educational resources are wasted. (b) The Carrying Capacity of Educational Environment The regional educational environment refers to the combination of all the natural and social environments which directly or indirectly affect regional education. The development of regional education and the regional educational environment interacts with and affects each other. When the development of regional education is consistent with the external environment, it will have a positive impact on politics, economy and culture. Conversely, when the scale of education exceeds the carrying capacity, it will upset the ecological balance between the educational system and the external environment. The carrying capacity of the environment will constrain the carrying capacity of regional education. Therefore, we can conclude that the carrying capacity of the environment restricts the carrying capacity of regional education. (i) The System and the Policy Environment It refers to all the relevant system and policy environment that regional education development is confronted with. For instance, the Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic China (or the Higher Education Law in short) stipulates that the State Council leads and administers higher education of the whole nation, and the provincial governments, as well as the governments of the autonomous regions and municipalities, coordinate the higher education within their own administrative regions. The educational administrative departments of the State Council are in charge of all the affairs related to higher education of the country as a whole. Other departments within the State Council are responsible for the relevant affairs on higher education. The Higher Education Law designates the relevant responsibilities of each layer of government in developing regional higher education, in which case governments at all levels have a division of labor as well as coordination and thus ensures the orderly development of regional higher education. (ii) The Economic Environment The regional economic development is the basis of the existence and development of regional education in that the rapid development of regional economy provides the necessary financial and material resources for all kinds of educational infrastructure and ensures the development and progress of education. Specifically speaking, the basic function of economy toward regional education is reflected on the level of economic development and the national input in regional education.

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2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

First, the economic development provides sufficient financial and material resources for regional education. When the economic momentum develops well, the government is in a better position to provide more financial and material resources to ensure the development of regional education. Conversely, when the economy slows down, the government will be in a difficult position to provide sufficient financial and material resources for educational development and the employment opportunities will decline, which will thus have an adverse impact on regional education. For instance, the outbreak of the international financial crisis of 2008 had many negative effects on China’s economic development and resulted in the unprecedented difficulty in employment. This is a typical example of the impact of economic development on education. Next, education is a quasi-public good with a distinctive feature of public welfare. The government input in education is no doubt a significant guarantee of the sustainable development of regional education. At present, the primary source of China’s increase in educational input is the financial appropriations, supplemented by the multi-channel fund-raising. The gradual perfection of the guarantee mechanism of educational input, the gradual reasonableness of the structure of educational input and the gradual reflection of the economic value of education will arouse the enthusiasm of all the relevant parties to increase educational input and help to expand the channels of fund-raising in education. (iii) Cultural Environment Cultural environment refers to the totality of all kinds of spiritual cultural conditions that exist around human beings and affect their activities. The development of a certain region’s educational development is inevitably closely connected with the cultural thinking of the people in the region. In other words, the more advanced the culture is in the region, the more prosperous its education is. In discussing the impact of culture on the educational reform and development of a region, Mr. Pan Maoyuan remarked, “Culture imposes a direct constraint on regional education internally and externally. It also connects the internal and external components of regional education and serves as the bridge to connect the internal and external components.” (Pan Maoyuan 1997) From the remark of the above expert, it is safe to conclude that there is a potential and more profound connection between the cultural environment and regional education. It exerts an imperceptible impact on the development of regional education. (c) The Carrying Capacity of Educational Population Population is the direct and key factor that human ecology impacts on education. Therefore, population is the most direct factor that affects the carrying capacity of regional education. The impact of population on regional education is mainly reflected in its size, fluctuation, distribution, migration and structure. The first is the impact of population size on the carrying capacity of regional education. The size of the world’s population increased to 1 billion from prehistory to 1830s. In the next one hundred years (i.e., from 1830 to 1930), the world’s population rose to 2 billion. It took only 30 years (from 1930 to 1960) for the world’s population

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

37

to grow from 2 billion to 3 billion and 15 years (1961–1976) to rise from 3 billion to 4 billion. In this context, “population explosion” is not an alarmist term. The exponential increase of population is a double-edged sword for educational ecology. On the one hand, the rapid increase of population stimulates the growing need of education, which in turn drives the educational development forward. On the other hand, the increase of population means the relative decrease of educational resources enjoyed by each individual and the greater pressure on the carrying capacity of educational resources. If the pressure exceeds a certain limit, it will upset or even destroy the carrying capacity. The study of American economists such as Theodore W. Shultz and others on the individual benefits from education and the contribution of education to economic development led people to pay undue attention to the economic value of education. Many developing countries invest heavily in education, and the scale of educational ecology expands rapidly. However, since the economic and social development of these countries lags behind, they cannot absorb a large number of well-educated people, and therefore, many people with a higher diploma fail to find suitable jobs and are out of work. The balance of the energy and material flow between the regional educational ecology and the whole social ecology is upset, which in turn severely affects the healthy, stable and sustainable development of the educational ecology. As is known to all, any social ecological system is able to hold only a limited size of population. The population capacity of education refers to the maximum number of educated people in the educational ecological system to hold a relative balance and ensure its smooth operation. Examined by the definition of the carrying capacity, the population holding capacity of education is essentially the carrying capacity of education. The direct factor that affects the carrying capacity of education is all kinds of resources that the educational ecological system possesses, such as educational expenditure, school facilities and faulty. These factors are also affected by the level of social and economic development, educational policies, etc. These are similar to the factors that affect the carrying capacity of regional education discussed above. The formation and development of the educational ecological system have its own law. To plan the development of education based on the supply of educational resources and the ratio between educational resources and population size is one of the most important conditions for the healthy and sustainable development of education. However, the population explosion leads to the contradiction between the demand of the schoolage population for education and the healthy development of the ecological system. As early as 1968, Philip H. Coombs pointed out in The World Educational Crisis: A Systems Analysis that the contradiction between the supply and demand of education in both the industrialized and the developing world continued to expand. Disregarding the supply conditions of educational resources, neglecting the population capacity of education, blindly expanding the scale of education and pursuing the rate of educational universality will inevitably upset the balance of the educational ecological system and bring about great loss to the educational development and talent cultivation. The second is about the relationship between population fluctuation and the carrying capacity of regional education. In general, the increase of the world’s population is not in a linear trend but a dramatic, waving trend. The fluctuating change leads

38

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

to the relative concentration and the drastic rise and fall of the school-age population, which in turn results in the problems of the educational ecology, one of which is the instability of the scale of education. At the advent of the baby boom, we were faced with a shortage of the educational expenditure, faculty, school facilities and other educational resources, and therefore, we needed to expand the scale of education. However, after the baby boom, we were faced with the surplus and even the waste of faculty and school facilities. In the 1990s, the exponential increase of school-age population led to the dramatic increase of the demand for education. The contradiction between the demand for education and the limited educational resources was great and the government put in large quantities of human, material and financial resources but it was still difficult to achieve the balance. With the implementation of the nine-year compulsory education and the expansion of college and university enrollment, the whole educational ecological system was essentially operating at an overload. In order to meet the demand of the majority of people for education, we actually sacrificed the quality of education in exchange for the universality of school enrollment. With the decline of the enrollment peak and the decrease of the schoolage population, the waste and idleness of educational resources gradually appeared. The investigation shows that the size of primary and secondary school population in the rural areas is decreasing. Many rural primary schools have to close because there are not sufficient students. Then come two problems: One is how to use the extra educational resources, particularly faculty, and the other is how to deal with the threat to the higher level of the educational ecology. Therefore, the regional educational ecology is inevitably affected by the fluctuation of the size of population. The third is the relationship between population distribution and the carrying capacity of regional education. The imbalance of the carrying capacity of regional education is also linked with the unbalanced distribution of population. In China, higher education institutions (colleges and universities) are generally concentrated in the densely populated areas. In 1933, Chinese demographic geographer Hu Huanyong collected the data of all the provinces and counties and wrote a paper “The Distribution of China’s Population.” In the paper, he proposed China’s demographic geographic line for the first time, i.e., the Aihui-Tengchong Line. He argued that “along the east and south of the line, there are 440 million people, the areas are densely populated, and along the north and west of the line, there are 18 million people, the areas are sparsely populated.” (Hu Huanyong 1983) The fourth population census conducted in 1990 indicated that this unbalanced distribution of China’s population remained unchanged. Among the 1.1 billion people, 94.2% were concentrated in the east and south of the country while 5.8% were concentrated in the north and west. This population distribution has a direct impact on the geographical distribution of China’s education population. Statistics suggest that China’s geographical distribution of education population is still characterized by the dense population in the east and south and sparse population in the north and west. The imbalance of population distribution will inevitably lead to the imbalance of the carrying capacity of regional education. China’s eastern and southern regions are more developed and possess abundant educational resources. The population holding capacity of education is large, and the scale of school is also large. China’s western regions, particularly Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia, are less developed. The

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

39

natural geographical environment is not favorable. There is a lack of educational infrastructure and educational resources. The holding capacity of the current educational resources is limited. Therefore, from a micro-perspective, with the existing educational resources, China’s western region is under greater pressure than the east to carry the school population. The fourth is the relationship between population migration and the carrying capacity of education. Population migration means the movement of people in a certain spatial domain. The international population migration is beneficial to the scientific, technological and educational development of the countries that receive immigrants. Nowadays, those countries that receive immigrants have strict regulations on the number, quality and source of immigrants. The immigrants are generally high-quality talents with special expertise. These immigrants will become a significant force in the teaching and research of higher educational institutions and other research institutes. They make a great contribution to the exchanges of the scientific and technological achievements and the prosperity of the regional education. In terms of the domestic population movement, these people are a major force to advance the local education and also a great pressure on the local education. They affect the fluctuating change of the carrying capacity of the local education. Since the late 1980s, with the influx of migrant workers into the cities, the urban population witnessed an exponential increase, particularly a rapid increase of the school-age population, who exerted a grave pressure on the carrying capacity of the local education. In a word, population movement will inevitably affect the regional distribution of population and ultimately affect the ecological distribution of regional education. The fifth is the relationship between the structure of population and the carrying capacity of regional education. Population structure mainly refers to the age structure and gender structure. The age structure is the primary factor that directly affects the carrying capacity of regional education. Generally speaking, the school-age population is not affected by the gender ratio. Therefore, we are not going to discuss the gender structure here. However, the school-age population will have a direct impact on the structural change of the internal ecological system of regional education, on the proportion of all types and layers of the educational ecological system and ultimately on the carrying capacity of all types and levels of education. Concluded from the definition of the carrying capacity of regional education, we can see that it is the age structure, or the school-age population that has a direct impact on the carrying capacity of education.

2.1.2 The Imbalance of the Carrying Capacity of Regional Education From the perspective of the connotation of the carrying capacity of regional education, to judge whether the carrying capacity of regional education is normal or not, we should analyze it from the inner carrying capacity and outer carrying capacity.

40

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

The inner carrying capacity focuses on bringing into full play the internal elements of the educational system. Therefore, to assess whether the inner carrying capacity of regional education is balanced or not, we have to examine to what extent the allocation and utility of regional educational resources coordinate and accommodate with the structure and scale of education. The higher the accommodation is, the more capable the regional education is. As “a grand educational system,” regional education is to guide, control, manage and serve all the elements in the system. The more capable regional education as “a grand educational system” is of guiding, controlling, managing and serving the elements within the system, the fuller these elements will come to play, and therefore the stronger the inner carrying capacity of education becomes. The outer carrying capacity of regional education focuses more on the supporting power of the external elements. The stronger the external elements of regional education (politics, economy, culture, etc.) are, the higher the extent to which the regional educational system coordinates and accommodates with the external environment, and the stronger the external carrying capacity is. 1. The Imbalance in the Allocation of Regional Educational Resources When the allocation and use of regional educational resources are not consistent with the internal elements, it will be very difficult for the internal elements to come into full play. The internal elements refer to the basic elements indispensable to implement the educational activities. When the scale of regional education exceeds the carrying capacity of the external environment, it will upset the ecological balance between the regional education and its external environment. The external environment will impose a constraint on the development of regional education. In this complicated ecological system, the most powerful constraining elements on regional education are educational infrastructure, faculty resources and educational expenditure. First, let us examine the imbalance of the carrying capacity of regional education from the perspective of educational infrastructure. Educational infrastructure refers to the public goods and services and the totality of all kinds of material and technical conditions to ensure the smooth progress of preschool, compulsory and vocational education. Educational infrastructure is concerned with the long-term interests of the students and society. They are the longtime basic material infrastructure and the basic conditions indispensable for the economic, social and cultural development and the personal growth of those who receive education. Owing to the lack of stable educational input in some less developed regions, there is not sufficient funding to purchase modern teaching media and software facilities, and thus the carrying capacity of education is very weak. Next, let us examine the imbalance of the carrying capacity of regional education from the perspective of faculty resources. Teachers are the dominant actors of education, the professionals responsible for the education and teaching and the key to leading the development of schools. In the remote areas, the areas where ethnic minorities live, and the areas where the economy is less developed, owing to the historical and reality reasons, the high-quality teachers are not available for a long time, and therefore, the teaching staff is insufficient. The shortage of professional

2.1 The Ecological Capacity of Regional Education …

41

teachers is particularly severe in vocational schools. This is the main reason for the weakness of the carrying capacity of the local education. Third, let us examine the imbalance of the carrying capacity of regional education from the perspective of educational expenditure. Take compulsory education as an example. After the reforms of taxation and school tuitions, the central government and the provincial governments boost the investment in compulsory education in the rural areas. However, the amount of funding is still relatively small, and the use of funding is still not efficient. The fundamental reasons for the backward development of rural education are the incomplete supply system of public investment and the relatively wide gap between the rural and urban schools in school-running conditions, faculty, funding, etc. In recent years, governments at all levels have taken many positive measures to increase the financial appropriations to support compulsory education and achieved the goal of universal compulsory education. However, it should be acknowledged that although the tuitions and fees during compulsory education have been exempted in the cities around the country, the imbalance of compulsory education is not completely resolved. The transfer payment, which mainly comes from the central government, is not sufficient. The transfer payment system still needs improvement. There is a lack of the horizontal inter-provincial and inter-county transfer payment system. The development gap of compulsory education between different provinces, counties and between the urban and rural areas is still wide. 2. The Constraint of the External Environment of Regional Education Regional educational policies are the specific methods of regional educational administration. The investment policy and the review system are two most significant regional educational policies. As significant policy guidance, they play a vital role in deciding the choice of the means of regional education and have a direct impact on the shaping of political environment of regional education. The imbalance of regional economic development is the major factor that leads to the insufficient financial and material resources for educational development in less developed regions. In 2012, China’s investment in education amounted to 4% of the GDP, but it is still lower than the international level. China’s economic development differs from region to region and is quite unbalanced. Just as pointed out in The Guidelines of China’s Poverty Alleviation (2001–2010), the net per capita income of the peasants in the extreme poverty areas, a concentration of 14 provinces was RMB 2676, which was only half of the national average. That means families of different regions are quite different in terms of the ability to afford the education they need. Different from the political and economic environment, the potential relationship between the cultural environment and regional education is more profound. The development of culture provides a better cultural environment for regional education. Conversely, the development of regional education will also advance the prosperity of culture. The carrying capacity of the cultural environment of regional education is reflected in the demand of different regional cultures for educational development. Nowadays, many people in China are not very much aware of the importance of education, employment and the relationship between education and income. The local governments have not paid enough attention to the development of education.

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2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

3. The Imbalance in the Carrying Capacity of Regional Education as a Result of Population Fluctuation The change of population will bring about two significant realistic issues. One is how to decide the speed of educational development based on school-age population, financial capacity, social needs and other factors. The other is how to identify the developmental space (or extent) of schools of different types and levels, particularly the redistribution of the additional school population and educational resources in these schools. The additional school population and educational resources will inevitably involve the developmental orientation of different schools and macrostructural optimization of regional education. Let us take the enrollment of China’s graduate students as an example. In October 1977, the State Council approved the Ministry of Education’s Opinions on Higher Education Institutions to Enroll Graduate Students. Since then, the universities began to recruit graduate students. In 1978, China renewed graduate education and started to implement the degree system. In the same year, about 63,000 students were enrolled in the graduate entrance examination, and 10,708 students were admitted. By 2013, China’s graduate student population had reached 6,008,000 (over six million). After more than 30 years of development, the size of China’s graduate student population in 2013 was nearly 57 times as much as that of 1978. The rapid expansion of the graduate student population, to a certain extent, met the needs of economic and social development. However, there also appeared such problems of the insufficient educational input and the lower of the quality of the students, etc.

2.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Carrying Capacity of Regional Education 2.2.1 The Construction of the Index System According to the discussion in part one of this chapter, we believe that, generally speaking, the carrying capacity of regional education can be measured from three dimensions: resources, environment and population, i.e., a three-index system. The second-tier index of resources includes the following: the average educational expenditure per student, the number of schools per 10,000 people, the holding capacity of each school, the holding capacity of each class, the ratio between facultyand-staff and students, the ratio of teachers with an associate degree and above, the ratio of teachers with senior professional titles and above, the average land area of the school per student, the average teaching and aiding facilities per student, the average accommodations per student, the average administrative room and other rooms per student, the average teaching and scientific research instrument per student, the average library materials and computers per student, etc.

2.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Carrying Capacity …

43

The average educational expenditure per student is an index to measure the basic funding for the smooth operation of the school, the salary of the incumbent faculty and staff, the spending of the school construction, etc. This index is the basis followed by the financial departments of different regions, based on the realities of the local economic and educational development, to formulate the annual budget and allocate the relevant appropriation to the department of education. Generally speaking, the average educational expenditure per student is in proportion to the carrying capacity of regional education. The higher the average educational expenditure is, the stronger the carrying capacity is. In the factors that reflect the carrying capacity of education, the average educational expenditure is an indispensable item. The number of schools per 10,000 people reflects the density of schools. Schools refer to the basic unit to carry out educational policies based on the national criteria and procedures. Schools are different from other business enterprises and social organizations. They are the organizations to conduct well-planned, orderly and systematic educational activities and the frontier base for the cultivation of talents. As a rule, the more schools it is per 10,000 people, the more abundant the educational resources are in a certain region. With more peasant workers coming into the towns and cities and the speeding up of urbanization, some primary and secondary schools in rural areas are either closed or incorporated into urban schools. As a result, the number of schools is becoming smaller and the schools are sparsely distributed in rural areas. On the condition of ensuring the quality of education, the more schools it is for each 10,000 people, the stronger the carrying capacity of regional education is. Schools are the organizing carriers of education, and the number of schools per 10,000 people is no doubt one of the significant factors that affect the carrying capacity of regional education. The ratio between faculty-and-staff and students is a significant index to measure the qualification of a school. Faculty and staff play a vital role in schools, and the number of faculty reflects the sufficiency of the teacher resources of a region and also the carrying capacity of regional education. The ratio of teachers with an associate degree and above and the ratio of teachers with senior professional titles and above are significant assessment criteria to measure the quality of teachers. Teachers with senior professional titles and above have professional knowledge, expertise and solid theoretical base. They are experienced in teaching and have distinctive expertise and remarkable achievements. Generally speaking, the higher the ratio is, the higher the academic credentials are and the more experienced they are in teaching. Therefore, academic degrees and professional titles are two significant factors in measuring the carrying capacity of regional education. The average square meters of the school for each student. The area a school covers usually includes the area for buildings, green space and playground. After the school completes its construction, we should ensure that each student is entitled to enough average square meters. On the precondition of ensuring the quality of education, the average square meters for each student is in the right proportion to the carrying capacity of regional education. Therefore, the average square meters of the school for each student is a significant factor to reflect the carrying capacity of regional education.

44

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

From the environmental perspective, its second-tier index includes the annual average residential income, the social labor productivity, management mechanism and policy regulations. From the population perspective, its second-tier index includes population density and the number of children of migrant workers. Population density is a unit to measure the size of population within a certain region. It usually refers to the number of permanent residents in per square kilometer or per square mile. On the one hand, the increase of population density means the increasing demand for education, which is conducive to boosting educational development. On the other hand, the rise of population density also means the relative decrease of educational resources, which in turn upsets the carrying capacity of regional education. On the precondition of guaranteeing the quality of education, the denser the population is, with the bolstering of the demand for education, the stronger the carrying capacity of education is. The number of children of migrant workers measures the amount of their demand on education in the process of the intra-regional or inter-regional migration. Since the late 1980s, owing to the influx of a large number of migrant workers, many cities witnessed an exponential increase of the population, which exerted a great pressure on the carrying capacity of the local education. Population movement will inevitably affect the geographical distribution of population and ultimately the ecological distribution of education and the carrying capacity of regional education. Generally speaking, the larger the number of the children of migrant workers is, the stronger the carrying capacity of education is. Based on this, it is natural to construct the index system of the carrying capacity of regional education (Table 2.2). According to the three index of the carrying capacity of regional education, resources, environment and population, we can construct a regulatory model of the carrying capacity of regional education (Fig. 2.2).

2.2.2 The Positivist Research Method 1. A Comparative Analysis of the Relevant Research Methods The following are the major methods highly relevant to this research (Table 2.3). (a) Analytical Hierarchy Process, AHP In the early 1970s, American operational researcher Thomas L. Saaty, based on the network systemic theory, proposed the analytical hierarchy process, which combined the quantitative and qualitative studies with the systemic studies and hierarchy (i.e., the analytic hierarchy process, AHP). This approach divides the relatively complicated research object into the increasing hierarchical structure in which the elements of the same level are interconnected and roughly equal in status. Through the hierarchical prioritization based on the order of importance and subsequent testing, and by

2.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Carrying Capacity …

45

Table 2.2 Index system of the carrying capacity of regional education The objective tier

The criteria tier

The index tier

The carrying capacity of regional education

Resources

The average educational expenditure per student The number of schools per 10,000 people The ratio between the faculty-and-staff and the students The ratio of teachers with an associate degree and above The ratio of teachers with a senior professional title and above The average space per student The average teaching and aiding facilities per student The average acre of the accommodations per student The average acre of the administrative facilities per student The average acre of the other facilities per student The average teaching, scientific and research instrument per student The average library resources per student The average teaching computer per student

Environment

The annual average residential income The social labor productivity Management mechanism Policy regulations

Population

Population density The number of the children of migrant workers

judging the largest characteristic value of the matrix and the calculation and utilization of the characteristic vector, we can get the respective weight of all the elements (Zhang Lanfang et al. 2010). (b) Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a new interdisciplinary research field integrating operations, management and mathematical economics. It is an effective evaluation approach that measures relative efficiency by comparing it with the possible production frontiers of decision-making units. It is widely used because it does not have to

46

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

the carrying capacity of regional educaƟon

resources environment populaƟon

comprehensive analysis and assessment

Fig. 2.2 Regulatory model of the carrying capacity of regional education Table 2.3 Comparison of several assessment methods Evaluation methods

Features

Shortcomings

Analytical hierarchy process, AHP

It is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing multi-layer, complex decisions, based on mathematics and psychology. This method is systemic, flexible, concise and practical

This method is too subjective. Its conclusion is not accurate enough

Data envelopment analysis, DEA

It is a nonparametric method in operations research and economics for the estimation of production frontiers. It is used to empirically measure productive efficiency of decision-making unit (DMU). Based on the concept of relative efficiency and the input and output of multiple index, it is used to arrange a relatively effective order for the units of the same type

Nonparametric approaches have the benefit of not assuming a particular functional form/shape for the frontier. However, they do not provide a general relationship (equation) relating output and input. It cannot put all the units in a direct order. Nor can it do a detailed categorization. Its classification is rough and usually falls into two categories: “good” and “bad”

Factor analysis, FA

Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. It can introduce many variables, classify them and put them in the right ranking

Factor analysis can be only as good as the data allows. Interpreting data analysis is based on using a “heuristic” approach, which is a solution that is “convenient even if not absolutely true.” More than one interpretation can be made of the same data factored the same way, and factor analysis cannot identify causality. It has a high command on the accuracy of the basic data. It takes a holistic approach and can only conduct comprehensive assessments

2.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Carrying Capacity …

47

prescribe the frontier production function in the parametric form. Nor does it have to learn in advance the connectivity between the inputs and outputs. As a nonparametric method in operations research for the estimation of production frontiers, it is particularly useful in evaluating the efficiency of public affairs. Now it has become a significant analysis tool in management, systems engineering, decision-making, evaluation technologies, etc. This approach has helped to solve many problems confronted in comprehensive evaluation, which is reflected in the following four major aspects. (a) DEA takes the weights of the inputs and outputs of the decision-making units as variables and conducts evaluation from the perspectives that are best conducive to decision-making. (b) DEA hypothesizes that every input is related to one or more outputs. Even if there is certain connectivity between the inputs and outputs, it is not necessary to clarify this connectivity. (c) The evaluation coefficient of the relative efficiency has nothing to do with the dimension of the inputs and outputs. (d) This approach views the evaluation index value as observation value and thus helps to form a relatively effective frontier, which is used as an evaluation standard. Therefore, it is also a statistical analytical method. (c) Factor Analysis, FA Factor analysis is a multivariate statistical method used to simplify data through a dimensionality reduction process. On the one hand, factor analysis can synthesize multiple variables with complex relationship into fewer factors so as to reveal the interactive relationship between the primitive variables and the factors. It can also classify the variables according to different types and find a smaller number of interdependent common factors to substitute a relatively large number of interconnected primitive variables. The selection of common factors in this approach is in a better position to reflect most of the important information contained in the primitive variables, thereby simplifying the analytical process. On the other hand, factor analysis does not directly use the original data index. It only condenses it. However, the condensed common factor has more explanatory value to the original models than the original factors. To sum up, this analytical method can help us to transform a group of observed primitive variables into a few common factors without losing much of the information. After transforming the observed primitive variables into a few common factors, we use these common factors to replace the primitive variables to conduct the statistical analysis. Owing to the connectivity between the statistics and compared with other statistical methods, this approach can help us to reduce a certain degree of human error. 2. The Selection of Research Methods Although data envelopment analysis is very effective in conducting input–output and efficiency analyses, it is not suitable to measure the carrying capacity of regional education for two reasons. First, it is difficult to define the terms “input and output.” Second, this approach focuses more on the evaluation of “efficiency.” The measurement of the carrying capacity of regional education involves many indices, and many difficulties will emerge in the process of comprehensive evaluation. Analytical hierarchy process is systemic, concise, flexible and practical. However, the findings

48

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

obtained through this approach are a rough sequencing of plans and are heavily influenced by subjective judgement. Therefore, it is difficult to objectively reflect the carrying capacity of regional education. Comparatively speaking, factor analysis has many advantages in measuring the carrying capacity of regional education. First, we can introduce many variables in factor analysis. Second, this approach is good at categorization and sequencing (or ranking in this case) through dimensionality reduction. By using this approach, we can transform many indexes into only a few factor variables and thus simplify the analytical process and condense scores of factors we need to consider into a few common factors. In that case, we grasp the principal contradictions or the decisive factors that influence the measurement of the carrying capacity of regional education. Third, by using this approach, it is convenient to do ranking and comparison within the same system, determine an objective weight according to the variance contribution rate of each factor variable and thereby calculate the comprehensive score. In this way, we can examine the carrying capacity in a complete and objective fashion. Therefore, we will adopt the approach of factor analysis in our study. We will calculate the comprehensive score of the carrying capacity of regional education in each of the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and do their ranking accordingly.

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical Examples of the Index System In recent years, with the rapid economic development and the increase of the comprehensive power, China has transformed itself from a major country with a large population to a major power with a large human resource. Compulsory education has been the focus of China’s educational reform and development. China has achieved a comprehensive nine-year free compulsory education and guaranteed that all the school-age children are able to attend school. The Statistical Bulletin of China’s National Education 2010 issued by the Ministry of Education indicated that by the end of 2010, all the 2856 counties (cities and districts) had achieved “The Two Basic Goals.” One was to universalize the nine-year compulsory education, and the other was to eradicate the illiteracy among the adolescents and the grown-ups. After achieving the goal of the universal free compulsory education, the national government clearly prioritized the balanced development of compulsory education and set the goal of getting all the school-age children to “have a good education.” In this context, we should closely stick to the people-centered principle, faithfully honor the commitment to providing a satisfactory education for everyone and advance character education in the new era. In 2001, The State Council’s Decision on the Reform and Development of Basic Education pointed out that China should adjust the layout of the rural schools of compulsory education in accordance with the local conditions. The adjustment should follow the following principles: getting the pupils to the nearest primary schools,

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical …

49

relatively concentrating the middle schools, optimizing the allocation of educational resources and adequately planning the layout of schools. However, when starting to plan and adjust the layout of the rural primary and secondary schools, some local governments did not have a thorough investigation and had little understanding of the real conditions of the rural areas. As a result, the layout of the primary and secondary schools in rural areas was not reasonable and the school dropout was serious in some poor rural and mountainous areas. The increase of dropouts in rural areas came along with the loss of balance of regional education. According to The Statistical Year Book of China’s Educational Expenditure 2010, in the year 2010, the gap of the average educational expenditure among the primary school students in different regions was very wide. For instance, the average educational expenditure of Beijing and Shanghai was much higher than that of other provinces. The average educational expenditure of Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou was much lower than that of Beijing and Shanghai. Among these, the average expenditure in Guizhou was the lowest. Its average expenditure was only about 14% of that of Beijing. Different from compulsory education, high school education is responsible for providing excellent potential candidates for colleges and universities and improving the comprehensive quality of the nation. It is a linkage between compulsory education and higher education and also a transitional period to provide the society with a large work force with a certain amount of knowledge and expertise. High school education is composed of two parts: the ordinary high school education and vocational education. In recent years, China’s high school education is greatly universalized, and its quality has greatly improved. However, the high school management follows a single model and the cultivation of talents is converging. Just as a saying goes: Thousands of schools have the same face. In other words, the schools do not have their distinctive features. Under the guidance of the college entrance examinations, the high schools throughout the country, disregarding the individual personality and personal growth, all crowd into the “entrance” of the colleges and universities. The pursuit of the ratio of college admission has become a spell that suffocates the diversity and individuality of the students. The maxim of “All roads lead to Rome” has turned into “There is only ONE road to Rome: College Entrance Exams,” which is defined in Chinese terms as “Since the ancient times there has been only one single path in the steep Mountain Hua” or “a zigzagging mountain trail fraught with high risks and uncertainties.” However, different regions demand people with different or differentiated talents. The homogeneous and converging tendency of high school education makes it difficult to have people with different talents. Therefore, the local governments of different regions should encourage high schools to develop their distinctive features and work hard to change the current converging trend to meet the needs of the realities in different regions. During the ten years of 1998-2008, the educational input in China’s high school education gradually declined, from 21.41% of the all the national educational expenditure in 1998 to 18.29% in 2008. Among this, the educational expenditure of the intermediate vocational education decreased from 12.4% of all the national educational expenditure to 7.24%. The expenditure for the ordinary high school education increased from 9.08% to 11.05%. Shen Baifu (2006) argues that four factors contribute to the decline of high school educational

50

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

expenditure in all the national educational expenditure: the rapid development of ordinary high schools, the universality of nine-year compulsory education, the legalization of all kinds of expenditure guarantee mechanism and the implementation of free education, all took a share from the national educational spending. By the year 2010, the gap of the average educational expenditure per high school student among different regions had become wider. The average expenditure in Beijing and Shanghai was much higher than that of other provinces. Compared with Beijing, Shanghai, Tibet and Xinjiang, the average expenditure in Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou was much lower. Guizhou was the lowest. The average educational expenditure per student accounted for only 15% of that of Shanghai and 64% of the national average. 1. The Choice of the Index and the Source of Data We take compulsory education and high school education as the research topics and analyze the carrying capacity of regional education of different regions. Since it is difficult to obtain data from different counties, our focus is on the provincial level. We select the data from China’s 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in 2010 and make a horizontal comparative analysis. Based on the availability of the data, we keep some indices and delete others in Table 2.2 and ultimately present the following index system (Table 2.4). 2. Research Procedure (a) The KMO Measure of Sampling Adequacy Test The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy is a statistic that indicates the proportion of variance in the variables that might be caused by underlying factors. High values (close to 1.0) generally indicate that a factor analysis may be useful with the data. If KMO value is over 0.5, it means the sample data is adequate for factor analysis. In this research, the KMO value of the second factor analysis of Barlett chi-square value is 0.791, reaching the degree of “prominent.” Therefore, it is adequate for factor analysis (Table 2.5). (b) The Characteristic Value of the Coefficient Matrix of Relative Samples and Variance Contribution Rate This study employs the principal component analysis (PCA) as factor extraction and uses characteristic value ≥1 as the criterion for extraction factor. In this analysis, there are two factors whose characteristic values are over 1 (or: >1). The cumulative interpretation rate to sample variance amounts to 78.253%. In other words, they have two characteristic values which satisfy the relevant conditions and have a strong explanatory power. Therefore, we take the first two principal components as the first and the second principal components, which are shown in Table 2.6.

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical …

51

Table 2.4 Carrying capacity index system of compulsory education and high school education of different provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) The objective tier

The criteria tier

The index tier

The carrying capacity of regional education

Resources

The average educational expenditure per student The ratio between the faculty-and-staff and the students The ratio of teachers with an associate degree and above The ratio of teachers with a senior professional title and above The average space per student The average teaching and aiding facilities per student The average acre of the accommodations per student The average acre of the administrative facilities per student The average acre of the other facilities per student The average teaching, scientific and research instrument per student The average library resources per student The average teaching computer per student

Environment

The annual average of residential income

Population

Population density

Note The statistics of all the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in Table 2.4 come from China Statistics Year Book 2010, China’s Educational Expenditure Statistics Year Book 2010, China’s Educational Statistics Year Book 2010 and China’s Population Statistics Year Book 2010 Table 2.5 KMO and Bartlett test

Sufficient sample: KMO value

0.791

Bartlett’s sphericity (spherical) test

Approximate chi-square

338.840

Degree of freedom

45

Degree Of conspicuousness

0.000

52

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

(c) Factor Loading Matrix After Rotation Table 2.7 shows the factor loading matrix after orthogonal rotation. The higher the factor loading value is, the more information the index of the factor has. (d) Construct an Analysis Model Based on the Returned Principal Components Suppose F 1 and F 2 stand for the first principal component and the second principal component, respectively, and then we will get the following result: F1 = 0.854x1 + 0.168x2 + 0.125x3 + 0.302x4 + 0.767x5 + 0.935x6 + 0.783x7 + 0.851x8 + 0.883x9 + 0.919x10 F2 = 0.375x1 + 0.88x2 + 0.597x3 + 0.813x4 + 0.537x5 + 0.265x6 + 0.255x7 + 0.363x8 − 0.883x9 + 0.217x10 In the formula, x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 x 9 x 10 , respectively, refer to the average educational expenditure per student, the ratio between the faculty-and-staff and the students, the average teaching and aiding facilities per student, the average acre of the administrative facilities per student, the average acre of the other facilities per student, the average teaching, scientific and research instrument per student, the average library resources per student, the average teaching computer per student, population density and the annual average residential income. (e) Index Comprehensive Score Principal component one and principal component two reflect the carrying capacity of regional education from different perspectives. Although principal component one and principal component two have a strong capacity to synthesize the original information, they cannot directly reveal the strength of the carrying capacity of education in all different regions. Therefore, we have to construct the comprehensive assessment model (the comprehensive score of the factors), among which 0.52898 is the variance contribution rate of the first principal component, and 0.25355 is the variance contribution rate of the second principal component. Through the formula created by SPSS software, we get the results as shown in Table 2.8. F = F1 ∗ 0.52898 + F2 ∗ 0.25355 In the same way, as shown in Tables 2.9 and 2.10, we get the results of the ranking of the carrying capacity for junior high school education and high school education in 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (Tables 2.9 and 2.10). On the county level, this study takes the primary school education in Qingyang District, Chengdu City, as an example and chooses the data from 2002 to 2010 to conduct a longitudinal analysis. The relevant data is provided by the Education Bureau of Qingyang District. However, the data is very limited. Besides, part of the index fails to separate the data on compulsory education from the data on high school

6.468

1.357

2

13.569

64.684 78.253

64.684 1.357

6.484 13.569

64.684 78.253

64.684

Cumulative

Totality

Chi-square

Extraction square and loading Cumulative

Totality

Chi-square

Primary characteristic value

1

Component

Table 2.6 Total variance contribution rate

2.535

5.290

Totality

25.355

52.898

Chi-square

Rotation square and loading

78.253

52.898

Cumulative

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical … 53

54

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

Table 2.7 Factor loading matrix after orthogonal rotation Components 1

2

The average educational expenditure per student

0.854

0.375

The ratio between the faculty-and-staff and the students

0.168

0.880

The average teaching and aiding facilities per student

0.125

0.597

The average acre of the administrative facilities per student

0.302

0.813

The average acre of the other facilities per student

0.767

0.537

The average teaching, scientific and research instrument per student

0.935

0.265

The average library resources per student

0.783

0.255

The average teaching computer per student

0.851

0.364

Population density

0.883

−0.005

The annual average residential income

0.919

0.217

education during the period from 2011 to 2013. The statistical channel of these three years is different from that of other years. Therefore, the study chooses only nine indices as shown in Table 2.4. The research procedure is the same as others. The results of the KMO and Bartlett’s sphericity tests show that the KMO value is 0.791, which is over 0.5 (or: greater than 0.5), and reaches the degree of conspicuousness. Therefore, it can be used to conduct factor analysis (Table 2.11). As shown in Table 2.12, there are three factors whose characteristic value is over 1 (or: greater than 1). The cumulative interpretation rate of the sample variance amounts to 88.405%. That means they have two characteristic values that satisfy the relevant conditions. Therefore, these three common factors have a strong explanatory power. Factor Loading Matrix After Orthogonal Rotation—please see Table 2.13. In the same fashion, we can get the comprehensive assessment model of the primary school education of Qingyang District. Table 2.14 shows the calculating results of the separate scores and comprehensive scores of all the factors concerning the carrying capacity of the primary school education in Qingyang District. F = F1 ∗ 0.46067 + F2 ∗ 0.68643 + F3 ∗ 0.88405

2.3.1 Research Findings The finding of the positivist research is that the carrying capacity of regional compulsory and high school education is stronger in the eastern region of China but weaker in the middle and western regions. The specific conclusions are as follows:

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical … Table 2.8 Ranking of the carrying capacity for primary school education in 31 provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities)

Regions

Comprehensive score

55 Ranking

Beijing

1.926

1

Shanghai

1.828

2

Tianjin

0.763

3

Jiangsu

0.444

4

Zhejiang

0.427

5

Fujian

0.218

6

Guangdong

0.204

7

Liaoning

0.129

8

Inner Mongolia

0.016

9

Shaanxi

0.003

10

Jilin

−0.0003

11

Chongqing

−0.084

12

Heibei

−0.085

13

Heilongjiang

−0.087

14

Shandong

−0.091

15

Shanxi

−0.138

16

Hainan

−0.226

17

Hunan

−0.234

18

Hubei

−0.254

19

Xinjiang

−0.264

20

Ningxia

−0.293

21

Tibet

−0.298

22

Anhui

−0.352

23

Guangxi

−0.363

24

Henan

−0.380

25

Gansu

−0.406

26

Sichuan

−0.415

27

Qinghai

−0.421

28

Jiangxi

−0.465

29

Yunnan

−0.505

30

Guizhou

−0.595

31

(a) The carrying capacity of the primary schools is stronger in China’s eastern region but weaker in its middle and western regions. In terms of the carrying capacity of primary school education, among the 31 provinces (and autonomous regions and municipalities), Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Liaoning rank the eight strongest. Guizhou, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Henan and Guangxi are the eight weakest. It is worth noting that Henan and Jiangxi rank the 25th and 29th, respectively. The main reason is

56

2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

Table 2.9 Ranking of the carrying capacity for junior high school education in 31 provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities)

Regions

Comprehensive score

Ranking

Shanghai

2.570

1

Beijing

1.612

2

Zhejiang

0.782

3

Tianjin

0.705

4

Jiangsu

0.650

5

Liaoning

0.581

6

Shandong

0.195

7

Hebei

0.154

8

Jilin

0.096

9

Hunan

0.091

10

−0.025

11

Inner Mongolia Fujian

−0.059

12

Heilongjiang

−0.078

13

Shaanxi

−0.097

14

Xinjiang

−0.103

15

Ningxia

−0.155

16

Guangdong

−0.164

17

Hubei

−0.248

18

Shanxi

−0.248

19

Henan

−0.349

20

Qinghai

−0.354

21

Tibet

−0.404

22

Anhui

−0.489

23

Jiangxi

−0.499

24

Sichuan

−0.513

25

Hainan

−0.539

26

Chongqing

−0.549

27

Guangxi

−0.568

28

Gansu

−0.603

29

Yunnan

−0.685

30

Guizhou

−0.708

31

that the average educational expenditure per primary school student of Henan (RMB 2271.10 per student) and Jiangxi (RMB 2647.43 per student) ranks 31st and 29th, respectively, and the ratio between teaching staff and students rank 31st and 30th. The average expenditure on each primary school student in Tibet and Xinjiang ranks higher, and therefore their comprehensive ranks are not the lowest.

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical … Table 2.10 Ranking of the carrying capacity for high school education in 31 provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities)

Table 2.11 KMO and Bartlett tests (Qingyang District, Chengdu)

Regions

Comprehensive score

57 Ranking

Shanghai

3.119

1

Beijing

2.699

2

Tianjin

0.828

3

Zhejiang

0.547

4

Fujian

0.394

5

Jiangsu

0.392

6

Guangdong

0.113

7

Shandong

−0.025

8

Tibet

−0.086

9

Hainan

−0.090

10

Hunan

−0.131

11

Liaoning

−0.227

12

Shanxi

−0.236

13

Jiangxi

−0.264

14

Xinjiang

−0.275

15

Qinghai

−0.279

16

Hebei

−0.281

17

Yunnan

−0.307

18

Inner Mongolia

−0.322

19

Ningxia

−0.378

20

Heilongjiang

−0.386

21

Chongqing

−0.400

22

Jilin

−0.429

23

Shaanxi

−0.431

24

Sichuan

−0.464

25

Anhui

−0.472

26

Guangxi

−0.474

27

Hubei

−0.505

28

Gansu

−0.524

29

Henan

−0.531

30

Guizhou

−0.573

31

The sample of sufficient aÛmount: KMO value

0.714

Bartlett’s sphericity test

Approximate chi-square

316.009

Degree of freedom

36

Degree of conspicuousness

0.000

1.763

1.184

0.685

0.224

0.091

0.038

0.006

0.000

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0.002

0.064

0.422

1.006

2.487

7.614

13.158

19.586

55.661

100.00

99.998

99.934

99.512

98.506

96.020

88.405

75.248

55.661

The abstraction method: The analysis of the principal component

5.010

2 1.184

1.763

5.010 13.158

19.585

55.661 88.405

75.248

55.661

Cumulative

Totality

Chi-square

Extraction square and loading Cumulative

Totality

Chi-square

Characteristic value

1

Component

Table 2.12 Total variance contribution rate (Qingyang District, Chengdu)

1.779

2.032

4.146

19.763

22.576

46.067

Chi-square

Rotation square and loading Totality

88.405

68.643

46.067

Cumulative

58 2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

2.3 The Carrying Capacity of Regional Education: Practical …

59

Table 2.13 Factor loading matrix after orthogonal rotation (Qingyang District, Chengdu) Components 1 The average educational expenditure per student The ratio between the teaching staff and the students The ratio of teachers with an associate degree and above The ratio of teachers with a senior professional title and above The average school land area per student The average acre of the administrative facilities per student The average acre of the accommodations per student The average teaching, scientific and research instruments per student The average library resources per student

2

3

0.959

0.107

−0.104

−0.329

−0.829

−0.013

0.583

0.760

−0.100 −0.059

0.912

0.381

−0.367

−0.243

0.864

0.089

−0.056

0.972

−0.937

−0.142

0.081

0.958

0.087

−0.031

−0.080

0.721

−0.235

The extraction method: principal component analysis Rotation: orthogonal rotation with Kaiser standard Note Rotation converges after the fourth iteration

Table 2.14 Separate and comprehensive scores of the factors that influence the carrying capacity of primary school education of Qingyang District, Chengdu City Year

The score of the first common factor

The score of the second common factor

The score of the third common factor

Comprehensive score

2000

−0.82941

−1.74718

−0.07669

−1.649198867

2001

−0.50217

−1.60797

0.02595

−1.312152404

2002

−0.67513

0.05488

0.57382

0.2333944712

2003

−0.57132

−0.07953

0.58498

0.199369807

2004

−0.56036

0.28585

−0.08558

−0.137582025

2005

−0.99403

1.84734

0.29595

1.071784394

2006

−0.40553

0.69197

−2.31748

−1.760594732

2007

0.41637

0.34692

0.11842

0.534634665

2008

0.6486

0.28842

0.75484

1.164087005

2009

1.43129

0.25333

1.34052

2.018332382

2010

2.04169

−0.33403

−1.21473

−0.362624937

(b) In terms of the carrying capacity of junior high school education, among the 31 provinces (and autonomous regions and municipalities), Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong and Hebei are the eight strongest. Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu, Guangxi, Chongqing, Hainan, Sichuan and Jiangxi are the eight weakest. It is worth noting that Liaoning (6th) ranks closer to the top mainly because the square area of the teaching and assisting housing is relatively large (4.8 square meters), ranking the fourth and the number of

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2 The Measurement of Carrying Capacity of Regional Education

computers for each student ranks the third in the country. Chongqing (27th) ranks close to the end mainly because the average of the square area of the teaching and assisting housing (2.7 m2 ) ranks 28th and the library resources per student (0.4 book) ranks the lowest in the country. (c) In terms of the carrying capacity of high school education, among the 31 provinces (and autonomous regions and municipalities), Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong rank the eight strongest. Guizhou, Henan, Gansu, Hubei, Guangxi, Anhui, Sichuan and Shaanxi are the eight weakest. It is worth noting that Hubei and Henan rank the 28th and 30th, respectively. The main reason is that the average library resources and teaching and assisting housing per student rank the 29th, and the average computers rank 30th while the average computers per student (0.057) rank 31st and the library resources per student (0.17) rank 29th in the country. (d) From the county-level perspective, the carrying capacity of primary school education of Qingyang District in Chengdu is on a rising trend and fluctuates on parts of the linking points. Seen from the carrying capacity of the common factors obtained from all the indicators, the average educational expenditure per student, the ratio of teachers with senior academic title and the average teaching and research facilities per student are the most influential indicators. From the longitudinal perspective, the comprehensive grade of the carrying capacity of primary school education of Qingyang District, Chengdu City, is the lowest in 2000. After that, except for the fluctuation in 2004, 2006 and 2010, the comprehensive grades in other years were on a larger increase and climaxed in 2009. Therefore, we can conclude that with the implementation of universal free compulsory education, the carrying capacity of primary school education of Qingyang District, Chengdu City, witnessed a substantial improvement. The Interpretation of Relevant Policies In the Twelfth Five-Year Plan Outline Concerning National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China reviewed and passed by the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress in 2011 China put forward the plan to “implement the general strategy of regional development,” “enhance a collaborative regional development and gradually narrow the gap of regional development.” The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed “deepening comprehensive education reform” and “gradually bridging the gap between different regions, between urban and rural areas and between different schools.” The issuing and implementation of these national strategies indicate that advancing comprehensive reform and sustainable development of education will ultimately fall on the regional level. How can we carry out our general strategy of regional development? How can we cement the role of education in implementing the national strategy? All these call for us to strengthen the study of regional educational development. The priority of the balanced development of regional education lies in the balanced development of compulsory education within the region. With the universalization of

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the nine-year compulsory education, we have effectively ensured that all the schoolage children have the access to education. In recent years, the government pays close attention to the balanced development of compulsory education and issues a series of policies to promote its universality. In 2005, the Ministry of Education issued Opinions on Further Advancing the Balanced Development of Compulsory Education, which gives priority to advancing the balanced development of compulsory education after “Two Basics (or The Two Basic Goals)” are achieved. The two basic goals refer to basically implementing the nine-year compulsory education and basically eliminating the illiteracy among the young and middle-aged people. In 2006, the Ministry of Education held a national conference on sharing the experience of enhancing the balanced development of compulsory education in Chengdu, Sichuan. The conference clearly pointed out that China would strive to achieve a more reasonable and regulatory distribution of compulsory educational resources within the region in the next three to five years. In 2009, the Ministry of Education held another national conference on sharing the experience of enhancing the balanced development of compulsory education in Handan, Heibei Province. The conference proposed a two-phase objective: (a) in the primary phase (prior to 2012), striving to achieve a preliminary balance of compulsory education within the region; (b) in the second phase (prior to 2020), striving to accomplish a basic balance of compulsory education within the region (Liu Yandong, 2009). In 2010, the Ministry of Education issued Opinions of Implementing Scientific Outlook on Development and Further Advancing the Balanced Development of Compulsory Education, which offers some guidance on the increase of educational expenditure and the reasonable allocation of educational resources to effectively promote the balance and quality of compulsory education. In the same year, the Ministry of Education issued The Outline of National Medium-and-Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan (2010–2020) (or The Outline of Education Plan in short). It emphasized that by 2020, China’s compulsory education would have achieved a balanced development within the region and the eligible school-age children would be sure to have a good compulsory education. According to the requirements of The Outline of Education Plan, the Ministry of Education issued The Outline of Compulsory Education Plan and The Outline of Faculty Development in 2011, and together with relevant departments, launched the school standardization project, strengthened the support of the balanced compulsory education throughout the country and deepened the financial guarantee mechanism, the innovation plan for the safe primary and secondary school houses and the poor rural schools, the National Faculty Development project and the “Special Teaching Position Plan” for the primary and secondary school teachers. In March 2011, the Ministry of Education signed the memorandum of the balanced development of compulsory education with Beijing and other 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and further strengthened the balanced development of compulsory education on the provincial level. Views from Experts According to Tan Songhua and others, the imbalance has existed in the history of China’s regional development for a long time. The pathway and procedure to

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achieve the strategic objective of the coordinated development of China’s regional education are to move from an imbalanced development to a more balanced and harmonious development. Their study points out that the historical and reality conditions determine that for a certain period of time, China’s educational development will inevitably adopt the strategy of imbalanced development, i.e., encouraging the regions with better economic and social conditions to take initiative to achieve a balanced educational development and then help other less developed regions to catch up. This strategy emphasizes that we must take into account the realistic conditions and development levels of different regions and ensure that the development tasks and goals are consistent with the local realities. We must consider the development phases, take effective measures and achieve the goals of the reform and development of regional education step by step. We must try our best to shorten the phase of traditional development, adopt innovative approaches and create favorable conditions for a more balanced development of regional education. The key to achieving the transformation from imbalanced development to balanced and coordinated development lies in this: The regions with more favorable conditions should take the lead and set an example to explore and form the modern educational models compatible with China’s realities and thereby help the less developed regions to achieve a leap forward in education (Tan Songhua et al. 2002). A Typical Case Study Under the guidance of The Outline of Education Plan, Sanhe City in Hebei Province gives priority to the educational development in the rural areas and makes a series of preferential policies to achieve the goal. One is to innovate the schoolrunning models, integrate the kindergartens and primary schools and take a holistic approach to the planning of building and renovating kindergartens and primary school campuses in rural areas. Sanhe City actively responds to the call of The Outline of Education Plan to “take various forms to increase the preschool educational resources in rural areas, build and renovate kindergartens and make full use of the surplus teachers and school houses resulting from the layout adjustment of primary and secondary schools to augment kindergartens.” In this case, the kindergartens are set up within the primary schools. On the one hand, they are independent from each other. On the other hand, the surplus teachers and school houses are fully utilized to ensure an access to education for the children of absent parents and of the neighborhood and help to alleviate the burden of the peasants. Another one is to make preferential policies to stabilize the teaching staff in the remote areas. Teaching staff is the key to education. Through constructing the mechanisms of “recruitment, training, awarding, subsidizing and circulating,” Sanhe City gives priority to optimizing teaching staff structure, enhancing the qualities of teaching staff in rural areas and laying a solid foundation for educational development. Therefore, we can conclude that the national educational policies, laws and regulations and systems are the significant factors that impact on the development of regional education. Chengdu City in Sichuan Province is in the western part of China. The educational development model of Qingyang District in Chengdu City casts more light on our understanding of regional education. In recent years, particularly after the founding of

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Qingyang Educational Experimental District affiliated with China National Institute of Education Sciences, and under the guidance of Scientific Outlook on Development, Qingyang District, innovates the educational system and makes great progress and prominent achievements in promoting the high-quality and balanced development of regional education. Qingyang Educational Experimental Zone coordinates the urban and rural development, enhances a greater balance of education in the form of corporation, builds a group of well-developed pioneering schools with distinctive agricultural features and sets a good example to the educational balance in China’s central and western regions, The West Branch of Exemplary Experimental Primary School, the West Branch of Character Education (Shude) Primary School, Green Boat Branch of Paulownia Primary School, the West Branch of Stone House Primary School, to name just a few. At present, Qingyang Experimental District eliminates the so-called Three-without schools, i.e., without teachers with senior academic titles, without academic leaders of the city level and without outstanding young teachers. The district also increases the ratio of outstanding core teachers in the suburban and rural areas. While achieving the inter-school educational balance and resolving the problem of the urban–rural imbalance, Qingyang Experimental District also establishes the “Pan-Chengdu Concept” and spreads the high-quality educational resources to the city’s Third Circle (i.e., the county level) to address the issue of inter-county imbalance. Qingyang Educational Experimental District works together with Pengzhou, a county-level city affiliated to Chengdu to create the “N + 1” long-distance educational model, which helps the students in Pengzhou to share the high-quality educational resources. They can “enter” the classrooms of any brand school in Qingyang District. Qingyang offers long-term targeted educational assistance to Pengzhou, Pujiang, Ganzi, etc. For instance, Qingyang provides nearly ten million RMB to Derong County of Ganzi Prefecture. In addition, Qingyang District also keeps sending the core teaching and managerial staff to Pujiang and Derong to train the local teachers. For instance, Qingyang District sent three principals and sixtyeight outstanding young teachers to Derong. They also helped Pujiang to train 2300 teachers, 182 distinguished faculty and 65 school-level administrative staff (Qingyang Educational Experimental District Panel, China National Institute of Education Sciences).

Chapter 3

The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education

The success or failure of comprehensive reform of regional education is influenced by many factors. In a certain historical context, their influences vary in degree. This chapter is devoted to analyzing the sensitive and insensitive factors that affect comprehensive reform of regional education and determining the sensitivity of these factors by building the comprehensive indicators and math models of regional educational development.

3.1 The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Any type or layer of regional educational environment contains a variety of factors, such as educational investment, system, structure, concepts and resources. They affect education in varying degrees in different stages and regions. US administrative ecologist Fred W. Rigger defines the factors that have little impact on ecology as insensitive factors and those that have a relatively greater impact on ecology as sensitive ones. The environments that affect regional education are diverse. A single environment is comprised of many different factors. Their impact on the regional educational system is varied. Some factors have greater or even determining impact, thereby being sensitive factors, while other factors have little impact, thereby being insensitive factors. For the convenience and objectivity of the study, we classify factors into two categories: sensitive and insensitive.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_3

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3.1.1 The Factors that Influence Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education The sensitive factors that affect regional education development include talents, funding, culture, macro-educational policies and micro-educational systems and rules. On the specific micro-system or micro-level, one aforementioned factor might be more sensitive than others. To determine which factors are sensitive in the ecological system and all subecological systems is subject to theoretical inference and factual proof. Regional education development is limited by many factors, such as the location conditions, natural conditions, economic development, ethnic culture, government policy, the size of population and the level of management. Location conditions refer to the geographical, transportation and other location characteristics and attributes. It is a comprehensive concept comprised of social, economic, political, cultural, educational and other elements. Location conditions affect the development of regional education in many ways. The distribution and flow of educational resources are usually determined by the geographical location, transportation and information conditions. According to the principles of optimum distribution, regional educational resources generally flow to locations with better conditions. For instance, convenient transportation, free flow of information and favorable geographical locations are all conducive to the convenient flow and reasonable distribution of educational resources. Conversely, the unfavorable conditions such as inconvenient transportation, difficult access to information and remote geographical locations all hinder the rapid flow and reasonable distribution of educational resources. Natural conditions refer to topography, climate, hydrology, biology, soil and other elements. Viewed from the history of human civilization, the development and prosperity of the early civilizations primarily relied on the favorable natural conditions. That is why the ancient civilizations in the east and west mostly originated in the areas with favorable natural conditions between the mighty rivers and renowned mountains. The beautiful natural environment is conducive to people’s healthy growth by creating a tranquil and suitable learning atmosphere and edifying the mind. The natural environment is a significant factor that impacts on the regional educational development in ways such as the location of school campus, school layout, school curriculum and the actors of education. For instance, the school, one of the main actors of education, is built in a certain region. Therefore, school campus and school layout are directly affected by the natural conditions. Besides, the choice of the modern schools’ location is usually decided by human factor. It is equally important to be built in an area with better geographical locations. In China, a common phenomenon often occurs in some poor mountainous areas; i.e., there is only one teacher in a school, or students of different grades are put in one class mainly because of the negative impact of harsh natural conditions. As a result of the complex topography and inconvenient transportation, some students have to walk a few hours to get to school. In order to make it convenient for students to get to school, the schools are

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usually spread over a large area. From this, we can see that the natural environment has an extensive and profound impact on the development of regional education. Economic development provides adequate material guarantee for educational development and determines the quantities of educational resources in a country or a region. Generally speaking, the level of economic development determines the level of education. Education cannot develop well without a certain degree of economic development. Conversely, progress of regional education will inevitably promote the rapid development of regional economy. They are a dialectical unity. Besides, the economic conditions are like a powerful magnet to attract the human resources which educational development is badly in need of. For instance, the industrialized economies like the USA and some Western European countries are able to attract a large number of international students and scientists to apply for their citizenship, and China’s southeastern coastal regions are in a better position to attract more talents from the inland areas. Why? Economic factor might have played a significant role. The development of regional education is invariably connected with the historical tradition and ethnic culture. Education in any region is inevitably rooted in the history and culture of the region. Education isolated from the ethnic culture cannot go far. Culture is able to offer direct or indirect resources for the development of regional education and help to shape its distinctive features. Besides, the distinctive thinking habits and values also have an imperceptible influence on the development of regional education. Population refers to a large group of people living in a certain area within a given period of time. It is also a complex social entity synthesizing multiple social relations. At a certain level, population is able to exert a significant influence on regional education. Under the conditions of the fixed educational resources, age structure, regional distribution, total size and quality of population, all might constrain the development of regional education. For instance, with the educational resources fixed, the larger the population is, the fewer average resources each person would have and vice versa. Where there is a higher proportion of high-quality middle-aged population, there is a larger proportion of higher education in the region’s educational system. Besides, there are a larger number of schools in densely populated areas. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the impact of population on education is multifaceted. Management is a social phenomenon. It is indispensable where the given goals in a collective activity are expected to achieve with the minimum consumption of human, material and financial resources and time. Education is a social activity to cultivate talents. Education cannot develop well without educational management. The level of educational management will have a direct impact on the coordinated and reasonable development of regional education. Among the factors that promote a virtuous circle in regional education, policy, rules and regulations play a vital role. Policy can directly affect or control the development direction of regional education. It belongs to the superstructure, which guides education to the positive development. It is particularly true of the national educational guidelines, whose formulation and change will greatly impact on the development of regional education. For instance, the issuing and implementation of the National Educational Planning Guidelines will certainly have a profound impact

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on the educational development in different regions. In the meantime, like other social systems, regional education has to operate under a certain framework of laws and regulations. Educational law and other laws and regulations constitute a significant factor of a good educational ecology. The formulations of educational laws and regulations clarify the norms, keep educational behavior under the rule of law and thereby constitute significant tools in educational management. For instance, economic activity has its own inner law. Market has an invisible regulatory hand. However, as another visible hand, laws and regulations also play their role. The same is true of educational activity. Education should not only follow its own inner law, but also operate under the restriction and protection of the visible policies and regulations. Besides, in terms of educational management, the establishment of the system (including macro-managerial system, investment system and relative operational mechanism) also helps to push the effective operation of the educational ecology forward.

3.1.2 The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education The factors in the educational ecological system can be summed up as energy, material and information that flow in the educational system. The three factors constantly flow in regional education and form a cyclical system, which affects the educational system all the time. In the educational ecological system, the material flow mainly refers to the input of funding and the supply of facilities and equipment. Funding can be viewed as a part, which can be converted to material resource but cannot represent all the material flow. Some material needs cannot be converted through funding. Information flow contains all the educational technology, theory and intelligence. It also includes ideology, educational culture, etc. Educational energy flow can be classified into two categories: visible and invisible. The cohesion, vitality and layer of educational talents can be viewed as visible energy flow, which are the most significant part of education. In a word, the factors that affect regional education are interconnected. These factors are constantly changing. The development of regional education is usually the result of symbiotic interaction. However, in different regions at different periods of time, one or two factors might play the dominant role. 1. The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors Differ from Region to Region For the less developed regions, educational expenditure might be the sensitive factor that affects its educational development. Educational expenditure is the economic basis and prerequisite of the educational development. The educational development is comprised of four aspects: the enlargement of the scale, the optimization of the structure, the improvement of quality, and the advancement in efficiency. The increase of educational expenditure can enable more people to have access to education, more

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schools to have a better environment and more teachers to have a higher social and economic status to maintain a higher level of teaching. It also ensures the healthier and quicker development of the country’s education, enables the society to have more highly qualified talents, thereby forms a more sufficient storage of human capital and enhances the level of national education and quality of the people. For the less developed regions, the lack of sufficient educational expenditure is the main problem to constrain their educational development. That said, educational expenditure might be the sensitive factor that affects their educational development. Compared with optimizing talent resources and intensifying policy support, the increase of educational expenditure can be more effective in promoting their educational development. Therefore, along with strengthening the local financial capacity, it is imperative to improve the educational financial transfer payment system at the national level. For the developed regions, the national macro-policy and the agglomeration of talents are the major sensitive factors that affect the educational development while the educational expenditure is the insensitive factor. For the educational development, educational expenditure is the prerequisite. In essence, the rapid development of education is influenced by culture, economic development and system environment. Of all the factors, the agglomeration of the talents and national macro-policy are particularly important. Education is part of the cultural field which should be likened to a quiet dense mountainous forest where the luxuriant trees can grow well. From the long-term and holistic perspective, the national macro-policy might constrain and guide the educational development. For instance, China implements the strategy of rejuvenating the Chinese nation through the development of science and education and gives strategic priority to promoting scientific progress, improving the quality of labor force, enhancing China’s technological capabilities and facilitating the conversion of technology to actual productivity. Benefiting from this strategy, China’s higher education also achieves a historical leap. The number of college students in 2008 was four-and-a-half times as large as that in 1998, amounting to 20.21 million. The number of college enrollment in 2008 was six times as large as that in 1998, amounting to 6.077 million. In recent years, with the increase of educational expenditure in the developed regions, the optimization of the agglomeration of talents and the gradual improvement of the national macro-policy create a better external environment for educational development and greatly boost it. 2. The Sensitive and Insensitive Factors Differ from Period to Period even in the Same Region Comprehensive reform of regional education is a social transformation which draws wide public attention, covers a wide range and has a profound impact. The flow of energy, material and information together constitutes the related factors of comprehensive reform of regional education. However, even in the same region, the sensitive and insensitive factors differ from period to period. Let us take the educational reform in Jilin Province since the reform and opening up as an example. The years from 1978 to 1992 were the incubating period when Jilin Province decided to give educational development equal weight to economic development. The focal point of educational

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reform was general education. Since education was at the early stage of returning to normal, educational expenditure, policy, managerial talents, and faculty and staff were all the sensitive factors of educational reform. In September 1983, Jilin Province passed Decision on Several Major Issues of Strengthening and Reforming General Education. The Decision stipulates increasing education expenditure, strengthening school leadership and the faculty team building and other measures to promote educational development. The years from 1993 to 2001 were a period to establish the strategy to give priority to educational development. With the rapid development of education, the number of students increased rapidly. In that case, educational expenditure, the land for school use and the building of school houses became the sensitive factors in the educational development in this period. Accordingly, the CPC’s (Communist Party of China) Jilin provincial committee and Jilin provincial government clearly put forward the following points: (a) give priority to raising the salary of teachers and improving their housing conditions while striving to increase the living standard of the urban and rural residents and the welfare of those working in public sectors; (b) give priority to planning the layout of schools and guaranteeing the land use and basic construction of schools when making plans for the city construction and annual infrastructure building; and (c) ensure the increase of the educational expenditure when making the local annual budgets. Since 2002, Jilin Province has stepped into a new strategic stage of educational development. The provincial government prioritizes the equality and the balanced development of compulsory education and boosts the development of intermediate vocational education and the quality of higher education. Therefore, the managerial system of compulsory education, the increasing investment in rural compulsory education, the integration of optimal resources of intermediate vocational schools, the increasing expenditure in higher education and the cultivation of the backbone faculty constitute the sensitive factors of educational reform in Jilin Province in this period.

3.2 The Measurement of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education 3.2.1 What Is Gray System Theory? Gray system theory was proposed by Chinese scholar Deng Julong in the 1980s. The theory is a new method used to study the situations with dispersed knowledge (partial information) or issues with relatively little data or information or certainty. Based on the mathematical methods and theories, gray system theory aims to develop the value of the limited information known to the researcher and address the issues that contain some unknown factors. At present, the theory draws much attention of

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the scholars at home and abroad, is widely applied to address the issues in social, economic, agricultural, industrial, ecological and other areas and has helped to solve many practical problems in production and scientific research. Specifically speaking, gray system theory is designed to effectively monitor and accurately describe the patterns and behaviors of system operations. Through the analysis of the system characteristics, performances and operational mechanisms of the limited known information and data, the theory intends to reveal the development patterns of things under this circumstance and look for theoretical support for the problems with little data or information. The technical contents of gray system theory include phenomenon analysis, the processing of limited data, the building of models, the forecasting of the development trends, etc. The main components of the theory include gray sequencing operators, gray relational analysis, gray GM predicting models, gray decision-making approaches and gray cluster analysis. Faced with the problems, people would start from the analysis of the data describing the features of the social, economic and ecological systems and explore the internal relations and development trends of the relevant factors. Gray system theory argues that in any objective system, there inevitably exists a certain internal pattern and in the complex appearances and the untidy data, we can always find out and choose adequate methods to use it and analyze it. Therefore, the generation of the sequencing operators is the theoretical basis of gray system theory. The application of the sequencing operators enables us to effectively solve the problem of inconsistency between the result of quantitative research and the conclusion of qualitative research. Gray system theory is derived from general system theory. It is a new scientific theory accompanied with the change of economic development and social needs. It is a concept as opposed to white system theory. Gray system theory contends that our study of nature and society should be based on “systemic outlook,” i.e., to identify the development pattern and essence of things from a systemic perspective and master the integrity of the things from a macro-dimension. The control of the system should focus on the information within and outside the system. By grasping the flow of information, we can explore the essence of the change in things and keep the information under effective control. Despite the distinct differences among classic control theory, modern control theory and fuzzy control theory, they have such a similarity: The system under study must be one within perfect information (fully known information), i.e., white system theory. However, it is still open to question whether a so-called white system theory does exist, for faced with natural systems, social systems, etc., the information available to us is always incomplete. The systems with incomplete information are very common. Gray system theory, fuzzy mathematics and probability statistics are three most frequently used methods to study uncertain systems. Their commonality lies in the uncertain nature of the study object; they differ in the distinctions in uncertainty. Specifically speaking, fuzzy mathematics focuses on the transitional fuzziness of the research object, characterized by “a clear connotation but a fuzzy extension.” For instance, the connotation of “elders” is crystal clear, but it is difficult to define the bounds of the connotation. Probability statistics focuses on the study of “random uncertainty” and examines the occurrence probability of every possible structure in

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some uncertain phenomenon. It demands a large number of samples and submits to a certain classic distribution. Probability statistics is the focal point of gray system theory, whose research object is characterized by “clear extension but fuzzy connotation.” The theory solves the problems with “a small number of samples and very little information.”

3.2.2 The Feasibility of Gray System Theory Application A general abstract system such as economic system, social system, ecological system, agricultural system and educational system is comprised of multiple factors. The internal factors of these systems interact with each other, constitute the operation of the whole system and ultimately determine the development trend of the whole system. One focal point of our study is to analyze the internal factors, for only when we know well what major factors influence the system’s development, how they are organized, which ones facilitate its development and which ones hinder it can we control and manage the whole system. For instance, in the educational system, we hope to improve the quality of education. However, the factors that influence the quality of education are multifaceted: the political, economic, cultural and other external factors and the principals, teachers, students and other internal factors. Among all the factors, which factors play a decisive role in the educational development of a certain region? Which factors are more important than others? These problems can be resolved by the mathematical models of gray system theory. Gray system theory is able to be applied in the educational field because the nature of this theory is compatible with the features of the relevant issues in the educational system. Through the correlational analysis, we can have a better understanding of the dominant and potential factors that influence the development of the educational system, the advantages and disadvantages of the relevant factors, and by analyzing all such information we can lay a solid foundation for the evaluation of the educational activities. Specifically speaking, in the study of the issues in education, gray system theory views the educational system as a gray system and through the calculation of gray relational degree analyzes the degree of similarity and that of difference among all the factors within the system. Then by using the gray correlational mathematics models, it analyzes the extent of closeness between the major factors and the relevant factors and finally determines the major factors and minor factors that influence the development of the system. In the actual educational system, education, which is characteristic of public goods, say, compulsory education, is easily influenced by the government decisions, which directly determine the distribution of resources of different regions and have a tremendous impact on the educational development. Besides, as a type of investment, education is also influenced by the investor’s capabilities, the cost of investment, the expected gains, etc. From the government’s perspective, the government’s input in education directly determines the level of local educational development. The geographical conditions, infrastructure, population density and other factors directly influence the marginal

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costs and revenues of the educational investment. From the individual perspective, the level of the residents’ income determines the level of educational investment and influences the expected benefits of education.

3.2.3 How to Apply Gray System Theory to Education Reform To apply gray system theory to the study of comprehensive reform of regional education, first, we need to determine the quantitative factors that can influence comprehensive reform of regional education and predict in advance the correlational properties of these factors. Although these factors are not very obvious, one thing is certain: They are characterized by interaction and interconnection. The comprehensive reform of regional education is reflected through many indicators. Therefore, in gray system theory the examination of comprehensive reform of regional education also needs multiple factors. One single factor is not sufficient to cover all respects of regional education. This enables gray system theory to be applied. However, there also exists a problem to be solved in the actual application. The mathematical model of the gray system theory needs to choose a relatively stable parameter, i.e., reference sequence. Other factors are comparative sequences. The reference sequence of regional education is difficult to select. Therefore, we can take a combination approach, analyzing the sensitivity of each indicator we observe and according to the sensitivity coefficient, selecting the sensitive and insensitive factors. Based on the above discussion on the significant factors of comprehensive reform of regional education, the carrying capacity indicator system of regional educational ecology discussed in Chap. 2, and meanwhile for the convenience of using gray system theory to conduct analysis, we select some relevant variables of comprehensive reform of regional education. (1) The variables of regional educational development: The main target of comprehensive reform of regional education is to improve the quality of education in the region. The most effective way to reflect the stock indicator of the quality of education in a region is the average years of education per person. Therefore, we take the average years of education per person as a dependent variable, i.e., the sequence variable in gray system theory. Here is the calculating formula: n A PY =

pi n

i

i=1

i=0

j=1

xj

pi

In this formula, APY refers to the average years of education per person; pi refers to the size of population who receives education at all levels; i, j both refer to the educational level of all grades (illiteracy, semi-illiteracy, primary education, junior high school education, high school education, associate degree and above); n refers to the number of categories of the educational level at all grades; x j refers to the

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average years of education of all grades, and the grades of education are calculated as zero, six years, three years, three years and four years. (2) The level of government’s educational expenditure: The average educational investment in the annual government budget per student is directly used in the educational development and constitutes a very large portion of government’s educational expenditure. Therefore, the average educational investment in the annual government budget per student is often employed to reflect the level of government’s educational input. This study chooses the average educational investment in the annual government budget per student from the urban and rural junior high schools as the proxy (or agent) variable to reflect the level of government’s educational investment. (3) The degree of government’s effort in educational investment: The level of government’s educational investment only reflects the absolute value of the government’s input in education. However, if the local government highly values education, it will strive to increase the educational input as much as possible to promote the educational development. Therefore, choosing the average educational investment in the annual government budget per student of the urban and rural junior high schools adequately reflects the degree of government’s effort in educational input. (4) The level of residents’ income: For most families, the investment in education is constrained by their average income. This study chooses the average disposable income of the urban residents per person (the average net income of rural residents per person) as the proxy variable to reflect the level of residents’ income. (5) The conditions of faculty (teachers): The quality of faculty is the dominant factor to influence the quality of education. Given that the teachers with senior academic titles usually have better professional qualities, the study takes the proportion of teachers with senior academic titles as proxy variable to reflect the conditions of the faculty. (6) The basic conditions: Besides all these significant factors, other basic conditions, such as cultural tradition, infrastructure, geographical location and social customs, all have a tremendous impact on the development of education. In order not to be affected by the collinearity between different factors, given the availability of the data, this study takes population density as a proxy variable for other factors. Generally speaking, the more densely populated a region is, the easier it is to generate the benefits of scale of economy and universalize education.

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

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3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education 3.3.1 The Gray Correlation Model of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education To build gray correlation model, the first step is to determine the reference sequence and comparative sequence of the model; the second step is to calculate the correlation between the comparative sequence factor and the reference sequence factor through a series of mapping function; the final step is to conduct the evaluation of sensitivity based on the correlation (Fig. 3.1). To employ gray system theory to analyze the sensitivity of the factors that influence regional education, first, we need to learn some basic terminologies of building the mathematical models of regional educational development: the formation of gray sequence generation. Gray system theory argues that although the representations of all the systems are untidy and the internal data is scattered and interlaced, the operation of the whole system is maintained by the limited information of these gray systems. Therefore, the system is inevitably an entirety. Such an entirety operates on its own pattern. The focal point is how to find out and utilize this pattern. Gray system theory taps and organizes the raw data, i.e., gray sequence generation to explore the changing pattern of the system. In the study of regional education, we use gray system correlation theory to build mathematical models compatible with the development of regional education. We choose the sensitive factors of regional education as the subsequence, i.e., comparative sequence.

choose reference sequence and comparative sequence

the range of the sequence

prepare the data

Fig. 3.1 Procedure of building gray correlation models

calculate the correlation between the sequence and the subsequence

evaluate the sensitivity of the correlated sequences

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3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

x (1) (k) = {x (1) (1), x (1) (2), . . . , x (1) (n)}, x (2) (k) = {x (2) (1), x (2) (2), . . . , x (2) (n)}, . . . , x (m) (k) = {x (m) (1), x (m) (2), . . . , x (m) (n)} We choose the stability coefficient of regional educational development responding to all types of sequence factors as the sequence, i.e., gray sequence or comparative reference sequence. x (0) (k) = {x (0) (1), x (0) (2), . . . , x (0) (n)} Because of the difference between the dimensions of the factors and even greater difference between their numerical values, we must eliminate the impact of sequence and subsequence on the dimensions of all the factors. Therefore, we adopt the method of the change in numerical value to process the data. i =

xi (k) − min xi (k) max xi (k) − min xi (k)

We use sequence operators to calculate the average value or dimensionless value of the raw data. Compare the differential value t between comparative reference sequence y0 (k) and comparative sequence ym (k). 1 = |y0 (k) − y1 (k)| = (1 (1), 1 (2), . . . , 1 (n)); 2 = |y0 (k) − y2 (k)| = (2 (1), 2 (2), . . . , 2 (n)); . . . ; m = |y0 (k) − ym (k)| = (m (1), m (2), . . . , m (n)) Use the new sequence i to calculate the minimum and maximum value of the extreme value and obtain the correlation value through the following formula. Ei =

min(min(i )) + P × max(max(i )) i (t) + P × max(max(i ))

In the formula, P [0, 1] is the resolution coefficient, and its value is defined as 0.5; i = 1, 2, 3, …, m; t = 1, 2, 3, …, n. New sequence: Calculate the minimum and maximum of extreme value; put the relevant correlation coefficient. The correlation is calculated as follows: rj =

n 1 E i (t) n j=1

Finally, put the correlation r j in the order of decreasing number; the greater the correlation is, the more sensitive the impact of this factor is on regional education.

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

77

Since there is no statistical data for the indicator of “the ratio of the college students and above in per 10,000 people” in Qingyang District in Chengdu, we will take the data of Hubei Province from 2004 to 2007 as an example to illustrate the use of the above-mentioned analytical tool and the practical significance of their calculation results. The analysis of the sensitive and insensitive factors and its procedure, methods and the interpretation of the result on the county level is the same as those at the provincial level. Affected by the availability of the data, the educated level of the population in the region selected in this study represents the general level of educational development in the region and therefore the study categorizes it as gray sequence. The study chooses the indicator of “the ratio of teachers with the intermediate and senior academic titles” to replace the indicator of “the ratio of teachers with senior academic titles” discussed in Chap. 2. Therefore, the comparative sequences in this study include the ratio of teachers with senior academic titles, the ratio of educational expenditure in the provincial GDP and the number of higher education institutions (Table 3.1). Through non-dimensionalizing all the sequence factors, we get the reference sequence: y0 = (1, 0.56, 0.83, 1), Comparative reference sequence y1 = (1, 0, 0, 1); y2 = (1, 0.93, 0, 0.13); y3 = (0, 0, 0.5, 1) The differential value of comparative reference sequence y0 (k) and ym (k) is t . 1 = |(1 − 1) |, |0 − 0.56 |, |0 − 0.83 |, |0.4 − 1 | = (0, 0.56, 0.83, 0.6) 2 = |(1 − 1) |, |0.93 − 0.56|, |0 − 0.83|, |0.13 − 1| = (0, 0.37, 0.83, 0.87) |0.5 − 0.83|, |1 − 1| 3 = |(0 − 1) |, |0 − 0.56|, = (1, 0.56, 0.83, 0.33) We can calculate the new sequence extreme value: the maximum value and the minimum value. Table 3.1 Level of education in the population of Hubei Province and the correlation factors The indicator system

2004 2005 2006 2007

The ratio of college students among per million people (%)

53.7 63.5 68.2 71.2

The ratio of teachers with intermediate and senior academic titles (%) 73.4 72.9 72.9 73.1 The ratio of educational expenditure in the provincial GDP (%)

5.3

5.2

3.8

4.0

The number of higher education institutions

85

85

86

87

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3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

max = max (i j ) min = min (i j ) The formula to calculate the correlation coefficient matrix of all the relevant factors is as follows: +min E i j = max i j +max    1.00 0.60 0.50 0.60    E i j =  1.00 0.63 0.51 0.50   0.45 0.60 0.50 0.72 

By using the formula to calculate the correlation of the comparative sequence and reference sequence, n 1 γi j = Ei j n j=1

We get the following result: γ14 = 0.675, γ24 = 0.66, γ34 = 0.568 If we put the correlation in the decreasing order, it is γ 14 > γ 24 > γ 34. From the above correlational analysis, we can conclude that the ratio of college students among per million people in Hubei Province is highly correlated to the ratio of teachers with intermediate and senior academic titles. That means teachers play the most significant role in talent cultivation, then comes the ratio of educational expenditure in the provincial GDP, and the number of higher education institutions comes the third. From the above analysis, we also find that the sensitive factor that influences the talent cultivation in the regional education of Hubei Province is the teachers. In other words, the teaching staff is the most significant factor in the talent cultivation of regional education. Its sensitivity is the greatest. The factor that has the least influence is the number of higher institutions, and its sensitivity is the smallest.

3.3.2 The Positivist Analysis of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Given the availability of the data, the study adopts the data of the 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2002 to 2012. The data comes from the Yearbook of Chinese Statistics, the Yearbook of Chinese Educational Expenditure Statistics and the Yearbook of Chinese Population Statistics. The findings of the

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

79

Fig. 3.2 Educational Gini coefficient

educational Gini coefficient of each province are illustrated below (Fig. 3.2). The specific numbers are attached in Appendix I. As indicated in Fig. 3.2 and Appendix I, the educational Gini coefficient of the whole country is on the rise. It is the lowest in 2002, numbering 0.130, which means that the level of education is relatively balanced when the inter-provincial disparities are not so great. However, the educational Gini coefficient of the whole country rose to 0.154, the largest number ever in the past ten years. That means with the passage of time, the inter-provincial gap is growing. On the whole, the educational Gini coefficient in Tibet is the lowest, between 0.063 and 0.088. The level of its residents having access to education is on the rising trend, but relatively speaking, it is still balanced. However, the educational Gini coefficients in Beijing, Xinjiang and Tianjin are all above 0.158 (except that the educational coefficient in Xinjiang in 2002 was 0.151). The educational coefficient in Zhejiang has been above 0.160 since 2006. Its educational coefficients were the highest in 2011 and 2012, 0.172 and 0.176, respectively. That means, from the perspective of the whole country, the educational imbalance in the four regions ranked high. Seen from the changing trend of the educational Gini coefficient in the whole country, almost all the provinces witness the continuous increase of the educational Gini coefficient. The increase in Qinghai and Zhejiang is the most conspicuous. The coefficient in Qinghai grew from 0.118 (the fourth lowest) in 2002 to 0.175 (the second highest) in 2012. However, the number rose sharply from 0.128 (the medium level) in 2002 to 0.176 (the highest) in 2012. This shows that the educational imbalance in the two regions is increasingly high. The coefficients in Beijing, Henan and

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3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

Heilongjiang remain the most stable. The coefficient in Beijing fluctuates between 0.160 and 0.166, with a 0.006 difference. The coefficient in Heilongjiang fluctuates between 0.137 and 0.149, with a 0.012 difference. The coefficient in Henan fluctuates between 0.121 and 0.135, with a 0.014 difference. Concluded from this trend, the difference in the educational level in the three regions is increasing, but still remains stable. The educational imbalance is still not conspicuous. Seen from Fig. 3.3 and Appendix 2, on the whole, the ratio of the average educational investment in the government annual budget in the average educational expenditure per junior high school student is increasing year by year between 2002 and 2012, from 61.2% in 2002 to 82.5% in 2012 by 21.3%. The ratio difference in educational expenditure in all the regions is increasingly smaller, shrinking from 47.2% in 2002 to 20.1% in 2012. From this, it is easy to conclude that the relevant departments of all regions paid more and more attention to the actual education investment in junior high schools. They also increased the educational expenditure in their annual budget. Specifically, the expenditure ratio in Chongqing remained the lowest in 2004 (53.7%), 2005 (54.1%), 2006 (52.5%) and 2012 (74.6%) in the country. The expenditure in Zhejiang remained the lowest in 2002 (49.7%), 2003 (56.1%) and 2009 (69.8%) in the country. The expenditure ratios in Sichuan, Jiangsu and other regions also remained relatively low. Their investment still needs increasing. Besides, the ratio of investment is 92.6% in Tibet from 2002 to 2012, ranking first in the country. That means the educational investment in junior high school education in Tibet is relatively high.

Fig. 3.3 Ration of the average educational expenditure within the government’s annual budget in the average educational expenditure for per junior high school student

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

81

Seen from the trend of the ratio of the average educational investment in the government annual budget in the average educational expenditure per junior high school student, the ratio increase in Jilin and Hubei is the fastest. For instance, the ratio in Jilin continued to rise from 57.4% (the lowest) in 2002 to 92.9% (the highest) in 2011 by 35.5%. The increase from 2010 to 2011 is the fastest. The ratio in Hubei increased from 54.2% in 2002 to 85.9% in 2012 by 31.7%. Besides, the ratio in Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Shanghai also rose dramatically. Apart from the dramatic increase in these regions, the ratio in some regions such as Qinghai, Tibet and Yunnan remains stable. Seen from Table 3.3, the range of change in these three regions is small. The ratio in Qinghai is between 80.8% and 89.1%, less than 10%. It also indicates that the educational investment in these regions is quite stable. Compared with other regions, the educational investment in Tibet increases sharply and the ratio also remains stable, i.e., between 92.6% and 98.8%, and the range of change is less than 7%. The ratio in Yunnan is between 78.4% and 88.6%, and the range of change is less than 14%. From all these, we can conclude that the western regions pay more attention to the educational investment in the local government’s annual budget in junior high school education. Seen from Fig. 3.4 and Appendix 3, we can also find that the average educational investment in the government annual budget for per junior high school student in the whole country from 2002 to 2012 also witnesses a gradual increase. The investment declined a little from 2003 to 2002, but in 2006, the investment increased to the level of 2003 and rose sharply after 2008. Seen from the data in Appendix 3, we learn that the education budget per junior high school student was the lowest in 2003, i.e., RMB

Fig. 3.4 Educational investment within the government’s annual budget for per junior high school student

82

3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

998.09 yuan, witnesses a rapid increase by 10% per year and reaches RMB 6743.87 yuan in 2012, six times as much as that in 2003. From this, we can conclude that the educational investment in the government annual budget per junior high school student draws an increasing attention from the relevant departments. Comparatively speaking, from 2002 to 2008 the educational investment within the budget per junior high school student is the lowest in Henan Province within the whole country, with the lowest in 2003 (RMB 608.54 yuan) and the highest in 2007 (RMB 1210.74 yuan). From 2008 to 2012, the educational investment in the government annual budget per junior high school student is the lowest in Guizhou Province within the whole country, with the lowest in 2008 (RMB 1760.46 yuan) and the highest in 2012 (RMB 4225.72 yuan). This shows that Henan Province rapidly increases the educational investment in the government annual budget and the ratio of increase in Guizhou Province lags behind that in Henan Province. Besides, the educational investment in the government annual budget per junior school student in Shanghai is the largest, ranking first in China. After 2010, Beijing surpassed Shanghai and became the largest investor in education per junior school student. All these show that the municipal governments in Shanghai and Beijing attach great importance to the educational investment within the budget for the middle school students. Seem from the changing trend of the educational investment within the government’s annual budget throughout the whole country, the increase in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Qinghai is the highest and fastest. Although the investment declined a little bit in 2003, it continued to rise in the following three years. By 2006, it had reached the level of 2003 (RMB 5706.57 yuan). Since 2007, the educational investment increased sharply and reached RMB 29052.57 yuan in 2012, over five times as much as before. The situation in Shanghai is likened to that in Beijing. The educational investment in the government annual budget dropped to RMB 4394.1 yuan in 2003 and returned to this level in 2006. After that, the investment continued to rise and the budget in 2012 is 5.2 times as much as that in 2002. Before 2010, Shanghai ranked first in the whole country in terms of the educational investment within the government’s budget. Besides, the educational investment within the budget per junior high school student has increased rapidly since 2008 in Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing and Guangzhou. The investment also rose in Shandong, Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian and other provinces in the southeastern region, but comparatively speaking, their increase was relatively stable and moderate. From Fig. 3.5 and Appendix 4, we can find that on the whole, the average income of the residents witnesses a steady growth of 10% every year. The lowest amount is RMB 922.98 yuan in 2002, and the highest amount is RMB 26958.99 yuan in 2012. The average income increases twofold within 10 years. Specifically speaking, from 2002 to 2006, the average income of Guizhou is the lowest in China. Compared with the regions of higher average income, the gap is between RMB 11890.69 yuan and RMB 16864.71 yuan. After that, from 2007, Gansu became the province with the lowest average income in China. Its residents’ average income is RMB 11504.64 yuan in 2007 and RMB 18498.46 yuan in 2012. Shanghai is the region with the highest average income, with RMB 18754.33 yuan in 2002 and RMB 44754.5 yuan in 2012. The gap between Shanghai and Gansu is RMB 42559.95 yuan in 2012

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

83

Fig. 3.5 Average income of residents

(the widest gap). Beijing ranks second in average income, which rises from RMB 16603.28 yuan in 2002 to RMB 41103.11 yuan in 2012, increasing by 1.48 times. In addition, Guangdong, Tianjin and Jiangsu also rank high in the average income. Seen from the trend of the average income of all the provinces in China, the average income witnesses a steady increase. Particularly since 2006, the average income increases rapidly. Specifically speaking, Shanghai, Guangdong and Beijing witness a higher growth rate. Shanghai ranks first in the average income. From 2005 to 2010, the annual income rises by about RMB 3000 yuan. It declined a little in 2011, from RMB 41320.72 yuan in 2010 to RMB 40532.29 yuan in 2011. It rose rapidly from RMB 40523.29 yuan in 2011 to RMB 4222.21 yuan in 2012. The increase of average income in Guangdong is likened to that in Shanghai. It witnesses a steady annual increase by 2000 RMB and the highest income in 2012 by RMB 3825.72 yuan. Beijing witnesses an annual increase by RMB 3000–4000 yuan from 2002 to 2012, except for a decline by RMB 1282.68 yuan in 2011. In addition, the average income in other regions like Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Tibet, Shaanxi and Gansu also maintains a moderate but steady growth. Hebei, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Shanxi witness the lowest average growth by only RMB 1000 yuan. From Fig. 3.6 and Appendix 5, Tibet, with a large land area (or one-eighth of the country), is the least populated region in China. In the past ten years, the population density is 1.62 person per km2 in 2005 (the smallest value) and 2.47 persons per km2 in 2012 (the biggest value), increasing by 1.39%. Besides, the sparsely populated regions also include remote regions such as Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Tibet. Shanghai is the most densely populated region in the country. Its density continues to rise. Since 2002, Shanghai has witnessed an annual increase of population by

84

3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

Fig. 3.6 Population densities

3.4%. Beijing and Tianjin rank second and third in population density. From 2002 to 2010, Tianjin is more densely populated than Beijing, but the population density gap is narrowing. In 2011, Beijing (1167.86 persons per km2 ) began to surpass Tianjin (1149.56 persons per km2 ) in population density. Besides, Henan, Guangdong and Shandong are also densely populated. Seen from the trend, population density changes in a relatively small margin in all the regions in China. Shanghai witnesses the fastest growth. As shown in Fig. 3.6, the population density in Shanghai in 2005 dropped to 1988.22 persons per km2 but sharply increased after 2005. Within ten years, the gap between the largest value and the smallest value is 1737.91 persons per km2 . Guangdong is another region which witnesses a relative rapid change in population density, and a wide gap between 2005 (the lowest density) and 2012 (the highest density) is 257.68 persons per km2 . Besides, Beijing and Shanghai also witness a steady rise in population density. Chongqing finds the lowest level of population density (277.83 persons per km2 ) in 2005 and a steady increase even since. However, the level of density in 2012 (354.68 persons per km2 ) is still lower than that in 2002 (367.62 persons per km2 ). The population density remains stable in other regions such as Shandong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Shanxi and Guizhou. Through the formula γi j =

n 1 Ei j n j=1

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

85

we can calculate the correlation between the comparative sequence and reference sequence, as indicated in Table 3.2 (please refer to Appendixes 6, 7 and 8 for partial raw data and the data generated from the calculation process). (1) The ratio of the average educational investment in the government annual budget in the educational expenditure per junior high school student Table 3.2 Correlation between comparative sequence and reference sequence (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Beijing

0.777

0.770

0.757

0.947

0.947

0.757

Tianjin

0.888

0.926

0.949

0.951

0.951

0.888

Hebei

0.913

0.935

0.918

0.896

0.935

0.896

Shanxi

0.959

0.937

0.908

0.940

0.959

0.908

Inner Mongolia

0.956

0.964

0.887

0.823

0.964

0.823

Liaoning

0.896

0.906

0.851

0.846

0.906

0.846

Jilin

0.864

0.9111

0.823

0.824

0.911

0.823

Heilongjiang

0.850

0.969

0.892

0.900

0.969

0.850

Shanghai

0.514

0.665

0.651

0.949

0.949

0.514

Jiangsu

0.872

0.969

0.849

0.878

0.969

0.849

Zhejiang

0.780

0.914

0.764

0.870

0.914

0.764

Anhui

0.928

0.952

0.908

0.794

0.952

0.794

Fujian

0.877

0.886

0.911

0.864

0.911

0.864

Jiangxi

0.942

0.829

0.812

0.833

0.942

0.812

Shandong

0.948

0.961

0.878

0.831

0.918

0.8310

Henan

0.882

0.954

0.910

0.751

0.954

0.751

Hubei

0.949

0.869

0.864

0.892

0.949

0.864

Hunan

0.895

0.895

0.895

0.902

0.902

0.895

Guangdong

0.859

0.897

0.833

0.946

0.946

0.833

Guangxi

0.915

0.941

0.921

0.911

0.941

0.911

Hainan

0.945

0.951

0.927

0.928

0.951

0.927

Chongqing

0.844

0.909

0.954

0.950

0.954

0.844

Sichuan

0.891

0.9212

0.928

0.923

0.928

0.891

Guizhou

0.824

0.959

0.950

0.876

0.950

0.824

Yunnan

0.858

0.930

0.932

0.909

0.932

0.858

Tibet

0.544

0.515

0.548

0.512

0.548

0.512

Shaanxi

0.939

0.619

0.812

0.725

0.939

0.619

Gansu

0.645

0.912

0.944

0.920

0.944

0.645

Qinghai

0.704

0.882

0.922

0.873

0.922

0.704

Ningxia

0.859

0.945

0.960

0.918

0.960

0.859

Xinjiang

0.712

0.764

0.805

0.716

0.805

0.712

86

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

The average educational investment per junior high school student The average income of the residents The population density The sensitive factors The insensitive factors.

As we can learn from Table 3.2, the average income of the residents has a tremendous impact on the regional education in Fujian, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. This is mainly because influenced by factors such as the dual urban–rural structure and the distribution of the average residents’ income. The widening income gap is a major factor that contributes to the imbalance of regional education. Another sensitive factor is how much effort the regional government makes to promote the educational development. As seen from Table 3.2, the ratio of the average educational investment within the government’s annual budget per junior school student in the average educational spending has a tremendous impact on regional education. Population density has a great impact on regional education in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hunan and Guangzhou. Through the longitudinal comparison, among the four factors, the impact of the average educational investment is fairly small on regional education and thereby compared with other factors, it is relatively an insensitive factor. As we can learn from Fig. 3.7, the factors that impact on regional education can be put in the order of decreasing sensitivity, i.e., from the most sensitive to the least ratio of the average educational investment within the government’s budget for per junior school student in the average educational spending

average educational investment for per junior school student

average income of residents

population density

Fig. 3.7 The degree of sensitivity: the sensitive factors of education in different regions

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

87

sensitive as follows: population density, the ratio of the average educational investment in the government’s budget per junior school student in the average educational spending, the average educational expenditure per junior school student and the average income of the residents. Educational development is not necessarily consistent with economic development. Neither is it necessarily highly developed in regions with a highly developed economy. Nor is the level of educational development necessarily low in regions with a low level of economic development. If we categorize the regions by the sensitivity of the factors and view the average income as a sensitive factor, then Fujian, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang can be put in the first category, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi can be put in the second category, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hunan and Guangdong can be put in the third category, and other provinces can be put in the fourth category. This classification approach is helpful to eliminate the weaknesses resulting from the categorization of the regions solely by economic development and to lay a solid practical foundation for making a targeted educational policy for the provinces in the same region. The interpretation of the relevant educational policies On November 12, 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee passed the Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms (abbreviated as The Decision) and put forth advancing the comprehensive reform in the field of education. To deepen the comprehensive educational reform, the session pointed out that we should implement the CPC’s educational guidelines in an all-round way, center on the fundamental tasks of building virtues and morality, conscientiously foster and practice core socialist values, improve the teaching of Chinese traditional culture, form effective and long-term mechanisms to promote patriotism, stimulate curiosity to learn and train practical skills, and enhance the students’ sense of social responsibility and reform and innovation. We should reinforce the physical education and extracurricular activities, and foster the students’ physical or mental health. We should improve art education and cultivate the students’ aesthetic and humanistic ethos. We should strive to ensure a better and fairer education for every child, increase aid to the students from poor families, use information technology to expand the covering of better educational resources and gradually narrow the gap between different regions, different schools, and urban and rural areas. We should coordinate the balanced distribution of resources to develop compulsory education, standardize public schools and facilitate the school principals to rotate posts. We should discourage setting the key schools or key classes, resolve the problem of school selection and alleviate the schoolwork burden. We should accelerate the building of modern vocational schools, deepen the integration of teaching, academic research and industrial needs, and the cooperation between universities and enterprises, and cultivate qualified professionals and highly skilled labor force. We should innovate the talent cultivation mechanism in higher education institutions and foster the first-class and distinctive colleges and universities. We should forge ahead with the development of preschool education, special education and continuing education.

88

3 The Factors That Influence Comprehensive Reform …

The Decision puts forward a systematic plan and a clear goal to the development of education. To achieve this goal, we should focus on focal and difficult points such as bridging the gap between the regions, schools and urban and rural areas and achieving educational equality. Knowledge The flow of energy, substance and information constitutes the educational ecological system, whose factors can be categorized as the energy flow, substance flow and information flow. All types of factors are comprised of subfactors. Some are insensitive factors, while others are sensitive. The former refer to those that have less impact on the educational ecology, while the latter refer to those that have greater impact on the educational ecology. The sensitive and insensitive factors differ from region to region. Only when we find out the sensitive factors influencing the educational ecological system can we put forward targeted suggestions for the educational development. Typical Cases Shanghai: At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Shanghai initiated a series of experiments on comprehensive educational reform. Approved by the Ministry of Education, Shanghai launched an all-round experiment on comprehensive educational reform, involving the reforms in (a) the approving power of setting up schools, offering majors and making enrollment plans; (b) university-running and governance systems; (c) curriculum, textbooks and admission systems; and (d) the raising of educational funding and the charging of tuition fees, etc. In 2010, the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Municipal Government co-sponsored the National Experimental Region of Comprehensive Educational Reform and formed a co-building mechanism. The initiative intends to enhance the reform innovation in seven fields including public management system in education and others. It is expected to achieve breakthroughs in the significant fields and key links of the comprehensive educational reforms and accumulate new experiences for educational reform throughout the country. Zhejiang: Zhejiang carried out the effective exploration of the reforms in high school admission tests and school-running system. Since 2007, the key high schools in Zhejiang have started the “distribution system,” i.e., according to a certain ratio, allocating the admission quotas to junior high schools. Based on the relevant schoolrunning regulations issued by Chinese central government, Zhejiang took initiative to found the first Sino-foreign university—University of Nottingham Ningbo China, which has independent legal personality (corporate capacity) and independent campus. Jiangsu: Since the 1990s, Jiangsu took initiative to advance the management system reform of higher education institutions. It started to integrate higher education resources in medium-sized cities, such as setting up privately owned independent divisional colleges and distributing their resources in the medium- and small-sized cities. It initiated the construction of higher education parks, five-year pilot programs on vocational higher educational institutions and the proactive reform innovations

3.3 The Model Construction of the Sensitive and Insensitive Factors …

89

of admission mechanism of higher education institutions, Sino-foreign cooperative schools, international training of the primary and secondary school teachers, the school-running and teacher training models of the intermediate vocational schools, etc.

Chapter 4

Frame the Development Plan for Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education

The framing of the development plan for comprehensive reform of regional education is a process of accumulating high-quality educational resources, integrating various positive factors, and establishing value pursuit, developmental goals, reform thoughts, strategic tasks, layout plans, policy guarantees, etc. In drawing up the plan for regional education, we should take a holistic and proactive view, and conduct a systematic analysis of the factors that impact upon the development of regional education. The framing of the plan consists of two parts. One is the planning work and activity related to the preparation. According to Friedman, planning is “a series of concerted efforts to push the society to pursue a common goal” and “a social technical practice that connects ideas and actions” (Yang Peifeng et al. 2013). The level of this social practice determines the quality of the plan’s text and its implementation. The other is the text of the plan, which reflects the achievement of the planning efforts and elaborates in clear and scientific expression the values, ideas, development goals and strategic tasks in a certain form so that it is easy to follow by those who implement the plan.

4.1 Frame the Plan The framing of the plan needs to follow an orderly, effective planning process. Only by so doing, can we complete the task. To frame the plan, we need to establish planning organizations, clarify the planning basis, draw up and optimize the strategic framework.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_4

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4.1.1 Establishing the Planning Organization The establishment of the planning organization is led by the Communist Party of China, dominated by the Chinese government and coordinated by all walks of life in society. Comprehensive reform of regional education is vital to the whole region, involving many fields and departments. The efforts of the educational department are not sufficient to accomplish this goal. “The success of reform relies on the leadership of the CPC committees and the governments at all levels. Only by strengthening the leadership of the party and the government, can we break down barriers between different departments and facilitate their cooperation” (Wu Degang 2011). Therefore, the primary feature of comprehensive reform of regional education is to strengthen the dominant role of the party and the government. In other words, the major actors in education reform are the party committees and the governments at all levels. We need to ensure the leading role of the party and the government in educational reform. Meanwhile, we also need to boost the coordination of all walks of life in society. The significant purpose of comprehensive reform of regional education is to take education reform as a cord to influence and bring along other relevant fields and facilitate the development of the whole region. The basic thought of comprehensive reform is to change the isolated educational development. In other words, we need to consider the social support for educational development and the contribution of education to society and improve the overall development of education and society in their interaction. The development plan for comprehensive reform of regional education should reflect the aforementioned purpose and thought, revitalize all the elements of the region and bolster up social coordination. (a) Social Coordination in Plan Framing The framing of the plan should go beyond the educational field and accumulate the human capital and material resources of all the fields and departments. We should consider the guiding role of comprehensive educational reform, the carrying capacity of regional economy, society and culture and the support of other fields and departments. In the process of framing the plan, we should not just limit the composition of the staff members to the educational department. We should also invite people from other fields and departments to participate and allow them to play a substantial role. When the text of the plan is completed, we should invite advice from all walks of life in society and people from all the departments and facilitate the social coordination on the basis of gathering the wisdom from all the parties involved. (b) Social Coordination in the Implementation of the Plan. The implementation of the plan is not only the task within the educational system but also the cord to unite all the relevant departments to work for a common goal. In the course of the plan implementation, we need to inform as many people as possible of the contents of the plan and win their recognition and support. We should use all the possible means “such as law, regulations, planning, criteria, rules, finance, information services, policy guidance, supervision and necessary administrative measures”

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(Yang Yinfu 2014) to guide and supervise the implementation of the relevant requirements in the plan, effectively accomplish the tasks and enhance social coordination in the course of supervision. According to the basic requirements, the party committee and the government are supposed to lead the framing of the plan. Therefore, first and foremost, we need to establish a leading group of the development plan of comprehensive reform of regional education. The heads of the party committees and the local governments serve as the group leaders and the heads of other departments participate in the planning. Then the leading group is responsible for establishing the development direction of regional education, the goal and focal points of comprehensive reform, reviewing the necessity, feasibility, creativity and objectivity of the plan, providing policy guarantee and resources support according to the needs of the plan implementation, and form the decisive opinions of the plan and its implementation. Then we should establish a drafting team led by the educational administrative department and participated by representatives from other departments. Under the guidance of the leading group, the drafting team is responsible for drawing up the investigative outlines, strategic objectives, strategic tasks, implementing strategy, and guarantee measures, drafting the text of the plan and providing relevant supporting materials to the leading group for their reference in the decision-making. We should also set up a consultative panel and invite the experts in scientific, educational, cultural, healthcare, economic, social and other fields. These experts are responsible for providing the latest information, advice and their views on the feasibility of the development plan. The three working groups are all under the leadership of the party committee and the government and work in concerted effort to complete the framing of the plan.

4.1.2 Clarifying the Basis of the Planning After the planning organization is established, the working group of the development plan should take a holistic view, analyze the basic “environment” of the whole region and clarify the reality basis of the planning. To evaluate the conditions of the whole region, we should first analyze the external environment of the comprehensive reform of education. The external environment of education reform refers to the aggregate of all the elements outside the educational system, including a variety of factors such as social and economic environment, public opinion, culture, traditions, customs, etc. All these factors have a tremendous impact on comprehensive reform of regional education. We need to take into account the positive or negative impact of all these factors, utilize their advantages to plan the distinctive reform programs and develop programs to remedy their defects. For instance, when making the development plans, Shenzhen Nanshan Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental District puts a primary emphasis on taking a holistic view, analyzing and clarifying the reform environment.

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Shenzhen is the southern outpost of China’s reform and opening up. Nanshan District lies in the southwest of Shenzhen and is the city’s crucial administrative division with a concentration of education, high technology, culture and other knowledgebased service industries. The district covers a land area of 185 square kilometers, with a coastline of 43.7 km long. It is 5.5 km from Hong Kong in the southeast and 59.1 km from Macau in the southwest. Nanshan has a registered population of about 600 thousand, but the number of the residents continued to rise over the years and had reached 1.7 million by the end of 2011. Its GDP amounted to RMB 172.05 billion yuan in 2009 and dramatically increased to RMB 244.175 billion yuan in 2011, with the per capita GDP of RMB 223 thousand yuan, or $34.5 thousand dollars thousand if calculated by the exchange rate in the same year, and reached the level of moderately developed countries or regions. For now, over 100 companies from the district have registered in the stock market of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and New York. In 2009, the State Council approved the Outline of the Reform and Development Plan of the Pearl River Delta (2008–2020), bringing the reform and development of the Pearl River Delta to the level of national strategy. Afterward, the General Development Plan of Qian Hai Bay Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone was approved and implemented. The issuing of these two documents greatly promoted the economic integration among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. With the formation of a new regional cooperation landscape, Nanshan District stepped into a new era of rapid development. According to the State Council’s Outline of the Reform and Development Plan of the Pearl River Delta (2008–2020), the Plan of Qian Hai Bay Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, and other relevant decisions issued by the CPC Guangdong provincial committee, Guangdong provincial government, the CPC committee of Shenzhen City, and Shenzhen municipal government, and faced with the new opportunities and challenges, the new CPC committee of Nanshan District and Nanshan District government put forward their new vision for the district, that is, through indigenous innovation and international cooperation, to develop Nanshan District into China’s pioneering district with the indigenous innovation of the core technologies, an exemplary district of modern service industries, a model district of harmonious society, and the height of education and scientific research (or three districts and one height). The specific function areas are as follows: Qian Hai Bay Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, Deep Bay Headquarters Economic Agglomeration, Da Sha He Innovation Industrial Corridor, She Kou Net Valley Internet Base, Shenzhen Bay Commercial Circle Consumption Center, College Park, etc. We strive to develop Nanshan into a living-friendly international coastal district. The CPC district committee and the government of Nanshan District propose that in the next five years, the district will further promote industrial upgrading, achieve “four transformations” and seize “four heights.” That is, transform the district from a strong high-tech industry to an innovation center and seize the height of high-tech industries; transform the district from a general service center to a knowledge-based service center and seize the height of service industry; transform the district from a

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cultural center to a cultural innovation center and seize the height of cultural industry; and transform the district from the one supported by the traditional industries to the one supported by emerging strategic industries and seize the height of strategic industries (The Book Series of the Comprehensive Reform of Education 2012a). From the above-mentioned materials, we learn that when analyzing the external environment of the comprehensive reform of education, Nanshan highlights two significant elements: one is the basic environment and the other is the reformative environment. The material first analyzes the basic conditions of educational development and starts with the district’s social environment, i.e., Shenzhen City and extols Shenzhen as China’s outpost in reform and opening up. This identification requires the district to put forth a concept, approach and orientation of comprehensive educational reform with its own distinctive characteristics. The material analyzes the district’s social development such as industrial features, land area, coastline, geographical location, registered population, gross domestic production, developmental strategy, regional landscape and others and elaborates the social basis of comprehensive educational reform in the district. This material provides a starting point for the analysis of the basic external environment. Combined with the experience of other districts, we can analyze the main contents, methods and requirements of the basic external environment as follows (Table 4.1). Table 4.1 The main contents, methods and requirements of the analysis of the basic external environment Items

The Main contents of analysis

The basic methods and requirements of the analysis

Economic

GDP, economic growth, economic Statistics: objective and precise structure, per capita disposable income, inclination in household consumption, household investment in education, etc.

Political

National policies, social security, Summary and description; concise and governance structures, public services, to the point laws and regulations, etc.

Population

Population size, density, age structure, professional composition, level of education, social atmosphere, etc.

Combination of statistics and summary and description

Geographic

Geographical location, neighboring environment, topographic conditions, traffic conditions, etc.

Precise summary and description

Technological The use of information technology, technological invention, innovative consciousness, and advanced methods in education

Combination of statistics and summary and description

Social

Social customs, ethics, values, entrepreneurship, etc.

Grasping the key points and summary and description

Cultural

Cultural resources, cultural atmosphere, overall culture level, etc.

Combination of statistics and concise description

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When analyzing the basic external environment, Nanshan District does not elaborate each and every element in the above table. Instead, it highlights the key elements which are closely relevant to the comprehensive educational reform, such as the geographical location, regional advantages, economic development, social planning, etc. The most relevant details are elaborated while the minor points are merely mentioned. Aside from the basic external environment, Nanshan District also analyzes the reformative environment of the comprehensive development. The reformative environment refers to the general trend in the social, economic and political reforms and their basic requirements for educational reform. It is the social incentive for comprehensive reform of regional education. In the process of making the plan for comprehensive reform of regional education, Nanshan District analyzes the opportunities and challenges to regional development brought by the Outline of the Reform and Development Plan of the Pearl River Delta (2008–2020) and the General Development Plan of Qian Hai Bay Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone. Nanshan District highlights the regional development strategy proposed by the district’s CPC committee and government, i.e., “through indigenous innovation and international cooperation, to develop Nanshan District into China’s pioneering district with the indigenous innovation of the core technologies, an exemplary district of modern service industries, and model district of harmonious society, and the height of education and scientific research.” The district also emphasizes the focal points of reform, such as building of function areas including “learning, research, industries, services, etc.,” achieving “four transformations” and seizing “four heights.” These reform strategies, goals and focal points not only provide good opportunities for the educational reform but also determine the direction and contents of comprehensive reform of regional education. These are the indispensable parts of the reform plan. Combined with the experience of other districts, we can analyze the main contents, methods and requirements of the reformative external environment as follows (Table 4.2). After analyzing the external environment of comprehensive reform of regional education, Nanshan District explains the district’s basic conditions of educational development as follows. In the two decades since the establishment of the district, Nanshan District has strived to innovate the school-running system, advance the curriculum reform, foster the high-end talents, promote the international exchanges and resolve the tough issues. Now, the district has achieved the strategic transformation from the scale expansion to the inclusive development, fulfilled the city residents’ basic needs to have access to education first and then enjoy a good education, created Shenzhen Speed and Shenzhen Quality in the field of education and formed a character education with distinctive Nanshan characteristics. In the Eleventh Five-Year period, the district set up nine new schools, added 15,840 classroom seats and ranked first in the performance of college entrance exams for 18 consecutive years. Nanshan is distinguished as the first leading district in education, the first exemplary district in advancing educational modernization in Guangdong Province and among the first national curriculum reform experiment districts. The district also wins many

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Table 4.2 The main contents, methods and requirements of the analysis of the reformative external environment Items

The main contents of analysis

The basic methods and requirements of the analysis

Policies

The reform policies are designed to promote economic development and social progress and implemented by the governments at all levels

Analyze the reform orientation, approach and requirements of the policies; conduct detailed analysis based on the policies

Measures

The major measures are designed to promote social and economic reforms by the governments at all levels

Analyze the most significant points

Achievements

The achievements of comprehensive reform of regional education by the governments at all levels

Combine statistics and summary; Analyze the most significant points

Planning

Analyze the strategic goals, strategic tasks and focal points of reform of the holistic planning of regional social development

Summary and analysis of the most significant points

Atmosphere

Analyze the holistic atmosphere of regional reform

Summary

other honors such as the national exemplary district to advance compulsory education, physical education, community education, character education of the minors, comprehensive educational reform, environmental education, etc. It also wins the first national award of the educational reform innovation. Its educational modernization ranks top on the provincial or even national level. It has made great contributions to fostering the innovative talents, raising the quality of city residents, optimizing the investment environment, serving the economic development, promoting social harmony, etc (The Committee: The Book Series of Comprehensive Reform of Education 2012a). The analysis of the educational development is about the internal environment, which is a holistic summary, analysis or assessment of the development level of the region’s education and also the starting point and professional basis for the comprehensive educational reform. The analysis of Nanshan District’s internal environment is comprised of the status quo and professional reform. The status quo refers to the reality of regional education. Nanshan District accurately understands the actual conditions of its educational development, its strengths and weaknesses, its opportunities and challenges, and briefly summarizes the transformations, needs, distinctive features, current scale and quality, etc. and clarifies the professional starting point of comprehensive reform. Combined with the experiences of other regions, the analysis of the status quo is conducted from the following perspectives: scale, structure, conditions, quality, supporting factors, experiences, challenges, etc. The contents, methods and requirements are as follows (Table 4.3). The professional environment refers to the reform basis, atmosphere and guarantees within the educational system. When analyzing the professional environment of

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Table 4.3 The contents, methods and requirements of the analysis of the status quo Items

The main contents of the analysis

The basic methods and requirements of the analysis

Scale

The number of schools, teachers, students, etc.

Statistics, comparison and accurate presentation

Structure

The distribution of all types of education at all levels

Statistics, comparison and objectivity and accuracy

Conditions

Educational expenditure, hardware, the The combination of statistics, data application of information technology, comparison, summary and description the teaching staff, etc.

Quality

The whole level and efficiency of education

The combination of statistics, data comparison, summary and description

Experience

The main experiences gained from the early stage of development

Description, analysis and selection of the most significant points

Challenges

Compared with other regions, the gap still exists between the educational development in Nanshan District and that of other regions

Summary, analysis and highlighting the focal points

education, Nanshan District examines whether the meso-policy (or policy at the intermediate level) within the educational system is conducive to comprehensive reform or what kind of comprehensive reform is expected, etc. Such honors as the first exemplary district in Guangdong Province to advance educational modernization, the national exemplary district to advance the balanced development of compulsory education, and the national experimental district of the comprehensive educational reform highlight two significant elements, “the first,” and “reform,” and clarify the incentive and guarantee of comprehensive reform of education in Nanshan District. Combining a variety of materials, we can see that the professional reform environment mainly includes the mes-and-macro-policies, the basic model of educational governance, the internal mechanism of the system interaction, the status quo and atmosphere of the regional educational reform. The purpose of this analysis is to clarify the policy advantages and disadvantages of comprehensive reform of regional education, and lay a solid foundation to construct a policy guaranteeing system of comprehensive reform. The contents, methods and requirements of the analysis are as follows (Table 4.4). After conducting a separate analysis of the internal and external environment of comprehensive reform of regional education, Nanshan District also does a comprehensive analysis of the two environments. The basic approach of comprehensive reform is to integrate the internal and external systems and achieve the symbiosis of education and society. In the framing of the plan for comprehensive reform, we need to integrate all the internal and external elements. In analyzing the internal and external environment, Nanshan District concentrates on three aspects. First, it is the analysis of the leading role. In other words, compared with the external system, what

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Table 4.4 The analysis of the professional reform environment: contents, methods and requirements Items

The main contents of the analysis

The methods and requirements of the analysis

Policy

The basic requirements and educational Grasp the key policies, clarify the policies formulated by the CPC direction, space and focal points of committees and governments at all levels reform

System

Whether the district formulates the new Concise summary and objective types of managerial systems such as the analysis separation of administrative management, school-running, and assessment and inter-departmental coordination and collaboration

Status Quo

Analyze the key fields, measures, and Statistics, description, analysis, and efficiency of the current fields of regional grasping the key points and focal education points

Atmosphere

Analyze the space of the reform within the regional educational system, the attitudes toward the reform and the support for the reform, etc.

The selection of the key points, summary and description

is the advantage of the educational system? Why does the district have such an advantage? What roles can this advantage play in promoting the comprehensive reform of education? How can the district retain this advantage? Second, it is the analysis of the difference. In other words, what is the most significant difference between the social comprehensive reform and the educational comprehensive reform? How can we reflect the interaction between education and society? That is, on the one hand, we respect the unique patterns of the comprehensive educational reform; on the other hand, we can achieve the unity between its social character and distinctive nature. Third, it is the analysis of the challenges. In other words, there is a gap between the status quo of the educational development and the social expectations. How can we bridge the gap? That said, the analysis of all three aspects help to clarify the environment of the regional educational reform and provide a significant basis for developing the strategy for comprehensive reform of regional education. After analyzing the significant contributions of education to “fostering the innovative talents, raising the quality of city residents, optimizing the investment environment, serving the economic development, promoting the social harmony, etc.,” the district begins to work on the new opportunities and challenges the district is confronted with in promoting comprehensive reform of regional education. Nowadays, owing to the uncertainty of the political and economic development, the world has an increasing demand for innovative talents. The “new economy” represented by the creative industry has become a significant driver to the transformation of the economic models. The new economy inevitably generates the “new education.” The universal, high-quality new education has become the central theme of the development of the global education.

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China is now at the stage of transforming the economic developmental models and comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society. The promotion of educational equality and quality has become the core task of the national educational development. As the outpost and window of China’s reform and opening up, Shenzhen shoulders a significant responsibility to push forward the economic development from the element-driven to innovation-driven model. Therefore, its demand for new education is even more urgent. According to the function position that Shenzhen has placed on Nanshan District, Nanshan is supposed to, in the near future, become the pioneering district in China’s indigenous innovation of core technologies, the exemplary service cooperation district between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the exemplary district of harmonious society, and the innovation center for education, science and technology. To achieve all these ends, Shenzhen is badly in need of a large number of high-quality innovation talents and labor force. This inevitably calls for a proactive, outstanding and sustainable development of education. Faced with the rare opportunities and formidable challenges, we have to be well aware that the education in Nanshan is confronted with the contradictions between the insufficient classroom seats of preschool education and the demand of the people for a high-quality preschool education, between the relative weakness of vocational education and the increasing demand for technical workers because of the upgrading of regional industries, between the single model of general high school education and the demand of regional economic and social development for more diversified, versatile talents and between the inadequate lifelong education and the increasing needs of the people for a better universal education. Therefore, Nanshan still has a long way to go in terms of promoting educational equality and quality. It is an imperative demand for the district to advance educational reforms and innovation (The Committee: The Book Series of the Comprehensive Reform of Education 2012a). When analyzing the new opportunities and challenges, Nanshan District lays emphasis on the new demands of creative industries, innovation-driven model, indigenous innovation, the economic development models, new economy, and innovative talents for a fairer, better and proactive education, the challenges posed by new economy and new education to the needs for better classroom seats, more vigorous efforts to meet people’s expectations, improve the talent quality, modify the cultivation models, and have more effective educational systems, more thorough educational reforms, and more dynamic educational innovation, etc. The new challenge is not just the demand of education for its own development. It is also the demand of regional economic development and social progress for an urgent and thorough educational reform. These new demands are the starting point to break the barriers, meet the challenges and initiate the vibrant innovation of comprehensive reform of regional education.

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4.1.3 Framing the Strategic Framework of the Development Plan After the planning basis is clarified, we should establish the strategic framework of comprehensive reform of regional education according to the analytical findings of the internal and external environment. The strategic framework is the entire blueprint of comprehensive reform of regional education in the years to come, which is comprised of strategic goals, strategic focal points, developmental pathways, strategic actions and strategic support. The framework should firstly reflect the demands of “comprehensive reformation,” reinforcing the systematic, holistic and collaborative nature of the educational reform. The word “comprehensive” refers to the wide range of reform, i.e., the integration and coordination of the economic, political, cultural and other fields, and the interaction between and among different departments within the educational system. The goal of comprehensive education is to avoid the isolated, scattered form. To reflect the “comprehensive” characteristics of regional educational reform, we should formulate a holistic strategic framework based on the social, economic and cultural trend. We should take a certain field in the educational system as the core program to promote the reforms in other fields until the whole system is improved and a comprehensive ecology of regional education is formed. Therefore, a good strategic framework is able to take a holistic approach and enhance inter-departmental coordination. The framework is supposed to promote a comprehensive development of education, economy and society and the interaction between the internal and external elements of the educational system. To achieve that end, we should strive to explore and utilize all the favorable elements outside the educational system and enable the strategic framework to boost the interaction between educational reform and social reform and between the educational system and the social forces. Besides, a good strategic framework is also supposed to boost the coordination between and among different elements within the educational system. To achieve that end, we should analyze not only the internal factors that influence educational development but also the connection between these factors and the pathways to bringing to full play the effects of their combined efforts. We should also reinforce the system effect of the specific reform programs, through which to promote the collaboration between the departments within the system. To formulate a strategic framework reflecting the aforementioned characteristics, we should establish the “location” of comprehensive reform according to the analysis of the internal and external environment. Location is a figurative term in this context. It means the basis and starting point of strategic planning, i.e., the specific social, economic, educational and other conditions of the region as opposed to those of other regions. Locational analysis now mainly employs the “SWOT” method, which used to identify the competitive strength, weakness, opportunity and threat and establish the systematic coordination between the regional development strategy and its internal resources and external environment (Yang Peifeng 2013). To employ this method, first, according to the findings of analyzing the internal and external environment,

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we need to conduct horizontal and longitudinal comparison and analysis of the level and compatibility of the economic, social, educational and other indexes, identify the locational strengths and weaknesses and determine the current location (or level) of the regional education development. Second, it should grasp the general trend of the educational development. To achieve the end, we should understand not only the basic demands of the national and local educational reforms but also the needs and constraints of the local social and economic development. We should tap the potential resources and capabilities of the local condition, identify the focal points of the reforms and clarify the level (or location) of future development. Finally, we should recognize and acknowledge the disparity between reality and the future, analyze the root cause of the disparity and establish the key objectives and tasks of comprehensive reforms. After determining the location, i.e., the specific social, economic, educational and other conditions of a region as opposed to those of other regions, we need to gradually identify the most sensitive “factor” among the many factors that affect comprehensive reform of regional education. Factors are the basic elements impacting on educational development. According to ecology, no factors are “isolate.” Rather, they are interrelated; they interact with and constrain each other. The change of one single factor inevitably results in the changes and backlashes of other factors in varied degree (Yang Chi 2009). To promote comprehensive reform of regional education, we need to take a holistic view and understand the specific locational conditions first, and then carefully analyze the role of every single factor and predict the possible feedback caused by the change of a certain factor. Ecology argues that “the change of a certain element in the ecological system will inevitably generate a series of changes in other elements. These changes will ultimately affect the original element. This process is defined as feedback.” If the result of the feedback is to constrain or weaken the change caused by the original element, and thus restore the equilibrium of the ecological system, it is called negative feedback. If the result of the feedback is to accelerate the change caused by the original element, and thus upset the equilibrium of the ecological system, it is called positive feedback (Zhou Hong 2005). When formulating the strategic framework, we need to take into account all the relevant factors within the educational and social systems. More importantly, we should pay close attention to the sensitive factors that are able to generate positive feedback, transform the most dynamic and influential factors and therefore push forward the whole system. One of the most important tasks in the planning process is to gradually focus on the key sensitive factor, through which to determine the primary task and strategy and to promote the positive feedback of comprehensive reform. The key sensitive factor refers to the most dynamic and influential factor in education reform. The key factors vary from region to region. Financial investment, hardware, teaching staff, the inter-school gap, the principals, etc., all can become the key factor in different regions. After identifying the key sensitive factor and on the basis of internal and external environment and a better understanding of the value, concept, objective, strategic priority, policy guarantee, etc., we can do a better job in formulating the most effective reform framework.

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In the analysis of the external environment, Nanshan District in Shenzhen fully utilizes the city’s advantageous position as a reform outpost to seize new opportunities to promote regional cooperation, an international innovation center, and a significant international metropolitan city. Nanshan District also distinguishes itself as an exemplary district, a signpost district and a scientific research center and devotes itself to “four transformations” and “four heights” to develop the district into a highlevel innovation center, service center, creative cultural center and electronics center. Other titles for Nanshan District include the talent hub, model district, experimental district, champion of international exchanges, winner of the special national award for educational reform, etc. Among the distinguished titles, the reform outpost highlights the factor of “openness” and the exemplary district highlights the factor of “excellence.” That said, Nanshan District proposed the strategic thought of “pursue excellence, dialogue with the world,” and thereby seize the key elements that impact on the planning of comprehensive reform of regional education. Nanshan District not only focuses on the sensitive factors. It also gives full play to the disseminating role of these factors. Led by the sensitive factors, Nanshan District integrates the relevant factors in the social and educational system and proposes a holistic concept and strategy to promote the educational and social development through the transformation of the sensitive factors. In the process of framing the strategic framework, Nanshan District centers on the sensitive factors, taking into account the interactive relationship between the sensitive factors and the factors outside the educational system, and thereby establishes the roles, tasks and means that other social factors play in comprehensive reform of regional education. The district also takes into account the relationship between the sensitive factors and other factors within the educational system, establishes the joining point, means and key task between the sensitive factors and other factors, which is conducive to the effective integration of all the factors within the educational system. The district uses the sensitive factors as the key line, taking into account the effective integration of the educational system and social system, which is conducive to enhancing the symbiotic effect between education and society. Another example is Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental Zone in Xiacheng District in Hangzhou City. Based on the analysis of the internal and external environment, they choose quite a few factors that influence the educational development of the district, focus on the sensitive factor of “high-quality educational ecology” and set the objective of building a new educational ecology characterized by “high-quality balance and efficient learning.” According to this objective, the district reconstructs the outlook on the quality of regional education and puts forward the concept of “high-quality educational equality.” It defines education equality as the basic value orientation, and “advocates a new outlook on educational quality consistent with the needs of society, education and human development.” (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012b). Guided by this new outlook on educational quality, Xiacheng District constructs a theoretical system of comprehensive reform of regional education. The essence of this concept is the regional educational ecology: “The essence of regional educational

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ecology is the outlook on human life; the key objective is high-quality balance and efficient learning; the essential meaning is educational equality; and essential features are diversity, coordination and autonomy.” (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012b). Based on the theory of regional educational ecology, Xiacheng District sets the goal of educational development as what they call the “Three–Two–One Objective,” i.e., three “mores”: more balanced, fairer and more sufficient; two “highs”: highquality educational ecology and high-level educational district; one “first-class”: striving for the nation’s first-class modern and harmonious education. Based on the “Three–Two–One” objective, the district establishes “Three– Three–Three” educational development pathway: (a) Three types of education, i.e., preschool education, compulsory education and community education. The district strives to establish a “high-density, low-gravity” network development model of three types of education: preschool, compulsory and community education. (b) Threedistrict education, i.e., optimize the southern district, enhance the central district and accelerate the northern district, and achieving differentiated development of the three districts, characterized by “free development and mutual supplement.” (c) Three “satisfied,” i.e., enable the students, parents and society to be satisfied and achieve interactive development. In order to achieve the “Three–Two–One” objective and carry out the “Three– Three–Three” development pathway, the district proposes a new educational spirit: that is, taking the proactive approach, pursuing a higher level of educational quality and realizing a sustainable development. (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012b). Based on this theoretical system, Xiacheng District establishes five key development programs. The first program is to enhance the district’s academic atmosphere, recruit and retain distinguished scholars and form “academic campuses.” The second program is to launch a star-teacher project to cultivate diversified teachers with diversified expertise and establish a selecting and fostering mechanism to cultivate fivestar, four-star, three-star, two-star and one-star teachers. The third program is to launch “The Touching Campus Awards: Campus is beautiful because of you” project to recognize the most inspiring model teachers on campus, advocate the educational ethics of “no pains, no gains,” guide the whole district to care about every school principal, every teaching staff, every student and every parent, exhibit the value of education and create a favorable environment for education. The fourth program is to hold the annual international conference on educational innovation and achieve the integration of education and culture. The fifth program is to cultivate the AlphaESS Team (or “Dream Team”) in education,” dedicated to fostering a diligent, persistent and resilient faculty team dedicated to a common vision through collaborative efforts. (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012b). These five programs reflect the proactive, qualityoriented and sustainable educational spirit, lay a solid foundation for the promotion of three-type, three-district and three-satisfaction education and help to achieve the fairer, better first-class education.

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Along with the promotion of key programs, Xiacheng District also takes effective measures to carry out system innovation. The first one is the institutional restructuring, i.e., reforming the managerial system of the departments directly under the administration of the district government. The second one is to improve the oversight review system under the framework of “One Office, Two Centers” (i.e., the Oversight Office; Preschool Education Oversight Evaluation Center and Community Education Oversight Evaluation Center). The third one is to found “Regional Level Educational Quality Monitoring Center,” with the mayor of the district serving as the director of the team, comprised of the heads of the ten district-level departments (such as education, finance, personnel, etc.). The head of Department of Education serves as the director of monitoring center, conducts research into the quality evaluation system of the basic education and impels the primary and secondary schools to pay close attention to all the students and their overall development at all the time, and strives to improve the quality of education and enhance the ecological development of regional education. The fourth one is to build a new type of government-school relationship, the school’s internal autonomous development mechanism, and ultimately a modern educational system. (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012b). The transformation and establishment of all these systems provide a policy guarantee and support for the comprehensive educational reform in Xiacheng District. The sensitive factors, regional identification, key educational concepts, educational objectives, development pathways, key programs, managerial system and so on, all these elements interact with each other and constitute the strategic framework of comprehensive educational reform of Xiacheng District. Through the thorough analysis of the development plans of comprehensive educational reform of Nanshan District in Shenzhen and Xiacheng District in Hangzhou, we can summarize the main contents and drafting procedures of the strategic framework concerning comprehensive reform of regional education (Fig. 4.1).

4.1.4 Optimizing the Strategic Framework The framing of the reform plan is a continuous process of discussion, evaluation, adjustment and optimization of the strategic framework. This process is divided into three stages: the pre-drafting discussion and improvement, the evaluation during the drafting and post-drafting discussion and evaluation. 1. The Pre-Drafting Discussion and Review The pre-drafting discussion and review is the one that is done prior to the drafting of the strategic framework. The review at this stage includes three parts. The first is to discuss and review the approach and conclusion of the analysis of the internal and external environment. That is to evaluate the accuracy of the cited data, the objectivity of the description, the availability of the key elements impacting on the comprehensive reforms, the reasonability of the research methods, the reliability of

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contents of the framework

prominent elements

sensiƟve factors regional reform objecƟves

reform concepts

comprehensive

reform tasks reform reform tasks

Fig. 4.1 The main contents and drafting procedures of the strategic framework

the conclusion, etc. The second is to assess whether the process of the sensitive factor identification is appropriate and accurate. Given their vital significance, the sensitive factors constitute the basis to decide the focal points and major tasks of comprehensive reform in the years to come. Therefore, through discussion and review, we can accurately identify the sensitive factors of comprehensive reform. The third is to construct the strategic vision. The leaders, experts, heads of different departments and the general public have their own views on the sensitive factors. They can voice their opinions on the strategic vision of comprehensive reform of regional education and inspire the formation of the outline of the plan. The pre-drafting discussion should be thorough enough by gathering the wisdom and advice from all sides, including the representatives from various departments and academic, cultural and social circles. 2. The Evaluation During the Drafting The evaluation during the drafting is to invite advice from different people and add more relevant materials in the formation of the strategic framework. It is also designed to define the strategic orientation, value pursuit, specific objective, strategic tasks, strategic measures, policy guarantees, and invite suggestions from all walks of life and optimize them. The mid-drafting evaluation should reinforce three points. The first one is to determine the consistency of the sensitive factors and the reform goals, values, strategic tasks, and guarantee measures and their feasibility. The second one is to assess whether the preliminary strategic framework of comprehensive reform is

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good enough to lead decision-making, make sound overall arrangements, plan the reform, and help to form a new type of government-school relationship, departmentintegration development mechanism and the strategic framework of comprehensive reform. The third one is whether the evaluation reflects the planning characteristics of the Communist Party of China and government domination, social coordination and concerted efforts to make breakthroughs, thereby being good enough to effectively promote comprehensive reform of regional education. 3. The Post-Drafting Discussion and Evaluation. After the completion of strategic framework or draft plan, we should review it from the multi-dimensional perspectives to see whether it is conducive to the promotion of comprehensive reform of regional education. The first one is the comprehensive review comprised of different departments. We should gather multiple departments to make an overall assessment of the realistic basis, strategic orientation, development goals, strategic tasks, implementation measures and guaranteeing mechanisms of the draft plan, and its necessity, feasibility and reasonability. The second one is the expert review. That is to invite experts from the social, economic, political, cultural, scientific and educational circles to discuss, diagnose and evaluate the function of comprehensive reform, the value of guiding regional reform, the vanguard character of reform concepts and theories, and the proactive nature of the strategic orientation and measures. The third one is public consultation. That is to establish the platforms such as the internet, print media, exhibitions and other means to inform the public of the draft plan and invite their suggestions. After synthesizing the opinions of all sides, the drafting team modifies and improves the draft plan and submits it to the leading committee for review and approval, which constitutes the final version of the plan. Nanshan District in Shenzhen and Xiacheng District in Hangzhou pay great attention to the discussion and adequate review. After this process, the reform plan becomes more strategic, feasible and operational and the public is also better informed, thereby creating favorable conditions for the coordinated implementation of comprehensive reform of regional education.

4.2 The Text of the Reform Plan The form of achievement for the reform plan is the text. The text of comprehensive reform of regional education is “the display of the achievement of the research on comprehensive reform of regional education, the carrier of the research and decisionmaking information, the cord connecting the plan drafting and its implementation, and the important criteria to evaluate the level and quality of planning. Meanwhile, the formation of the text of the reform plan is also the key path to optimizing the design, management and control. The text is the major document of the planning. The drafting of the text should take into account the tasks, the implementation of the proposal, and the specific conditions in the process of document drafting” (Yang Peifeng 2013).

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4.2.1 The Basic Structure of the Text The text of the reform plan has its basic contents. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of the Education Development in Nanshan District of Shenzhen City adopts the following structure. Preface: Pursing Excellence Through Innovation Chapter One: General Strategy: Dialogue with the World and Lead the Development (I)

Guiding Principle: Stick to the Concept of Education First and Advance Nanshan Educational Reform (II) General Objective: Meet the Standard of World-Class Education and Dedicated to the Pursuit of Excellence (III) Basic Thought: Focus on the Theme of Development and Promote Strategic Transformation Chapter Two: Development Tasks: Highlight the Focal Points to Promote an Overall Improvement (IV) (V) (VI) (VII) (VIII) (IX) (X) (XI) (XII) (XIII)

Character Education: Reinforce Moral Education and Foster Public Ethics Preschool Education: Reinforce Government Domination and Achieve Leapfrog Development Compulsory Education: Promote High-quality Equilibrium and Guarantee Educational Equality General High School Education: Promote Distinctive Development and Innovate Cultivation Methods Intermediate Vocational Education: Stick to Market Orientation and Showcase the Advantages of Brand Education Lifelong Education: Establish Open System and Promote Universal Learning Faculty Development: Strengthen Professional Development and Foster high-quality Talents Educational Research: Program-led Transformation and Research-Oriented Innovation Educational Internationalization: Integrate Global Resources and Deepen Project Cooperation Educational Promotion Through Information Technology: Strengthen Scientific Application and Enhance Regional Brands

Chapter Three: System Innovation: Emancipating Thoughts and Enhancing Vitality (XIV) (XV) (XVI)

Public Service Innovation: Innovate System Mechanism and Strengthen Service Capabilities Education Management Innovation: Promote Managerial Transformation and Improve Managerial Efficiency School-Running System reform: Exhibit System Vitality and Promote Multiple Development

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(XVII) Course-teaching Reform: Innovate Class Culture and Improve Teaching Quality (XVIII) Education Evaluation Reform: Implement New Rules of Evaluation and Promote Educational Transformation Chapter Four: Guaranteeing Measures: Establish Mechanisms and Ensure their Implementation (XIX) (XX) (XXI) (XXII) (XXIII) (XXIV)

Strengthen Organizational Leadership Clarify Goals and Obligations Promote Rule of Law in Education Increase Educational Expenditure Perfect Oversight System Shape Favorable Environment

Appendix: The Key Projects of Nanshan Education in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (I) (II) (III) (IV) (V) (VI) (VII) (VIII)

Class Culture Cultivation Program Supernormal Development Program of Preschool Education Civic Education Program Distinctive Schools Construction Program Educational Research Promotion Program Star-Faculty Development Program International Exchange Cooperation Program Educational Evaluation Reform Program (Source: The Committee on the Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a).

Different texts of reform plans adopt different structures. For instance, the Medium-and-Long-Term Development Plan of Education (2010–2020) drafted by Jinjiang District of Chengdu City adopts a structure different from that of Nanshan District of Shenzhen City. The text of the reform plan of Jinjiang District is composed of six chapters as follows. Chapter One: Preface (I) Accomplishments and Advantages (II) Problems and Challenges

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Chapter Two: General Strategy (I) Guidelines and Principles (II) Strategies and Goals Chapter Three: Tasks (I) (II) (III) (IV)

Regional Universality: Strengthen Preschool Education Balanced Development: Optimize Compulsory Education Quality Improvement: Perfect High School Education Brand Creation: Innovate Vocational Education

Chapter Four: Reform and Innovation (I) (II) (III) (IV)

Innovate Models of Talent Cultivation Deepen Character Education Innovate Models of School Development Promote Distinctive Development

Chapter Five: Key Projects (I) Faculty Development Project (II) Education Project Through Information Technology (III) Ecological Campus Project Chapter Six: Guaranteeing Measures Although the texts of the reform vary in content and structure, they all have to address five major points. First and foremost, where we are now, i.e., the starting point of comprehensive reform. For instance, in its preface, the reform plan text of Shenzhen Nanshan District clarifies the advantages and challenges of comprehensive educational reform. In preface, the reform plan text of Jinjiang District in Chengdu City elaborates the achievements, advantages, problems and challenges. Second, where we are heading, i.e., the goals of comprehensive reform. For instance, in general strategy, Nanshan District highlights the goals of “Meeting the Standard of World-Class Education and Dedicated to the Pursuit of Excellence.” Jinjiang District also establishes the strategic orientation and development goals. Third, how to get there, i.e., addressing such issues as value pursuits, concepts, thoughts, key tasks, development models, implementing strategies, etc. These are the main points of the reform plan text. Nanshan District and Jinjiang District elaborate these points in great detail. Fourth, what means to take to achieve the ends, i.e., guaranteeing mechanisms in comprehensive reform. Nanshan District and Jinjiang District include the relevant stipulations in their reform plan texts. Fifth, how to judge whether the goals have been achieved, i.e., evaluating the effectiveness of the plan implementation. Both districts include such measures as reform oversight and evaluation. These five parts comprise the body of the reform plan text. The titles and specific contents of each part differ as a result of the differences in priorities and styles. However, each reform plan text must be accurate, concise, clear and prioritized. Each text should clearly present such things as the general trend, basic concepts, strategic orientation, priorities, criteria of evaluation to the relevant departments and

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the general public. Only in this way, can a reform plan text achieve the goals of guiding decision-making, making sound overall arrangements and promoting social collaboration.

The Requirement of the Expression of the Reform Plan Text The reform plan text is the specific reflection of the comprehensive reform strategy of regional education. They must clarify the key guiding principles and tasks of comprehensive reform in the years to come. Apart from being objective, accurate, scientific, clear and readable, they should also grasp the key points of each part and reflect the different features of different contents. 1. The Expression of the Analysis of the Status Quo: Balance the Internal and External Factors and Highlight the Priorities The analysis of the status quo does not have to address all aspects of the issue in equal weight. Rather, it should seize the key sensitive factors and the key objectives, analyze the supporting forces, new requirements and challenges in the internal and external environment to the sensitive factors and key objectives, and highlight the realistic starting points and reform challenges of the sensitive factors and key objectives. For instance, the key objective of the Twelfth Five-Year Education Reform of Nanshan District is to establish an excellent educational system. In analyzing the status quo, the reform plan text emphasizes the current basis and the gap to bridge to achieve the vision of “excellence.” The social and economic requirements of pioneering district, exemplary district, high-level development district are the social basis for and the social challenges posed to establishing excellent educational system. The analysis of these external factors is well targeted. In analyzing the internal factors, the text highlights the outstanding professional basis of establishing an excellent educational system. Synthesizing the internal and external factors, Nanshan District puts forward a series of new challenges the district is confronted with and requirements for building an outstanding educational system. The establishment of an outstanding educational system requires Nanshan District to adapt to the needs to deepen character education, cultivate the basic talents with global vision, a sense of national and social obligation, a knowledge of multiple disciplines, rule consciousness and creative thoughts. The establishment of an outstanding educational system requires Nanshan District to adapt to the needs to transform the means of educational development, striving to achieve the strategic shift from expanding the scale to optimizing the quality and thereby promoting the transformation of regional economic and social development. The establishment of an outstanding educational system requires Nanshan District to adapt to the needs to enhance educational equality, allowing the students to exhibit their individuality, give full play to their distinctive advantages, satisfy the students’ diversified development, and promote social equality through educational equality.

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The establishment of an outstanding educational system requires Nanshan District to adapt to the needs to build a learning-oriented exemplary district, further improve the lifelong learning educational system, and making it a reality that everyone is able to learn at any time at any place. The establishment of an outstanding educational system requires Nanshan District to adapt to the needs to build a world-class, modern district, comprehensively strengthening international understanding, taking an active part in dialoguing with the world’s advanced educational culture, and gradually improving the level of educational internationalization. (Source: The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). Through the analysis of the merits and demerits of internal and external factors and the challenges faced with comprehensive reform of regional education, the above-mentioned reform plan texts focus on “establishing an outstanding educational system.” They are rich in content and clearly targeted. 2. The Expression of the General Strategy: Comprehensive, Concise and Specific Proposing the general strategy based on the analysis of the status quo is the common format of the reform plan text. The general strategy usually includes reform ideas, values, models, guidelines, development goals, basic thoughts and principles, etc. The ideas, values, goals and models must be expressed in concise terms. For instance, Nanshan’s reform plan text summarizes the strategic thought in eight Chinese characters, Zhuiqiu Zhuoyue, Duihua Shijie (追求卓越,对话世界) (or “pursue excellence and dialogue with the world”). Based on the eight Chinese characters, the plan text sets forth the guidelines and working principles in sixteen Chinese characters, Jiaoyu Diyi, Gaige Xianxing, Zhuiqiu Zhuoyue, Kuoda Kaifang(“教育第一、改革先行、 追求卓越、扩大开放”) (or education first, prioritize reform, pursue excellence and boost opening up). Then the text sets the development goal of “Meet the Standard of World-Class Education and Dedicated to the Pursuit of Excellence (瞄准国际一 流、打造卓越教育)” through the combination of summarization and specification. After conveying the development goal in concise terms, the text puts forward the general objective of the education reform, that is, “to make Nanshan a pioneering internationalized educational district to dialogue with the world’s advanced culture and lead the educational reform and development.” In order to specify the general objective, the text sets three subobjectives: one, building an outstanding theoretical and practical education system with Nanshan characteristics; two, promoting the main indicators of educational development to approximate to or reach the level of developed countries or regions and ensuring the comprehensive competitiveness ranks among the advanced levels in the world; and three, universalizing compulsory education throughout the city, achieving a high-level educational modernization, and building a learning-oriented exemplary district and a district with powerful human resources. To specify the subobjectives, Nanshan District puts forward the following indicators.

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(a) a higher level of educational equality: set the goal of leaving no child behind: providing suitable education for every child, and helping every child develop their full potential; respect every child’s right to choose; ensure every child an equal starting point in education; and strive to achieve the equality of the process and outcome. (b) a more sufficient high-quality education: give priority to setting regional quality criteria and establishing oversight system; accelerate the development of preschool education, compulsory education and high school education and thereby provide high-quality education to the residents in Nanshan District; and ensure the 100% high-quality education in public schools and kindergartens. (c) a more advanced cultivation model: give priority to optimizing the content and methods, give full play to the role of modern educational technology; strengthen the connection between education and social life; conduct further research on the students’ physiological and psychological pattern of development; take effective measures to relieve the learning burden of the students; and remarkably improve the innovative spirit and practical competence of the students. (d) a more dynamic school-running system: emancipate the educational productivity; strengthen the building of modern school system; deepen the reform of educational administration, school management and corporate school-running system; explore the new increasing point of private educational development; and remarkably strengthen the school-running vitality. (e) a more open educational environment: set the standard of world-class education; improve the interactive, cooperative and sharing mechanism; build advanced educational culture; comprehensively improve the civic ethos; build the digitalized learning platform and community educational resource database and meet the basic needs of the residents of Nanshan District in lifelong learning. (Source: The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). Based on the idea of “pursue excellence and dialogue with the world” and the key goal of pursuing and building an excellent educational system, and combined with the above-mentioned main indicators, Nanshan District raises the following specific development indicators (Table 4.5). The general goals, major symbols and data indicators constitute a concise and specific goal system. The goals must be clearly elaborated. The reform ideas should also be specific and clearly articulated. For instance, Nanshan District summarizes the reform ideas in very concise terms, which can be easily remembered as “one, two, three, four and five.” That is, to construct one system, clarify two themes, accomplish three transformations, reinforce four priorities and highlight five key points. The following is an elaboration of the first two ideas. • Construct one system: i.e., to build an excellent educational theoretical and practical system with distinctive Nanshan characteristics, spread the successful experiences, stimulate the internal vitality, get to the core features of the region and explore the development patterns.

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Table 4.5 The specific development goals of education of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan in Nanshan District Categories Scale

Indicators Preschool education

Compulsory education

High school education

2010

2015

The ratio of infants’ participation in education (0–3 years old)

52%

85%

The ratio of children in the kindergarten (3–6 years old)

95%

99%

The number of public schools

64%

71%

The seats in public schools

92,843

10,9763

The enrollment ratio

100

100%

The ratio of students staying at school

98%

99%

The enrollment ratio of the disabled children

98%

99%

The seats in public high schools

7287

8907

The seats in vocational schools

1876

3476

The enrollment ratio

95%

99%

60%

Over 80%

The participatory rate in lifelong learning Investment The increase (ratio) of fiscal investment in the budget

1% per year

The ratio of fiscal investment in preschool education in the whole investment in education Benefits/ efficiency

Less than 1% Over 5%

Preschool education

The ratio of regulated kindergarten 90%

100%

Compulsory education

The ratio of qualification in the city’s evaluation of the quality of school-running

100%

High school education

The ratio of enrollment in the 95% colleges and universities among the high school students

Over 99%

Vocational education

The initial ratio of employment among the graduates

90%

Over 95%

The ratio of students who earn the certificate indicating the medium-and-above-level skills

70%

Over 80%

/

(continued)

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Table 4.5 (continued) Categories

Indicators

Lifelong education

Faculty

2010

2015

The approving rate of the employers to the graduates

80%

Over 90%

The admission rate to vocational higher education institutions

90%

Over 95%

The number of non-governmental brand training institutions

/

Over 10

The average years of education 14 years among the newly added labor force

16 years

Kindergarten

The ratio of associate degree and above

30%

Over 90%

Elementary schools

The ratio of 68% bachelor’s degree

Over 85%

The ratio of graduate degree and above

Over 15%

Junior high schools

High schools

5%

The ratio of 87% bachelor’s degree

Over 95%

The ratio of graduate degree and above

13%

Over 30%

The ratio of 96% bachelor’s degree

Over 98%

The ratio of graduate degree and above

Over 48%

20%

The newly added / faculty: the ratio of graduate degree and above

International exchanges

Over 95%

Vocational high Teachers with 60.5% schools academic degrees and professional skills

Over 80%

The ratio of schools that established partnerships with schools in China’s Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign countries

Over 90%

60%

(continued)

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Table 4.5 (continued) Categories

Indicators

Favorability

Others

2010

2015

The ratio of schools participating in the cooperative programs with international educational organizations

30%

Over 50%

The ratio of faculty participating China’s Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign countries

20%

50%

The favorability of students and parents toward schools and teachers

/

85%

The favorability of schools toward the governmental educational administration and services

/

85%

The favorability of society toward education

/

85%

The ratio of green schools among the public schools (city-level awards and above)

80%

100%

The utility ratio of educational information resources

100%

100%

• Clarify two themes: One is to set the standard and improve the quality. That is, in accordance with the national standard, to establish a quality standard with distinctive regional characteristics, objectively analyze the problems with Nanshan education and the causes for these problems and improve the quality of education in Nanshan District. The other is to innovate the system and strengthen the efficiency. That is, through system innovation, to break down the barriers that hinder educational development and solve the striking and deeper-level problems faced with the educational development in Nanshan District. (Source: The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). 3. The expression of reform pathways: highlight “comprehensiveness” and reinforce system building The reform pathways in the text include strategic tasks, strategic priorities, reform measures and others. This part answers two important questions: what to reform and how to reform them. The design and expression of the development plan of the comprehensive reform should be characterized by reinforcing the comprehensive promotion of the overall work of the reform. For instance, the reform plan text of Nanshan District puts forward the various development tasks and addresses such issues as moral education, preschool education, compulsory education, high school

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education, intermediate vocational education, lifelong education, faculty development, educational research, educational internationalization, the use of information technology in education and so on. These strategic tasks cover all aspects of the development of education itself and the social needs. They are guided by the establishment of an excellent educational system, based on the principle of establishing a symbiotic relationship between education and society and characterized by “comprehensive reform.” To promote comprehensive reform, we need to focus on establishing or innovating mechanism and system. In the design of the reform pathways, Nanshan District puts forward the tasks and strategies of system innovation. For instance, the following are the system innovation tasks in public services. (a) Improve consultation services: to establish a consultation committee on educational decision-making composed of experts, representatives of the local people’s congress, committee members of the local people’s political consultative congress, community workers and the parents of the students, regulate the decision-making procedure, and ensure the fairness and feasibility of decision-making in education; establish the three-tier teacher–parent committee comprised of the school, grades and classes, explore the running mechanism and get the majority of parents actively involved in the school management. (b) Improve the service efficiency: Relying on the online network of Nanshan educational community, Nanshan District integrates policy consultation, service handbook, online reservation, online handling of business, the parent–teacher interaction, complaint filing and other services, establishes “Nanshan Education Online Service Platform” to provide convenient customized service, and makes full use of online video conferences, i.e., synchronous (or immediate) communications platform and other modern information technologies to conduct long-distance education, academic exchanges and workshops to achieve the automation of office work. (c) Strengthen information openness: actively promote administrative transparency and set up sunshine administrative platform to keep the public informed of the latest development of educational reform and development and allow them to have convenient access to various types of information on education; establish a variety of systems and pathways to promote information transparency, hold regular press conferences on education and ensure an immediate and accurate transparency of information. (d) Promote service purchase: establish the system of purchasing public services, reinforce the government oversight and review mechanism to the enterprises which provide purchase service; continue to adopt purchase services in the areas of food hygiene, fire protection, security equipment, etc., and establish the campus security protection system; explore the purchase mechanisms and measures of classroom seats in private schools and kindergartens and take effective measures to guarantee free compulsory education for the children of those who work in Shenzhen.

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(Source: The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). The Consultation Decision-Making Committee for Education, Nanshan Education Online Service Platform, Synchronous (or Immediate) Communications Platform, Sunshine Administrative Platform, and Public Services Purchase System are fairly specific mechanisms in the planning of educational reform in Nanshan District. They are very significant pathways to promote the building of an outstanding educational system in the district and can be effectively implemented. Based on these, Nanshan District also puts forth other system innovation tasks such as education management innovation, school-running system reform, course-teaching reform, education evaluation reforms, etc. They effectively answer the question of how to promote comprehensive reform of regional education. 4. The Expression of Reform Guarantee: Take a Holistic View and Reinforce the Oversight Reform guarantee is the supporting condition to implement strategic planning. Since the plan for comprehensive reform purports to promote the comprehensive reform within the region, we need to pay close attention to two points when expressing the guaranteeing measures. One is to keep the whole region in mind, take into account the roles of the CPC and administrative leadership, all the departments within the region, and the general public, and clearly stipulate the specific tasks that all the relevant parties are supposed to finish. For instance, Jinzhou New District of Dalian City clearly states the requirements for the CPC leadership and the administrative responsibilities of the government in their planning of comprehensive reform of regional education. It says: “We must establish Education Joint Session Conference System and Target Management Responsibility Mechanism charged by the major leaders of the CPC officials and the administrative leaders, and thus form a working mechanism led by the CPC committee and the government, coordinated by all the relevant departments and extensively participated by the representatives from all walks of life. When making plans for the social and economic development, the Department of Reform and Development must give priority to the development of education, the Department of Finance must improve the mechanism to guarantee the funding for education, the Departments of Planning, Construction and Natural Resources must give priority to the layout and land use for education, the Department of Human Resources must create favorable conditions for outstanding teachers to come to the fore, the Department of Public Security, Bureau of Fire-fighting, Bureau of Transportation, and General Management Office must also take effective measures to guarantee a safe campus, and last but not least, the Department of Public Information must also publicize the accomplishments in education reform and development and thereby create a positive atmosphere for education department in the district.” (The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). The clarification of the tasks for each department, each responsible for its own task, and each coordinating with another, is conducive to the promotion of comprehensive reform of regional education.

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Next come the division of the tasks and the oversight of the process. The purpose of dividing the tasks is to clarify the responsibilities of the relevant parties and thereby form a development landscape of regional education characterized by social coordination, endogenous system and comprehensive breakthrough. The reform plan text of Nanshan District elaborates this point as follows: Under the leadership of the Development Planning Implementation Group, we divide the specific tasks and clarify each party’s responsibilities. Departments at all governmental levels must put forward their own specific implementation plans and measures, which must be consistent with the strategic goals, development tasks, reform and innovation programs stipulated in Nanshan District Development Plan, and carry them out step by step, and stage by stage. The Departments of Organization and Human Resources will take the specific goals and tasks as the key indicators of the performance of the leaders of the respective departments. Their performance will be included in their annual performance review. (The Committee on The Series of Comprehensive Experimentation of Educational Reform 2012a). Based on the clear division of labor, we should establish a high-level oversight working team and form an efficient oversight system. Only when these measures are clearly illustrated in the reform plan text, can we guarantee the thorough implementation of the plan.

The Explanation of Drafting the Plan In order to enable the leaders, experts or the general public to have a better understanding of the priorities and key points of the development plan, we should explain the background, intention, process, ideas, characteristics, key points and text format. The explanation of the text is not an elaboration of the detailed contents. Instead, it is an illustration of the background, intention, process or a summary of their characteristics, or innovative points which are not explicitly stated but quite significant in understanding the essence of the reform plan text. For instance, in drafting the Twelfth Five-Year Plan of Nanshan District, the authors give the readers a brief introduction to the background, process, features of the planning and the format and contents of the text. The background generally includes the domestic and international situation, the national policy, the requirements of the regional social and economic development to educational reform, etc. The explanation of the background must be concise and to the point. The drafting process mainly includes the organizational institutions, drafting strategies, drafting steps, etc. For instance, Nanshan District summarizes the drafting strategies and steps as follows. 1. Clarify the Drafting Approach After its establishment, the plan drafting leading team clarified the guidelines, basic principles and relevant requirements of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan of Nanshan

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District’s Education Development and then started to work on the drafting process in details. The plan drafting follows the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development, designed to meet the needs of the people for a satisfactory education. Motivated by innovation and internationalization and designed to enhance character education, the drafting should thoroughly implement the requirements of The Outline of the Medium-and-LongTerm Educational Reform and Development (2010–2020), strengthen faculty development, adopt process evaluation, and thereby thoroughly improve the soft power and brand influence of Nanshan education. The drafting should also take a scientific approach, invite the advice of the people and meet their needs. 2. The Procedure of Plan Drafting The drafting of the plan undergoes a series of procedures: launching the plan drafting, sorting out the drafting approach, making the preliminary basic investigation, writing the draft of the investigation report, drafting the text and discussing and reviewing the plan. After these five steps, we complete the text of the Twelfth Five-Year-Plan for the Educational Development of Nanshan District and present it to the experts and the public for advice. Stage One: Sort Out the Working Approach (January, February and March) The plan drafting leading team incubates the drafting, sorts out relevant materials, sums up the successful experience of Nanshan educational development during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan and reflects upon the existing problems and explores the approach to addressing the problems. Stage Two: Preliminary Basic Investigation (April and May) Observing the relevant requirements of the plan drafting, the working team starts the basic investigation, which includes the following ten topics: the general strategy, educational public service innovation, the educator cultivation program and faculty development, the analysis of education scale and the layout of newly built schools, public (primary and secondary) education development, private (primary and secondary) education development, vocational education development, lifelong education development, preschool education development and the use of information technology in education. The plan drafting team has been to more than 20 schools, and through field trips, interviews, surveys and other means to collect data. They interviewed more than 20 heads of relevant bureaus and departments and more than 50 school principals, held more than 30 teacher conferences, and collected nearly 2000 surveys. They gathered more than 1000 annual reports of educational oversight, annual work plans and summaries, and speeches of the heads of the educational bureau. The field work is comprehensive, thorough and specific and covers all the relevant parties involved.

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Stage Three: Drawing up the Investigation Report (June and July) After the preliminary investigation, the plan drafting team has a better understanding of the basic conditions of the educational development in Nanshan District in the past few years. After the analysis of the interview findings, the data of the survey, and the text materials, the drafting team worked with the relevant offices and drew up the final investigation report, which covers ten specific topics. The special investigation report summarizes the achievements and basic experiences of the education in Nanshan District during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, thoroughly analyzes the problems, challenges, favorable conditions and constraints in the educational development in Nanshan District, sets the development goals and major tasks in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, and puts forward the reform pathways and guarantee measures. Based on this, Nanshan Bureau of Education organized relevant experts to discuss the ten special topics and the basic structure of the text of the plan. Stage Four: Drafting the text of the plan (August, September and October) The drafting of the text witnessed a nine-version (3*3) procedure. The first three versions include the preliminary draft, the discussion version and the version for inviting the advice of the relevant parties. Each version is discussed and revised three times. Each discussion and revision is done after inviting the advice of three parties: the heads of the departments, the relevant departments and the principals of the schools (and kindergartens). Stage Five: Discussing and Reviewing the Plan (November and December) First, after the discussion of the experts and the review of the joint session of the CPC party officials and the administrative officials, the revised version is presented to the public in newspapers, on the internet and other media to invite their advice. Finally, the drafting team incorporated all the advice from all the relevant parties involved, worked on the final draft and presented it to Nanshan District government and the District People’s Congress for approval. The drafting features refer to the shining points of the plan. For instance, the educational development plan of Nanshan District has four distinctive features: scientific methodology, extensive public opinion, distinct focal points and clear tasks. The outline and contents should also be described in concise terms. Let us take Nanshan District as an example. (a) The Outline The outline of the plan consists of preface, general strategy, development tasks, system innovation, and guarantee measures, with the focal projects attached in appendix. (b) The Contents Preface: The preface summarizes the achievements and successful experiences in the educational development of Nanshan District, analyzes the general trend of the social and

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economic development and educational reform at home and abroad, and the opportunities and challenges confronting the education in Nanshan District, reflects upon the problems and constraints in the educational development in Nanshan District and charts the course of the future development of education in Nanshan District. General Strategy: The plan clarifies the guidelines of the educational reform and development in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan: education first, prioritizing reform, pursuing excellence and boosting opening up. The general goal of the Twelfth FiveYear Plan is as follows: (a) build an outstanding theoretical and practical education system with Nanshan characteristics; (b) promote the main indicators of educational development to approximate to or reach the level of developed countries or regions and ensure that the comprehensive competitiveness ranks among the advanced levels in the world; (c) universalize 15-year education throughout the whole city, achieve high-level educational modernization, and build learning-oriented exemplary district and powerful district of human resources; (d) develop Nanshan District into a firstclass educational district to dialogue with the advanced cultures in the world and lead the education reform and development. Development Tasks: The plan elaborates the development tasks of the educational reform from the following ten points: moral education, preschool education, compulsory education, high school education, intermediate vocational education, lifelong education, faculty development, educational research, educational internationalization, the use of information technology in education and so on. Innovation System: The plan elaborates the new measures of reform and innovation as follows: public service innovation, educational management innovation, school-running reform, curriculum-teaching reform, and educational evaluation. Guarantee Measures: The plan elaborates guarantee measures as follows: strengthening organizational leadership, clarifying objectives and responsibilities, governing teaching through rule of law, increasing the funding of education, implementing the oversight system, and creating a favorable environment to implement the guarantee measures. The plan also explains the eight focal programs in the form of appendix: Class culture program, extraordinary (supernormal) preschool educational development program, civic education program, distinctive schools program, educational research program, distinguished faculty development program, international exchange cooperation program, education evaluation reform program, etc. When drafting the plan, first and foremost, we need to keep the whole region in mind and take into account the multiple needs of all the people and social and economic development towards education and their mainstream orientation. To bear the full landscape in mind, we need to consider all the people in the district, i.e., every parent, every student, every school and every social sector. When drafting the plan, on the basis of taking into consideration the needs of all the students and parents, we should motivate the initiative of other sectors to support and help every school to achieve the development to their best potential. “Taking all into account is the need to ensure educational equity and reflect the value of guaranteeing every person’s fair chance to enjoy the right to develop.” “Taking all into account is an attitude, a strategy, and a value. We need to study the strategy to take all into account in different

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stages of education” (Yinfu 2014). Only when we keep the full landscape in mind and take all into account, can we promote the harmonious development of regional education, economic growth and social progress. Second, we need to emphasize balanced development. When drafting the plan, we need to pay attention to the rural–urban gap and the inter-school disparities. It is particularly true in the period of compulsory education. We should establish the focal tasks and measures to guarantee the high-quality, balanced development of regional education in the process of comprehensive reform. “Balanced development is the significant juncture between the fairness and quality of compulsory education. Balance means fairness and quality. In this sense, balanced development demands development and reform” (Yang Yinfu 2014).To promote the balanced development and overall enhancement of regional education is not only the goal of drafting the plan of comprehensive reform of regional education but also the basic thought of formulating the reform and development plan. In other words, drafting the plan for comprehensive reform of regional education purports to promote the balanced development and overall enhancement of regional education. When drafting the plan for comprehensive reform of regional education, we should also pay attention to the plan’s role in leading decision-making and form a new type of relationship between the government and the schools. The development trend of public management is the effective separation of decision-making, execution and evaluation. From the perspective of educational management, the government is the decision-maker. The educational administrative departments and other agencies are responsible for the implementation of the decision. Oversight is in the charge of the government and social organizations. To achieve the shift of such roles, we need to change the current model of the government’s role in governing education and establish a new type of managerial relationship. The former Minister of Chinese Ministry of Education Mr. Yuan Guiren stressed: “We should deepen the administrative reform, innovate the administrative approach, streamline administration, delegate powers to lower levels and minimize government’s interference in the micro-management of education. We should also build a new type of relationship between the government, schools and society, increase the autonomy of schools in running daily affairs, establish a modern school system characterized by rule of law, autonomous management, democratic oversight and social participation, and form an educational system characterized by the separation of the government from management, the clarification of respective rights and obligations, the effective inter-agency coordination and collaboration in the implementation of educational policies and the strict observation of regulation and order” (Yuan Guiren 2013). To establish a new type of relationship of educational management and form a new educational managerial system, we must bring to full play the role of the planning for comprehensive reform of regional education to lead the decision-making. This role is reflected in two aspects. First, it is the leading role of the party and government. In the process of the plan making, the party committee and the local government clarify the development strategy of regional education, discuss its necessity and feasibility, and take a proactive approach to ensure the objectivity and efficiency of the educational

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decision. Second, it is to lead all the relevant departments to make objective and efficient decisions in the process of carrying out the regional educational development plan. Effective policy implementation also requires innovation. A significant role of the planning for comprehensive reform of regional education is to impel the regional government to clarify the respective roles of the party committee, the government officials, the educational administrative department, communities (towns and villages), schools and other departments. When making and implementing the reform plan of regional education, we should not only motivate every department to discharge their own responsibilities, but also leave enough room for other participants to play their creative roles in educational reform, and thereby form a new type of relationship among the government, schools and society. In a word, under the framework of a new type of relationship, the government, the schools and the society should be aware of the concept, approach and development strategy of comprehensive reform of regional education. This new type of relationship is conducive to guiding the educational administrative department, the schools and the society to make scientific decision and thereby forming a solid foundation for the success of comprehensive reform of regional education.

Chapter 5

Search for the Sensitive Factors of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education

From ancient to modern times, reform of any kind is a difficult and complicated process. If we compare reform to a formidable project, there are numerous factors that affect the success of this project. Finding the most suitable factor from thousands of factors for your own region means that you have found the key field of comprehensive reform of regional education. The methods abound in terms of looking for the key field, but just as illustrated in Chap. 3 of this book, according to the ecological principle, in any “ecological niche” or ecological system, the key factors that affect the growth of living things can be categorized as sensitive and insensitive ones (For instance, the demands for sunshine, water or soil and other factors differ from time to time.). This approach to searching for the sensitive factors is the most effective means to find out the key field of comprehensive reform of regional education at a given time and a given place.

5.1 The Sensitive Factors: The Key Fields that Affect the Regional Development The social ecological system includes the natural ecological environment, the social ecological environment and the regulatory ecological environment. It is a complex ecological system comprised of the educational, political, economic, cultural, population and other subsystems. The change of any part will definitely trigger a chain reaction. The basic point here is to emphasize the interconnectivity, interaction and functional integrity of all the factors. Owing to the differences in sensitivity, these factors, such as politics, economy, population and so on, differ in their impact on regional education.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_5

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5.1.1 The Evolution of Political Structure and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education 1. The Impact of Political Structure on Regional Education The impact of politics on education is usually reflected in its goal, system, content, policy, finance, power and value orientation. Politics exerts influence on education to varying degrees through policy-making, control and allocation of resources, advocacy of political culture, change of educational contents, empowerment and retrieval of educational power, etc. After the Second World War, democratization and national self-determination are the megatrend in the field of political structure and the priority of every country is to promote economic development. With the change of this political structure, the function and the impact of the region gradually stand out. To empower the region with greater autonomy and development, and develop a universal education that benefits everyone has become the focal idea of the regional educational reform in the world. The reform on power empowerment and delegation is the important reform experience of traditional democratic countries in their promotion of the comprehensive development of education and the new trend of the reform of the authoritarian countries to promote educational balance. The modest power delegation in education is able to facilitate a balanced and efficient allotment of all kinds of educational resources from the central and regional governments. It is also able to mobilize the initiative of the local governments to develop and reform education. As a developed country, the USA is a federal republic. The federal institution does not generally stipulate education policy or set courses for the states, which make their own education policies and set their own courses. The autonomous and steady development of regional education is the key to the success of American education system characterized by the empowerment of the federal government to the state governments. As a major developing country, for a long time, there was a huge gap of development between different genders, races, religions and language groups in India. The gap between them in education was even wider. The regional gap in educational development was even more serious than that in China. To reverse this situation, since the second half of the twentieth century, India has been very active in accelerating and deepening educational empowerment reforms. The essence of India’s powerdelegation system reform is to empower the states, communities and even the streets to make and carry out their own educational development plans. The educational administration of the federal government only plays the role of educational consultation and coordination between the local educational developments. At the outset of the twenty-first century, India put forward a complete, comprehensive national educational plan targeted at the improvement of educational quality. The plan advocated intervening in the school development through empowering the communities to play a more active role in the development of education. Educational development is a noble cause for the future. Therefore, any type of political structure will “declare” to prioritize the development of education. The impact of education on politics is also evident. No matter how political structure

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evolves, without the proactive leadership of regional education, there would be no economic development and social progress of the region. This conclusion is drawn from the dialectical relationship between regional education and regional politics and social economy. The trend of the regional education development in the world demonstrates that regional education should play a proper leadership role in the regional development, which reflects the scientific spirit and suit the local conditions. 2. The impact of Administrative Division on Education Political structure plays the dominant role in the whole social system and political power is the center of its control. Political power is established in the center of the country or the region and usually accumulates various political facilities and systems, which ensure that political systems run regularly and smoothly. The urbanization of the region often gives rise to the formation of administrative divisions around the administrative centers, which give them some advantages over other regions in many aspects, which demonstrates the huge impact of political power or political factor on the development of the region and the positioning of its functions. The regional centers with higher political status enjoy favorable advantages in education. As the regional or national political and cultural centers, they are the first to receive and carry out the policies and regulations. They also concentrate the talent resources. Although politics has counteractive effect on education, after all education cannot escape the influence of politics. For instance, a political center usually has a greater impact on education. In ancient times, rulers of many countries around the world took initiative to run schools or develop education in their capital cities out of personal interest. Likewise, nowadays, the regions or regional centers in the world that have more advanced education generally have a higher political status in their country.

5.1.2 Economic Development, Population and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education 1. Economic Development and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education The level of educational development is directly affected by the level of economic development. In other words, the material capital and supply capability converted from economic development directly affect the degree of educational development within the region. The level of economic development is a significant factor that impacts on the gap of regional education. It is particularly obvious that the overall expenditure on education directly determines the scale of the schools and the quality of teachers. Moreover, the allotment of educational expenditure is a weathervane of educational development. The economic impact on the level of education is reflected in the material capital converted from educational expenditure.

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(a) The Level of Economic Development and Its Restructuring Impact on the Evolution of the Functions of Education In the 1960s, American economists Schultz and Baker categorized capital into human capital and material capital in their illustration human capital theory. In their view, material capital refers to the capital based on the physical products, such as the factory buildings, machines, instruments, raw materials, land and other valuable bonds. In terms of the physical forms, material falls into three types: the management and investment in the machines, inventory and factories, investment in housing estates, and public investments in roads, airports and urban and rural infrastructure. These forms of capital share a common feature: when they are used, owing to wear, natural decay and damage, their efficiency and benefits are on the decrease. In development economics, the material capital of educational development is a general social capital that can enhance social welfare. Social capital is generally classified into fixed and circulating capital. The former refers to the materials that can last (usually over a year) and bear fruit, such as the buildings, teaching and living facilities, laboratory bases and libraries on campus. It has two features. First, it is the final structure of education investment (the formation of education investment), which, to a certain extent, represents the capacity of education supply. Second, it is durable (or stands wear and tear) and last over a school year (a year). Material capital plays significant roles in education activities and development, such as adding the opportunities, enlarging the scale, improving the conditions, increasing the investment, and improving the quality and benefits. It can also help to improve the working and living conditions, ease the working stress, substitute or save the burden of the teachers and boost the working initiative and efficiency. Material capital accelerates the expansion of the scale of education and optimizes its structure. It also pushes forward the development of education and social economy, motivates the social forces to increase investment in education and thus forms a favorable circle. The conversion of economic development into material capital is reflected in the increase of expenditure in education (mainly including the national fiscal educational expenditure, per student educational expenditure, per student public expenditure, etc.) and the increase of infrastructure (including the land area of the campus, the investment in buildings, etc.) and liquid funding. The level of economic development and the change of economic structure also have a direct effect on education. According to the international experiences, when the GDP per capita is between $1000 and $3000, the mode of economic growth has to change from element-driven or investment-driven to innovation-driven. As early as 2008, China’s GDP per capita had already exceeded $3000, but the shortage of resources and serious pollution have become a real bottleneck for sustainable development. Therefore, it has become an inevitable choice for the national and regional development to rely on science and technology, education, and innovative development model to transform the economic development models. To innovate the mode of educational development and proactively lead the overall development of the region is the core of the regional educational reform in the world. Viewed from the world’s history and reality of regional development, the formation of distinctive

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advantages in the world’s developed regions and the “leapfrog development” in the backward regions particularly needs to rely on the innovation-driven development model. The competitive advantages of the telecommunications industry in Sweden and Finland, the flower industry in Holland, and the software industry in Ireland and India, and the “leapfrog development” of Utah of the USA, Bangalore of India, and Wales of the United Kingdom in the information age all depend on the distinctive feature-driven or innovation-driven model of development. (b) The Competitiveness of Regional Education Affects the Regional Economic Development Among the gaps of regional comprehensive development, the disparity of educational development is the most significant one. To narrow the gap of educational development is the only solution to break the bottleneck of the regional economic discrepancy. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the imbalance of educational competitiveness of different regions is obvious. Take China as an example. There is a clear stepwise gap of educational competitiveness from the western to the middle and then to the eastern part of the country, which is consistent with the economic development of the three different regions. The more advanced the economy is, the more competitive the education is. The opposite is also true. The research conducted by Wu Yuming and others indicates that the provinces with higher scores in educational competitiveness all concentrate in the developed regions along the eastern coastal areas, whereas except Hainan province, which is in the southern coast area, all the ten provinces with lower scores in educational competitiveness are all in the western interior regions. The eastern region has a solid economic base, and in the advent of the age of knowledge economy, must continue to improve its regional education competitiveness and increase the contribution of education to economic development. However, the less developed western and middle interior regions, with its backward educational development, must seize the opportunity of the national strategies of the development of west China and the rise of central China to bolster up the development of education, and foster and improve educational competitiveness. (Wu Yuming and Li Jianxia 2002). The region with a more competitive education usually has a higher level of economic development. For instance, the GDP per capita in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in 2013 exceeded $10,000. The region with a less competitive education generally has a lower level of economic development. For instance, the GDP per capita in Guangxi, Tibet, Yunnan and Guizhou is lower than the national average. The educational competitiveness in these regions is weak and the economic development potential is generally constrained by the adverse natural and geographical conditions. Therefore, they are in a disadvantageous position in economic competition. The central government and local governments should take effective measures to support the educational development in these regions which exceeds its capacity to support the education of school-age population.

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2. Population and the Evolution of the Functions of Regional Education Population and education are the significant factors that impact on social development. They are the prerequisites of the survival and thriving of society. The ecological view argues that population migration, along with the influx of school-age population, adds burden to and upsets the balance of the local education and affects its healthy development. The size of population is a significant issue in demography. The theories of overpopulation, population explosion, and optimum population are all related to the size of population. Likewise, the size of school-age population is also the primary factor that influences regional education. Population is a social community composed of a certain number and quality of individuals at a given time in a given place and in a given social system. As a significant part of the social ecological base, population is the carrier of education. It is also the solution to and condition of the education development. They influence and constrain each other. (a) Population Affects the Scale and Quality of Regional Education At a given time, the size of educated population and the quality of their education, to a certain extent, is determined by the scale and speed of the development of regional education. The larger the scale and the higher the speed of regional education is, the larger the educated population and the longer their education is. Conversely, the smaller of educated population is, the higher proportion of illiteracy is. With the development of education in China, the quality of the educated population is increasing. Regional education is in steady progress. More and more school-age children enter schools of all types and the size of population who receives education is also increasing. Environmental capacity refers to the carrying capacity of the resources to provide a long-term, steady support for a size of population in a given place without undermining the ecosphere or exhausting the non-renewable resources that can be reasonably consumed. (Zhang Chewei 1994) Likewise, the educational environmental capacity refers to the carrying capacity of the educational resources to provide a long-term, steady support for a size of population in a given place without undermining the educational ecosphere or exhausting the non-renewable educational resources that can be reasonably consumed. In fact, the environmental capacity of regional education means the natural limit of the size of population that the educational system of a region can hold. The exceeding of the carrying capacity will inevitably undermine the educational ecosystem, tip the balance of the educational ecology and deteriorate the educational environment. The size of population has a direct impact on the scale of education. It affects the needs of society and constrains the overall scale of education and the density of the school distribution. It is in proportion to the scale of regional education. Regarding the impact of the size of school-age population on education, Tian Jiasheng argues that the declining natural birthrate results in the slower population growth, which in turn reduces the investment in population and increases the investment in economy. The rapid economic development provides more resources to the educational development, and the average resources enjoyed by each individual will naturally rise. Conversely, the rising natural birthrate results in the faster population growth, which

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in turn, increases the investment needed to meet the people’s living standards and reduces the investment in economy. Therefore, the resources needed to develop human intellect will decrease and the average resources enjoyed by each individual will natural decline. (Tian Jiasheng 2000) The impact of the birthrate on the regional educational structure is twofold. One is on the school system, and the other is on the school’s internal structure. Under the conditions of a larger population with a lower level of educational development, the promotion of a rapid development of education requires a plural not a singular school system. Since population increase is progressing on a uniform scale not on a waving scale, the repetition of the crest and trough of population increase will have a significant impact on the school system and its internal structure. Therefore, no matter whether it is the nation or the region, when making plans for the scale of the educational development, they must take into account the population factor and make a thorough investigation of the current situation and the future trend of population size. The higher the birth rate, the larger the school-age population and the larger the scale of ordinary education. In contrast, the lower the birth rate, the smaller the school-age population and the smaller the scale of ordinary education. In human society, the change of the population growth rate falls into three categories: (a) the low population growth due to the high birthrate and the high death rate, (b) the high population growth due to the high birthrate and the low death rate, and (c) the low population growth due to the low birthrate and the low death rate. The growth rate in ancient times belongs to the first category. The capitalist countries since the nineteenth century and the majority of the developing countries since the 1950s began to move toward the second category. Nowadays, the industrialized countries have moved to the third category. Take the industrialized countries for example. The decrease of the school-age population leads to the decrease of the student population at school. Some schools have to close because there are too few students. From 1970/1971 to 1985/1986 school year, the average number of the students in the British primary schools declined from 1917 to 174. In the meantime, the number of primary schools decreased from 29,504 to 24,756 (Shi Renbing 2005). The impact of the student population on education is the primary research subject of education demography. It is also a significant part of the relationship between the population and regional education. Meanwhile, the population factor is also the direct factor for the birth of the population theory in the recent past. The birth of the real modern demographic theory was marked by Thomas Malthus’s book An Essay on the Principle of Population published in 1798. The “Malthusian trap” or “population trap” is a theory that studies the relationship between population size and social development. To put it simply, the population trap is a condition whereby the income growth lags behind the population growth. The demand pressure brought about by the rapid increase of population and “the denominator effect” leads to the phenomenon that average income lingers on a low level for a long time as if falling into a trap that it is difficult to escape (Wu qiao Cangping 2006). The population explosion will have serious consequences on the quality of education. The first is the decrease of the educational expenditure and the quality of teachers. The exponential population growth has brought about many adverse effects.

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This is particularly true in China. Other developing countries also have the same problem. According to the statistics published in 2013, about 70% of the world population live in the developing countries. 22% of the young population under age 15 live in the industrialized countries and 78% live in the developing world. However, the total expenditure on education in the developed world is over ten times than that in the developing world. In the 1968/1969 school year, the enrollment rate of schoolage population in the developed countries accounts for half of the world’s total. In the developing world, the number of children, adolescents and youth is three times as large as that in the developed world. However, the number of young people enrolled in schools is less than half of the world’s school-enrollment population. The number of illiterate children in the Asia-Pacific region alone accounts for 90% of the world’s total. This phenomenon remains essentially unchanged now. Just as the document published at the World Population Conference in 1974 points out, “Looking into the future, whether many countries have the financial resources to develop their educational institutions seems to be determined by whether they are able to restrain the population growth rate, which has now gone far beyond the basis of their education plans” (Tapino et al. 1982). (b) The Development of Regional Education Affects the Size and Structure of the Population Under certain conditions, the increase of economic income will somehow restrain the growth of birthrate, for many well-off and well-educated people tend to have fewer children. Many research findings indicate that the educational level of the population in a region will inevitably affect the size and structure of the population. The better educated the population is, the more advanced the economy is and the lower the birthrate becomes. In other words, the better educated population and the more advanced economy will automatically generate and sustain the low birth rate. This is particularly true for the well-educated women who tend to have fewer or no children. In some regions of China where the economy is more advanced and the level of education is higher, such as Huangpu District in Shanghai, the population growth rate of the permanent residents is zero or below zero. In contrast, in the regions where the level of education is relatively low, the natural population growth rate is relatively high. Therefore, improving the level of education, particularly women’s education, is an effective way of controlling the size and bolstering the quality of population. The level of education of the population restrains the birthrate and the death rate. The death rate among the well-educated population is relatively low and the death rate among the poorly educated population is relatively high. The welleducated people will inevitably have a higher income and therefore a higher living standard. These people have a better understanding of the inevitability of life. They pay close attention to their physical and mental health and therefore tend to live a healthy and longer life. The structure of regional education determines the educational structure of the population. A reasonable educational structure is in a spindle shape. (It means the number of those with primary education is smaller, the number of those with

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secondary education is relatively larger, and the number of those with higher education is smaller than that of those with secondary education but larger than that of those with primary education, and thus, they form a spindle shape. The countries or regions with a higher level of education tend to form a spindle shape while those with a lower level of education tends to form the shape of regular triangle.) People of all levels of education are needed in the social development, and the structure of regional education determines the educational structure of the population. Although education cannot directly provide material products, it can cultivate “brain resources.” Therefore, it is imperative and highly valuable to pass the scientific knowledge; particularly, the modern scientific knowledge humanity has accumulated for a long time to the later generations and helps them build up creativity. Education is the activity of fostering talents. It is closely connected with population. Therefore, we need to have a clear understanding of the mechanisms and principles of their internal interaction. As a community, population is the total sum of the people in a given space. It is in a constant change. The education targeted at different spaces constitutes regional education. Therefore, population is closely connected with regional education. The planning and development of regional education should take into serious account the reality of the size of population. Those who receive education are people with creative thinking. Their mere existence is the prerequisite for the implementation of education and is also the basic factor that affects the educational development. In the second half of the twentieth century, to guide the decision-making and make the best of educational resources, many developing and some developed countries made the national educational development plans that most suited them, including regional educational development plans. They also set such educational development goals as the enrollment rate of school-age population and the teacher–student ratio for the primary, secondary and high education of their own countries. In recent years, people notice that they failed to achieve most of these goals mainly because they underestimated the population growth rate and their development goals were not practical. They added teaching staff and built schools on the basis of impractical development goals. As a result, they failed many of those who were badly in need of and eager for education, including many schoolage children. Many children were excluded from education or were forced to receive education that is not up to the standard. Regional education is closely related to the level of economic development, folk customs and geographical environment. The level of economic development determines the funding, facilities and technologies needed to bolster up education. Culture has a significant impact on the ideas and pathways of educational development. The level of social development restrains the management systems, policies, plans, laws and regulations of education and determines whether the government will take measures to intervene or conduct macro-regulation of regional educational development. Education differs from region to region around the world in terms of the basis and current situation. The rapid development of regional economy greatly boosts the development of regional education. However, owing to the constraints of politics, economy, culture, population, natural resources and policy environment of the region, the bases and conditions of regional education are quite different. Particularly, the

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gap of economic development escalates the imbalance of educational development. The resources are inadequate, the allocations are unbalanced and the process of allotment is improper. These are the main factors that contribute to the loss of balance in the regional educational development. Therefore, to push forward regional education and achieve sustainable development, we must take into account the external factors in regional development. Only in this way, can we avoid the trap of “the great leap forward by ignoring the reality conditions or lagging behind for being too cautious.”

5.1.3 The Current Situation of Regional Education Reform and the Formation of the Principal Function Areas 1. The Spatial Development Planning and the Formation of the Principal Function Areas The essence of regional development is the integral planning and three-dimensional development on the spatial plane. Nowadays, with the rapid economic development, all the countries, particularly those that enter the innovation-driven stage, pay close attention to the “elaborate” design and strategic planning of the reform on the spatial level and the innovation of regional development functions. In the Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan (2011–2015), the Chinese government puts forward the concept and experimental model of “the principal function areas” and proposes brining into full play the strategic, fundamental and binding role of the national principal function areas in the land and space development of the whole country. The document says that according to the requirement of building the principal function areas, the government strives to perfect the regional planning, coordinate and integrate the planning of special projects, key projects and principal function areas, advance the urban (city) and rural (county) space planning, carry out the regional functional positioning and clarify the layout of function areas. The document also requires the government to study and draw up the obligatory targets of development density and environmental capacity for various principal function areas, and implement the plans in a timely manner. It is also supposed to improve the dynamic monitoring and management system of the land and space resources of the whole country, coordinate closely and update information in a timely manner and carry out the tracking evaluation of the principal function areas. Optimizing the layout of the land and space development is the top priority in the development of the principal function areas. Other priorities include making an overall planning of the distribution of population, economy, land use and urbanization, guiding people to gather in the areas that are most suitable for living, protecting agriculture and ecological development space and facilitating the harmony between people, economic development and natural environment (Table 5.1). In fact, the practice of spatial development strategy or planning is very common in the world. Many countries have accumulated very successful experiences. For instance, Germany, Holland, Japan and other countries and regions have a long

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Table 5.1 The development directions of the major function areas Urbanization areas Optimize the urbanization areas: foster the regional innovation centers with their hallmarks and advantages; speed up the building of a group of core technologies and renowned brands with their own intellectual property rights; promote the transformation of the structure of industries to the high end, great efficiency and high-added value; optimize the urban and rural development layout; control the increase of the land use for urban construction; protect and recover the land use for agriculture and ecological conservation; and improve the region’s ecosystem Prioritize the development of urbanized areas: strengthen the building of infrastructure such as transport, energy etc.; optimize the key manufacturing projects; give priority to the programs relying on energy and mineral resources to develop in the key development areas of the middle and western part of China; coordinate the layout of the industrial and urban development, adequately expand the scale of land use for building on the basis of protecting agriculture and the space of ecological development; and facilitate the synchronous accumulation of economy and population Agricultural products producing areas Reinforce the protection of arable land; stabilize the production of grain, cotton, oil-bearing plants, vegetables and other major agricultural products; gather all types of resources to develop modern agriculture; enlarge the scale of agriculture, develop agri-business and in-depth processing of agricultural products and the comprehensive utilization of the by-products; strengthen the infrastructure building and public services in the rural areas; advance the building of towns and non-agricultural development with the focus on the counties Key ecological function areas For the key ecological function areas that are restricted to develop, the government should increase the investment in ecological conservation and recovery, bolster up water and soil conservation, sand consolidation, and biodiversity conservation; give priority to launching the key national conservation and recovery projects in the ecological function areas in China’s western region The development of the key ecological function areas is forbidden. We should conduct obligatory legal protection of these areas and strictly control the interference of human factor with the original conditions and integrality of the natural and cultural ecology. The development activities incompatible with the positioning of the function areas should be forbidden. We should also sort out the outdated regulations, increase investment and improve the management system and policies

history of spatial development planning. In Germany, the law for spatial development can be traced back to The Saxon Building Law in 1990. The European Union put forth its first European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) in 1999. These countries and regions have a lot in common in the main actors, the bases, methods and implementation of the spatial development planning. The first three top priorities of the Dutch national planning primarily focused on promoting economic growth and easing population and employment pressures, including port enlargement, industrial development, the building of modern residential areas, national road systems, the redistribution of agricultural land, etc. After the 1970s, the spatial planning of Holland focused more on addressing the problems of spatial and environmental degradation and Holland successfully built the metropolitan areas, Green Heartland, green buffer zone between cities, development centers of cities, etc. The issuing of the fourth spatial planning and its supplementary documents is the turning point of the Dutch

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spatial development policy. Since then, the goals of the Dutch spatial planning are twofold: One is to speed up economic growth, and the other is to get rid of the negative effect of economic growth, i.e., striving to strike a balance between the economic growth and the spatial and environmental quality. The promotion of the principal function areas is not a strict layout of the national land resources. Strictly speaking, it starts with the development of the educational function areas. In the agricultural and industrial times, a city was built in the area where resources existed. When the resources became exhausted, the city would die out. However, this is not the right way to examine the layout of a city. We need to look at the issue from a fresh perspective. Besides the traditional model of energy and resource development, we need to take into account another significant issue. That is, the major force to drive modern economy is undergoing a significant change, and technology, skills and innovation increasingly become the driving forces of economic development. We used to believe that development would not be possible without the energy or resources. But this is not the case at present. The economic transformation relies not only on industrialization but also on massive urbanization and the mastery of knowledge. From a global perspective, when making plans, we need to look beyond the traditional approach of relying on resource to promote development and increase the investment in education. Nowadays, China’s GDP is increasing rapidly. However, the foreign reserve China spent in buying the chip is even higher than that spent in buying minerals and crude oil. That means China is now entering into an innovationdriven era. China must increase its investment in education, reserve knowledge and technologies, transform the original development structure in the planning process of the principal function areas and correspondingly change the basic approach to the reform and development of regional education. 2. The Regional Educational Reforms and the Birth of the Principal Function Areas Regional reform is not simply a process of empowerment. The essence of promoting comprehensive reform of regional education is to establish a practical mechanism of the principal function areas to boost educational development. The formation of the principal function areas through experimentation and the development of educational resources to the maximal extent are the primary orientations of the regional educational reforms in the world. The US Regional Education Laboratories, the European Higher Education Areas, India’s Educational Human Resources Centers and China’s Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental Areas are all the good examples of the international practice of comprehensive reform of regional education. (a) The World’s Regional Educational Reform and the Formation of the Principal Function Areas of Education In the USA, the laboratory system of regional education reform and the regional education service centers are the basic reform mechanisms of the administrative areas designated by the federal department of education and each state on the federal

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and state levels. This experimental mechanism provides teaching and research assistance programs and teaching services for the primary and secondary schools in the region. The education service centers on the state level have a history of about 100 years. Nowadays, the USA has over ten education laboratories affiliated to the federal department of education. In the meantime, there also exist over 600 regional education service centers in over 40 states. After the financial crisis of 2008, the USA immediately increased the educational investment, and President Obama proposed the “100,000 Strong Program” and planned to send 100,000 American students to study in China. The USA viewed this program as a strategic investment to cultivate high-level talents with international competitiveness. The resources used to be a significant engine and symbol of regional education, but talents, knowledge and information become the new engines and symbols in pushing forward today’s innovation-driven development. In European Union, the European Higher Education Areas are the most significant achievements of Europe’s Bologna Process in the past ten years and a significant reform in the world’s higher education. After the Second World War, traditional powers like Britain, France and Germany alone cannot compete with the USA in terms of the hard power. They are also faced with the challenges from the rising powers such as China and India. They have to rely on the united strength through integration to defend their own interests and exhibit Europe’s position in the world. The European Union is striving to persuade more people within Europe to accept their common identity (or European Identity). Meanwhile, the European Union tries hard to get the international community to identify Europe as one voice (or European Identification). From March in 11–12, 2010, the Bologna annual higher education ministerial meeting and the Second Bologna Policy Forum were, respectively, held in Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria. At the meetings, the education ministers of 47 European countries participating in the Bologna Process adopted the Budapest– Vienna Declaration and officially launched the European Higher Education Area. According to the latest independent evaluation report of the Bologna Process and the reports of the relevant stakeholders, the higher education institutions, faculty members and students in many European countries increasingly acknowledge the great progress of the Bologna Process in achieving the reform goals of European higher education. In other words, the launch of the European Higher Education Area symbolized a new significant historical era of the Bologna Process. Europe is expected to continue to explore educational reform along this road. The Bologna Process will surely strengthen the international competitiveness of the European higher education and have a significant impact on the global higher education. In the field of education within Europe, the European Union is actively pushing forward the Bologna Process, advocating establishing the Knowledgeable Europe, emphasizing the cultural trend of Europe, advancing the integration of European higher education, sharing the resources within Europe and addressing the challenges of globalization by promoting international cooperation of higher education. Outside Europe, the European Union strives to enhance the popularity of European educational systems and higher education institutions and their attractiveness to international students

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and scholars. The EU also endeavors to promote the Erasmus Program, the AsiaLink Program and other programs to increase EU’s influence in the world, spread the values and practice of the Bologna Process to the whole world, construct an effective European identity, establish the positive image of European culture and civilization, and enlarge EU’s soft power. In India, a unified educational policy or reform mechanism is not applicable to either economically more developed regions or backward regions. Therefore, it is imperative to boost a substantial development of regional education. Based on the real conditions of different regions, India set up the Regional Education Human Resources Centers. The institutions intend to provide assistance and guidance to the school teachers. The National Education Program of India calls for implementing the curriculum reform empowerment program on the regional level. The implementation of this empowerment program will provide different information to different regional levels and ensure the formation of excellent function mechanisms at all levels. (b) China’s Regional Educational Reforms and the Birth of the Principal Educational Function Areas Since the reform and opening up and with the deepening of the economic system reform, the reform of the economic system alone is obviously not sufficient to adapt to the rapid changing realities in China. Therefore, the promotion of the comprehensive reforms of economy, society and politics has become the core task of China’s reform. It is also the key to constructing the harmonious socialist society, which certainly includes the comprehensive reform of education. As early as May 1989, the Ministry of Education set up the national comprehensive experimental areas to promote the rural educational reform (the national comprehensive rural educational reform experimental areas) in over 100 counties, with the name the “Prairie Project.” The launch of this project started a new form of cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the provincial education departments. In the twenty-first century, people’s understanding of the national comprehensive reform “experimentation” has gradually improved and the cooperative model between the central government and the regional governments has come into being. In the meantime, in order to strengthen the professionalization of the comprehensive reform models, the experimental model between the scientific research institutes and the regional governments also began to emerge. On May 16, 2008, the National Institute of Education Sciences signed the contract with the district government of Xiacheng of Hangzhou City to build China’s first comprehensive educational reform experimental area. This program started the experiment and exploration of the comprehensive reform model based on the educational function areas (Liu Guihua et al. 2009). Globalization has a tremendous impact on the domestic and international spatial planning. Globalization will not eliminate the differences between different regions. On the contrary, owing to the spatial agglomeration, the role of the regions is increasingly important. Globalization has a significant impact on the spatial planning within the territory of the national sovereignty and facilitates the transnational spatial planning. The most typical example is the EU’s spatial development strategy, which is designed to seek the balanced and sustainable development within the territory of

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the European Union. Nowadays, all the countries pay close attention to the regional innovation capacity and competitiveness. The goal of the spatial planning is a transformational process from facilitating economic growth and employment to more comprehensive and strategic objectives such as bolstering up economic growth, expanding the employment, preserving the environment, scattering the population, balancing regional development, protecting cultural diversity, bolstering up sustainable development, etc. The spatial planning is a typical public policy participated by multiple actors such as the government, professional institutions and individuals, and the public. The process of the spatial planning requires not only the participation of the government institutions and the professional individuals but also the representatives of the city residents and the public. The footing of the spatial planning is in the regions. In the meantime, the spatial planning must be compatible with the other regional policies, such as financial, environmental protection, educational and cultural policies. The homogeneity of the politics, economy, culture and education of the region determines that in recent years whether the macro-educational planning in China or in the world, or the specific educational policy-making, all chose to start educational reform on the regional plane.

5.2 Regional “Niche”: The Final Distribution Areas of Educational Reform 5.2.1 What Is Ecological Niche? Ecological niche is a significant concept in ecology (Fig. 5.1). In the natural world, every species can survive only in the particular ecological environment. Ecological Fig. 5.1 Ecological niche

humidity

temperature nutriƟon

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environment is relative to a certain species. The significant idiosyncrasy of the environment is its integrity and diversity. All the elements in a particular regional environment exchange matter, energy and information among them. Therefore, the environment varies from region to region. A certain species’ utilization of the resources in the environment of ecological community is called ecological niche. The concept of ecological niche derives from the ecological theory. Using ecological niche as a method or research tool to examine the conditions, transformation and development from an ecological perspective is one of the examples of putting the educational ecological theory into the educational practice. Seen from the social ecological perspective, the social system and the natural world have the homogeneous ecological features. Therefore, education, like natural and social system, is possessed with shared ecological principles. The ecological concept can be used in the educational research. “The ecological thought pattern per se is closer to the education” and this “suitability” (Liu Guihua 2007) makes it highly proper to apply the ecological niche theory to the study of the environmental issues in the educational system. The ecological features of the educational system vividly illustrate the “noumenon” state. In this context, the word “noumenon” is not entirely in the ontological sense. It is the “noumenon” that develops from the interaction between the species and its surrounding environment. A simple ecological niche is a three-dimensional, stereoscopic structure or space comprised of three elements, temperature, humidity and nutrition. It is a particular time location, spatial location and function location when a species is connected with other species. In an ecological system, the species with blood kinship or similar living idiosyncrasies have their own living space. They will not appear in the same place. The ecological niche, also called micro-habitat, is a collection of specific environmental conditions of the habitat of a certain species and its living idiosyncrasies. Every species has its own specific ecological niche, which distinguishes them from other species. The ecological niche theory reveals the basic features of the living environment and their ecological development, i.e., the environmental particularities, dynamic development particularities and their interconnectivity. The essence of education is human development. Therefore, the ecological environment of education and its development mechanism naturally possess special biological nature. It is inevitable that scholars come up with the propositions of the ecological mechanism of educational environment and the theory of educational ecology. “The study of educational ecology purports to reveal the state of educational environment, its development patterns and ecological mechanisms and explore the approaches to optimizing the ecological environment of education. All these ends are to be achieved through the analysis of the complex, dynamic relationship between all types of educational ecological environments and the educational development.” (Fan Guorui 1999) From the perspective of educational ecology, education itself is an ecological environment system. In other words, it is more accurate to describe educational development mechanism as an ecological niche.

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5.2.2 The Proposition of the “Genetic Transformation” of Education Has a Solid Base Nowadays, in the circles of educational theoretical discourse and practice, the proposition of “genetic transformation” is very popular. The popularity of this view, on the one hand, derives from the impact of biological technology and other new technological transformation on education. One the other hand, it also reveals the public’s expectation of the thorough transformation of traditional school education. If we consider educational reform from the perspective of the ecological niche, the “genetic” proposition will be much more substantial and will not become an empty slogan. Educational ecological niche is comprised of the distribution of educational resources, the competition in the field, population and labor, educational development, the ecological system within education, etc. Education is a complex ecological system composed of different levels, various types and different development stages of educational forms. They are dynamically connected and intricately matched. Every level, every type and every development stage of education has its own related ecological niche. Just as stated above, the educational system and its operation has the basic ecological mechanism. The issue of education should highlight the peculiarity of the environment, the dynamic development and their inter-connected ecological niche. J. Grinnell defined ecological niche in 1917 “as the location of the species in the community and the role they play.” (Shang Yuchang 2003) This definition sparked the research on ecological niche in the academic circle. In Grinnell’s view, ecology is a behavioral unit, and “the last distributed unit inhabited by a certain species or lesser species.” The structure and conditions of the habitat enable the species to survive and thrive. If the ecological niche is “the last unit” to allow the species to maintain their survival, then “the last unit” of those who receive education should be the basic environment and resources adjacent to them, such as the regional services that their families, communities and neighboring educational institutions can provide. Although the scope of the region can be large or small, the region defined by ecological niche refers only to the distributed unit of the last educational environment and resources occupied by those who are educated in the process of receiving education. Therefore, educational reform should start from “the last distributed region,” and involve all the educational environments and resources in the process. This transformation is the fundamental “genetic transformation” in the process of educational development. According to the view of educational ecology, the construction of the ecological niche relationship between the main actors of education (teachers and students) and the educational environments is the focal point of educational development. Therefore, the coordination, balance and harmonious development between the actors and the educational environment is the principal value orientation of regional educational development. According to the theory of educational development, the ecological orientation and ecological needs of the main actors, the ecological opportunities of the growth and the quality guarantee of the main actors of education become the

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basic values and ideals to achieve the high-level, balanced development of regional education. Since the reform and opening up, China’s long-term approach to addressing the issues of efficiency and equality is to give priority to efficiency and guarantee fairness at the same time. The design of educational policy and system follows the same approach. This inevitably leads to the unbalanced development of the public educational system, particularly the core of public education, which is compulsory education. The balanced development of the pubic educational system lacks in policy and system support. At one time, the over-marketization, over-industrialization and overcommercialization of public education led to the loss of balance between resources and structure and non-ecological development. The imbalance is particularly severe between the urban and rural areas, between different regions and between different schools. The balanced development of public educational resources and structure is the basis of the regional economic development and social progress. It is also the guarantee of regional fairness and harmony. Nowadays, people’s need for education has increased from the pursuit of equality to the pursuit of quality. Compulsory education should enter into a new era of balanced development characterized by the improvement of quality. The task of a new round of educational development will surely be to meet the new demands of education through the improvement of quality and win more support and understanding of the public through improving people’s favorability of education. To achieve the goal of improving educational quality, we must start from the ecological reality of education, from the last distributed unit, promote overall planning and scientific development and give full play to the incentive role of a variety of theories based on educational practice. We must achieve significant breakthroughs in education governance, curriculum reform, the professionalization of teachers and educational modernization and finally accomplish the “genetic transformation” of education and comprehensive, high-quality and balanced development.

5.3 On Reform Methods: Environmental Measurement and the Choices of Key Indicators To launch and promote regional comprehensive reform, we need to establish a relatively scientific, reliable indicator system, a set of methodological system compatible with reform ideas, and finally the key links and fields through scientific planning and evaluation and targeted efforts

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5.3.1 Measurements: Reform Environment and Carrying Capacity Measurement 1. What is Reform Environment Measurement? According to modern ecology, the ecological niche or environment can be scientifically measured and calculated. The basic contents or key indicators include: (a) the degree to which the species develop and utilize the resources (the width of the ecological niche, such as the educational resources, etc.); (b) on a resource sequence, how the two species utilize the same level of resources and overlap (the overlap of the ecological niches, such as the development potential and capability of the actors involved, such as the region, or the schools); (c) the degree of separation to which the species utilize the resource sequence (the separation of the ecological niches, such as the balance of inter-school or inter-region development); (d) the evidences of the ecological separation resulting from competition (the shifts of the features and conditions, such as the gap between different regions or different schools); and (e) the ecological carrying capacity (the carrying capacity of regional education, such as the educational quality of the region, or the schools). From all these indicators, we learn that the educational reform environmental measurement is mainly used to evaluate the basic conditions of the development and utilization of all kinds of resources (ecological factors). The reform of any region should start with a clear understanding of the basic conditions of the reform, the basic conditions of all the resource factors and most important of all, the ecological carry capacity (Table 5.2). A scientific and reasonable reform environmental measurement needs to be based on an extensive investigation to construct a set of indicator system consistent with Table 5.2 The key indicator system of the environmental measurements of comprehensive reform of regional education Ecological indicators

Corresponding educational indicators

Measuring items

The width of the ecological niche

Educational resources and fairness

Political, economic and population indicators

The overlap of the ecological niche

The development potential of the region and the schools

Development indicators

The separation of the ecological niche

The balance of development between the regions and the schools

Balance indicators

The substitution of the feature and state

The difference of development between the regions and the schools

The gap index of education between different schools

The ecological carrying capacity

The quality of education between the regions and the schools

The rate of overflow, favorability, fairness, etc.

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the reality of the regional development. The system should have descriptive, interpretative and evaluative functions (to help the decision-makers and the public to learn about the progress of regional education), measurement function (to measure the level of reform and development by using a certain approach based on the indicator system) and guiding function (to find out the problems in the reform system and offer the basis for the planning and development of regional education). Therefore, we should observe the following basic principles when constructing the whole indicator system of environmental measurement. (a) The Scientific Principle The measurement indicator system must be built on the scientific principle and able to objectively and genuinely reflect the development of the complex educational, economical and social ecological system (or the complex ecological system comprised of the educational, economical, and social factors) and cover all the levels of regional social ecological system. It should also be in a better position to measure how well the major objectives of regional education are achieved. (b) The Operational Principle Comprehensive reform of regional education is a complex systematic project and requires the participation of the public. Therefore, the clear indicators should be clear-cut and easy to be accepted by the public. The indicators should have reliable resources and allow the decision-makers and researchers to have easy access to these resources. (c) The Comparable Principle The measurement indicators can be used to make horizontal comparison between different regions and the vertical comparison between different periods of time and different schools of the same region so as to find out the development gap between different regions and the progress gap of the reform within the same region. The evaluation methods of the ecological carrying capacity are illustrated in the previous chapters and will not be elaborated here. 2. The Reasonable Ecological Carrying Capacity of Regional Education Regional education system can be viewed as an ecological system. Just as the natural ecological system, it also has the relevant carrying capacity. The development of regional education is finite. It is also restricted by the supply capacity of the educational resources of the regional educational system (investment, faculty, facilities, the quality of students, the academic atmosphere, etc.) and the development environment of regional education (politics, economy, culture, the demand for higher education, etc.). Once the scale of regional education surpasses the carrying capacity of the educational resources, just like the natural ecological system, its resource supply and recovery power will be broken and then the whole system will lose the balance and its cultivating quality is difficult to sustain. Likewise, if the scale of regional education lacks the external pressure that relevant financial investment,

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policy support and cultural development need, it is difficult to achieve the sustainable development of regional education and its quality standard is also affected. In other words, to maintain a certain quality standard and scale of development, we must have corresponding educational resources and the school-running environment to support the educational development. This is the ecological carrying capacity to maintain the balance of the regional education system. As the actors and the objectives of environmental measurement, the indicator of “the ecological carrying capacity of regional education” is the reflection of a selfcontained, self-sustaining and self-adjusting capability of reforming the ecological system. It is also the feature of the “holding” capacity of the resources and environment, the resilience of sustaining the economic and social activity and the size of population with a certain level of living standard. In the reform environment measurement, the ecological carrying capacity is the most significant guiding indicator. For a certain region, the ecological carrying capacity emphasizes the carrying function of the system and highlights the carrying capacity of human activity, including the resource subsystem, environment subsystem and social subsystem. The elements of the ecological carrying capacity contain the resource element, environment element and social element. Therefore, the concept of the ecological carrying capacity is a particular ecological system at a given time and in a given place. It is the capacity of the sustainable carrying power of the population, economic strength and social totality under the conditions of guaranteeing the reasonable exploitation of the resources and the positive cycle of ecological environment. The ecological system has a self-sustaining and self-adjusting capacity and remains balanced without the interference of external power and human factor. Its change occurs within the scope of self-adjustment. This is called a stable state in ecology. If the system is disturbed, and when the disturbance goes beyond the selfadjusting capability or beyond the carrying capacity, the balance of the system will be upset and the system will begin to collapse. In the natural ecological system and at all levels of the living things, there are stable mechanisms and finally they will reach the balance. In the huge ecological system, the interaction between material cycles and energy flows establishes a self-correcting homeostasis and does not need to be controlled by the external forces. But the homeostasis of the ecological system is finite. When the carrying capacity of the ecological system exceeds the homeostasis, the system will change from one homeostasis to another homeostasis. But the change of the homeostasis is gradual. The famous ecologist Eugene Odum views this change as a series of steps, or “steps of homeostatic mechanism.” (Gao Jixi 2000) If we want to prevent the ecological system from undergoing dramatic changes or from exceeding the fluctuating range, the pressure must be controlled within the scope where the ecological system can sustain and adjust itself. Otherwise, the system will decline or perish. Therefore, faced with the sustainable development, all the human activities must be limited within the resilient scope of the ecological system. In other words, human activities should not exceed the carrying capacity of the ecological system (He Zubin 2004). The carrying capacity of the regional ecology does not simply refer to the carrying capacity of the size of the students in the region. It should consider a more extensive

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range. In some sense, there might be a large student population in a region; there is a high degree of elasticity (flexibility or resilience). For instance, if it is teaching in a small class, a classroom can hold 30 students. If it is not teaching in a small class, it is all right for the class to hold 60 students. If there is no strict regulation for the number of students in a classroom, as long as the classroom is big enough to hold as many desks and chairs as possible, it can hold the same number of students. In the context of the fixed educational resources, the number of the students in a classroom is largely elastic. But it is also worth noting that when the number of students held in a classroom is increasing, the educational resources for each student will relatively decrease. When the resources are reduced to a certain level, it will affect the healthy growth and learning effectiveness of the students. The carrying capacity of education, particularly that of regional education, should ensure the healthy growth of the students. Therefore, the carrying capacity of regional education is defined as “the carrying capacity of the largest number of students in a given condition and scope of educational resources with the prerequisites of ensuring the healthy growth and overall development of the students.” Once the scale of education exceeds the carrying capacity of a certain amount of educational resources and corresponding environment, its resource supply and recovery capacity will be destroyed and the whole system will lose its balance. The ecological capacity of the regional education is a significant condition that affects or even constrains the speed and scale of educational development. A thorough research on this subject will help us to have a better understanding of the inner relationship between the scale and the corresponding conditions of school running. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the ecological carrying capacity of regional education. Reform environment measurement is an effective method to evaluate and oversee the factors of the regional educational ecology and their suitable carrying capacity, accurately diagnose the ecological niches of the actors involved in education at different stages, adjust the development stages or plans based on the targeted needs and ensure the healthy operation of the ecological system of regional education.

5.3.2 The Selection and Practice Patterns of the Key Elements in Comprehensive Reforms 1. The Basic Principles of the Selection the Key Elements in Comprehensive Reform According to the reform environmental measurement and the outcome of its evaluation on regional education carrying capacity, scientifically selecting the key reform elements and links that most suit the development realities of the region is the first step in the success of the educational reform in a particular region. The selection of the key elements is the basis for the progress of reform. It is also the basis for the framework construction of regional reform.

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(a) Objectivity The ecological carrying capacity of regional education is an objective existence. Under the restriction of a certain economic and cultural development of a society, whether it is the self-adjusting function or the elastic limitation, or the supply capacity of regional educational resources or the holding capacity of the environment, these factors or resources are finite and largely adaptable to the specific social, economic and cultural environment. The ecological carrying capacity of regional education is an objective existence. It is also relatively stable. The objective existence of the carrying capacity is the fixed feature of the regional educational system. On the one hand, this fixity provides necessary conditions for the regional educational system to resist external disturbance. One the other hand, it also lays a solid foundation for the further development of the system. (b) Changeability The carrying capacity of the regional educational ecology is changeable. In the natural world, there is no absolute stable ecological system. The balance of all the natural systems is stable in relative terms, i.e., the natural fluctuation within a certain scope. If this kind of deviation is too much or exceeding a certain degree, its balance will be broken and the whole system will undergo qualitative change. So it is with the regional educational system. If the intensity on the system exceeds its self-adjusting capacity, the system will turn into another state. The possibility of this change is twofold: one is entering into a higher level of state. For instance, although the expansion of college enrollment after 1998 broke the original balance, it boosted the massification of China’s regional higher education in advance. The other possibility is the collapse of the whole system. For instance, the education during the Cultural Revolution was a blank. To sum up, the stability of regional educational system is in relative terms and its carrying capacity is changeable. (c) Multi-dimensionality The carrying capacity of regional education is multi-dimensional, i.e., multi-leveled and multilayered. The carrying capacity of regional education and the reform of regional education are reflected in the multi-dimensionality. The regional educational reform is a multi-dimensional system. Its multi-dimensionality is not only reflected in all the units within the ecological system, but also in different levels and types of regional education, and different academic layers of regional education such as two-or-three-year college education, four-year undergraduate education and graduate education. The carrying capacity of regional education differs from level to level. On different levels, the ecological carrying capacity is also different. Therefore, we should not only pay close attention to the ecological carrying capacity at the lower level, but also to that at the higher level. Just as Eugene Odum points out, if we need stability, we must pay close heed to the management and planning of the higher level of the ecological carrying capacity. Therefore, the research on the carrying capacity of regional educational ecology should focus on the higher level or a more extensive scope.

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2. The Selection and Practice Patterns of the Natural Endowments of the Key Elements The natural elements refer to the state of all types of elements in a given place and at a given time. (Wang Jianting 2007) Every reform or experiment relies on a certain spatial scope, whether it is abstract or virtual or tangible or real. According to the spatial features of the educational development and activities, the key elements and reform practices of comprehensive reform of regional education are generally comprised of the following elements: the top design, the objective orientation, the principle mechanisms and the elements connectivity. (Some elements listed below are abstract, or virtual, such as top design, objective orientation, and principle, regulation and mechanism, or the factors, types and models, etc. Some elements are more tangible or real, such as the natural resources, cultural traditions, or educational thoughts or educational systems. The natural endowments of all these elements or their successful performance all occur in a given regional scope.) (a) Top Design Education is a grand closely knit project. Regional education is a subsystem within the grand educational system. It has its own special regularity. Regional educational reform also has its own special regularity. Only by following this regularity, can the reform achieve its ideal developmental objectives. Regional education per se has the general features of national education. In the meantime, it also has very distinctive regional characteristics. Regional educational reform must, from the strategic perspective, find the development thought system that best suits the conditions of the locality, make an overall consideration of the relationship between all types of elements within and outside the region and then achieve the goal of enhancing the balanced and harmonious development of regional education. (b) Objective Orientation The holistic and balanced development of regional education must be built on the basis of the holistic and balanced social and economic development of the whole region and pushed forward on the basis of the realistic social and economic development of the region. The development of the locality is the means and the development of the whole region is the end. Therefore, the essential feature of comprehensive reform of regional education is to start from the holistic features of the region, search for the problems that affect the development of the whole region, and find out the novel ideas, strategies and methods of enhancing regional education. Reform should get rid of the simple, narrow-minded, single-oriented, locality-ratherthan-integrity-focused, research-dominated or government-dominated thought of action. (c) The Principle, Regulation and Mechanism Regional planning, categorized guidance, research-leading and holistic advancement are the four basic principles in the implementation of the regional comprehensive

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reform models. To achieve the basic objectives of regional educational reforms, we need to determine the priorities, solutions and measures of regional educational innovation, and make decisions on the strategic level. We should systematically analyze the external environment, educational realities and future development trend of regional education, understand the driving forces and constraining conditions of regional educational reform, determine the geographical advantages of the region and come up with practical reform plans. The model construction of comprehensive reform of regional education should follow the strategic, proactive, diverse, operational, feasible and practical principles. Policy paradigms, development paths and evaluation methods should all be diverse. (d) The Connectivity of the Elements The elements here refer to those that affect the developments and reforms of education. The different connectivity and the combination and change of the elements in the spatial structure and functions form different development types of regional education. Based on the types, we can further construct different models: factors (primordial or primary)—types (secondary)—models (social) (Fig. 5.2). The relationship between the elements of comprehensive reform of regional education is the one among factors, types and models. The basic factors of regional education include the primordial elements such as the region’s geographical location, human resources, cultural traditions, ethnic and national characteristics, the source of students, and educational structure, layout and management. The composite forms of the regional educational factors are the secondary elements that involve the value orientation, development direction, spatial structure, organizational function, governing methods of education. The socialization of the composition forms of the regional educational factors constitutes the model of comprehensive reform of education. The government, society, community, schools, families, professionals, teachers, students and others are all the actors participating in the reform. Reform is the gaming of the stakeholders, involving the public sector and the private sector. For the resource factors such as the government, society, learning, market and so on, we need to make Fig. 5.2 The relationship between the elements of comprehensive reform of regional education

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overall plans, consider all the factors and effectively combine them. Therefore, all the elements are linked together in the ecological form. The natural endowments of the elements are reflected in the sensitive and insensitive factors. For different regions, the primary elements are the same while the secondary elements and the social elements are quite different. The elements and their division of labor are remarkably different. For instance, educational investment is not a sensitive factor for the developed regions, but it is a sensitive factor for the less developed regions. The governing method is a sensitive factor for the developed region, but it is an insensitive factor for the less developed regions. For the model of comprehensive reform, it is similar to the “the flying geese paradigm (FGP)” in economics. In a given regional space, we need to understand the natural endowments of different factors and their sensitivity, search and determine the most suitable elements for the region and combine them with other major elements. (e) The Selection of the Dimensions The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee passed the document Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform on November 12, 2013. The document made a strategic plan for the significant fields and key links concerning comprehensively deepening the reform. The particular focus is on the general requirement of “deepening the comprehensive reform in the field of education” proposed in the report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The document also clarifies the major goals and key measures on China’s educational reform. Following the requirements of the Decision, the Ministry of Education quickly promulgated the Decision of the Ministry of Education on Deepening Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education in 2013. The Decision addressed the most pressing issues of the public concern that constrained the development of education, conducted a thorough analysis of the deeper system and mechanism obstacles and found out the focal and key points of educational reforms. The Decision proposed “four major areas of comprehensive reforms” (talent cultivation, schoolrunning system, management system and guarantee mechanism) and “17 policy dimensions” (Table 5.3). In fact, the proposal of these fields and dimensions cannot cover all the issues of deep concern. However, the Decision adopts the aforementioned method of selecting the sensitivity of the elements, follows the principles of “detecting the basis of work, forming the social consensus, and satisfying the needs of the people,” selects the key dimensions and searches for the starting points of reform. In the same year, the Ministry of Education also put forward the focal points and directions of advancing comprehensive reforms of the basic education (Table 5.4), mainly involving resource allocations, examinations and enrollment, governing structure, models of talent cultivation, teaching process, faculty management, and supervision and oversight. Just as it is significant to find out the sensitive factors that affect the comprehensive reforms on the national level, it is also true on the regional level. There are various methods and pathways of searching for the key fields of the regional reform. There

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Table 5.3 Four major areas of comprehensive educational reform Fields

Dimensions

(a) Reform the models of talent cultivation

(a) Advance the reform of enrollment systems; (b) deepen the reform of the curriculum content; (c) explore the methods of innovative talent cultivation; (d) improve the talent cultivation model of vocational educations; and (e) carry out the multi-dimensional supporting measures of the growth of the talents

(b) Reform the school-running system

(a) Improve the development environment of the schools run by the private sector; (b) improve the integration of the teaching system of vocational education; (c) implement the autonomy of higher education institutions; (d) expand the opening up of higher education

(c) Reform the management system

(a) Improve and achieve a balanced development of compulsory education; (b) carry out the overall planning of education by the provincial government; (c) strengthen the oversight and evaluation system of education; (d) advance the reform of educational supervision system; and (e) perfect the governing structure of higher education institutions

(d) Reform the guarantee system

(a) Reform the faculty management system; (b) improve the investment guarantee mechanism; and (c) advance the strategy of promoting education through information technology

is no such a thing as one-size-fits-all approach. The methods we take must suit the specific local conditions. For instance, we can take quantitative approach of computer simulation or qualitative approach of summarization on the basis of the scientific investigation and practical experience. In theory, it is possible that all the factors (economic, political, cultural, system, policy, resources, school, family, social, class, regional, gender, etc.) might be inconsistent or even seriously contradicted with the requirements of comprehensive reform of regional education. These inconsistencies or contradictions cannot be eliminated overnight. They might be alleviated after the efforts of some time, but might resurge once new problems pop up. The criteria to judge the success of comprehensive reform of regional education are not whether positive changes occur in terms of some types, some levels, some scope or some elements of education but whether the whole structure, operation and quality of education have experienced a complete transformation. Comprehensive reform of education is not the single reform of a certain type of education (i.e., special education), a certain level (i.e., higher education), a certain scope (i.e., moral education), or a certain element (i.e., teaching). It is an interconnected, interactive and inter-coordinated reform that covers all fields, all levels, all scopes and all elements. In other words, the final outcome of deepening comprehensive reform of regional education should be the comprehensive elevation of all components of the educational system and the complete transformation of the whole education. Viewed from the actual practice, almost all the factors more or less constrain the further progress of comprehensive reform of regional education. This constraint derives from two basic conflicts: the conflict of ideas and the conflict of interests. In

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Table 5.4 The focal points of the basic education reforms Areas

Dimensions

The reform of resource allocations of the basic education

(a) Promote the standardization construction of compulsory education; (b) pay closer attention to the children of migrant workers; (c) pay closer attention to the students in poverty; (d) pay closer attention to the children with disabilities

The reform of examinations and enrollment of the basic education

(a) Stick to the policy of going to school in the neighborhood for free during the period of compulsory education (b) push forward the reform of high school entrance exams; (c) perfect the system of the proficiency test and the quality-oriented education concerning the high school students

The reform of governing structure of the basic education

(a) Promote the reform of electronic registration of the students; (b) establish the modern school system; (c) promote the system of the school district management; (d) reinforce the management of safety/security education; (e) set the criteria for school management/administration

The reform of talent cultivation models of the basic education

(a) Strengthen the moral education of the primary and secondary schools; (b) deepen the reform of curriculum and textbooks

The reform of teaching process of the basic education

(a) Improve the teaching efficiency; (b) promulgate the regulations to reduce the academic burden of the students; (c) carry out the activity of “easing the burden of the students”; (d) monitor the academic burden of the students; (e) make the best of information technology in teaching and learning

The reform of faculty management (a) Reform the certification of the teachers; (b) reform the of the basic education faculty recruitment; (c) reform the living subsidies to the teachers; (d) reform the professional categorization of the teachers The reform of supervision and oversight of the basic education

(a) Improve the system mechanism; (b) give equal weight to supervising the school administration and teaching; pay equal attention to oversight and guidance; (c) carry out quality oversight

the course of comprehensive educational reform, the two conflicts exist in the whole process. The only difference lies in the degree of intensity. Sometimes, the conflicts might be intensified while in other times they might be weakened. This process continues on and on and there is no end of disappearing. Therefore, the reformers usually endeavor to work on two basic priorities: promote the change of ideas and seek to integrate different interests. However, it is usually difficult and ineffective. To advance comprehensive reform of regional education, we need to have more courage and wisdom to deepen and promote the major field and key links in education. We need to overcome the regional system and mechanism obstacles and address

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the most direct, realistic and pressing issues of people’s grave concern: (a) the difficulty for the preschoolers to find a suitable kindergarten; (b) the issue of school selection in compulsory education; (c) the overburden of homework for the primary and secondary school students; (d) the improvement of poorly performed schools; (e) the education of the disadvantaged groups (the children of migrant workers, children with disabilities, etc.); (f) the reform of the quality and evaluation mechanism of regional education; (g) the experiment of diversifying high school management models; (h) the working on the distinctive schools; (g) the experiment of fostering innovative talents through the cooperation between the schools and the research institutes; (h) the comprehensive reform of fostering high-quality talents in colleges and universities; (i) the exploration of the model of advancing liberal arts education in colleges and universities; (j) the experiment of fostering talents with professional vocational skills in provincial and local colleges and universities; (k) practical teaching and learning; (l) innovative education and business undertakings; and (m) the comprehensive educational reform on the graduate level, etc. We should speed up addressing the contradictions between the demand of the regional economic and social development for high-quality and diversified talents and the inadequacy of cultivating capacity, between the brilliant education the public desires and the relative shortage of educational resources and between activating the educational vitality and the constraint of system mechanism. We should regard providing an education to the satisfaction of the public as the starting point of regional educational reform and regard the promotion of the overall human development and adaptation to the social needs as the fundamental criteria to test the success or failure regional educational reform. (f) Experiment and Operation Scientific planning and governmental promotion are the core elements of the models of comprehensive reform of regional education. Theory and practice, scientific research and decision-making, and dealing with the relationship between core elements and specific elements of the actors involved in education determine the final outcome of the education model. The model of comprehensive reform of regional education is an open and developmental framework system. It reflects the modern integral function of education, emphasizes that education must be compatible with the social and economic ecology of the local realities, and continue to make adjustments in the process of development. The operation of the model of comprehensive reform of regional education is comprised of the core distinctive theory and the patterns of experimental operation. The general model of comprehensive reform of regional education (high-level model) straighten out the relationships of all the major elements within the model and give full play to the planning development model. The theory of the core distinctive features reflects the core concept of promoting the regional educational reform by scientific research. It absorbs the operational framework of the project-propelled model, which is used to promote comprehensive reform of regional education by the strategy of “employing the dots to lead the lines.” It also reflects the core thought of the distinctive feature-demonstrated model, i.e., leading the balanced development

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of regional education by using the exemplary schools with distinctive features to lead the regional educational reform. The general model of comprehensive reform of regional education provides policy guidance, system support and development orientation for the core distinctive theories and experimental operational model. The core distinctive theories provide research guidance for the experimental operational model; the experimental operational model provides innovative development support for the core distinctive theories. They both provide the comprehensive reform with the basis and theoretical support for scientific decision-making, push forward the integral development through the practice of the experimental areas and serve as a complete sample and a typical case study for other regions (Fig. 5.3). The operation of regional educational reform and the professionalization of the government’s public education decision-making cannot do without the participation of the experts in the whole process and the verification of the actual practice. Meanwhile, we need to strengthen the social oversight and reduce the deviation and mistake in the decision-making process. Specifically speaking, the consultation of the experts should become a long-term mechanism rather than a short-term action. We should establish a smooth green communication mechanism among the experts, the government and the schools. These mechanisms, together with the democratic mechanism of public opinion communication, play the equally significant role in the promotion of comprehensive reform of regional education. As the researchers offer consultative services to the local governments and the schools, they can also exert

Research Lead; TheoreƟcal Guidance The Core DisƟncƟve Theory of Comprehensive Reform

Experiment Feedback; TheoreƟcal InnovaƟon

Policy Guidance; RadiaƟve (redial arrangement) Development

Experimental areas

PracƟce PromoƟon; ScienƟfic Decision-making

TheoreƟcal Support; ScienƟfic Decision-making

Policy Guidance, System Support

The Model of Comprehensive Reform of Regional EducaƟon

The Experimental OperaƟonal Model of Comprehensive Reform

Fig. 5.3 The general model of comprehensive reform of regional education

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their influence on the formation of all kinds of significant measures by the direct participation in the decision-making process. Nowadays, the model of the general practice in China’s comprehensive reform of regional education remains separate and diverse in both theory construction and the practice. There is more experiential knowledge than rational abstraction. There is more research on the “policies” targeted at addressing the specific issues than longterm theoretical studies. There is more “false action research” on the individual or single projects than the positivist research on the multi-disciplinary joint efforts and the combination of theory and practice. Therefore, for the model of comprehensive reform of regional education to succeed, it is necessary to change the above faulty theories and practice, observe the laws of the integral development of the region, take into account the history, geography, politics, culture and other constraining factors, take initiative to learn from domestic and international experience and find out effective localized path. The model of comprehensive reform does not rule out the traditional experience and methods, such as project cooperation, academic research led by the experts and the examples with distinctive features. They can still be used as effective methods in a particular region and for a particular period. Just as illustrated above, comprehensive reform of regional education is a huge complex project, which not only involves the specific businesses in the field of education but also requires the decisionmakers to take into account the overall development of the region. The success of the reform demands the comprehensive planning (top-level design), scientific research (the measurement carrying capacity, the reform and the environment, and search for sensitive factors, etc.), comprehensive governance (capacity building of regional educational governance), the promotion of key projects (enhance the core components of regional educational reform, i.e., the comprehensive distinctive reform at the school level), the guarantee of the whole region, etc. Extended Reading Comprehensive reform experimental area: A case of reform path First, the government, experts and faculty work together to conduct a thorough investigation to find out the suitability of the theory and the root cause of the problem in the actual practice, carry out a detailed analysis of the ecological system of the regional social and economic development, and set the planning and direction of comprehensive reform of regional education. Second, based on the general model, launch the joint research programs or projects of the region and form or search for the model and consensus of distinctive theories that best suit the local conditions. Third, formulate the operational model of regional educational practice. Led by the hallmark model, divide and detail the operational procedures, and mobilize the relevant actors inside and outside the region to participate in the reform in the form of cooperative program or project. Fourth, establish the general working system and model of comprehensive reform of regional education, and in the meantime develop the newly formed adaptability

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(flexibility) of the comprehensive reform model of regional education to adapt to the ever-changing external environment and achieve the established innovative objective. Fifth, give prompt feedback and diagnose the problems encountered in the reform, integrate all the resources within the region, and put forward the comprehensive decision-making proposals for educational reform (Liu Guihua et al. 2009).

Chapter 6

The Modernization of Regional Education Governance

With the rapid development of economic development and social progress, China’s reform has entered a deep-water zone. This requires us to coordinate the efforts of all the relevant actors, pay close attention to the dialogue and consultation of relevant educational institutions and strengthen the reform of education system. For that purpose, the National Education Conference of 2014 clearly proposed deepening the comprehensive reform in the field of education and speeding up the modernization of China’s governance system and capabilities. To adapt to the needs of regional economic and social development, address the critical and difficult issues in regional education, deepen comprehensive reform of regional education and achieve the goal of modernizing regional education, we must endeavor to advance the modernization of education governance. Then come the questions: What is regional education governance?What are the differences between regional education governance and regional education administration? Why should we modernize regional education governance? How should we do it? These are the pressing questions we need to address.

6.1 Define the Term Regional Education Governance 6.1.1 Regional Education Governance The term governance derives from the Greek word “kubernan,” meaning to steer or to drive. Plato used the term in the metaphorical sense, meaning to rule or administer the people. Many other terms were coined such as “gubernare” and “gubernantia” in Latin, “govern,” “government” and “governance” in English, and “gouverner,” “gouvernement” and “gouvernance” in French. The basic meaning of these words is rule or administration. According to Jessop (Jessop 1991), the term “governance” underscores the approach and method of ruling and administration, while the term “government” puts more emphasis on the institutions responsible for governing. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_6

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In ancient Chinese, the word “zhi (治)” meant “to rule” or “manage,” and the word “Li (理)” originally meant “to carve the jade” and later was used in a metaphorical sense, meaning “to rule.” Nowadays, Chinese scholars usually use “governance” to refer to Zhili (治理) and “government” to refer to “Tongzhi (统治)” “Guanli (管理)”. In 1989, the World Bank used the term “governance” when describing the prolonged crisis Africa was confronted with. Since then, the term has steadily gained increasing usage in political and management field. In the traditional system, the administrators and the administered are strictly separated. So are the public domain and private domain. The administrators hold the power and control the resources. However, since the 1990 s, the traditional administrative model underwent tremendous changes. First, the megatrend of the world today moves toward economic globalization and political polarization, and there emerge many global issues which have exceed the capabilities of national governments. Again this backdrop, the transnational and supranational organizations begin to have an increasingly significant impact and gradually weaken the sovereignty of nation states and the power of their governments. Owing to their limited power, the national governments cannot exercise effective administration to these organizations. In order to keep a balance between themselves and protect their own interests, the transnational organizations need to construct a new global governing order, and thus, the governance theories come into being (Yu Keping 2000). Besides, mankind is now undergoing grave resources and environmental crises. The heavy strain put on the environment resulting from economic development and population increase is more than what the earth’s ecosystem can carry. We are now exhausting the water, air and space resources. Therefore, to ensure the harmonious coexistence of man and nature in the pursuit of economic prosperity, we need to transform the model of economic and social governance. Thanks to the increase of public awareness and the rise of civil society, social governance begins to take diverse forms. With the rapid development of society, people pay increasing attention to their own interests and concerns. To meet this demand, a large number of unofficial institutions and non-government organizations spring up and become the primary force for civil society. These institutions and organization serve as a link between the government and the enterprises, thus named “the Third Branch.” The development of civil society lays the groundwork for the rise of the theories on governance, (Sheng Bing 2003) for governance actually means retuning the power of the nation to society. The process of governance is that of returning power to the people. Only highly qualified citizens and a mature civil society can achieve a genuine governance. It is the political and resources crises resulting from the traditional management style and the rise of civil society that promote the appearance and development of the concept of governance. The concept is extensively used in political, economic, social and other fields and has become one of the most common concepts and research paradigms in social science. The concept of governance itself is gradually evolving. Institutions and scholars differ in their definitions of the concept even though they agree upon some basic features. For instance, one of the founders of this concept James N. Rosenau, in his

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classic work Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics published in 1992, defines the term as “regulatory mechanisms in a sphere of activity which function effectively even though they are not endowed with formal authority.” The actors in charge of the regulatory activities are not necessarily government institutions. Nor do they have to rely on government authority to achieve their goals. The World Bank points out, “governance is a just and transparent management of public affairs through a set of universally acknowledged legitimate rules,… a power to run the economic and social resources in order to promote development.” (Calame 2005) The European Union points out in European Union: A White Paper that governance refers to “the regulations, procedures and behaviors that affect the exercise of power in Europe, particularly from the perspectives of openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence.” (Commission des Communautés) The Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH) believes that “governance is the relationship of interests between citizens and the organizational art of the multi-layer relationship of the localities, nations and the globe in public space. It is also the creative art of the meaningful rules that are able to deal with various complex relationships and facilitate dialogues and collective actions” (FPH 2005) So far, the generally acknowledged and the most representative and authoritative definition is the one given by the Commission on Global Governance Committee: Governance is the summation of the ways that various public or private institutions or individuals on public or private capacity manage their affairs. It is a sustaining process of coordinating different or even mutually conflicting interests and facilitating their efforts to take collective actions. It encompasses the power to impose formal rules and regulations and the mechanism to allow people with different opinions to discuss and agree on the rules and regulations that are in their interest. It has four major features. It is not a set of rules or an activity but a process. It is not based on control but on coordination. It involves both public and private institutions. It is not a formal system but a sustaining interaction. From the above analysis, it is safe to conclude that governance encompasses the following elements. The actors involved in governance are plural, which include not only public and private institutions but also individuals. The process of governance is the sustaining interaction between the participants, who ultimately form a coordinated social network. The basic task of governance is to manage public affairs in an open and transparent fashion. The approach to management is not fixed. It is highly diverse. The ultimate goal of governance is to protect the public interest to the maximum. As the concept of governance grows increasingly popular, it is extensively used in politics, economy, management and other fields. The relevant disciplines borrow the theory of governance to enrich their own subjects. The focus of human society is moving from government to governance, from good government to good governance and from rule by government to governance without government (Li Huibin 2003). The governance of education is one type of governance. Lodz classifies the definition of governance into six categories. As the smallest part of the national management

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activity, governance means that the national government reduces the public expenditure and gains maximum benefits through minimum costs. As corporate management, it refers to the organizational system that guides, controls and oversees the operation of the company. As a new public administration, it means introducing the market incentive mechanism and the managerial methods of the private sector into the administration of public affairs. As good governance, it accentuates efficiency, rule of law and accountability in public service system. As a social control system, it refers to the cooperation and interaction between the government and the people and between the public sector and private sector. As an organizational network, it refers to the social coordinating network based on trust and mutual benefit (Lodz 2000). Education is a public service. The governance of education is different from the national and corporate management. It pays close attention to public administration and introduces the market into the field of education in a cautious attitude. It emphasizes good governance, and particularly values accountability, quality and fairness. It stresses the cooperation between the government and the people and between the public and private sector. It intends to form the self-organizing network (SON) of education and serve education better. In the field of education, Chinese scholars mainly use the concept of governance in “public education governance,” “public governance of education,” “education governance,” etc. But owing to the diversity and openness of the concept of “governance,” it is difficult for scholars to agree on the definition of “education governance.” Wu Jingsong emphasizes the institution and mechanism in education governance, arguing that “The governance of public education means that to attain a certain goal of public education, the government creates a positive institutional environment and operational mechanism through formal and informal institutional arrangements to exercise the power of public education and make and implement public education policies. The ultimate goal is to achieve an efficient management, and an integration and coordination of public education. It is a sustaining, interactive process. It also refers to the positive interaction between the government and the market, the government and the school, and the government and society in the development process of education” (Wu Jingsong 2008). Jiang Meiling highlights the goal of education governance. She said, “the public governance of education means that the government, social organizations, market, individual citizens and other actors work together to participate in the management of public affairs, produce or provide public goods and public services in the form of education and share relevant responsibilities through participation, dialogue, negotiation, consultation and other collective actions. The ultimate goal of the governance is to establish a new type of public service system in the field of education. This system is student-oriented, compatible with the actual school conditions, responsive to the changes of the internal and external environment and conducive to facilitating the autonomous development of education (Jiang Meiling 2009). Ma Qing gives more weight to the process of education governance. “Education governance is a collective action. It means that to increase the supply level of education and maximize the public interests, while building up its own capabilities, the government actively empowers the society and recruits social forces to participate

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in the making and implementing of public policies. This collective action intends to avoid the risks of education agents and reflects the public will through the cooperation and balance between the government and society (Ma Qing 2009). Although these scholars interpret the term “education governance” in different ways, they still have some commonalities. The actors of education governance include the government, schools and social forces. It is an interactive process through dialogue and consultation. Its goal is to establish a new type of public service system in education and advance the development of education. In summary, education governance can be defined as the interactive process between the government, schools and social forces, which is designed to strengthen the management of public affairs in an open and transparent manner and therefore promote the sustainable development of education. What is special about the governance of regional education lies in the special concept of “regional.” In a particular regional spatial range, the actors involved in education governance, its process, specific tasks and objectives are much more concrete and clearer than education governance in a general sense. Besides, regions vary in economic and social conditions, their education is at different stages of development, and therefore, they also differ in the features of their education governance. Therefore, regional education governance can be understood as this: Based on the region’s economic and social conditions, governments at different levels, schools and other social forces run the education affairs in an open and transparent manner through dialogue and consultation to improve the quality of education, improve educational equality and achieve sustainable development of regional education.

6.1.2 Regional Education Governance and Regional Education Administration In the past education practice and research, we were more accustomed to using the phrase “regional education administration (REA)” than “regional education governance (REG).” The two Chinese phrases “Guanli (management) and Zhili (governance)” differ in one Chinese character, but they have quite different implications, as shown in Table 6.1. Lodz argues that “governance symbolizes the change of the concept of government administration. It refers to a new process of management, or a changed orderly ruling state, or a new type of social management.” (Lodz 2000) Management activities have existed since the beginning of human society, and management means “that you know exactly what you want other people to do and get them to do it in the best possible way.” (Taylor 2013) “It is a process of designing a positive environment and keeping it to enable people to effectively accomplish the goal set in a community.” (Koontz and Weihrich 1998) The governing activities came much later than administrative activities, but they differ in theories, nature, actors involved and methods of power

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Table 6.1 Differences between regional education governance and regional education administration Regional education governance Regional education administration The actors

The plural actors: Besides the government, the schools, the social forces, including the market, other social organizations, parents and other individuals in society are all involved

The single actor: governments at various levels and other administrative departments in the region. Take the county as an example. It refers to the county executive (or mayor), the vice county executive (mayor) in charge of educational affairs, the education bureau of the county and other relevant departments

Source of power

The power of regional education governance derives from the public acknowledgement and social contract

The power of regional education administration comes from the empowerment of the local authorities

Operating models

It emphasizes dialogue, consultation and long-term cooperation. It also stresses the interaction and the paralleled operations between the government organizations and the civilian bodies and thus forms the autonomous network participated by all the relevant actors

The regional education administration is mainly conducted through government orders, control and regulations. It emphasizes the top-down power operation and the formation of the hierarchical network system based on the division of labor and the respective responsibilities. Its operation is linear, obligatory and compulsory

Implementing approaches

Regional education governance mainly relies on voluntary services. The governing body is a community of equal members, which is designed to serve their interests

The basic approaches to regional education administration are mainly obligatory control and regulations

operation. Therefore, regional education governance is also different from regional education administration. First, they differ in terms of the actors involved. “The actors involved in administration are surely public institutions of the society, while the actors involved in governance can be public institutions or the cooperation between public and private institutions.” (Li Fuhua 2008) The actors involved in regional educational administration are single in nature, meaning governments at various levels and other administrative departments in the region. Take the county as an example. It refers to the county executive (mayor), the vice county executive (mayor) in charge of educational affairs, the education bureau of the county and other relevant departments. The actors involved in regional education governance are plural in nature, meaning that besides

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the government, the schools, the social forces, including the market, other social organizations, parents and other individuals in society are also involved. Second, they differ in terms of the source of power. The power of regional education administration comes from the empowerment of the law of the country. For instance, Clause Seven of The Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that the educational administrative department above the level of the county government is charge of the implementation of compulsory education. The other administrative departments above the level of the county government are responsible for the implementation of compulsory education with the obligations assigned to them. Clause 105 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that the local people’s governments at all levels are the implementation institutions of the local power organs. They are the administrative institutions at all levels. The power of the education administration at different levels of the region is empowered by the power organs. Although the power organs are basically empowered by people, this empowerment is actually indirect. However, the power of the regional education governance comes from the generally acknowledged social contract, and in many cases, it is exercised by the citizens themselves, hence the name self-governing. Take education bonds as an example. The expenditure directly invested in public education by the government in the past is now converted into education bonds, which are distributed to the families or students. The students choose the schools (public or private) recognized by the government. They will not be restricted by the school district. This is the essence of the mechanism through which the parents and students are empowered to make their own choices. The third difference lies in operation models. The regional education administration is mainly conducted through government orders, control and regulations. It emphasizes the top-down power operation and the formation of the hierarchical network system based on the division of labor and the respective responsibilities. Its operation is linear, obligatory and compulsory. It is difficult to guarantee its legitimacy and effectiveness. For instance, at the level of the county government, the compulsory education administration is conducted by a top-down hierarchical system composed of the county executive (mayor), the vice county executive (mayor) in charge of educational affairs, the Bureau of Education and other relevant departments. “The Bureau of Education, subject to the approval of the three levels of leadership, i.e., the county executive, the vice county executive in charge of educational affairs and relevant departments, has to coordinate with them on educational expenditure, personnel and other issues. Therefore, a decision of the Bureau of Education has to be submitted to several leaders for their approval and coordinate with several departments.” (Ma Qing 2010) However, regional education governance emphasizes dialogue, consultation and long-term cooperation. It also stresses the interaction and the paralleled operations between the government organizations and the civilian bodies and thus forms the autonomous network participated by all the relevant actors. This autonomous network has the authority to make decisions and give orders in given fields. Therefore, its operation model is complex, cooperative and inclusive. Fourth, they differ in implementing approaches. Rosenau points out that administration is “the activities supported by the official power and the police force to ensure

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that the policies promulgated at a certain time can be implemented.” However, governance refers to (the activities) “supported by a common goal, which do not necessarily need to rely on obligatory power to overcome the possible challenges or force others to obey.” (Rosenau 1995) The basic approaches of regional education administration are mainly obligatory control and regulations. Take the relationship between the schools and the Bureau of Education as an example. The schools have very little autonomous power and totally follow the instructions of the Bureau of Education. In contrast, regional education governance mainly relies on voluntary services. The governing body is a community of equal members, which is designed to serve their interests. Therefore, within the system of regional education governance, different actors are able to share information, cooperate with and consult each other. The government, to some extent, empowers the schools. The schools have a certain degree of autonomy. From regional education administration to regional education governance, the rationale behind the small change in words reflects a revolution in education thought. It is a transformation between the governments at all levels of the region and the school and society from control and under control to interactive efforts dedicated to win-win cooperation and good governance. It is a trial for the governments at all governments in the region and the society to allocate education resources from passive allocation to participatory consultation.

6.1.3 The Modernization of Regional Education Governance Modernization, from the chronological perspective, refers to the historical process from traditional agricultural society to industrial society after the great industrial revolution. In other words, it is a historical process of a complete social transformation of social system, social culture and economic system from the ancient times to the modern times. This process exhibits the change of traditional system. It also brings about the change in people’s mentality, social values and their way of life. Huntington defines modernization as “a multi-faceted process of changes in human thoughts and behaviors in all the fields.” (Huntington 1968) Popenoe defines modernization as “the internal social transformation that occurred from a traditional preindustrial society to industrialized and urbanized society.” (Popenoe 1987) Chinese scholar Gu Minyuan defines modernization as “a dynamic, continuously developing historical process.” (Gu Mingyuan 2012) Therefore, as an idea of a descriptive “process,” change is a core feature of modernization. The modernization of regional education governance is a dynamic, continuously developing process. At the present stage, it is a process of change from regional education administration to regional education governance to facilitate the modernization of regional education. For most regions, it starts with the status quo of regional education administration because the education in most regions is still in the charge of the government and emphasizes the top-down power operation model. It ends up with the open and transparent management of the education affairs in the region participated by the multiple actors and conducted through dialogue and consultation.

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Therefore, the modernization of regional education governance needs to constantly transform the ideas, systems and methods of regional education administration and thus establish the ideas, systems and mechanisms of regional education governance. The modernization of regional education governance is a complex, systematic process. It is the systematic transformation and integration of the major elements, which includes not only the change of the ideas and behaviors of the major actors involved in education and but also the change of the operation models, the source of power and implementing approaches. It also interacts with such factors as the economic, cultural and political systems within the region. The change of any factor is likely to affect the change of other factors, thus affecting the process of the modernization of regional education governance. The modernization of regional education governance is a progressive process. Modernization itself is human progress. It is a significant indicator for us to evaluate the modernization of regional education governance. Progress is measured on the development of human society. We should constantly demonstrate this progress in the promotion of the modernization of regional education governance. We should keep the criteria in mind, that is, whether the regional education governance has advanced the development of regional education and whether it satisfies the needs of people for education. To achieve this progress, we must regard the development of regional education as the ultimate goal, human development as the foundation and social development of the region as the driving force.

6.2 The Necessity to Advance the Modernization of Regional Education Governance 6.2.1 Adapt to the Needs of China’s Social and Economic Development For quite a long time, China’s economic and educational development was put under an extremely authoritarian planning administrative system. The whole country followed a unified system and policy, emphasized a unified model and observed a unified speed of development. The localities basically did not have any autonomous power to manage the economic and educational affairs within their own regions. This system played a significant role to boost the economic and educational development at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. However, it cannot be denied that this system severely constrained the initiative of the localities. It was impossible to come up with the concept of “regional education.” As a result, for quite a long time after the founding of the PRC, China only emphasized the common needs and neglected the development of diversity. Pushed forward by the reform and opening up and the establishment of the market economy, China witnessed rapid economic development. However, we should be aware that China is now only at the primary stage of socialist market economy,

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the overall productivity is still not high enough, and the imbalance of the regional development is still the basic condition for quite a long time. Under the conditions of market economy, there are some changes in the “unified” system all over the country. All the localities are relatively independent interest groups. Market must respect the actors of investment, and the profit-driven model will inevitably result in the imbalance in the regional development. The dual structure is a serious problem in China’s economy. The correlation between the relevant economic elements is fairly low. For instance, in 2009, the percentage of the first industry (i.e., agriculture) in the whole GDP of the western provinces was, to various degrees, higher than the nation’s average and that of the eastern provinces. The percentage of the second (manufacturing industry) and third (service industry) industries in the whole GDP of the western provinces were lower than the national average. This shows that there is a big gap between the western and eastern provinces. China has a large land area, and a large population of 56 ethnic groups. Each ethnic group has its own distinctive culture and even its own language. All the regions are faced with the great pressure of a rapid population growth in the future development. The strain in the eastern provinces exacerbates not only by their own rapid increase in population but also by an influx of labor from western provinces. The problem with the population in the western provinces is not just the rapid increase of population but also the urgency to improve the quality of population and eradicate poverty. Therefore, regional difference is a reality in China. Such a difference is reflected not only in the gap of economic development, but also in geography, population, regional culture, ethnic customs, etc. These differences are also prevalent in the field of education. The Outline on Twelfth Five-Year Plan of National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China proposed “implementing the comprehensive strategy of regional development, bringing to the full play the comparative advantages of different regions, facilitating the reasonable flow of production elements, deepening regional cooperation, promoting the positive development of regional interaction and narrowing the regional gap.” The Outline on Education Development points out that we should “stick to the principle that education should serve the public good and benefit all the people, guarantee equal educational opportunity for everyone, establish a basic public education service system that covers both the urban and rural areas, gradually achieve the equity of basic public education services and narrow the regional gap.” The above national strategies show that educational development should persistently strive to promote the strategy of regional development. A coordinated, balanced and well-developed regional education is also a significant way to narrow the gap between different regions. The governance of regional education motivates the multiple actors to participate together in education governance, accentuates the systematic, integral and coordinating development of regional education, and combines the top design with the experimentation, i.e., “crossing the river by feeling the stone.” It is an indispensable path to achieve coordination, balance and quality development. In brief, the modernization of regional education governance is the prerequisite of achieving quality development of regional education.

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6.2.2 Implementing the Requirements of National Educational Development Strategy The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee comprehensively summarizes the experience of the reform and opening up in the past thirty-five years and conducts an in-depth analysis of the domestic and international environment and the new trend of the international landscape in the near future. The plenum points out that the overall goal of deepening the reform comprehensively is “to improve and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to promote the modernization of the national governance system and capacity.” From then on, the promotion of the modernization of the national governance system and capacity has become a new focus of China’s social development. Against this backdrop, the national education working conference of 2014 clearly points out, “We should deepen the comprehensive education reform and speed up the modernization of education governance system and capacity.” At the present time, China’s education landscape has undergone profound changes. The scale of education continues to expand, and the need for education is increasing. However, education is still faced with such problems as “the insufficiency of the students’ innovative spirit and practical abilities, the lack of vitality of school running, the lack of close connection between education and economic and social development, plenty of room for improvement in international competitiveness.” To adapt to the change of the trend in education, address the hot issues, resolve the difficult problems and achieve education modernization, China must accelerate the modernization of education governance system and capacity. That said, China must work on the following seven priorities: carry out the basic task of fostering the moral character of the students, promote the equity of the basic public education services, boost the coordination of all types and layers of education, take active and steady actions to improve the enrollment system, better the approaches to education administration, speed up the formation of modern school system, and mobilize the public participation, support and oversight of education. The modernization of the national education governance is closely connected with that of the regional education governance, particularly in the context of China’s specific national conditions. China is a large country with a large population. Regions differ in terms of political environment, economic development, cultural features, population, ethnic diversity, natural resources, natural environment, etc. The basic and real conditions of regional educational development are also different. To implement the seven priorities set in the national education working conference of 2014 and advance the modernization of education governance system and capacity on the national level, China must bolster up the modernization of regional education governance on the basis of the educational practice of different regions.

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6.2.3 Meet the Educational Demands of Different Interest Groups In the current social context, Chinese citizens’ demand for participating in the regional education management and reforming the regional education administrative system is increasing for the following reasons. To begin with, pushed by the economic system reform, China’s social structure embarks on a growing trend from “comprehensive existence” toward “individual existence.” The demands to pursue and the diverse approaches to achieving their interests lead the public to pay more attention to their own economic interests and the problems in their own community. Besides, the universality of compulsory education, the rapid development of economy and the increasing criteria of enterprises and institutions in recruiting new members help to boost the quality of the citizens in the region, which in turn help to raise their awareness of the participation in the education management activities. Moreover, the rapid development of Internet information technology provides a convenient participatory platform for the citizens in the region. Internet has become a significant way for the citizens to exercise their rights to know, to participate, to express and to oversee. The Internet is an open, virtual world. Everybody has the equal access to voice their opinions, disseminate their information and pursue their own interests. Their appeals can reach a large audience in an instant. Therefore, “democratic,” “equal,” “extensive” and “profit-oriented” are some of the words used to characterize the features of the Internet. The awareness of teachers, parents or other citizens to participate in regional education activities is increasing. They no longer simply “listen” to what the Bureau of Education, the principals or the teachers say. They also want to express their views and take an active part in the management of educational affairs in the region. The promotion of comprehensive coordinated reforms issued by the national government has broken the top-down, single direction-oriented model and facilitated the formation of a new mechanism driven by the micro-actors, i.e., all types of organizations and individuals with specific demands for education reforms. The operation mechanism of the comprehensive reform in education is a bottom-up approach by which the need for reforms comes from the grassroots. The teachers, parents and students have more opportunities to voice their needs and more say in education reform plans. Therefore, with the gradual transformation of society, whether these mechanisms can fully reflect the needs of educational practitioners and consumers and win the support of the stakeholders involved has become a major factor that impacts on the outcome of regional education reforms. Although China has made remarkable achievements in the development of regional education, many problems still exist now. For instance, the gap between different regions and even the schools within the same region is still wide. The school running within the region still lacks vitality. The participation of the social forces within the region is still very low, and the connection between education and the regional economic and social development is still not close enough. The major

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factors that result in these problems include the backward thinking, outdated system and low capabilities of the current education administration. Therefore, the current regional education administrative system is inadequate to meet the participatory needs of the citizens. Nor can it increase the favorability of different stakeholders involved. It is imperative to reform the current regional education administrative system. The modernization of national education depends on the modernization of education governance, which in turn relies on the modernization of regional education governance. Both meeting the needs of the people within the region and solving the problems in regional education relies on the transformation from comprehensive administration to limited administration, from direct management to indirect management and from education administration to education governance.

6.3 The Means of Promoting the Modernization of Regional Education Governance To speed up the modernization of regional education governance, first, we need to emancipate the thought, transform the idea and establish the basic principle of regional education governance. Ideas are the souls to guide the actions. If the education administrative departments, the schools and the individuals in society still cling to the old and outdated thoughts and fail to understand the significance of promoting regional education governance, they will slow down the progress of regional education governance. Therefore, to achieve the goal of modernizing regional education governance, transforming the idea is the prerequisite and top priority. Regional education governance differs from regional education administration in terms of the actors involved, source of power, operation models and implementing approaches. The shift from administration to governance requires the government to voluntarily empower or share power with the schools and requires the schools and social forces to actively participate. The transformation from administrative orientation to service orientation requires the government to abide by the modern principles of exercising the state power for the public good and the benefit of the people. This means that the major functions of the government are to ensure that education should serve the public good and everyone has an equal opportunity for education. The government is supposed to meet the needs of society and individual citizens for education by serving the producers of public education such as schools, market, society rather than by exercising control over them. The value orientation of the government is reflected as follows. First, the government should take initiative to provide as much public education service as possible whereby to enhance public welfare. Second, the government should relax the control of the market and the non-profit organizations in their provision of public

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education and empower the citizens and civilian organizations to participate in education governance. Moreover, even if the government has to discharge the administrative responsibility when necessary, it should have equal and service consciousness (Yu Keping 2005). Directed by the previous concept of “administration,” the “official rank standard (or patronizing)” ideology used to be prevalent. The education administrative departments were self-centered and viewed the use of power as the topdown control, order and management. They were accustomed to interfering with the regional education in the capacity of managers. They had no service consciousness, law consciousness or regulation consciousness. They were much given to defining power at their own will, to the “patronizing” management model, believing that the government or the department of public power is the only administrator and the citizens, market and social organizations should accept its administration. When making public policies, governments at all levels of the region cared more about their own perspective or their own will and seldom took into account the views of those who implemented the policies and those who might be affected by these policies. As a result, all the other social organizations and individuals had to cater to the needs and intentions of the government. In this case, it would be difficult for governments at all levels of the region to take an impartial stand in managing the regional education activities. However, this is incompatible with the concept of service-oriented government which “views public service as its mission, fulfills the service function and takes the responsibility to serve the people.” To change the ideas, governments at all levels of the region must cast away the “official rank standard” ideology and embrace the “citizen rank standard (people-centered)” and the “society rank standard (society-oriented)” thoughts. They must treat every part of the society fair and square. The administrative institutions of the region must fully understand that the source of power is the empowerment or entrustment of the citizens and that the government’s fundamental raison d’être is to dedicate itself to increasing and achieving the interests of the citizens. The value and legitimacy of the government lie in its ability to fulfill its obligation to meet the citizens’ need for public education and provide them with high quality education. The service-oriented education administration should put people’s needs for public education as the starting point and the foothold for all its work and treat the provision of a satisfactory education as the core evaluation criterion. Only when we mobilize different actors to participate in regional educational governance activities, offer their advice to regional educational development and strengthen the scientific and regulatory governance, can we constantly transform the previous rigid administrative approach and bureaucratic style, design an efficient regional educational governance system and create a favorable social base and system environment for the regional educational activities. Case Study Educational Administrative Innovation in Weifang City, Shandong Province With the establishment and strengthening of people-centered thought, the beliefs of “caring every citizen’s concerns for public education” and “ensuring that education must be responsible for those who have the right to receive education” became

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the core values of the educational administration of the Bureau of Education in Weifang City, Shandong Province. The Bureau of Education was increasingly aware of the weaknesses of traditional education administration that laid more emphasis on exercising control but neglected providing service. The failure of the government to properly discharge its duties also resulted in the patronizing interference with the specific affairs in school running and the neglect of its responsibilities in many areas. Therefore, the Bureau of Education decided to innovate the regional educational system and took a series of actions to reform the systems concerning the principal’s official ranks, teachers’ professional ranks, high school entrance exams, educational oversight evaluation and so on. It also took measures to optimize the allocation of educational resources and revitalize education and educational sciences. With the deepening of reforms, the Bureau of Education in Weifang City continued to put forward innovative measures. For instance, in 2008, they decided to set up Education Service Center for the People by integrating the resources and responsibilities of the relevant offices within the municipal education department and the relevant institutions directly under the control of the municipal government. They formed close partnerships and set up eight subcenters targeted at (a) the cooperation between the school and the enterprise, (b) the combined efforts of enterprises, universities and research institute, (c) social training, (d) family education and mental health consultation, (e) the development of alumni resources, (f) study overseas programs, (g) student aid programs, (h) policy consultation and complaint filing, etc. Through the factory outlets model, the centers provide all-round customized educational services to the society. The centers provide online services to make synchronous, immediate response to the customers’ needs, on-sight services to have face-to-face communication to address the customers’ concerns, and 24/7 hotline services to and listen to and interact with the customers. This mechanism builds an effective bridge between educational institutions and social needs, realizes the direct interaction between the government’s educational services and people’s needs, impels the educational departments and the schools to face the problems and form a people-centered and people’s needs-oriented work system to make the satisfaction of the people as its ultimate goal. It propels the educational departments to move toward the track of public service and elevate the educational public services to a new level. If the individuals, schools and other social institutions want to change their status from “the subjects of administration” to “the master of governance,” they must have an independent mind. Influenced by the “administrative” concept, the individuals, schools and other social institutions also have the “official rank standard” ideology. They look to the government whenever they have a problem. They lack the consciousness and the basic ability to serve themselves and the innate motivation and capacity to participate in the decision making of educational policies and fight to protect their own interests. Their consciousness of participation and self -management is still at the nascent stage. The establishment of the “governance” concept means that the schools and social individuals must have a sense of self -consciousness. They must realize that they are the master of their own life. They are empowered to provide educational services to the people. Therefore, they should take initiative and actively

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participate in the decision making and the management of regional educational affairs and meanwhile strengthen the oversight evaluation (Zhao Hongqiang 2013). The modernization of regional educational governance requires the transformation of the concept of those involved in education and the establishment of the concept of governance. The transformation of concept will not only promote the modernization of regional education governance but also reduce the corresponding costs, for it will convince people that educational governance is fairer, more reasonable and in a better position to satisfy their needs than educational administration. It can also effectively save people’s time in their understanding and addressing the problems in the process of advancing regional education governance and thus reduce the bargaining time between different stakeholders. However, the change of ideas from education administration to education governance does not happen at once. It takes time. It requires a gradual progress, extensive publicity, encouragement, support and other means, helping different actors involved in educational governance to recognize the necessity and importance of advancing the modernization of regional education governance.

6.3.1 Clarify the Goal of Regional Education Governance Regional education governance is designed to achieve three major goals: the interests of public education within the region, the efficiency of the regional educational services and the quality of the regional educational services. The three goals are interconnected, and the lack of one will inevitably affect the attainment of the other two. For instance, without the support of the efficient, high-quality regional educational services, the interests of public education within the region cannot be accomplished. In the same manner, if the high-quality education is limited to only the privileged few and the majority of the people only have access to the average or low-quality education, then public education is not really public at all and regional education will fail to serve the public good. (a) Guarantee the interests of public education. Public interests are compatible with the needs of all or most members of society and reflect their common will. They are open and inclusive. The interests of public education exceed those of the individuals and reflect the public’s will and the needs of a civilized social state. They are integral and universal. In other words, public interests are the common interests of the whole society and not the specific interests of the privileged few (Pu Rui 2007). In the process of regional education governance, the public interests of the majority of the people are in constant contradiction with the private interests of a particular group. Or if the public interests are overwhelming, they might jeopardize the private interests. Likewise, the excessive expansion of the private interests might also undermine the public interests. Therefore, on the one hand, to ensure that regional education governance serves the public good, it is imperative for the government to regulate and intervene.

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The schools, parents, private institutions and social groups should also protect the public nature of regional education. The educational policies and systematic arrangements should be designed to serve the public interests, deliver public goods and public services to all members of society and allow them to have equal access to these services. On the regional level, it means that the government needs to ensure that the educational services are open to every member of the region without any distinction, thus achieving the equal allocation of education resources and allowing equal opportunity to enjoy these resources. On the other hand, to ensure the public nature of regional education governance, the government should also mobilize the participation of social forces, such as the oversight of other social members, their participation in the decision-making process and the management of educational affairs. At present, the government advocates establishing a modern school system in which governments at all levels of the region carry out the macro-management, the schools are responsible for school running, and the social forces take an active part in the management and oversight. In this modern system, the school is the legal person and the goal is to separate the school management, school running and evaluation to ensure the public nature of regional education governance. (b) Emphasize the efficiency of the regional educational services. There might appear two tendencies in the process of setting the goal of regional education governance. One is laying undue emphasis on the interests of public education in the region. In this case, in order to protect the interests of public education, the government endeavors to mobilize the absolute equal participation of all relevant actors whose interests are involved in the management of educational affairs of the region. As a result, the government investment is too high and turns out to be infeasible and unpractical. The other is neglecting the public interests of education and maximizing the profits. It is a profit-oriented approach. As a result, it is difficult to really protect the interests of the disadvantaged groups and guarantee the public interests of education. Neither of these two tendencies is truly concerned about the efficiency of regional education governance. The prerequisite of emphasizing the efficiency of regional education governance is sticking to the public interests of the regional education. Against this backdrop, we should give more protection to the disadvantaged groups through differentiated treatment, or preferential treatment. We should also reasonably allocate resources, optimize their distribution, strengthen the scientific management, maximize the leading role of high-quality resources and bring into the fuller play the limited education resources in the region. (c) Improve the quality of educational services. To promote the modernization of regional education governance, we need to aim at improving the quality of education services. The satisfaction of the people is the criterion to judge the quality of education services. This requires us to take into full account the views and opinions of all the forces in society in the process of modernizing educational governance. First, governments at all levels of the region must ensure that the citizens have access to sufficient educational information resources. The sufficient information is the prerequisite for the citizens to voice their opinions

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and form public will. Second, the government should set up relevant mechanisms to give the actors involved in education the opportunities to express their views. No one has the right to limit or oppose the stakeholders involved in education to express their views freely through the control of the governance procedures, no matter whether they are the government institutions, social organizations or individuals. Finally, in the policy-making process, the government must give feedback to the views of different interest groups. If the relevant actors only have the right to voice their opinions and cannot ultimately influence the outcome of the education policies, this kind of “participation” is more symbolic than substantial. In that case, regional education governance can only follow the will of the government and cannot truly provide the kind of services to the satisfaction of the people. To sum up, the modernization of regional education governance requires us to guarantee the public interests of education within the region, emphasize the efficiency of the regional educational services and improve the quality of the services. In particular, we cannot jeopardize the interests of the whole in order to satisfy the interests of a few. We should avoid exercising undue market mechanism and undermine the public interests of regional education. We should prevent governments at all levels in the region from reducing the investment and thus resulting in the decline of the quality of education. We should also be aware that the free selection of public schools deprives the students from the low-income families of the equal access to education.

6.3.2 Strengthen the Coordination of the Major Actors Involved in Regional Education A major difference between regional education governance and regional education administration lies in the actors involved. The former includes multiple actors, such as governments at all levels of the region, the schools and other social forces. The latter is a single party, primarily governments at all levels. Therefore, to promote the modernization of regional education governance, a significant measure is to ensure the multiple participation and construct a model of the multi-center regional education network. “Governance” means that the government is no longer the only actor in public affairs. The government departments will form the mutual cooperative relationships with the non-governmental organizations such non-profit organizations and private sector. They share public power and manage public affairs together in the context of mutual inter-dependence. The World Bank report of 2004 put forward a public governance analysis framework, as shown in Fig. 6.1. From the chart, we can see the government has to provide services to solve the problems in public affairs by constructing a platform. The public, private and non-profit institutions act in concerted efforts dedicated to providing the public with the basic, universal public

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The rights of expression and accountability

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The central government

contact/ supervision

The local government The public sector services

Citizen/customers civil rights

The provider of services

Non-profit organizations The private sector

Fig. 6.1 Public services and governance analysis framework

services. The government, the public, private and non-profit institutions, the citizens and the customers altogether constitute the actors of public governance. Then, who are the actors of regional education governance? Here, we need to distinguish the producers, suppliers and the consumers of education within the region. I. Distinguish the Service Providers and Producers Within the Region We need to distinguish the service providers and producers within the region. We used to view education as a process of knowledge production, distribution and utilization and believe that the provision and production are integral parts of a whole process. The government has a double identity, i.e., the provider and producer of education, and therefore is the only actor involved in education. However, with a further clarification of property rights and the increasing role of non-governmental organizations, the supply of educational services within the region falls into two processes. The first process is the provision of educational services. In other words, as the providers of educational services, governments at all levels of the region first have to collect and investigate the educational demands of the public to make educational plans and construct the educational system. They then have to get other non-governmental organizations to participate in the supply of the services by means of contract and oversee the process and outcome of the services to ensure the quality of the education services. The second process is the production of the education services. The production of services should be in line with the criteria and ranges of the contract and provide the education services to the citizens within the region. In the past regional education administration, the government was the only producer of the regional education services. However, in regional education governance, there might be four producers of education services within the region: (a) governments at all levels of the region, which directly provide relevant education services to the citizens; (b) public schools; (c) the non-profit organizations which provide education services, such as the city’s community service organization and volunteer associations; and (d) the private organizations which provide education services within the region, such as private schools

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or private kindergartens. In the process of modernizing regional education governance, the government should return the role of the producer of education services to the schools, non-profit organizations and other private institutions while keeping its role as the provider of education services within the region. We should strengthen the role of the school as the key actor of regional education governance and empower the school to the autonomous power. As the producer of the education services, the school is one of the key actors of regional education governance. However, since most public schools in China have an administrative relationship with the government, the school is not truly empowered the autonomous power. National Education Plan further clarifies the government’s role in education administration, that is, “governments at all levels are responsible for the overall planning, policy guidance, oversight management, and providing services of public education.” They should “change the single approach of directly administering the schools, comprehensively use law-making, appropriations, information services, policy guidance and necessary administrative measures and reduce unnecessary administrative interference.” The local governments should delegate more power to the schools in school development, faculty management, education and teaching, etc., and truly carry out the policy of “the separation of the government and the school and the separation of (the government) administration and (the school) management.” In this respect, China can learn from the experiences of the USA and the UK. In the British model, the government and the schools are relatively separate. They establish and strengthen the normal legal relationship. In other words, the government executes the laws and the school obeys the laws. The government strengthens law-making and implementation. But beyond the law and regulations, the government has no right to interfere with school affairs. In this model, the guiding-service relationship turns into a more equal market trading or assisting relationship based on reciprocal choices. The government appropriations to the schools will become the property of school’s legal person, and it is up to the school to decide how to allocate resources and what actions to take. The USA executes “the integration of the government and the school.” The school district is actually a school corporation composed of several schools. It is a special form of government and single legal person. The school is only a branch of the corporation, completely subordinated to the school district and has no legal person status. In this model, the government-school relationship is a managerial relationship within an organization. There is no such a thing as carrying out the administrative orders. The allocation of resources is purely based on planning. Guidance and services are a form of management. In summary, we need to ensure the dominant position of public schools in regional education governance, strengthen the autonomy of the schools and autonomous management, and meanwhile expand the participation of the schools in the regional educational policy-making process.

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Case Study “The Separation of Administration and Management” in Education Governance of Wuxi City On December 20, 2005, Wuxi municipal government established the School Management Center, which was in charge of the 26 schools that used to be under the administration of the Bureau of Education, which was no longer directly responsible for the running of schools. In other words, the school is now given more power to run or manage its own affairs. The formation of this system is part of the education reform in the field of education governance in Wuxi City. The system is called “the separation of the government administration and the school management.” This system refers to a collection of measures intended to moderately separate the educational administration (mainly referring to the educational administrative departments) and the public schools under its administration in terms of supervision and school running. In this context, the idea of “Guan or administration” mainly refers to the educational administrative departments, and the idea of “Ban or school running” mainly refers to the schools. The concept of “the separation of (the government) administration and (the school) management” has four elements. (a) The subject (or actor) of the separation is the educational administrative departments. (b) The objective or the target of the separation is public schools. (c) The ranges or the contents of the separation are the traditional “affiliated administrative relationships between the administration and the schools under its supervision.” (d) The degree of the separation is the moderate separation of the educational administrative departments and the public schools under their supervision. It is not a complete detachment. But their relationship is no longer as close as before. This reform stipulates that the Bureau of Education is mainly responsible for (a) drafting the local laws, rules and regulations concerning education, (b) planning policy orientation and school layout, (c) providing professional guidance, (d) overseeing the purchase of public services and (e) creating a favorable environment for the educational development. The School Management Center, as the representative of the government to provide funds for the schools, is responsible for the management of school affairs, including the faculty and staff, the assets and the accounting of public schools. It is also responsible for evaluating teaching quality and school performance. In this context, the so-called Guan or administration only refers to the management of a particular profession or trade. It does not mean the management of the specific school affairs because the administration of the education bureau treats all types of schools or schools at different levels on the equal footing. The focus of the education bureau is on making policies, working out plans, exercising oversight and providing services. The School Management Center is responsible for the management of personnel, finance, resources, etc. After this reform, Wuxi City’s education governance forms a power separation framework or a model of “separation of powers,” i.e., administration, management and oversight (Zhuang Xizhen 2011). We must acknowledge the role of the private institutions as the producers of regional education services and ensure their operations follow proper regulatory

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procedures. When the public education resources of the region, particularly the firstrate education resources, are scarce, the local governments and the public schools may more or less introduce the market mechanism to change the situation. They recognize the role of the private organizations as the producers of the regional educational services and take effective measures to address the issue. They encourage the private institutions to open private schools, the renowned schools to open branch campuses, and the school logistical department to introduce market mechanism. The “education bonds” of Zhejiang Province and the “compulsory education card” of Jianli County, Hubei Province are two typical examples. Just as some researchers point out, the providers of public education can be the government institutions or governmentoperated companies. They can also be the government-sponsored enterprises or even the private enterprises (Henry 2002). Methods abound in terms of the production and distribution of education. They can be the direct provision by the government, the indirect provision by the institutions entrusted by the government, outsourcing by contract, chartered operations, subsidies, compensation bonds, market operations, voluntary work, self-help, government sales and so on (Zhang Chengfu and Dang Xiuyun 2007). When acknowledging the role of the private institutions as the producers of regional education services, we must ensure that their operations follow orderly and regulatory procedures. We need to pay special attention to the improvement of the relevant supporting measures. In the course of introducing market mechanism within the region and approving the participation of the private institutions in providing education services, we must be cautious in certifying their efficiency, bold in experimenting and certain that they follow orderly and regulatory procedures. Meanwhile, governments at all levels of the region should adopt various measures to strengthen the competition between public schools and private schools, and between private schools. They should also come up with various production methods to improve the quality and supply efficiency of regional education and meet the diversified needs of the people. We must also make full use of the social forces, particularly the non-profit organizations to promote the modernization of regional education governance. At present, the social organizations, civilian groups and other non-profit organizations spring up and begin to play an increasingly important role in regional education governance. Owing to the abundance and professionalism of the regional educational affairs, and the lack of sufficient manpower and resources to directly manage various educational affairs, the regional administrative departments can empower community colleges, community service centers, volunteer associations and other non-profit social organizations to participate in providing various community educational service to the citizens through lectures and face-to-face consultations. When the non-profit organizations participate in regional education governance, on the one hand, these institutions should accept the macro-government administration and provide educational services in an orderly and regulatory manner. On the other hand, the government departments responsible for carrying out regional education governance activities should also take into account the views and suggestions of these social organizations and accept their oversight and evaluation of these activities.

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II. Recognize the Consumers of Regional Education Services as Major Actors of Regional Education Governance The majority of the consumers of regional education are students and parents. On the one hand, as consumers, the students and parents have the right to access the genuine, authoritative information about the supply and quality of the educational services so that they can make the right choices in accordance with their own needs and interests and obtain the relevant educational services. That said, the students and their parents are entitled to choose the schools, the curriculums and even the teachers, based on their needs and favor. In this new type of relationship, the students and parents become the true actors of education governance. Accordingly, as the providers of the educational services, the government, schools and teachers have the obligation to provide adequate educational services according the national education criteria and their pledge to the learners. On the other hand, as the consumers of the educational services, the students and parents have the right to participate in the management and evaluation of the educational services and express their views and oversee the quality. Therefore, the schools should provide true and accurate information to the students and parents, such as the performance of the schools within the region, their enrollment and educational finance so that the students and parents can make their own judgement. Besides, the schools should provide the students and parents with various educational services and resources and endeavor to satisfy their educational needs as long as they do not violate the public interests of the citizens within the region. Finally, governments at all levels of the region and the schools should accept the educational consumers’ oversight and evaluation of the educational activities within the region and promptly respond to the views and suggestions of the students and parents. III. Guarantee the Special Status of Governments at All Levels in the Multicenter Model Constructing the multi-center networking model does not mean that all the actors go their own way and defend their own interests. Otherwise, the multi-center networking model would have no center at all because governance “in this context would no longer be a process of exercising control but deteriorate into a process of bargaining and arbitration.” (Peters 2001) Governments at all levels of the region still play a critical role in the complex system of regional education governance. On the one hand, these governments should “retrieve power” and “delegate power” and keep the legitimacy of different actors in the system of education governance. On the other hand, they should also “define power” and play a major role in the multi-center system. “To retrieve power” means giving the power back, i.e., returning the power that clearly belongs to the educational administration to the departments in charge of education, the schools and society. Governments at all levels of the region should adapt to the requirements of the national administrative system reform, follow the framework of the separation of the government administration and the school

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management and define their respective power. The roles of governments are the builder of the regional educational system, the guarantor of the educational resources, the provider of the educational services, the protector of the education equality, the maker of the education criteria and overseer of the education quality. Such powers as school-running autonomy, the appointments of the principals of the primary and secondary schools, the review of the teachers’ professional ranks and titles, the allocations of teaches, etc., that clearly belong to the education administrative departments should be returned to the education administrative departments and the schools. “To delegate power” means that governments at all levels of the region properly delegate the power to avoid the overconcentration of powers. The delegation of powers does not necessarily mean the government gives a free hand to the schools and social organizations and thus loses the administrative power and evades the responsibilities for education. It means the adjustment of the specific management strategies, i.e., the change from direct intervention and micro-management to macro-guidance, and the creation of a favorable internal and external environment for the educational activities of the region through law-making appropriations, planning, information services, policy guidance and other administrative measures. For example, for the professional ranks and titles of the teachers in the primary and secondary schools, the reasonable delegation of power is that the educational administrative department is responsible for the execution of the review. The personnel department is responsible for the oversight and management through the structure of teachers’ professional ranks and titles, the assigning of the quotas and the review process. For another example, in terms of the spending and management of the educational funding, the educational (professional) department is responsible for the spending and management of the funding; the financial department is responsible for the appropriations of the budget and the oversight of its spending. For still another example, in terms of the appointment of the school principals, the organization department on the county level is responsible for the specific recruitment and appointment of the high school principals under its own administration. The educational administrative department is responsible for the recruitment of the principals of the primary and junior high schools. The personnel department on the county level is responsible for the oversight of the planning of the vacancies and the operation of the procedures (Yang Lingping and Si Xiaohong 2012). “To define power” means defining the boundary of the educational administration of the county level and clarifying the specific range and the strategies of the educational administration. According to the requirements of the service-oriented government, the major roles the government plays in the educational administration include the overall planning, policy guidance, oversight management and the provision of the public education services. Now, it is imperative to review and correct the improper behaviors of the county government in its interference with the educational affairs and management activities at its own will. It is also imperative for the government to get its priorities right. For instance, the government should increase the investment in education, preserve the education equality, build service system and strengthen law and regulation making, etc. First, the government should strengthen the formulation

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of the educational policies and laws, carry out the strategic studies of the macrodevelopment, provide information services and conduct education supervision and quality review. The government should also encourage educational sciences studies and education innovation, and speed up the process of formulating the regulatory, open, fair and efficiency-oriented public expenditure appropriations system, making it an effective policy tool to push forward the educational development. Second, the government should gradually withdraw from the micro-fields of the educational activities, actively encourage the social forces to invest in education and the nongovernmental organizations to run public schools, and practice the management of educational affairs and the running of schools by the social forces. Third, the major responsibility of the government is to create and preserve a favorable system environment for the educational development. The government does not have to busy itself with every specific educational activity (The Project Group: The Report of China’s Education and Human Resources 2003). Besides, the government should make laws and regulations to actively address the new problems that pop up in the regional educational activities, such as the schools for the children of migrant workers and education for migrant children and clarify the responsibilities and make sure they are not left behind. The government should shift its role from “paddling” to “steering.” “Steering” means making decision, determining the directions or governance. This is the priority of the government. Governments at all levels of the region should closely observe the National Education Law and the Outline of National Education Plan and assume the responsibility of “steering the boat,” i.e., making the overall plan, guaranteeing sufficient education expenditure, supervising education and conducting education supervision and quality review. The World Bank points out in the report “China and the Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century” that the government should change its role from providing educational services to establishing and overseeing educational system. Therefore, we need to clarify the major actors of regional education governance and the special status of governments at all levels of the region.

6.3.3 Innovate the System of Regional Education Governance The modernization of regional education governance requires the government to innovate the institutional system of regional education governance. Therefore, the government should strengthen the top-level planning of China’s regional education governance from the strategic perspective, formulate the reform programs and measures from the overall perspective, strengthen coordination, and pay closer attention to the systematic, integral and coordinated nature of education governance. 1. Hearing-Based Decision-Making System of Regional Education Governance To enhance regional education governance, the government should establish an open and transparent decision-making system first. In the past decision-making process of

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regional education governance, the other actors than governments at all levels usually had no choice but to accept the results of the decision making. However, the modernization of regional education governance requires the government’s decision making to protect the interests of public education, defend the rights of the grassroots stakeholders, form a reasonable “shared” view among different actors through rational dialogue and finally have a substantial impact on the regional educational practice. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a hearing model of the decision-making system in regional education governance. The hearing system is a system of legal proceedings. It means that before making the decision that affects the legitimate rights of the private party in administrative lawsuits, the administrative organ informs the private party of the reasons for the decision and the private party’s right for a hearing. The private party states his/her opinions and provides the evidences, and the administrative organ listens to the opinions, reviews the evidences and makes the corresponding decision. In China, the hearing system first appeared in the law-making process at the end of 1990 s. Now, it has become a significant means of protecting the participatory rights of the citizens in the law-making and administrative lawsuit. Although the hearing system itself is still at the nascent stage, as a significant means of guaranteeing the equal participation of the stakeholders, the hearing system is a significant reference for the decision making of regional education governance. It ensures the pluralization of the participatory actors and the open and transparent decision-making process. Here is the basic procedure of hearing-based decision-making system in regional education governance. First, pay close attention to the hot and tough issues of society. Owing to the special position of the government, in the previous regional educational administration, the government has the authoritative power to allocate social resources and the decisive influence on whether the issue of public education can be put on the agenda of educational decision-making. However, rational argumentation theory points out that in an argument, first, the two actors should define a common target, which is the prerequisite for reaching consensus. Otherwise, even if they reached consensus, it would be a false consensus, which is of no value (Kaufman 2004). Therefore, to determine the issues of regional education decision-making, the government should invite the opinions of all actors involved in regional education governance. “In general, the proposal of a public policy starts with the open discussion of a public issue, which draws the attention of the decision-makers who will put it on the government agenda. Finally, the public issue will become a policy issue and get confirmed by the government (Huang Zhongjing 2007). On the one hand, governments at all levels of the region can propose their own policy issues. On the other hand, they should also pay close attention to public opinions, mass media and the public discussion of the issues concerning regional education and integrate them into their working procedure as significant issues in the decision-making process of educational policies. Therefore, the government should pay more attention to the focal point of grave public concern in their choice of issues for policy consideration. Besides, the government should clearly state the issue, inform the actors involved in education governance for their

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consideration and investigation, ponder over the issue, express their views and make better suggestions on the issue. Second, regulate the hearing procedure of educational decision-making and guarantee the right of different actors to express their opinions. After the issue is decided, the invitation should be extended to governments at all levels of the region, the schools, social organizations, parent groups, public intellectuals, mass media and other actors whose interests are involved to participate in the hearing of the decisionmaking on regional education. In order to learn about the public opinion, the organizers of the hearing should specify how long and how often each participatory actor is allowed to speak in the hearing and ensure that all the participatory actors, particularly the stakeholders, have equal access to express their views and concerns. They have the right to put forward reasonable suggestions based on the information they have at hand. Just as Rousseau said, “When people lawfully assemble and become part of the sovereign community, … the pettiest citizen will become as honorable as the highest-ranking official, for where the represented people show up, there can be no representative.” (Rousseau 1908) Finally, based on the rational analysis of the will of all the actors, the government formulates the regional educational decision-making. It is before the decision is made that the decision-making hearing has its value. Therefore, the objective facts presented at the regional educational hearing should be carefully analyzed before the final conclusion is drawn, and the corresponding decision is made. For instance, regarding the post rotation of the primary and secondary school principals, only through holding series of hearings to extensively invite the opinions of the public, particularly the opinions of the parents and frame the policy based on thorough discussions, can the hearing play the role it is supposed to. Then, who is responsible for rationally analyzing the views and proposals and drawing the corresponding conclusions? To address this issue, different interest groups can elect their representatives and form a relevant committee, which vote for the final plan. As the outcome of the voting, the final plan must reflect the essence of all kinds of evidences and facts presented at the hearing. Otherwise, the final decision might not conform to the legal procedure. Moreover, the views of the actors in the hearing process can never be disregarded, particularly the will of the grassroots stakeholders; otherwise, they might be treated passively in the vote of the committee. Even if the opinions or proposals of some relevant actors are not feasible or practical, the government or other relevant organizations should give them a clear explanation and cannot simply “brush them aside.” Case Study Education Panel In 2005, the local government in Haishu District of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province recognized that the “overexpansion” of the power of the government suffocated the “consciousness,” “ability” and “behavior” of other actors to take responsibility in the management of educational affairs. In other words, the government became the sole actor in education administration, and the community and families

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lost their sense of rights and responsibilities. Therefore, the Bureau of Education in Haishu District, considering the social and economic conditions of the district, chose the Experimental Campus of Guangji Central Primary School and Minda School, respectively, to represent two types of education, the general education and special education, and experimented with “Education Panel.” The mission of the system is to reflect the idea of returning the school to the community and the families, attract the social forces to care about education and support the school, establish mechanisms of scientific decision-making and democratic oversight, improve the school’s scientific decision-making ability, revitalize the school management and facilitate the efficient management and sustainable development. The system of Education Panel is a coordinated and cooperative platform to enhance the long-term close relationship between the school and the parents and the community. It is also an external overseeing organization for consultation and review on the most significant issues in school management without changing the school ownership and without undue interference with the principal’s autonomy in school running. The system has three “rights,” i.e., the right to know, to participate and to make some decisions, which means their proposal can be turned into the final decision of the school board. It also has three “functions,” i.e., to communicate and coordinate between the school and the external world, arbitrate in a possible dispute between the school and the external world, and to advise, consult and oversee the school in terms of the school mission, spirit, study and teaching. The Education Panel is mainly composed of fifteen to forty experts in education, parents, teachers and community cadres. The parents account for 50–55% of the panel, the experts in education and community cadres account for 20–25%, and the teachers and school leaders account for 20–25%. The panel has a chairperson, secretary-general, proposal section, investigation section and liaison section. The panelists are generally elected or chosen through coordination. With a certain legitimate procedure and an adequate public support, they are fairly representative and authoritative. The experts and cadres are chosen through coordination, the teachers are elected, and the parents are chosen through democratic recommendation and consultation. The qualifications, rights and obligations of the candidates are stipulated in the Panel Regulations. For instance, the candidates should be enthusiastic, responsible and capable. The functions of the Education Panel are reflected in the following five mechanisms. (a) Participatory mechanism. Viewed from the composition of the panelists, most representatives in the panel are still the parents, but the panel is more than the Parent Committee. It also covers the community members with the same or similar interests and thus expands the participatory group. (b) Cooperative Mechanism: The panel is set up on the cooperative basis. All the participants enjoy equal rights, preserve common interests, share the responsibility and accomplish the common goal. (c) Competitive mechanism: The participatory cooperation does not exclude the health and legitimate competition between the members of the school. The school administers should establish an effective competitive mechanism, encourage this kind of competition and prompt the common development of the school and its members. (d) Balancing mechanism: Guangji Central Primary School orients the Education

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Panel as “the people’s consultative conference,” which enables the school to effectively to address the problem of the overconcentration of power in the school and therefore strike a new balance in the power of the school. (e) Rule of law mechanism: The modern school is quite different from the traditional school because the former focuses on rule of system while the latter concentrates on rule of man. The former lays great emphasis on rule of law, formulates the regulations, defines the mission, the goal and the basic development direction or rule of system and ensure the school’s comprehensive, harmonious and sustainable development. The Educational Panel is a micro-educational system directed at improving the education ecology. It started the groundbreaking innovation to run the school with the substantial participation of the parents and the community. This system effectively integrates the efforts of the school and the society, reflects the idea of running the school in a democratic and open spirit, constructs a new management system of the modern school based on shared values, interests and responsibilities. It offers a new approach for the system innovation of regional education governance. 2. Accountability-Oriented Execution System of Regional Education Governance The execution of regional education governance is a process of transforming regional educational decision into practice. Owing to the concerted effects of multiple factors such as the resources, environment, the actors involved and the executive bodies, the process of regional education governance is fraught with uncertainties, risks and crises. Therefore, establishing an accountability-oriented execution system of regional education governance and defining the risk warning system are intended to restrain the executives, keep the execution of decision within the bounds of order and law and prevent the distortion of failure of regional education governance. (a) Responsibility System Regarding the execution process of regional education governance, it is highly necessary to define the respective responsibilities of the government, the schools, social organizations and other actors involved in regional education governance to ensure that their respective responsibilities are clear and accurate. The government should formulate relevant responsibility criteria, clarify the specific responsibilities of the executive body and the specific executives of regional education governance, and define the obligations of different actors involved. The government should also specify the standards and conditions for accomplishing the specific tasks, the extent to which the executive has the right to determine the issue by himself and the circumstances of forgiving and publishing. Besides, the government should also define the collective and individual responsibility, and the direct and indirect responsibility to avoid treating different responsibilities in the same manner. If the responsibility is not clearly or specifically defined, it is difficult to determine who is to be held accountable for the mistake if it occurs. Meanwhile, the government should inform the public of the executive body, the executives and their responsibilities, and the methods of punishments, etc., to increase the transparency.

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(b) Accountability System The government is responsible for holding the executive body accountable for the implementation of regional education governance, but the accountability process is under the oversight of the public and mass media. The oversight of accountability by the public in the region is conducive to strengthening the effect of accountability, eliminating the space to hinder the execution and achieving the goal of education governance. When the execution of regional education governance encounters impediments, the government and the overseer should quickly establish a committee composed of the local government, experts, targeted groups, assisted by other social organizations to investigate the problems, analyze the reasons and determine the human factor for the hindrance. (c) Penalty System Regarding the problems in the execution of regional education governance, administrative penalties should be imposed in accordance with the law, regulations and criteria on the person(s) directly in charge of the executive body (the leader, organization or the individual). If their failure brings about serious loss, civil and criminal responsibility shall be pursued in accordance to the law. To establish accountability-oriented execution system of regional education governance, we also need to improve the relevant law and regulations. The government should define the accountability system by means of law and regulations and use the authority of law and regulations to restrain the behaviors of the executing organizations or individuals. The accountability system should also be open and transparent. No matter whether it is to clarify the responsibility of the relevant actors involved in regional education governance, or decide the reasons for the occurrence of the problems, or to make relevant penalties, we should keep the public informed and help the relevant actors involved in regional education governance have a better understanding of the whole process of education governance. 3. Participatory Oversight and Evaluation System of Regional Education Governance “Those who have power will continue to use it until they encounter the limit,” and “Consider the nature of power, if we want to prevent the abuse of power, we have to use power to restrain power.” (Montesquieu 1978) Therefore, we must regulate regional education governance by improving the oversight and evaluation system. For a long time, in the context of the strengthening of administrative empowerment and the weakening of democratic empowerment, the oversight of regional education governance is mainly conducted within the administrative system itself, i.e., the higher level of government oversees the lower level of government, and there is little participation of the relevant stakeholders. To a certain extent, this type of oversight results in the separation of governments at all levels in the region and the interests of the public in the region and thus affects the educational development

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in the region. In fact, conducting oversight and evaluation that is objective, transparent, fair and just, and based on scientific methods is the prerequisite to enhance the working efficiency in regional education. It can provide reference for regional education decision-making and grounds for the improvement of regional education. To modernize regional education governance, we should stick to “the social evaluation of education,” which means that we hand over more power of evaluation and oversight to the society. This relative independent oversight and evaluation will be a significant aspect of regional education governance. Therefore, we should strengthen the oversight system of regional education governance, reinforce the democratic empowerment and prompt all the actors of regional education governance and the public to participate in the oversight of regional education governance. We should establish the self-overseeing system of governments at all levels of the region. The government plays a significant role in regional education governance. It is the overall planner of regional education, the defender of education equality, the guarantor of educational investment and the overseer of the school running and the quality of regional education. For a long time, as the producer and provider of education, governments at all levels of the region only accept the oversight of their upper level and are responsible only for their higher authority. To strengthen the oversight of regional education governance, we must reinforce the participation of the public, establish the self-overseeing system of governments at all levels of the region and ensure that governments at all levels of the region are in a better position to discover the problems in time and address them quickly and effectively. We should introduce professional institutions to conduct the evaluation. Educational evaluation is a highly professional job. To bring into full play the overseeing, diagnosing and guiding functions of evaluation, professional institutions are irreplaceable. Therefore, we should establish relevant systems, enhance the role of professional institutions on the evaluation of regional education governance, give full play to the expertise of the teaching and research associations and professional review institutions of the region, and constantly improve the level of evaluation and oversight of regional education governance. Governments at all levels of the regions can purchase the high-quality services from professional institutions through contract and entrustment. It is worth noting that the government should introduce relevant mechanisms to regulate the procedures for the introduction of professional institutions to ensure that their evaluation of regional education governance is scientific and reasonable. Specifically speaking, on the one hand, the regional governments need professional institutions to use professional expertise and adopt professional criteria to conduct direct review of the actual situation of regional education governance and draw corresponding conclusions. On the other hand, the professional institutions need to learn about the public opinion of their evaluation and the government’s self-evaluation, integrate them into their own conclusions, form a comprehensive objective evaluation report and submit it to the higher level of the government.

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Case Study The Bureau of Education of Xi’an City Introduced the Third-Party Education Evaluation In July 2012, the Bureau of Education of Xi’an city formally launched the innovative educational evaluation system. Through the approach of purchasing services, Party A of the contract, the Bureau of Education of Xi’an city, and Party B, the thirdparty evaluator work together to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational reform measures on such the focal points as “School Selection Rush,” “Admission into the Middle Schools,” “Students’ Workload Reduction,” etc. Since May 2011, the Bureau of Education had started deliberating on creating a third-party evaluation system. At the beginning of 2012, the Bureau of Education convened with the research office of the municipal government, the consultation office, the bureau of statistics, the academy of social sciences, the institute of educational science research and other institutions to discuss the feasibility, execution and prospective outcome. Through half a year’s open competitive negotiations and the government purchase program, the Bureau of Education selected Shaanxi High-Quality Talent Office Ltd. as the third-party evaluator. This innovative educational evaluation project will collect first-hand sources from multiple dimensions and multiple actors and conduct an objective, genuine review of all the new educational innovation measures. The public can provide information through the special Website and mailbox of Shaanxi HighQuality Talent Office Ltd. The institution will investigate and review the information from the public and declare the conclusion of the investigation to the public as soon as possible. We should strengthen the public oversight. It is a significant part of regional education governance to allow the public to participate in the oversight of the regional education governance. At present, the educational oversight mechanisms are reflected on the government level, lacking the oversight of the public and relevant organizations. Therefore, governments at all levels of the region should establish the relevant mechanisms and mobilize the public participation in the oversight process. First, governments at all levels of the region should set up an open education information system and open to the public all the information about the abilities of school operation and the quality of education in all types and levels of schools in the region. They should also invite advice from the public on the major reform plans, policy measures, projects and programs before making the final decision and declare to the public in a proper way what suggestions they have adopted. Governments at all levels of the region should also inform the public of the working process and outcome of regional education, the quality criteria, the result of the oversight and the report of the supervision. To open the information of regional education to the public is the prerequisite of strengthening the public oversight. Besides, the government can organize the public, parents and experts in education to form an oversight institution to ensure that the participants in oversight are in a better position to express their opinions. Finally, governments at all levels of the region should formulate and improve the laws, regulations and policies, guarantee the rights of the public to participate in the oversight, develop the oversight channels, and ensure the channels are smooth. They

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should listen carefully to the opinions of the public and give them prompt feedback. They should also design proper implementing and investigation systems to ensure the public oversight of regional education is systematic, reasonable and scientific. Seen from the procedural perspective, the participatory oversight system is composed of three parts. The first part is to collect the oversight opinions, which derive from three sources: the public, professional institutions and governments at all levels of the region, or their self-oversight. Each level of the government can entrust the intermediary to submit the collected information to the higher level of government. The second part is to make full use of the oversight opinions. The higher level of government can conduct its own evaluation on the oversight information on the work of the lower level of the government in a proper way and provide adequate guidance on how to improve their performance. The third part is to give feedback to the oversight opinions. Following the guidance of the government at a higher level, the government at the regional level responds to the oversight and evaluation opinions, make necessary adjustments to meet the reasonable needs of the public for a good education, and promote a new round of oversight and evaluation by different overseers and evaluators. Therefore, the positive interaction between the government and society is formed and the maximal interest of the public for education is preserved. Regional education governance is an open, transparent management of the educational affairs in the region based on the social and economic environment of the region through the dialogue and consultation among governments at all levels of the region, the schools and other social organizations. It intends to improve the quality of education, facilitate the education equity of the region and achieve the sustainable development of regional education. The key to modernizing regional education governance lies in the transformation of regional education from administration to governance. This transformation is consistent with the needs of China’s economic development and social progress. It is the requirement of carrying out China’s national education development strategy and is conducive to satisfying the needs of different stakeholders of education. To modernize regional education governance, we must adopt the concept of regional education governance, clearly define the goal of regional education governance, strengthen the coordination of different actors involved in the education of the region and innovate regional education governance system.

Chapter 7

Building Distinctive School Clusters of the Region

The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform issued by the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee demanded to “close the gap between different regions, between urban and rural areas and between different schools and solve the problem of school choice and educational equity.” As a result, the focal point of education reform is turned to school building. School is the basic unit of regional education. It also reflects and guarantees the quality of regional education. Only when each school is well developed can we ensure to narrow the gap between schools and achieve a more balanced development. However, achieving the balance does not mean going average. Nor does narrowing the gap mean eliminating the differences. On the contrary, it embraces diversity. In the landscape of regional education, every school has its distinctive features. Therefore, we should optimize the advantages of each school, form clusters of schools with distinctive characteristics (SDCs or distinctive schools) and endeavor to provide every student with the education that suits them best.

7.1 The Elements and Features of Distinctive School Clusters of the Region In recent years, the building of schools with distinctive characteristics has attracted more and more attention. Although some scholars do not approve of the term “school with distinctive characteristics,” arguing that the key of basic education is not to pursue the so-called distinctive characteristics but to accomplish the task stipulated In this chapter, the terms “schools with distinctive characteristics (SDCs)” and “distinctive schools” are used interchangeably, meaning “特色学校.” The term “regional school clusters,” “distinctive school clusters of the region” and “regional clusters of schools with distinctive characteristics” are also used interchangeably, meaning “区域特色学校群.” © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_7

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in the national education law. However, this argument did not stop the rapid of development of distinctive schools. Many regions have witnessed the campaign of “one school, one distinctive feature” and the campaign has achieved remarkable progress. However, from the perspective of comprehensive reform of regional education, it is not the individual, sparse features but a cluster of schools with these distinctive features that make a huge difference. A popular saying goes like this: “A single tree does not make a forest.” Likewise, a single school with distinctive features does not suffice to achieve the goal of accomplishing comprehensive reform of regional education. Therefore, the building of SDCs is just the first step in promoting comprehensive reform of regional education. Only when we combine the distinctive features of all schools can we form a regional school cluster and bring the cluster effect into full play, thus creating a favorable atmosphere for comprehensive reform of regional education

7.1.1 The Basic Elements of Distinctive School Clusters Regional clusters of schools with distinctive characteristics refer to the gathering of distinctive schools and their impact on each other. Each school bears its own distinctive feature. They learn from each other and grow together. The guiding principle of building regional school clusters is to follow the integrated strategy of comprehensive reform of regional education. They start with developing their own distinctive features, sharing them and thriving together. They rely on the concerted efforts of the school clusters to promote the integral transformation and rebirth of the comprehensive regional education. Therefore, the school clusters should contain five basic elements: “inclusiveness,” “comprehensiveness,” “differentiation,” “integration” and “multi-dimensional effects.” 1. Inclusiveness: Every School Should Have the Space for Its Own Growth. To build the regional school clusters, we must include every school in the region, create favorable conditions and provide sufficient space for their development. The CPC party committees and local governments should make every endeavor to promote the fair distribution of education resources. “The fair distribution of education resources is a significant component of the social justice in the field allocation. However, the allocation of education resources is fundamentally different from the allocation of other social wealth. Such a distribution must look to the future. It is an ideal, a hope.” (Liu Guihua et al. 2014) The building of school clusters must be based on a fair distribution of resources. It should also bring hope to remote, poor schools and support the development of their distinctive features. We should encourage each school to identify its own “ecological niche” and develop its own distinctive feature.

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2. Comprehensiveness: Booster the Overall Development of High-Quality Education The comprehensive development of high-quality education is the prerequisite of the development of distinctive features. In other words, the distinctive features cannot be achieved without the comprehensive development of high-quality education. The building of school clusters is to implement the guiding principle of the CPC, i.e., fostering the builders and heirs of China’s socialism, who are well developed in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor education. The building of school clusters is not to stick to one’s differences. Instead, it is, under the leadership of the CPC, to accomplish the tasks of education, improve the overall quality of the students, cultivate new avenues of development on the basis of guaranteeing the overall quality of education, and finally booster the distinctive features of schools. “Developing distinctive features does not necessarily mean to pursue differentiated development. Instead, it is to develop the distinctive advantages of each school on the basis of recognizing the differences. Nor is it the development of specific distinctive programs. The specific distinctive programs can serve as the starting points or even the breaking points, but ‘points’ does not mean ‘scale’.” (Liu Limin 2013) Only when we endeavor to enhance the comprehensive high-quality development of every teacher and every student can we truly optimize the distinctive features of the schools. 3. Differentiation: Respect the Differences There are no distinctive features without respecting the differences. The essence of the development of the distinctive advantages is the respect for the differences. The theory of ecology argues that the differentiated development is the prerequisite of improving the ecosphere. The convergence of the species in a niche may result in the gradual stagnation or the ultimate extinction. The construction of regional school clusters is to avoid the converging development on the basis of respecting the differences and therefore maintain the vitality of regional education. “The differences and the distinctive features are the indispensable elements of the vigorous development of education. The equity and justice of education is reflected in the balanced development and the respect for the variety. A balanced development does not mean conformity, i.e., the same model for thousands of different schools. It means every school should be the best, i.e., the hardware and software of all schools should reach a universally acknowledged standard, and on this basis explore their own distinctive features.” (Liu Limin 2013) In brief, the development of distinctive school clusters means to achieve the equality of education in the process of respecting the differences, ensure the conditions and quality of every school, motivate the self-innovation of every school, achieve the balance in the process of developing specific distinctive features and thus narrow the gap between different schools. 4. Integrate the Advantages The idea of school clusters is a systematic thought. It is the shift from building individual schools with distinctive features to developing the educational ecology with distinctive regional characteristics, or the shift from distinctive schools to distinctive

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school clusters. This shift has three features. First, it is the comprehensive planning and systematic integration within the school. The school spurs the reform of other areas by strengthening one particular advantage. Second, it is the integration of the advantages of different schools by learning from each other and thriving together. Regional education ecology is characterized by connectivity, integrity and gradation. Connectivity means the sharing of the distinctive features of different schools in the region. Integrity means developing the distinctive regional characteristics. Gradation refers to the consideration of the holistic layout and developmental process in the course of forming distinctive features. Still another feature is the causal relationship between the systematic development within the schools and the holistic development within the region. The schools enhance their own growth in by riding on the regional development and meanwhile contribute to the development of the regional education ecology. Therefore, the individual schools and the regional development both benefit from their mutual interaction. 5. Multi-dimensional Effects: Improve the Added-Value of the Distinctive Schools The distinctive school clusters have multi-dimensional effects, which are reflected in five aspects. The first is to form the distinctive developmental strategy of regional education. The evolution of school clusters from “schools” to “clusters” requires the guidance of a holistic regional strategy. The building of school clusters is able to prompt the local governments to ponder over their options and develop their own development strategy. The second is to promote the balance between different schools in the region through differentiated development. The third aspect is to form the combined force of the comprehensive reform, explore each school’s advantages, respect their differences, aggregate the resources through sharing their advantages, and thus fashion the distinctive features of the regional comprehensive education reform. The fourth aspect is to increase the region’s social and economic advantages and the interactive capacity of the school clusters, spur the building of the distinctive school clusters through the social and economic development and optimize the region’s distinctive features through the reinforcement of the school clusters. The fifth aspect is to upgrade the social impact of regional education and cultivate the favorable public view of regional education. In the above five elements, “inclusiveness” is the prerequisite, “comprehensiveness” is the guarantor, “differentiation” is the essence, “integration” is the key, and the achievement of the multi-dimensional effect is the ultimate goal. Only when the five elements work together and progress together can we truly establish high-quality distinctive school clusters.

7.1.2 The Typical Features of the Regional School Clusters The regional distinctive school clusters need to combine the above elements and exhibit their distinctive features in developmental strategy, structural layout, integration of resources, autonomous management of schools and systematic progress.

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1. The Holistic Strategy: Achieve the Vision of the Clustering Development of Distinctive Schools in the Regional Education The ecological theory hypothesizes that a unified biocenosis is not possible unless the organisms have identical development goals and similar idiosyncrasies. Once formed, the biocenosis will be able to obtain the power for self-renewal in the flow of energy. A significant purpose of building the regional distinctive school clusters is to construct a school development community of regional education and form a selfrenewed collective driving force of school development in the region. To formulate an effective development community with distinctive school features, we need to establish the same development objective and regional vision to help the schools to explore their own potential, cultivate their advantages and form their own distinctive styles with the help of the common vision and common goal. Therefore, the primary feature of the distinctive school clusters is to formulate the region’s holistic strategy, promote all the schools to thrive and learn from each other under the guidance of the regional vision, and finally achieve the clustering development of the distinctive schools. 2. The Regional Structure: Optimize the Distinctive Features of the Schools Through Reasonable Regional Layout The development of the distinctive schools under the guidance of the regional vision is not a concurrent, convergent development with similar models. It is the development of distinctive features or “ecological niches” guided by the regional strategy and combined with the historical and cultural resources of all the schools, their current priorities, level of management, potential and distinctive resources of their communities. Therefore, the second feature of the regional school clusters is to form the multi-layer, multi-orientation landscape of development under the holistic guidance of all levels of CPC party committees and governments and the reasonable layout of the distinctive developments of different schools. For instance, in the Ten-Year Plan of Medium-and-Long-Term Education Development Plan issued by Jinjiang District of Chengdu City, the district board of education adopts the idea of developing the clusters of schools with marked features and endeavors to attain the goal of establishing a highly efficient, premium education with highly competent faculty, quality resources and a beautiful environment. It embraces a balanced, diversified reform strategy and is supposed to lead the middle and western parts of China and step into the first-tier in the country. The following is the layout. As for those schools with no distinctive programs or whose programs are not distinctive enough, the priority is to foster such programs. To attain this goal, we need to make full use of their quality resources, determine the potential programs, define the development goals, sort out the development thought of going from “qualified, to highly qualified, and to most qualified” and finally foster their most distinctive features. We should also have carefully worked out the development plans and set up relevant guarantee system. The fostering of the programs is supposed to complete before 2012 and the distinctive features come into being before 2015. As for those schools with a particular distinctive program, the priority is to elevate these features through innovation. In other words, we need to sort out and analyze

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the school’s tradition, origin, environment, facilities, faculty and staff, and source of students and on this basis to determine the development goal, perfect all the work and guaranteeing measures and integrate the work on the specific distinctive programs with the idea of school management. Then we need to facilitate the holistic development of the school through perfecting the distinctive features of the particular program and ultimately realize the transformation from distinctive programs to distinctive schools. As for the traditionally renowned schools and those with distinctive features, the priority is to exhibit their distinctive culture. They should optimize the traditional advantage and form the unique school culture, thus turning the shaping of the school’s distinctive feature into a strong driving force to boost the level and quality of school management and achieving the ultimate goal of becoming a model of the first-rate education. The inclusion of all the schools, the bolstering of comprehensive development, the respect for individual differences, the multi-layered advancement of the distinctive features, a proper layout of schools, all these contribute to the clustering development posture of the distinctive schools in Jinjiang District. 3. Sharing and Thriving: Achieving the Co-development of the schools’ Distinctive Features through the Clustering of Resources The third feature of the regional distinctive school clusters is that they have formed the sharing and thriving posture in the development of regional education. Within the layout of the whole region, they are able to transform the advantages of one school into those of the whole region and turn the distinctive features of one school into the shared resources of all the schools in the region. Therefore, the district is able to accumulate the distinctive resources of the region and elevate the distinctive quality of the individual schools, thereby achieving the sharing of the distinctive features among the schools and the thriving of the education in the whole region. For instance, the education board of Yuelu District of Hunan Province put forward the concept of moving from “finding your own beauty” to “sharing the beauty,” and therefore, formed the crisscrossing chains and circles of distinctive features. At present, Yuelu District has formed several “distinctive chains” in foreign languages, art, science, happy aerobics, volleyball and others, covering 20 high schools, junior high schools, primary schools and kindergartens. The schools on the chain extend from the city center to the suburban and rural areas. The head school of the chain plays the leading role and work together with other schools to make rules and regulations to guide and regulate the behaviors of the schools on the chain. The leadership, departments, groups, faculty and staff of the head school in the city center works together with their counterparts in the suburban and rural areas. Those schools that have similar extra-curriculum activities also work together, sharing their experiences and learning from each other. Through the multidimensional and multi-layered connectivity, the core educational resources move within the chain. Therefore, the formation of the school chain enables all the schools on the chain to ride on the “elevator” to develop their own distinctive features.

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It is not just each chain of schools that develops so well. So does each chain of subjects and moral education. The Red Bracelet Alliance of Rong Wan Primary School, Care: You & Me Volunteers Alliance, to name just a few. The mental health corridor also comes into being (Jiang Xinjun 2013). 4. Create their Own Stories: Achieve the Autonomous Development Through Differentiated Development “The essence of the development strategy of the distinctive schools is to push forward the school’s autonomous development.” It is to motivate and protect the school’s autonomy and creativity, to encourage each school to make its own mediumand-long-term development plan, define its own developmental direction, concisely summarize its distinctive features, voluntarily inherit or foster the distinctive campus culture and comprehensively boost the education quality. (Liu Limin 2013) The formation of the distinctive school clusters is intended to facilitate the respective schools’ remarkable characteristics by cultivating their advantages, respecting their differences, sharing their experiences and contributing their wisdom. The goal takes into account the development strategy and layout of the region as a whole and is attained through sharing, contributing and learning from each other. Therefore, the process of forming each school’s distinctive features is that of discovering their differences from other schools and of gradually optimizing such differences. This requires the schools to take initiative to plan, innovate and form their distinctive styles. For instance, in the process of working on the distinctive program, the board of education in Qingyang District of Chengdu City guides and assists the schools to achieve autonomous development and forms their own distinctive character. Chengdu No. Eleven Middle School is a girls’ school. It launched “Girls’ Education Initiative,” a brand program intended to educate girls, explore the female talent development and design the relevant courses based on the girls’ physiological and psychological characteristics. The program sets the goal of moral education, design different courses for different grades and shape the “classic brand” of girls’ moral education. In terms of subject teaching, the program adopts the strategy of “fostering the strengths and circumventing the weaknesses” and conducts targeted research on teaching and learning methods. Nowadays, single-sex education is not the mainstream practice in China. However, Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, with a long tradition, often dubbed as “nature’s storehouse or land of plenty,” is renowned for its harmonious, inclusive, intelligent and trustworthy city spirit. The city also strives to be one of the best tourist attractions in China. Therefore, building a brilliant girls’ school here enables Chengdu to exhibit its polarized achievement in education. In this sense, the school is also a window project to tell China’s success story to the world. Chengdu No. Eleven Middle School fills the gap in China’s girls’ education. Chengdu Experimental Primary School is renowned for its faculty development. It is a typical school to study and facilitate the development of teachers, who, in turn, foster the development of students and boost the overall development of the school. The distinctive program is well established and wins the awards from the municipal and provincial governments. Nowadays it focuses on the research into the

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system innovation of “Faculty Development School” and is devoted to the operation and perfection of “Faculty Development School.” In recent years, this school has cultivated a large number of managerial talents for the schools in Qingyang District. Paotongshu Primary School combines school education and family education to facilitate the healthy development of students. The school advocates the concept of harmonious education and encourages students to become autonomous learners in their personal growth. The school and family work together to facilitate the full, free, comprehensive and harmonious development of each student. Three key words are significant in this model: communicate, cooperate and share. The two sides communicate with each other, share their views and work together to address the issues involved to facilitate mutual understanding and mutual trust. In this case, the school turns the parents into valuable education resources and thus the strengths of education and thereby pushes forward the progress of school education and family education. Caotang Primary School introduces the system of “Executive Principal” whereby any teacher in the school is eligible to run for the school principle through open and fair procedure and if elected, will carry on the work of the principle for one month. The school reforms the review mechanism through the executive principle system and makes team review the essential approach in teacher evaluation. This approach encourages teachers to communicate and coordinate with each other and thus transform faculty development into brilliant teamwork whereby the whole team assist each individual teacher to grow and prosper. Chengdu No. 5 Kindergarten organizes the educational activities based on the theory of Philosophy for Children, a pedagogical method designed to encourage the kids to ask questions about the philosophical questions they are familiar with in everyday life. The kids discuss the questions and come up with solutions to solve the problems. In this open, dynamic and interactive process, the kids learn to think, express their views and form a habit of thinking carefully about the questions raised to them and looking for the meaning in life. (The Book Series on Comprehensive Education Reform, the Editing Committee 2012d) 5. Systemic Effect: Achieve Comprehensive Development in the Dissipative Structures of the Schools in the Region Nobel Prize laureate Ilya R. Prigogine defines the dissipative structures theory as a complex system beyond the equilibrium range that is able to repeatedly transcend itself and from disorder to order, realize its self-development in the process of exchanging information and energy with its surrounding system. One of the goals of building the distinctive school clusters is to form similar dissipative structures of the schools in the region. Prigogine argues that four conditions have to be met to form the dissipative structures: an open system, beyond the equilibrium, a driving force and feedback mechanism and a new balance achieved in the constant coordination. If the schools in the region are to achieve comprehensive development of their distinctive features in the dissipative structures, they will have to establish connective reform mechanisms and coordinate all the relevant reform factors. They also need to accumulate all the available resources to consolidate the accomplishments of the reform and form a spiraling posture of moving from balance to imbalance and a new balance

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in an open and constant reform. Only by so doing can they bring the advantages of distinctive schools into full play and achieve the systemic effect of the distinctive school clusters.

7.2 The Proposals and Procedures of Building the Distinctive School Clusters in the Regions In order to better reflect the basic elements and typical features of the “clustering” development, we must move away from the isolated and separate state, and overcome simple repetition, blind imitation, low-level operation and scattered development. Each school simply cannot go its own way. We will have to work together because we are stronger if we are together. We must find the proper orientation of the region and the schools to facilitate the clustering development of distinctive schools.

7.2.1 Regional Orientation: Working Together to Constructing an Ecological System of the Distinctive Development The clustering development of the distinctive schools in the region is based on comprehensive reform of regional education and intended to create a favorable environment for the distinctive development and brand fashioning of each individual school and the whole region as well. Ecology argues that a favorable ecological system is based on a favorable environmental factor, which is comprehensive and regulatory. All the factors in the environment are not isolated. They are closely connected, interactive and mutually constrained. The change in any single factor will cause certain degrees of change and backlash of other factors. The effects caused by the change of these factors can be direct or indirect, major or minor and significant or insignificant, but they can be mutually transformed in certain conditions. (Yang Chi 2009) The direction of the change is constrained by the development of the entire system. To change every factor in the ecological system and enhance its contribution, we have to be aware of the holistic direction and focal points of the system. The construction of the distinctive school clusters requires us to form a favorable ecology for the distinctive development of regional education. This ecological system is not only composed of many factors within the educational system but also of social, economic, political and other factors outside the educational system. These internal and external factors of the educational system constitute the environmental system of the distinctive school clusters. To turn the development of distinctive schools in the region into a driving force of the regional brand fashioning or to turn the regional brand fashioning into a favorable environment for build the distinctive schools, we must first establish the development direction of the regional educational brand and

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set the operational goal of the regional educational system. The direction and goal have to be determined together by the internal and external factors. Only in this way can we achieve the holistic development and the favorable interactive and symbiotic ecology between the construction of the distinctive school clusters and the regional education. To achieve such a favorable ecology, we must determine the regional orientation from the four aspects, the quality, brand strategy, regional layout and comprehensive interaction. 1. Cling to Education Quality The ultimate goal of building the regional distinctive school clusters is to innovate talent cultivation models and improve education quality through by changing the educational methods. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed the task of advancing the comprehensive reform in the field of education. It read, “We must center on the fundamental tasks of building virtues and morality, conscientiously foster and practice core socialist values, improve the teaching of Chinese traditional culture, form effective and long-term mechanisms to promote patriotism, stimulate curiosity to learn and train practical skills and enhance the students’ sense of social responsibility and reform and innovation. We should reinforce the physical education and extracurricular activities, foster the students’ physical or mental health. We should improve art education, and cultivate the students’ aesthetic and humanistic ethos.” The formation of the distinctive school clusters is to finish the task set by the party and the state, help students to enjoy a good education and guide the schools to create and provide the education that most suits their personal growth. The building of the regional distinctive school clusters must be based on the most basic educational task, guarantee the quality of education and provide the students with a better, fairer and more diversified education. In this endeavor, educational quality is the bottom line. There are over 8000 primary and secondary schools in Chongqing Municipality, among which 4000 are in the rural areas. To promote the development of each and every school and cling to the bottom line of guaranteeing the educational quality, these rural schools adopt the strategy of “vitalizing the schools by developing the distinctive features.” Why do you choose to develop the “distinctive features?” “Chongqing is a large municipality with large urban and rural areas. The building of distinctive schools is the objective requirement to achieve the balance of education. It is also a significant means to resolve the problem of the shortage of high-quality educational resources,” said Peng Zhiyong, the director of the municipal education department. “Our goal is to run every school well, particularly the rural or poorly operated schools,” said Zhong Yan, the associate director of the director of the municipal education department. “How can we achieve this goal? The building of distinctive schools is a solution.” According to Gong Chunyan, the key promoter and the architect of Chongqing’s distinctive schools, this is the inevitable outcome of education reform and development.

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“First, we witnessed the change of China’s schools at that time. In 2006, China’s Ministry of Education promulgated relevant policies to guarantee the sufficient expenditure for the primary and secondary schools. Prior to that, the school principals were busy with fund-raising and social networking. They followed the instructions of the leaders of the local education department on how to run the school. Now they have sufficient funding and are in a better position to think for themselves about how to improve the quality of education. The development of distinctive programs is a solution. Second, the promotion of a balanced development of education in the urban and rural areas was a focal point in many parts of China at that time. However, the focus of the government was on the balance of basic conditions for education development, i.e. adequate resources. What mattered more was the balance of education quality, which was what concerned the public most. Therefore, we would foster distinctive programs, improve education quality and facilitate social equality. Third, we often say that school is a center of culture. What makes a school a center of culture? The answer is distinctive features. What makes a school differ from others? It is its culture, its distinctive features. With the development of distinctive features of each school, we hope to help every school to achieve their unique culture and nurture the talents through culture. Fourth, we focus on equality, the equality of opportunity in education. In the past, our focus was on the urban schools and the key schools. Now we need to pay more attention to the rural schools, and the poorly operated schools and enhance equality in education. Besides, in terms of developing distinctive features, be it key schools, urban schools, or poorly operated schools, schools in the rural areas, they are all at the same starting point. They have the same opportunity to achieve their goal. The development of distinctive features offers a solution for more rural and poorly operated schools to have a bright future,” said Gong Chunyan. In brief, the building of distinctive schools is “to facilitate the rapid development of the schools in Chongqin Municipality, to help them form their distinctive features and thus boost the balanced and equal development of education in the whole city.” (Lai Peigen et al. 2011) In other words, the ultimate goal of building the regional distinctive school clusters is to cultivate the school’s distinctive features, raise their awareness of reform and innovation and improve education quality. 2. Choose a Strategic Brand The distinctive feature is a brand. The formation of the distinctive school clusters in the region should bring the “cluster effect” into full play and develop a regional education brand. To attain this goal, the CPC local party committees and governments need to formulate a brand strategy, guide the schools to form their own brand under the framework of the regional strategy and ultimately facilitate the development of the school clusters. For instance, in Nanshan District of Shenzhen City, the district government proposed accomplishing “four transformations” and achieving “four outstanding goals” in social reforms. Based on this, the local education department proposed its own brand strategy, i.e., developing an outstanding educational

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and cultural system through the creation of an outstanding education model and set six strategic priorities: educational transformation, quality education, education equality, education internationalization, learning-oriented district and IT-based education. Referring to these tasks, each school is supposed to make full use of its own advantages and form its own feature (Table 7.1). These activities succeed in shaping the “Excellent” education brand for Nanshan District, Shenzhen City, forming its distinctive feature and contributing to the building of distinctive regional characteristics. They help to foster the talents, inspire the students’ potential, cultivate the responsible citizens and educate the young generation. 3. Draw Up a Blueprint for Regional Brand Strategy Guided by the regional strategic brand, we need to help all the schools to find out their own distinctive resources, clarify each school’s specific distinctive features and frame the layout map of the region’s distinctive school clusters. Only in this way can we avoid the repetition or low-level operation when building the distinctive schools. For instance, Nanshan District of Shenzhen City sticks to the brand of the “outstanding educational system” and guides the district schools to establish their own distinctive features. Nanyou Primary School carries out outstanding “activities” to foster outstanding students. Yucai Primary School guides the teachers and students to pursue excellence by “cultivating the ideals of the students.” Nanshan Primary School focuses on character education to guide the teachers and students to become outstanding modern citizens. School of Harmony and Happiness, as the names implies, focuses on pursing a harmonious society and leading a happy life to foster global citizens. The distinctive features vary from school to school and they work together and form the layout map of Nanshan District’s “outstanding” education brand. Guided by this roadmap, all the schools carry forward their own distinctive features, learn from each other, consolidate their advantages and formulate a distinctive regional brand. (a) Conduct More Careful Research and Clarify the Roadmap In order to ensure the effective progress of “distinctive programs,” advance the school’s sustainable development, we need to strengthen the research on “distinctive programs.” First, we propose categorizing the distinctive features of school running into three layers: the distinctive programs, the school’s distinctive features and the distinctive schools. Based on this, combined with the experience Qingyang District carried out in the past few years, i.e., “one school one brand, one school one distinctive feature,” we summarize the commonalities of the distinctive programs as follows. (i) The distinctive program of the school must be outstanding, sustainable, unique and exemplary. (ii) The program must clearly express its vision, goal, orientation and planning to lead its development. (iii) It must clearly state its motto, its philosophy on how to run the school and the values it embraces; the school principal should also clearly articulate the school-running principles and concepts. (iv) It must have a dedicated, experienced and professional faculty who have their distinctive expertise or research field. (v) It must carry out student-centered education reform. (vi) It must

The core concepts of school running Fostering the talents through activities and green development

Race to the future world

Inspiring the potential

The name of the school

Nanyou Primary School

Yucai No. 3 Primary School

Shahe Primary School

Table 7.1 Core school-running concepts of Nanshan District, Shenzhen City

(continued)

Engaging all the students, inspiring them and realizing their full potential

(a) Race: reflecting the urgency and determination of the teachers and students to carry on education reforms and the wish of the students to grow up fast in the rapid development of society; (b) The future world: referring to the goals of the school development and the limitless possibilities of the students

(a) Activities: the extra-curricular activities voluntarily participated by students in the teaching and learning process at school, conducted on the basis of students’ interests and needs and targeted at engaging the students in voluntary exploration of issues and developing their comprehensive capability; (b) Engaging the students through activities: aiming at cultivating a better understanding of knowledge, problem-solving skills, good behavior, positive feelings and internalization of socialist values; (c) Green development: science, harmony, and sustainable development and laying a solid foundation for the personal growth of the students

The interpretation of the core concepts of school running

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The core concepts of school running Foster the citizens through the culture of harmony and happiness

The name of the school

Nanshan Primary School

Table 7.1 (continued)

The school activities based on the culture of harmony and happiness is a student-centered approach, designed to empower the students in their learning and character cultivation, help them to acquire the ability to understand, to care, to love and to learn, to create, to cooperate and finally become a responsible citizen of society (a) learn to love nature, family members, the nation and the world; (b) learn how to learn, i.e., value the harmony of words and deeds, combine thinking and action and put theory into practice; (c) learn to live a happy life, i.e., learn the basic skills in life and have a better taste of life; (d) learn to create, i.e., raise the awareness of innovation, learn to discover, analyze and solve the problem; (e) learning to work with others, i.e., be honest, good at communication, cooperation and ready to help others (continued)

The interpretation of the core concepts of school running

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Harmony and Happiness

Tongle School (i.e., School of Harmony and Happiness)

The idea of Harmony derives from Chinese ancient thought of Great Harmony or Great Unity first proposed by Confucius. It also borrows from the western idea of coordination. The idea of Happiness derives from the Chinese traditional “ritual and music culture” and western idea of “happy education.” The approach of a harmonious and happy education advocates “the pursuit of harmony instead of conformity and making progress together.” It observes the motto of fostering personal character and seeking truth and pursues the spirit of having the same heart and mind and cultivating happy teaching and learning. It intends to shape a new generation of students who know the manners, pursue the truth, revere virtue, admire the beauty and dedicate themselves to innovation

The interpretation of the core concepts of school running

Source The Book Series of Comprehensive Reform of Educational Experiments, The Editing Committee 2012a. The Pursuit of Excellence and Dialogue with the World: The Model of Comprehensive Reform of Education Experiments, Beijing: Education Science Press, pp. 17–20

The core concepts of school running

The name of the school

Table 7.1 (continued)

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have educational research, particularly on how to improve all types of work at school. (vii) It must have a good operating mechanism to stimulate the vitality of education administration. (viii) Campus culture: each school should have its distinctive campus culture. (ix) Distinctive activities: the school needs to incentivize the students to take initiative to participate in the distinctive school activities. (b) Thoroughly Investigate the Merits of the Schools and Refine their Distinctive Features In order to have a better knowledge of the accomplishments of the district’s primary and secondary schools in building their distinctive features, the district government requires each school to have a thorough investigation and to summarize the major distinctive features in about 100 words and other features in about 50 words. List the key awards they have and then compile a table of the distinctive schools of Qingyang District. (c) Steady Progress in the Distinctive Programs (i) The school should work on Pilot Evaluation Indicators of the School’s Distinctive Development Programs in Qingyang District, Chongqing Municipality, invite the advice of the schools, convene to discuss the evaluation indicators and distribute the indicators after revision. The school examines itself on whether it is compatible with the evaluation indicators and revise the school’s own implementation plans. (ii) The schools that decide to apply for the honor of the distinctive schools will have to organize their thoughts and complete the application materials under the guidance of the evaluation indicators. Application procedure: In the academic year of 2011–2012, the district government received 32 applications for the third batch among which 22 come from the primary schools, 7 from secondary schools and 3 from kindergartens. In terms of the content, 11 applications are concerning reform on teaching and learning, 12 concerning educational reforms and 9 concerning developing the special skills of the students. (iii) Form a panel of experts: adopt the third-party evaluation approach, complete the discussion the third batch (32 applications) of the distinctive development programs; finish the mid-term review of the second batch (5 distinctive programs). (d) Draw up a Comprehensive Correlative Plan The formation of regional school clusters requires the inter-connection or interaction, particularly the interaction between the educational system and social system, the interaction within the education system itself. The interaction between the education system and social system is intended to promote the support of the local governments, community, mass media and others in publicity, spirit, intellectual, policy and material wealth and whereby form the correlative plans. The linkage plan within the education system intends to address four issues: (i) the coordination among different departments within the education system to support the building of distinctive school clusters; (ii) the coordination between different schools to achieve the mutual complementarity of their respective advantages and thus form the region’s

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distinctive education brand; (iii) how the development of the distinctive programs can promote other work of the school and guarantee the basic education quality; and (iv) the vertical linkage to form the system of the distinctive programs in different school quarters and achieve the linkage of the inter-school quarter connection of the work on the distinctive features. Among this, it is more difficult to have the linkage of the inter-school quarter connection of the work on the distinctive features and Xigang District of Dalian City has groped for a new solution to the problem. The holding of the distinctive activities greatly facilitated the healthy growth of the kids. However, the interests and special skills the kids have kept for six years in the elementary school might “be suspended” when they enter into the secondary school. After the implementation of the school district system, under the district management mechanism, the primary and secondary schools within the same school district begin to coordinate and sit down together to discuss the nine-year compulsory education curriculum. The school district headed by No. 34 Middle School also includes May 4th Road Primary School, Shuixian (Daffodil) Primary School and Hongyan Primary School. Since then, Gong Yinghai, the principal of Hongyan Primary School has had the opportunity to visit No. 34 Middle School and experiences its distinctive campus culture. “Each time when I was invited to visit the cultural festival of No. 34 Middle School, I felt greatly amazed. It led me to think about a question: how can the program of fostering the students’ special skills of Hongyan Primary School connect with that of No. 34 Middle School?” Gong Yinghai is particularly impressed by the volleyball game program of No. 34 Middle School. Each of the 1500 students in the school has a volleyball and volleyball game is very popular there. Gong Yinghai marveled at the vigorous volleyball game. He obtained some DVD recordings from Yu Yanbo, the principle of No. 34 Middle School and showed them to the teachers in his own school, Hong Yan Primary School. To his surprise, some teachers took the students to No. 34 Middle School and observed the lively atmosphere of volleyball game and some students wanted to play volleyball as well. After that, the students in Hong Yan Primary School also developed their interest in the game. Before long, volleyball game quickly became a distinctive program in the school. The students formed interest groups on volleyball. Now all the plus 300 students have their own volleyballs and volleyball game has become a popular sport in Hong Yan Primary School. Liu Dong, a P.E. teacher in No. 34 Middle School, is a significant promoter of volleyball game in Hong Yan Primary School. In his spare time, he will often communicate with the P.E. teachers in May 4th Road Primary School, Hong Yan Primary School and Shuixian Primary School, discussing how they can coordinate volleyball teaching between the primary and secondary schools. In the nine school districts of Xi Gang District, the teachers of each school district think about the longterm or even life-long development of the students and endeavor to systematically cultivate the students’ hobbies and special skills. Based on the realities the school districts, they explore the sources of distinctive programs, motivate the teachers’ active participation, integrate the distinctive programs of the entire school district, and therefore develop the traditionally advantageous programs and set up a new

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group of key distinctive programs. This ensures the connection between the primary and secondary schools, helps the middle schools enjoy the accomplishments of the primary schools, and effectively guarantees the realization of the goal of the nineyear compulsory education within their respective school district (Zhu Zhe et al. 2012). (e) Form a Distinctive Regional Campus Culture To form the distinctive school clusters, we need to turn the pursuit of regional educational brand into the common vision of all the people in the region, the development concept of regional education into the common thought of all the departments involved and all the reform measures into the common action of the whole region. To achieve this goal, we need encourage all the schools to make concerted efforts to form the distinctive regional educational culture compatible with the regional development strategy and the reality of the distinctive schools. In the course of forming the distinctive campus culture, we should enhance the interaction between the school’s distinctive features and its campus culture. We should also promote the common educational values and beliefs of the individuals and organizations within the region, form a broad consensus on the development of the school’s distinctive features, campus culture, sharing of inter-school educational resources and comprehensive reform of regional education, and thereby create a favorable cultural environment for comprehensive reform of regional education.

7.2.2 School Orientation: Construct the Pedigree of the Region’s Distinctive School Clusters in the Diversified School-Running Process After the formation of the regional ecology concerning the development of the distinctive schools, we should guide and help the schools to clarify the “ecological niche” of their distinctive development. In building the region’s distinctive school clusters, we should not only consider the regional brand strategy, but also reflect the diversity of the distinctive schools. Human development differs from individual to individual. So does the approach of talent cultivation. It needs diversified guidance, support and individual space. Without diversified schools, there would be no dynamic distinctive school cluster in the region, let alone the diversified, individualized talents. Ecology argues that only the diversified ecological community (biocenosis) can gradually form its own pedigree in the laws of nature and continue to extract energy for continual growth. A significant method to retain its diversity is to respect and preserve the “ecological niche” of each species, allow the species in the ecological community to grow in its own way and play its own role. It is the same with the building of the distinctive school clusters. That is, only when we respect the unique characteristics of every school can we construct the dynamic development pedigree with the distinctive features of the region. In order to help the schools to

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find their ecological niches, we can adopt such methods of analyzing the advantages, identifying the uniqueness and fashioning the brand. 1. Analyze the Advantages: fanning the glowing embers into flames Advantage means something that helps you to be more successful than others. If you have it whereas others do not, then it is your advantage. If others have it whereas you have a better one, it is also your advantage. Generally speaking, you find your advantage through horizontal or longitudinal comparison. The first step in school orientation in building the distinctive school is to search for the school’s advantageous field. You can use three methods to do it. The first one is to identify the school’s advantage through horizontal comparison, i.e., comparing your school with other schools within the region. The second one is to identify the school’s potential through the longitudinal comparison, i.e., searching for the school’s distinctive quality beyond the daily routine teaching work. The potential may become the school’s future advantage. The third one is to identify the new starting point. If you have no advantageous or potential program, create a new one. You can get it by carefully examining the core requirements of the regional brand strategy and the mainstream needs of the students’ growth. In other words, you have a blank paper and you can draw a blueprint of the school development. Differentiated development is the basis of your blueprint. For those schools without any distinctive advantages, we should endeavor to search for “the glowing embers” and fame them into “a flame.” For instance, Jinshajie Primary School in Shapingba District, Chongqing Municipality, was set up in 1983. After over ten years of struggle, it was on the verge of closing. In 2001 the new principal Guo Xiu began to figure out the solution to save the school. Through painstaking efforts, she finally found “the glowing embers,” that is, the distinctive program and got the school out of trouble. Jinshajie Primary School was on the verge of collapse. Something had to be done! Mrs. Guo Xiu did not shrink from this responsibility. She thought, “any school has its own distinctive feature, even a poor and poorly operated school.” Then she began to look for “the little glowing ember.” Finally, she got it. It was stamp collecting. In fact, since the 1980s, the students in the school started collecting stamps. But to her regret, this program did not go deep enough. “In 2002, we adopted the new curriculum, which was part of the curriculum reform in the primary school. The education board encouraged us to tap our potentials and develop new courses.” Mrs. Guo Xiu seized the opportunity. “I consulted a few teachers who have been engaged in stamp collecting for quite some time whether we can combine philately with everyday teaching and learning. They said yes.” Then philately began to enter the classroom: a hobby was turned into a course. This was only an experiment on a small scale. Two years later, Mrs. Guo Xiu was thinking about expanding the scale of the experiment. “In April 2004, I applied for a project from the district board of education and decided to expand the course to the whole school. But I encountered resistance,” said Guo Xiu. “The school was divided into two factions. The supporters believed this experiment was in line with the curriculum reform. The opponents argued that

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philately was simply a hobby, an extra-curriculum activity. They claimed that class teaching was a serious matter. How could we put philately into class?” After careful and thorough discussions, the school reached a consensus: integrating philately into class and making it a distinctive feature of the school. Xu Lihui, a science teacher of the school clearly remembered the meeting of their discussion. He said, “Principal Guo convened and proposed discussion the feasibility of combining philately with teaching. She said this can be a distinctive feature in exploring the teaching reform in our school, which few schools right now are working on. We can be a pioneer in this field. I was greatly touched and excited. We’re a school on the verge of collapse. Many people have lost hope. But Principal Guo is so passionate!” Guo’s dedication and passion derive from a simple belief: “She does not want to let the kids down. The kids must have the right kind of education they deserve!” After two years of struggling and persistent efforts, the situation in the school gradually looked up. The real leaps and bounds in the quality of education occurred in 2006 when the school began to systematically work on the building of distinctive school, i.e., elevating philately to a distinctive program of the school. Prior to 2006, the combination of philately and classroom teaching is still random and superficial. To bring this distinctive feature into full play requires systematic and profound integration and makes it the distinctive school brand and the core of the campus culture. Therefore, the school proposed a new idea of school management: edifying the mind through philately. With this comes the motto: Caring, Fair, and Trustworthy. Three attributes of the ethics building include the taste for philately, the attitude towards learning, and the shaping of character. The Three-attribute education puts character education on the top priority and underscores the significance of fairness, compassion, integrity, respect and the pursuit of truth. The shape of stamp is square, a symbol of being fair and square. The character as a real person is the prerequisite of the taste for philately and the passion in learning. In so doing, the school elevates philately teaching to the school’s moral and cultural plane. Hence, the prospect of the school is increasingly brighter. The school comes up with a “2-2-4” Education Model, i.e., two channels, four goals and four components of the program. In other words, the school plans to achieve the goals of fostering morality, inspiring intellect, developing taste and building up the body through teaching the basic knowledge of philately in class and carrying out extracurricular philately activities. The program includes organizing the extensive and diverse philately activities, compiling the textbooks on philately, exploring the best way to combine philately with the teaching of different subjects, and forming a distinctive philately campus culture. Of the four components, the most distinctive feature and the most profound is the integration of teaching and philately. Just as Guo Xiu said, “In terms of fostering the talents, stamps play four major roles in class teaching, nurturing emotional behavior, cognitive competence, aesthetic awareness and critical thinking. For instance, In Chinese class, the teacher tells the stories about the stamps, particularly those commemorating the renowned, patriotic figures and evokes the students’ patriotic feelings. In history class, the

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teacher helps the students to learn about the history of philately in China and other parts of the world as one example to develop their cognitive competence. In the classes of music, art and P.E., the students develop their aesthetic awareness and in math and science classes, they learn how to think and reason. In these cases, philately or the qualities formed in the process of collecting stamps, such as love of beauty, careful observation, the respect for others and critical thinking can also be reflected in class teaching. This is how the school endeavors to highlight the role of philately in education. A poor and poorly operated school like Jinshajie Primary School lacks teaching aids, facilities and other basic resources. It is the small stamps that liven things up. “As for the integration of teaching and stamps, we proposed ‘four not-limits,’ that is, the use of stamps is not limited to specific grades, subjects, forms of teaching and types of classes.” Guo Xiu said, “Our studies conclude that stamps help to play four major roles as teaching aids: creating the class situations, making up for teaching resources, resolving the problems and underscoring the priorities. For instance, in Chinese class, when explaining Su Shi’s poem “Writing on the Wall of West Temple,” the teacher shows the set of four stamps “Mountain Lu” to the students. The four stamps present the mountain exactly from four angles, left, right, close and far. With the help the stamps, the students immediately understand the first two lines of the poem, “It’s a range viewed in face and peaks from the side, Assuming different shapes viewed from far and wide.” —Translated by Xu Yuanchong and know how to appreciate Mountain Lu. Besides, the school also established a Post Office for Kids, a moving stand at Ciqikou Street in Shapingba District to organize field trips for the pupils to visit the post office nearby and learn about the circulation of mails, etc. In the past two years, the school began to hold the Philately Festival. “On this day the kids have no homework. They sing, dance and make speeches in the morning and have flea market in the afternoon,” said Guo Xiu. Although the festival was held only twice, it rose quickly to fame. The small stamps bring the hope to the once poor and poorly operated school. (Lai Peigen et al. 2011) Since the launch of the distinctive school based on the distinctive program philately, Jinshajie Primary School gradually transformed itself into a distinctive education brand in the region. 2. Differentiated Development: Look for the Unique Strategy for the School Development To clarify the differentiation in advantages, identify the distinctive feature in the differentiation, search for the unique soul of the school development in the distinctive features and present the unique landscape of the regional development pedigree, this is the second step of building the region’s distinctive school clusters. To ensure the success of the second step, we need to follow the next three steps: first, clarify the

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advantageous field; second, explore its core spirit and construct the distinctive spiritual culture; and third, get the spiritual culture to penetrate into all the aspects of the school life and form the development soul of the school, the teachers and the students. Only by using the “differentiation” in such a way can we ensure that the “differentiation” becomes the development orientation of the school development and lays a solid foundation for the formation of the distinctive school. For instance, Yangjiaping Primary School of Chongqing Municipality utilizes calligraphy, a distinctive program to refine the school’s campus culture. The distinctive feature of Yangjiaping Primary School is calligraphy. Like Jiangnan Primary School several years ago, calligraphy is only a distinctive program of Yangjiaping Primary School. In 2006, Zhou Xutian became the school principal. He resolved to change the course of the school by making it a distinctive school. The question was how to transform the campus culture through the distinctive program like calligraphy? This is a painstaking process. On the one hand, “we had meetings with the faculty and the parents again and again, invited their advice, reviewed the merits and demerits and evaluated the feasibility. On the other hand, we invited many experts, some from Chongqing Normal University, and others from Chongqing Academy of Educational Sciences to have thorough discussions of the issue.” “The discussion lasted over half a year. We deliberated on what could be the right motto for the school and what could lead the school forward.” Mrs Gong Chunyan, the President of Chongqing Academy of Educational Evaluation participated in the discussion. She said, “We convened many times. It was the sixth time. At about four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, we were in a small teahouse. The panelists were voicing their views. Suddenly an idea came into my mind: “aspire to foster the talent.” (立志立人) That’s it! In this four-character phrase, the second one zhi (aspiration) is similar to zi (字) in pronunciation. Zi in this context refers to Chinese character in the broad sense and calligraphy in a narrow sense. We changed the character zhi (志) into zi (字), and “foster the talents through calligraphy” (立字立人) becomes the motto of the school. We all thought calligraphy was a very distinctive feature of the school and the new motto exactly reflects this feature.” Therefore, “foster the talents through calligraphy” becomes the motto of Yangjiaping Primary School. The motto derives from calligraphy, but it is more than calligraphy. It embodies the core value the school holds so dear. The new motto casts light on the mission of the school: calligraphy is the means and fostering the talents is the ultimate end. Based on this, they proposed the principles of three “fives.” The first “five” refers to the five major types of Chinese calligraphy: seal script, clerical script, regular script, semi-cursive script (or running script) and cursive script. The second “five” refers to five rules of script: square, conforming to the standard, tidy, elegant and artistic. The third “five” refers to five components of talent fostering: character, wisdom, health, art and labor. The school opens calligraphy courses, but what mattered more to Zhou Xutian is to foster the character of the students by learning calligraphy. He integrated the

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concept of “fostering the talent through calligraphy” and the thoughts of calligraphy education into the teaching of all subjects. For instance, in Chinese class, the students learn to appreciate the character (or moral) education, particularly integrity, honesty and compassion. In the class of fine arts, the students learn to understand that calligraphy and painting derive from the same roots. In music class, they learn to discover the aesthetic similarity between calligraphy and dance. In other words, “Calligraphy is the dance on the paper and dance is the flowing calligraphy.” In this sense, calligraphy is more than writing Chinese characters or a form of art. It has become a spirit, a campus culture, edifying the mind of the teachers and students. With this, Yangjiaping Primary School has become a distinctive scenic vista in educational circles (Lai Peigen et al. 2011). Yangjiaping Primary School chooses calligraphy as its distinctive program and develops it into the school’s distinctive feature. The school employs the spirit embodied in calligraphy to lead the school’s development, and through the promotion of “differentiated” development, it exhibits the unique identity and individuality in its school running. 3. Create the Distinctive Brand of the School Development Brand is the reflection of the distinctive feature. After clarifying the direction and field of the school’s distinctive development by analyzing the advantages and differentiations, we should persistently endeavor to develop the real distinctive feature of the school and make it a significant part of the pedigree of the region’s distinctive school cluster. Just as the principal of Chongqing Nankai Secondary School Song Pu said, “A distinctive feature that is not stable is not a feature at all. One principal focused on art, his successor focused on science and technology, and the next one focused on another distinctive feature. As a result, the school turns out not to have any distinctive feature at all.” (Lai Peigen et al. 2011) Therefore, to form a school’s distinctive feature, we can learn something from the making of a business brand, that is, turning the distinctive program into the distinctive feature of the school, and then turning the latter into a cultural spirit. The cultural spirit will lead the school’s reform and development and fashion the school’s education brand. Only in this way can we bring the school’s distinctive feature into full play in the school governance and the talent cultivation. Chongqing Nankai Secondary School is dedicated to passing on the motto of the school, “Gong Neng Spirit” (i.e., commitment to society, persistent self-improvement) and now making it a significant brand of the school. The most significant contribution of Principal Song Pu is to carry forward the motto of the school: Commitment to society, persistent self -improvement. What does the motto mean? The founder of the school Zhang Boling explained it by quoting Master Hanfei, a Chinese philosopher of the Legalist School during the Warring States Period: “Gong (public) is the opposite of Si (private).” The students of Chongqing Nankai Secondary School should serve the nation and work for the public. Zhang Boling continued to say, “Neng, the Chinese term for ability, requires the students to cultivate their skills and persistently improve their ability. How can you serve the nation and work for the public if you have no capabilities or skills?”

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To put it in simple terms, the goal of Nankai Secondary School is to foster the talents “who are possessed of the virtue and the abilities to serve the nation and society.” Courses are the core of school education. Nankai’s “Gong Neng” Education (i.e., the dedication to serving the nation and the public through the cultivation of the students’ moral character and practical abilities) are reflected in their core curriculum. In 1984 when all the middle school courses around the country were fixed on required courses, Nankai Secondary School took the lead in opening six elective courses. Then came the grave doubts: Could the elective courses affect the grades of the students in the college entrance exams or the rate of admission into universities? “The 1990s was the most difficult period when many teachers and students complained that they were still struggling with the required courses. How could they have time to take elective courses?” At the very beginning, taking elective courses did, to a certain degree, affect the admission rate, and “in the most difficult time, only 106 students entered colleges and universities.” But in order to underscore the significance of the dedication to public service and practical abilities in education, they persisted in the next 26 years. For 26 years, many schools changed their distinctive features in the name of innovation, but the principals of Chongqing Nankai Secondary School, one after another, persisted. “Now we offer over 140 elective courses. They’re arranged in the first two sessions on Thursday afternoon, one session for each course in the semester. If the two sessions happen to be the same course, they have the same syllabus. The electives for every semester constitute an independent system of courses.” Ms. Wei Jinli, Director of teaching and research section said, “In this case, each student will have the opportunity to take four electives each year, which greatly expands their horizon.” Many Great Courses are very popular with the students, such as Seminar on Chinese Traditional Culture, Confucian Ethics, American High School Business Administration, Taekwondo, Selected Readings of Qian Zhongshu’s Guan Zhui Bian (Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters), Model Airplane: Making and Flying, etc. “There is no secret about the elective courses. Everybody can do it. But we started early and persisted well. Then it becomes a tradition,” said Song Pu. Someone said, “If you focus on one thing for many years, then the world would come to you.” The brilliant campus culture and the unique educational spirit are formed through these long-term persistent efforts. Just as an English saying goes, many a little makes a mickle. An example is Nankai Forum. “Our former principal Zhang Boling once said that we should make Nankai Secondary School a university in the form of high school,” said Song Pu. “A university is possessed of great scholars. We need to offer our students the opportunity to meet the great scholars, listen to them and communicate face to face with them.” There used be some lectures. However, they were not systematic. Nor were they higher in quality. In 2002, shortly after becoming the principal of the school, Pu Song decided to open “Nankai Forum.” Every Thursday afternoon, the distinguished scholars at home and abroad were invited to give a one-hour lecture. The students were free

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to choose to attend the lecture. The lectures cover a wide range of topics, “from Jin Yong’s Wuxia (martial arts and chivalry) novels to international financial crisis, from biodiversity to wine and western culture, from the architectural art to issues on education, etc.” Professor Gu Yongxing, the famous mathematician, Professor Zhao Jindong, biologist and academician of China’s Academy of Sciences, Professor Zhu Shiqing, former president of University of Science and Technology of China, Mr. Yan Su, famous playwright and composer, Professor Su Boer from University of Vienna and many others were invited to deliver speeches to the students. “When we learn that the university presidents or academicians happen to be in Chongqing, we will invite them to our school,” said Song Pu, “Some would rather come to our school to meet our students than deliver speeches in the universities. It has been eight years since we launched Nankai Forum.” In the past eight years, Nankai Forum was held about three hundred times. Many topics at the forum had nothing to do with the college entrance examination. But as an “elite” school, Nankai has the responsibility to offer the students a sense of “elite.” “We cannot just be satisfied with teaching the compulsory or required courses. We need to do more. We need to take whatever means necessary to broaden the horizon of our students, cultivate their international vision, and promote their overall development,” said Song Pu. In order to help the students to learn how to learn and how to think, Nankai Secondary School highly values the opening of “independent study courses,” which is part of the Nankai Forum program. Besides, the school also encourages the students to make full use of the library. “We encourage our students to enter the library, which is open all the year around except on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Our library is full of students every day,” said Song Pu. “Our book shelves are open to the students. We encourage the students to go there to choose the very books they are looking for and then scan them on the loan machine. I am sometimes amazed at the books they borrow. For instance, I once noticed a student borrow Sheng Congwen’s writing on the study of dress styles. He may not be able to finish reading it, but as long as he turned a few pages, he might learn something from it, or it might have some influence. We have a special section for new books of each month and the students have direct access to them at any time.” (Lai Peigen et al. 2011). Owing to the persistent efforts of each generation, Nankai Secondary School has become a national brand and will continue to serve the nation and society.

7.2.3 The Holistic Symbiosis: Construct the Region’s Distinctive School Cluster in the Comprehensive Interactive Development Ecology argues that as long as there is a cluster, there must be a symbiotic function. A cluster without symbiosis is not a real cluster. Symbiosis helps to promote the interactive development of every individual in the cluster. Whether the distinctive

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school cluster can promote the symbiotic development of the schools in the region in the form of a “cluster” is a significant symbol of the transition from the individual school’s distinctive feature to the distinctive feature of the school cluster. The holistic symbiosis refers to the integration of the distinctive resources, experiences and accomplishments of all the schools in the region to fashion the distinctive development brand of the region and promote the capabilities of the regional education to improve social environment and push forward the political and economic development. Its ultimate goal is to achieve the comprehensive symbiotic development of the school’s distinctive feature, the region’s distinctive feature and the regional environment and social progress. The holistic symbiosis is comprised of four aspects. First, it is the holistic symbiosis of the school, i.e., the promotion of the school’s overall development and the personal growth of all the teachers and students by carrying out the school’s distinctive feature. Second, it is the holistic symbiosis of the school cluster, i.e., promoting the co-development of the different schools and strengthening the distinctive school cluster by sharing their experience in the development of the distinctive features. The third is the holistic symbiosis of the regional brand, i.e., the joint efforts to create the regional educational brand and share its benefits. The fourth is the holistic symbiosis of the region’s distinctive educational brand and the region’s political development, economic growth, social progress and managerial accomplishment. The region’s social and economic development supports the formation of the distinctive school cluster, which will help to improve the region’s social and economic environment and boost the popularity of the region. This is the symbiosis of the region’s distinctive education and the social and economic development. To achieve the holistic symbiosis of the distinctive school, we can take three measures, “the chain of the differentiated distinctive features,” “the network of the educational brand,” and “the sharing of the distinctive features.” For instance, Jinjiang District of Chengdu City promotes the holistic development of the region’s distinctive features through “the distinctive educational chain” and the development of school district. It also endeavors to form the chain and network of the differentiated features through system establishment, experience upgrading and review mechanism. The district encourages and supports the schools on the “educational chain” to take initiative to develop their distinctive features and improve their capabilities to upgrade their distinctive features and thereby form a “chain” of high-quality educational resources. Based on this, the schools are encouraged to break the barriers of school quarters, explore how to strengthen the school district characterized by the seamless connection between the kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools, highlight the passing on and development of the distinctive features of the schools, establish a quality management system with the school quarters closely connected, promote the interactive development between different school quarters and meet the needs of the people to have access to a good education. Xigang District of Dalian City adopted the distinctive sharing mechanism to maximize the symbiotic benefits of the inter-school distinctive features. Through a systematic management, Xigang District has achieved the sharing of resources among the primary and secondary schools within itself. For instance,

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the primary schools can have access to the secondary schools’ professional classrooms of geography, science and other courses and therefore avoid the repetition of resource allocation. Besides the sharing of facilities, the schools also share the excellent teachers, teaching and research publications and the experiences of school management and thus greatly facilitate the overall improvement of the education in the region. Mrs. Fu Chengwei, a 20-year veteran of Datong Primary School in the school district headed by No. 6 Middle School, has formed her distinctive working style as a class advisor. She practices the so-called slow education. She believes that patience is the most vital quality of a teacher and, when confronted with problems, the teacher needs to keep calm, try to understand the students’ thoughts and concerns and figure out solutions. The school district makes full use of Mrs. Fu Chengwei’s experiences and establishes “the Workshop of Class Advisors,” whereby sharing the quality resources among three middle schools within the school district. Mrs. Fu Chengwei is the head of the workshop and helps the young class advisors from No. 6 Middle School, Datong Primary School and Jiusan Primary School to achieve their professional growth. (Zhu Zhe et al. 2012) The Workshop of Class Advisors cares about the students, parents and colleagues and has become a significant platform for the class advisors to talk to each other’s heart, communicate with each other and make progress together. On this platform, the young class advisors trust Ms. Fu and are willing to exchanges their views with her. This platform helps the young class advisors to grow and achieve the sharing and symbiosis of the distinctive resources within the region. It is conducive to the formation and development of the distinctive schools within the region.

7.3 The Guaranteeing Mechanism of the Region’s Distinctive School Cluster The formation of the distinctive school cluster of the region is a complex, systematic project. A powerful guaranteeing mechanism is the prerequisite to prevent the fragmentation and achieve the integration of the formation of the distinctive schools.

7.3.1 Establish the Cultivating Mechanism of the Distinctive Schools and Promote the Diversified Development of the Schools Within the Region The regional distinctive school cluster is not possible without the cultivation of every distinctive school. Therefore, the primary and basic guarantee is to establish the cultivating mechanism of the distinctive schools and promote the diversified development of the schools within the region. To achieve this end, we need to ensure

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that every school reaches the most basic standard of the educational quality. We also need to follow the brand strategy of the regional development, take into account the realities of different schools and make sure no school is left behind. This guarantee mechanism should contain five aspects. First, the strategic planning and implementation mechanism of the region’s distinctive educational brand should make allowance for the current basis of the regional education and the needs of the regional cultural resources and social and economic development. Second, we should formulate the regional guiding and supporting mechanism based on the differentiated development. We should also carry out special research on the development of the distinctive schools, establish the distinctive school community, expert guidance and process oversight mechanisms, help schools find out their distinctive features, explore the educational, spiritual and cultural values of these features and whereby form the “differentiated identification” and “ecological niche” of the schools. Third, we should establish “progressive” cultivating mechanism. After clarifying the “differentiated identification,” we need to establish the “progressive” guiding mechanism, going from the distinctive program, to the distinctive school and then to the distinctive brand school. We also need to specify the assessing criteria and incentive measures, formulate the progressive mechanism characterized by layered identification, guidance, assessment and development, guide the schools to identify their ecological niche, their current development stages and future goals, set up the platforms for their further development and help the schools to achieve their goals step by step. In this process, we cannot use the “one-size-fits-all” approach to evaluate the distinctive programs of all the schools. Nor can we disregard the realities of the schools and order them to pursue the leapfrog development. In the formation of the distinctive schools, we should avoid pomposity and impetuousness. Fourth, we should establish the proper evaluation incentive mechanism to ensure that the distinctive programs take root, thrive, set a good example and inspire other schools to follow their lead. Fifth, we should establish the social incentive and publicity mechanism to promote the social influence of the distinctive schools and spur the distinctive schools to continue to improve the quality of their distinctive programs. The establishment of the cultivating mechanism of the distinctive schools is also a continuous interaction between a variety of relevant actors, i.e., the holistic strategy of the CPC party committees and governments at all levels, the planning and guidance of the experts and educational research departments and the independent thinking and voluntary development of the schools. The key for the cultivation of the distinctive schools is to establish the modern school system, inspire the schools to take initiative to actively participate in the reform and innovation of the schools and arouse every school’s consciousness of fostering the talents through distinctive programs. According to Liu Limin, “The essence of the modern school system is to properly handle two relationships. One is the relationship between the school and the government and society and clarify the school’s education rights (or the school’s autonomy in education). The other is the internal relations of the school. For instance, every school must establish its rules and regulations, which are intended to guarantee

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the teachers’ professional autonomy and create a free, independent and democratic atmosphere in the school. Only when we establish and perfect the modern school system can we ensure the clarification of the respective rights and obligations of the school principal and the teachers, enable the school to remain the most dynamic cell in education and gradually form and preserve a good spirit of the educational culture (Liu Limin 2013). We must closely integrate the cultivating mechanism of the distinctive schools with the formation of the modern educational system. Only in this way can we foster the distinctive programs that are most valuable to school running. Chongqing Municipality has gained much experience from working on the distinctive school cluster as follows. “At the end of 2006, we established the working group on cultivating the distinctive primary and secondary schools. Director Peng Zhiyong headed the leading group and Associate Director Zhong Yan led the working group. The program was approved by China’s National Planning Office of Education Sciences as a key project,” said Gong Chunyan. “At the beginning of 2007, we held a meeting in the name of the Municipal Department of Education. The schools and the educational committees at the county and regional level that decided to participate in the program sent their delegates to attend the meeting. Then we began the theoretical training to help the school principals understand what makes a distinctive school and what makes a school’s distinctive program. They also learnt about the relationship between a distinctive school and a distinctive program, between the distinctive program and campus culture, and between a distinctive school and a distinctive teaching and learning, a distinctive management, or a distinctive art and P.E. We provided staff training at the municipal, the county and district, and the school level so that all the participants in the program had a thorough understanding of what makes a distinctive school. On this basis, the participants started their work step by step. The first step is to choose the right schools to start the program and other schools follow suit. “We observe three principles in the selection of the schools. They are in rural areas, poorly operated, and their principals are enthusiastic about the program,” said Gong Chunyan. “Yangjiaping Primary School is the first school we pick up for the program, Jiangnan Primary School is the second, Jinshajie Primary School is the third, and Chongqing Mutong Middle is the fourth. Of course, we also choose some good schools, such as Xiejiawan Primary School, Shanhu Primary School, Renhe Primary School, Renmin Primary School, Bashu Primary School, Chongqing No. 1 Middle School, Chongqing Nankai Secondary School, and Chongqing Foreign Language School.” Why do they select the schools in this way? They want to prove that each school has its distinctive feature and can be a distinctive school. The second step is to summarize the successful experience of the distinctive schools and spread it to other schools. “Those that launched the distinctive programs early are open to other schools and tell their success stories on how they got there. With this, more and more school joined in the efforts and grew rapidly. At the outset, only 10 schools started the distinctive programs and now the number increases to about 180.”

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The third step is to conduct the correlative research on the distinctive schools and campus culture. “Launching the distinctive school program is more than the formation of the distinctive feature itself. It is to create a cultural atmosphere for the teachers and students to learn basic skills and edify their mind. How can we elevate the formation of the distinctive features to the shaping of campus culture? This question requires a more detailed study.” Gong Chunyan said, “For instance, when chess playing becomes a distinctive feature of Jiangnan Primary School, the idea of making the right decision in every move in chess play is elevated to the idea of “making the right decision in every step in life.” When philately becomes a distinctive feature in Jinshajie Primary School, the square shape of a little stamp is used metaphorically as the cultivation of the moral character, for as in English, being fair and square also means being just and honest in Chinese. The same is true of the calligraphy as the distinctive feature of Yangjiaping Primary School, which is elevated to character education through the practice of calligraphy, for there is a Chinese saying: a man’s script style reflects his true character, etc. When the distinctive program is elevated to campus culture, it will certainly have a certain degree of influence on the personal growth of each generation of students. Hence the school is exalted to a new level. The fourth step is to assess periodic success to make further progress. “The 180 schools involved in the program are at the different stages of development. How can we guide each school to develop in the right direction? For that purpose, we introduced the review mechanism,” said Gong Chunyan. “According to the requirements raised by Associate Director Zhong Yan, we reached consensus on the review mechanism. First, rules and distinctive feature. Each school should closely follow the relevant rules and regulations of school management before working on its distinctive program. Second, basic standard and special skills. Each school should achieve the teaching and learning goal of the basic compulsory education required by National Education Law before developing their distinctive feature. Third, who is responsible for the review of each school’s distinctive feature and special skills? The principal alone cannot determine what the school’s distinctive feature is. It must win the approval of the faculty, students and parents. Only when the whole community acknowledges the school’s distinctive feature is it worthy of the title. This kind of review mechanism motivates the school to make a real effort to work on its own distinctive feature and ultimately become a distinctive school. (Lai Peigen et al. 2011) It is this correlative mechanism between the three layers of leadership, i.e., the municipal education commission, the district and county level and the school level, that propels the schools to develop own their distinctive features. As a result, the diversified development of the distinctive schools has come into being in the region. It is certainly a positive trend in comprehensive reform of regional education.

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7.3.2 Establish the Joint Mechanism of the Regional Distinctive School Cluster and Form a Good Ecology of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education The establishment of the joint mechanism of the regional distinctive school cluster is the totality of the operational methods, systems and implementing strategies characterized by the inter-school symbiosis, the sharing of the experience among the schools in the region and joint efforts to develop the regional brand. It is guided by the brand strategy of the regional distinctive school cluster and intended to mobilize all the possible resources, integrate various forces and promote the distinctive development. The formation of the distinctive school cluster is an effective approach to promote comprehensive development of regional education and form a good ecology of regional education. The formation of the school cluster cannot be accomplished by the schools or the educational administrative departments alone. It requires the concerted efforts of all the relevant departments. The CPC party committee and government at the regional level lead and coordinate the endeavor and clarify the efforts of all the relevant departments and the roles of the CPC party committees and governments at local levels, whose performance will be included in the annual review. Only in this way can we give full play to the joint mechanism in the promotion of comprehensive reform through the formation of the school cluster. The joint mechanism of the regional distinctive school cluster should contain at least three parts: the inter-school correlation, the correlation between the schools and the integral strategy of the whole region and the correlation between the departments within and outside the educational system. First, it is the inter-school joint efforts, i.e. the correlation of the distinctive features between different schools. We should formulate the building, recruiting, cultivating and sharing mechanism in determining the distinctive programs, distinguished teachers, the special skills of the students, the distinctive resources, etc. For instance, Taopu Town in Putuo District, Shanghai City, established a joint mechanism to promote the distinctive development of the schools. The town sets up the joint working group, responsible for making and implementing the plan for the distinctive programs. They work together with the universities to create “digital geography laboratory” and carry out relevant exploratory activities. They help the primary and secondary schools to work together to form a popular science educational chain and achieve the inter-school correlation through the joint efforts on the distinctive programs. The formation of the distinctive programs need distinguished teachers. In order to enhance the sharing of high-quality faculty resources in the region, they establish the co-recruiting mechanism to recruit distinguished teachers on the yearly basis. The recruits are required to observe a cross-school class every two weeks, teaching a cross-school model class every two months, give a lecture open to all schools every semester, make an examination paper (Li Jinlong 2012) and whereby achieve the sharing of cross-school resources. Besides the teachers, the students can also be coordinated across different schools. The students with the same special

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skills from different schools are organized to attend the same cross-school distinctive programs. Second, it is the joint mechanism between the distinctive schools and the region’s brand strategy. We should establish the symbiotic system between the building of the region’s educational brand and the development of the distinctive schools. When we guide and evaluate the distinctive features of the schools, we should respect the school’s history and characteristics and reflect the strategic intention of the regional educational brand. For instance, Jinjiang District of Chengdu City proposes the integral strategy of “quality education” and endeavors to focus on the core concept of “quality” and create the district’s educational brand. Many schools in the district stick to the key word “quality” and form their own distinctive features. For example, Yandaojie Primary School enhances the quality of education in its modern “e-class,” Sansheng Branch of Yucai School affiliated to No. 7 Middle School demonstrates the concept of the educational “quality” through the improvement of classroom teaching in the schools of the urban fringe areas, and the high school affiliated to Sichuan Normal University enhances the teaching “quality” in the distinctive class characterized by stimulating the students’ autonomy and generating teaching efficiency. These schools cling to their own distinctive features, reflect Jinjiang district’s holistic “quality” strategy and thus achieve the joint development of the schools and the region. Third, it is the joint efforts of the departments within and outside the educational system. We should establish the joint mechanism to promote the collaboration between the schools and the community and between the schools and different sectors of society and thus give full play to the social forces in the formation of the distinctive schools. For instance, the schools work together with the community and make full use of the community culture and educational resources. The schools also work together with the traffic police, public security, courts, sports industry, hygiene departments, hospitals, food industry, enterprises, etc. All this collaborative work greatly pushes forward the sharing of resources between the distinctive schools and different sectors of society. For instance, Jinjiang District of Chengdu City takes the students to society and encourages them to participate in various distinctive social activities. It is an effective mechanism to integrate the resources of the schools, the community and the social sectors and thus achieve the collaboration of the forces within and outside the educational system. In recent years, the local government in Jinjiang District has increased investment in developing youth and children’s palaces or centers to help them to carry out various popular extra-curricular activities and set up the platform for “presenting, performing and competing” to enable more students to participate in these activities, present their talents and experience the joy of success. Meanwhile, the district education bureau encouraged the schools to explore the social resources, actively participate in community services and strengthen the sense of civic pride and responsibility. Now the training base of Jinjiang Youth and Children’s Palace covers 11.2 acres (or 67.4 Chinese Mu) of land, 80% of which is covered with green area. Since

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it was put into use in 2004, about seventy-one thousand students have participated in the activities held there. The base offers many popular courses, potterymaking art, carpentry, electronic technology, wireless direction finding, the model airplane making, directional cross-country race, etc. The base also carefully organized such thematic activities as “Field of Hopes and Dreams” (hiking, experiencing field plowing and picnicking), “Field Trip to Science and Technology Museum,” “A Careful Probe in the Museum,” “Experiencing Life Outdoors,” etc. All these extra-curriculum thematic activities are well received by the students and their parents. In order to create more opportunities for the development of the students, Jinjiang district government is planning to set up “Jinjiang District Students’ Development Supporting Center,” including six special-education resource rooms, six charactereducation bases and two to three scientific and technological innovation labs. The resource rooms are designed to meet the individualized needs of the disabled children in the district. These quality-oriented education bases include such major themes as history and culture, technological innovation art, intangible cultural heritage, etc. The innovation labs are intended to provide a diversified platform to enhance the development of the students. (Zhong Weichun 2012) The diversified public platform in the region, to a certain degree, meets the needs of the development of the school’s distinctive features and extends the development platform from the community to society. It is conducive to forming a positive educational ecology for the regional interaction and facilitating the positive development of the distinctive school cluster.

7.3.3 Create the Inclusive Development Mechanism of the Regional Distinctive Features and Enhance the Quality of the Distinctive School Cluster “To advance the comprehensive reform in the field of education, we must update the educational concept, sort out the structural system, innovate the cultivation model, strengthen the capability building and promote the internal development.” (Xi Jinping et al. 2013) The purpose of forming the distinctive school cluster is not just to develop the distinctive school features. More importantly, it is to take the formation of the distinctive features as a significant means to update the teachers’ educational concept, improve the schools’ governance structure, help the schools to innovate the cultivation models, promote the schools’ inclusive development and boost the educational quality. To build the effective school cluster, it is not sufficient to focus on the distinctive activities and programs. Instead, we need to upgrade the holistic quality of the regional education, establish an inclusive mechanism of the regional distinctive features and enhance the quality of the distinctive school cluster. The building of the inclusive development mechanism of the regional distinctive features is to integrate the distinctive features of the regional education into

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the curriculum, courses, classrooms, extra-curriculum activities, projects, etc., and formulate the operational methods and systems to promote the distinctive educational culture. This mechanism is comprised of the inclusive development of the courses, classes, activities (including moral education), projects, teaching staff, resources and assessment with distinctive regional characteristics. Of all these, courses, classes, activities and projects are the carriers, and teachers, resources and assessments are guarantee measures. First, it is an inclusive mechanism to develop the distinctive courses of the region. We should formulate the operational mechanism and system to promote the coordinated development of school-based curriculum, the school’s distinctive features and the regional brand programs, guide the schools to follow the regional brand to form their own distinctive programs, use the school’s distinctive programs to develop the school-based curriculums and use school-based courses to develop the school’s distinctive features and campus culture. For instance, Nanshan District of Shenzhen City, based on the need to establish an outstanding educational system, endeavors to develop the “capability-oriented, multi-dimensionally constructed” school-based curriculum, proposes the curriculum development concept “abiding by school-based curriculum and capability-orientation,” emphasizes that the school-based curriculum should be individualized and diversified and have its own distinctive characteristics. In order to achieve the effective development of the curriculum with the distinctive regional characteristics, the district government pays close attention to the development of the distinctive courses with the regional characteristics, establishes the leading group and conducts the academic and educational research and investigation on the district and school level into the development of the school-based courses. The district and the school make their own plans to develop the school-based curriculum and establish the incentive mechanism on course guidance, evaluation and feedback. They open various courses on humanities, cross-cultural communication, psychology, perception and innovation, leadership development, daily practical abilities, comprehensive character cultivation, etc. These courses are the basic support for the pursuit of excellence, and also the significant means to cultivate the students’ consciousness to pursue an excellent education and cultivate outstanding abilities. Second, it is an inclusive mechanism to develop the distinctive classes. We should form the interactive symbiotic mechanism to integrate the holistic classroom teaching reform of the region and the individualized classroom teaching reform of the schools. It is the holistic reform to advance the classroom teaching reform according to the regional brand strategy. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate the individuality of each school’s classroom teaching. The commonality is used to optimize the individuality; the individuality is used to reinforce the commonality. For instance, Jinzhou New District of Dalian City follows the concept of the regional development: “diversity, openness, internationalization and integration,” and sets the goal of regional reform: “the pursuit of high-quality classroom culture” characterized by such adjectives as lofty, real, happy, rich, harmonious and innovative. In order to achieve this goal, the district proposes the model of “the class with four characteristics.” The class with four characteristics means that in class the students have enough room for thinking, the opportunity to raise questions, enough time for practice, and

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the right to choose different exercises they feel comfortable with. In other words, the teacher should encourage the students to raise worthy questions, discuss them in a comfortable atmosphere and find the right answers. The teacher should also help the students form the habit of critical thinking and allow them enough time at their disposal to do various exercises, including the practice of all their senses. By allowing the students to opt for the different layers of exercises that suit them in terms of their difficulty, the teacher respects the differences among the students. (The Editing Committee, The Book Series for Comprehensive Educational Reforms 2012c). According to the requirements of “the class with four characteristics,” the schools in Jinzhou New District of Dalian City create the classroom teaching models with their own distinctive features, such as the “Issue-Oriented Class” in Hongmei Primary School, the “Psychological Technology-driven Class” in No. 10 Middle School of the development area, the “Open Class” model of Songlin Primary School, the “Pleasing to the Eye and the Mind: the Students-Centered Class” model in Gangxi Primary School, the “Three-Stage and Five-Step” classroom teaching model of Chunhua Primary School, the “Five-Step” classroom teaching model of Minhe Primary School, the “Autonomous Class” model in Experimental Primary School, in “Three-Learning and One-Exercise” teaching model in Dongjiagou Primary School, the “Six-to-Six Class” teaching model in No. 9 Middle School of the development area, the “Multidimensional Issue-oriented” teaching approach in No. 3 Middle School of the development area, etc. (The Editing Committee, The Book Series for Comprehensive Educational Reforms 2012c) The creation and extensive practice of these teaching models help to achieve the collaborative development of the distinctive classroom teaching in the schools and the region. Third, it is an inclusive mechanism to develop the region’s distinctive activities and programs. We should form the interactive symbiotic mechanism to integrate the region’s distinctive brand with the schools’ distinctive activities and programs. We should use the region’s distinctive educational brand to guide and push forward the development of the schools’ distinctive activities and programs. We should also use the distinctive activities and programs to enrich, optimize and demonstrate the distinctive features of the region. For instance, Xiacheng District of Hangzhou City formulates the concept of regional education: “high-level balance, high quality with less homework.” The district takes the regional educational ecology as its distinctive strategic brand, conducts such distinctive activities and programs as the educational academic district, the distinguished faculty cultivation, the Touching Campus Awards/the Most Influential People, annual international innovation conferences, etc. All these programs play a very significant role in enhancing the influence of the region’s strategic brand. Fourth, it is a guarantee mechanism to promote the inclusive development. For instance, Xiacheng District of Hangzhou City establishes a Dream Team training program to provide sufficient distinguished teachers. Jinjiang District of Chengdu City establishes the sharing system of the regional resources to provide sufficient resources for the inclusive development of the region’s distinctive features. Nanshan

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District of Shenzhen City formulates a trinity evaluation system (Tables 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4) comprised of classroom teaching, course design and case study to guarantee the development of “outstanding classes.” The above three tables reflect how the schools in Nanshan District build the outstanding education brand by integrating the striving for excellence into class teaching and implementing the effective evaluation mechanisms to develop the distinctive schools. Table 7.2 Classroom Teaching and Learning Evaluation Index of Nanshan District Evaluation item

Key evaluation elements, observing points and evaluation methods

Weight

Independent learning

The assessors are supposed to randomly choose over 5 students to observe. They observe the students’ self-study in class and evaluate their preview performance. They are also supposed to note down the percentage of the students whose performance ranks at the level of “better or B.” The total score is 15 points. There are four layers of ranking, “Excellent or A” (12–15), “Better or B” (9–11), “Average or C” (5–8) and “Failure or F (0–4).” In other words, if over 90% of the observed students meet the requirement, then the class is ranked as “A.” If 75–89% of the observed students meet the requirement, then the class is ranked as “B.” If 60–74% of the observed students meet the requirement, then the class is ranked as “C.” If the percentage of the observed students is below 59%, then the class is ranked as “F.”

15

Cooperative interaction

The cooperative learning of the observed group. The observing points: (a) the participating rate of the teamwork (It is only when 70% of the group actively participate in the study can it be counted as meeting the basic requirement.) (b) the depth of the discussion; (c) the timely evaluation of the group. If all the three observing points meet the requirement, it can be counted as “Excellent or A” or (12-15 points). If two observing points meet the basic requirements, it can be counted as “Average or C” (2–8 points). If only one observing point meets the requirement or there is no group work, it is counted as “Failure or F” (0–4 points)

15

Score

(continued)

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Table 7.2 (continued) Evaluation item

Key evaluation elements, observing points and evaluation methods

Weight

Presentation

Observe the state and effectiveness of class presentation and communication. The observing points: (a) the thoroughness of the presentation and communication; (b) the harmony of communication; (c) the effectiveness of communication. If all the three observing points meet the requirement, it can be counted as “Excellent or A” or (12–15 points). If two observing points meet the basic requirements, it can be counted as “Average or C” (2–8 points). If only one observing point meets the requirement or there is no group work, it is counted as “Failure or F” (0–4 points)

15

The use of resources

Observe the use of information technology and the use of teaching resources. The observing points: (a) the effectiveness of the use of information technology; (b) the reasonableness of the integration of teaching resources; (c) the compatibility of the scientific development of teaching tools. If all the three observing points meet the requirement, it can be counted as “Excellent or A” or (12–15 points). If two observing points meet the basic requirements, it can be counted as “Average or C” (2–8 points). If only one observing point meets the requirement or there is no group work, it is counted as “Failure or F” (0–4 points)

15

The guidance of the teacher

Observe the guidance of the teacher. The observing points: (a) the plan of the guidance; (b) the timely guidance; (c) the targeted guidance. If all the three observing points completely meet the requirement, it can be counted as “Excellent or A” or (15–20 points). If all the three observing points meet the basic requirement, it can be counted as “Good or B” or (11–14 points). If two observing points meet the basic requirements, it can be counted as “Average or C” (6–10 points). If only one or no observing point meets the basic requirement, it is counted as “Failure or F” (0–5 points)

20

Score

(continued)

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Table 7.2 (continued) Evaluation item

Key evaluation elements, observing points and evaluation methods

The teaching objective

Observe whether the teaching and/or learning objective is achieved. (Based on the learning materials and the teaching objectives set by the teacher, the assessors will give some impromptu questions and randomly choose ten students to take the quiz.) If 90% of the participating students meet the requirement, it is counted as “Excellent or A” (15–20 points). If 75%-89% of the students meet the requirement, it is counted as “Good or B” (11–14 points). If 60%-74% of the students meet the requirement, it is counted as “Average or C.” (6–10 points). If the percentage of the students that meet the requirement is 59% or below, it is counted as “Failure or F” (0–5)

Comprehensive evaluation

Weight

Score

20

100

Note The column of “comprehensive evaluation” is a qualitative description of the above six evaluation items and the score of each item in the form of scale Source The Editing Committee, The Book Series for Comprehensive Educational Reforms, 2012a Pursue Excellence, and Dialogue with the World: The Experimental Model of Comprehensive Education Reform of Nanshan District of Shenzhen. Beijing: Educational Science Publishing House, pp. 231–232

Building the distinctive school clusters is a significant measure to boost comprehensive reform of regional education. It should be guided by the formation of the region’s distinctive features and based on the development of the distinctive schools, which, in turn, are built on cultivating and developing the distinctive programs. These programs help to foster the distinctive campus culture, which, if accumulated, will form the region’s distinctive education culture and brand.

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Table 7.3 Class design evaluation index of Nanshan District Evaluation item

Evaluation index

Evaluation elements

Weight

Scientific

Teaching objective

(a) compatible with the students’ level and study requirement (b) clear, specific and testable

0.10

Teaching concepts and strategies

(a) adequately reflect the 0.15 basic element of an outstanding class (b) The design of the type of lesson, the structure and the procedure is accurate and reasonable (c) The arrangement of the preview, class teaching and homework is adequate

Guidance design

(a) have a clear design of teaching guidance

The use of resources

(a) make full use of the 0.15 advantages of information technology (b) effectively integrate different types of teaching resources (c) The teaching tool is simple and practical

Humanistic

Score

0.10

Pay heed to the students’ (a) The teacher accurately 0.10 study understands how the overwhelming majority of the students master the basic knowledge of the lesson (b) The teacher has a prepared guiding plan for the problems most students might encounter in class Benefit all the students

(a) The design of the 0.15 teaching objective reflects the needs of different learning stages of the students (b) Pay attention to the needs of the students of different learning stages (c) Help the students of different learning stages to make progress (continued)

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Table 7.3 (continued) Evaluation item

Comprehensive evaluation

Evaluation index

Evaluation elements

Help the poorly performed students

(a) The teacher has specific 0.15 plans to help the poor students to make progress (b) The teacher endeavors to motivate the poor students to learn, creates more opportunities for them, care for them and offer them more help (c) The teacher is able to help the poor students to make great progress

Weight

Reflect the democratic management

(a) The teacher takes 0.10 initiative to invite the students’ advice on the design of the teaching plan, or allow the students to participate in the making of the teaching plan (b) The teaching plan reflects the collective wisdom of the teaching group

Score

1

Source The Editing Committee, The Book Series for Comprehensive Educational Reforms, 2012a The Pursuit of Excellence, and Dialogue with the World: The Experimental Model of Comprehensive Education Reform of Nanshan District of Shenzhen. Beijing: Educational Science Publishing House, pp. 232–233

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Table 7.4 Case study of class teaching evaluation index of Nanshan District Evaluation item

Evaluation index

Evaluation index

The description of the teaching process

Authentic

(a) The case authentically 0.15 recreates the procedure of the class (b) The case authentically quotes the words of the teacher and the students in their class communication or discussion (c) The case does not invent or deliberately modify what is going on in class

Weight

Typical

(a) stick to the hot issues, difficult issues and focal points of the subject (b) consistent with the characteristics of the subject and the actual conditions of the students (c) It is representative, typical and worthy of being popularized

Regulatory

(a) Completely show the 0.15 procedure of the class (b) pay heed to the details and the key points (c) easy to operate

Novel/original

(a) The design of the case study is unique and novel. (b) It clearly reflects the personal style of the designer of the case study (c) The features, particularly the distinctive features of the case study are remarkable

Score

0.15

0.15

(continued)

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Table 7.4 (continued) Evaluation item

Reflections and improvement

Comprehensive evaluation

Evaluation index

Evaluation index

Coherent

(a) The language style: 0.10 coherent and grammatically correct (b) The content: a detailed description of the plot and a gripping narrative

Weight

The summary of the experience

(a) Have an adequate 0.10 summary of the accomplishment of this class (b) Have strong arguments for the case (including data analysis and the citation of the analyses of other scholars)

Problem analysis

(a) Have a clear 0.10 understanding of the existing problems (b) Have strong arguments for the case (including data analysis and the citation of the analyses of other scholars)

Measures for improvement

(a) Have a clear plan for improvement of the study (b) Form a research plan of a mini-project for further improvement of the study

Score

0.10

1

Source The Editing Committee, The Book Series for Comprehensive Educational Reforms, 2012a The Pursuit of Excellence, and Dialogue with the World: The Experimental Model of Comprehensive Education Reform of Nanshan District of Shenzhen. Beijing: Educational Science Publishing House, p. 234

Chapter 8

The Effective Guarantee of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education

Comprehensive reform of regional education is a long-term systematic project that involves many interest groups, has a great social impact and exhibits very distinctive regional and local peculiarities. It is extremely difficult and complex. Therefore, we need to take practical measures to ensure its orderly implementation and find effective solutions to the more profound problems in intraregional education.

8.1 Advance Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Through Institutional Innovation As a significant part of the education reform, institutional innovation is a crucial factor to guarantee its smooth progress. To carry out comprehensive reform of regional education, we must establish a complete institutional system and ensure the smooth implementation of the reform through institutional innovation.

8.1.1 Transform the Role of the Government in the Management of Educational Affairs Comprehensive reform of regional education is dominated by the government. Therefore, the transformation of the government’s role is vital to the success or failure of educational reform. In comprehensive reform of regional education, the attitude of the local government toward educational reform and the change of its administrative role determine the outcome of educational reform. How can we motivate the local government to take initiative in comprehensive reform of regional education? How can we change the administrative role of the local government? These are the tough issues that require immediate attention. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_8

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1. Establish Proper Incentive Mechanisms to Motivate the Local Governments in Educational Reform After China’s central government announced the decision to advance educational reform, many local governments came up with their own educational reform plans. At one time, “comprehensive reform in the field of education” became a catchword that frequently appeared in various official documents and conference discussions. However, there is no substantial progress in the local educational reforms. Two factors account for this phenomenon. For one thing, the central government’s specific policies on comprehensive educational reform are not explicitly articulated and the local governments are still in the process of learning and digesting the spirit of the central government’s decision. Therefore, the central government’s expectation of the local governments to take initiative and make major breakthroughs in educational reform fell short in a short term. For another thing, as the key factor, the current working relationship between the central government and the local governments also complicates the educational reform on the local level. For a long time after the founding of the PRC, China carried out a highly centralized planning economic system. As pointed out by Liu Junfeng, “Under the traditional planning economic system, the local governments, as a lower level of executive organization within the administrative hierarchy, have neither independent economic benefits nor relevant social resources under their own control. They are under apparent subordination in terms of power and interests. The central government makes all the big decisions and the local governments are only a passive ‘mouthpiece’ or ‘executive’” (Liu 2004a). With the reform of the economic system, the relationship between the central government and local governments underwent remarkable changes. They are no longer the mouthpiece or executive of the order given by the central government. Rather, they begin to game with the central government in the pursuit and protection of local interests. “The local governments implement those policies and laws in their favor but resist or put in the backburner those in their disfavor. As a result of these protectionist practices, the micro-policies of the local governments are not well integrated into the macro-policy guidelines of the central government, thus severely undermining the macro-regulating capacity of the central government, and leaving a vacuum unaddressed for the market regulation and government macro-regulation” (Liu 2004b). As a matter of fact, the gaming of interests between the central government and the local governments occurs not just in the economic field. It happens in the educational field as well. Many decisions and policies of the central government on educational reform are not adequately implemented on the local level. A very significant reason is that educational reform may harm the local interests or the local governments might have to devote more human, material and financial resources in implementing the education reform. In order to reduce the political risks precipitated by the reform and protect the local economic interests, the local governments either evade or even distort this kind of “top-down” education reform in their own favor. For instance, in order to address the schooling of the children of the migrant workers in towns and cities, the State Council issued the Decision on the Reform and

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Development of the Basic Education in 2001, which required the local governments “to address the schooling of the children of the migrant workers.” The policy stipulated that the public schools of the local districts where the workers reside are obliged to guarantee the rights of these children to have compulsory education. However, this policy does not work well. Many local governments try very hard to evade their responsibility and set up various barriers to keep these children out. The key reason behind this phenomenon lies in the fact that the rights and responsibilities of the central government and the local governments are not clearly defined. The policy requires the local school districts and public schools within to provide the children of migrant workers with an equal opportunity of compulsory education. However, the policy does not specify the respective responsibilities of the central government and the local governments. Nor does it state the exact proportion of the children of migrant workers to be admitted to each public school. As a result, with the increasing influx of migrant workers, the local school districts are under great pressure to take in more and more children to their public schools. Against this backdrop, many local governments begin to set up certain barriers to prevent more children from enrollment through requiring various credentials or charging extra tuition fees, etc. (Song 2009). For another example, the central government issued the policy of optimizing the educational resources in the rural areas through adjusting the layout of local primary and secondary schools. However, the local governments took this as a rare opportunity to ease the local financial pressure by closing or merging the schools. This distortion of the policy issued by the central government on the part of the local governments is both short-sighted and irresponsible, which has drawn broad public attention. Just as Zhou Xiaohong and Li Hongyan point out, with the economic development, social progress, cultural prosperity and particularly population movement, it has become imperative to adjust the layout of rural schools. The goal of this policy is to integrate and optimize the resources available, improve the quality of education and promote a more balanced development of the primary and secondary education. However, the implementation of this policy is not smooth. In order to reduce the financial pressure, the local governments respond by blindly closing or merging certain schools, which precipitates many serious problems. The children in rural areas find it more difficult to go to school, which obviously fails to fulfill children’s rights to compulsory education and affects the quality of primary and secondary education in rural areas (Zhou Xiaohong and Li Hongyan 2013). Therefore, if the relationship and the respective rights and obligations between the central government and the local governments are not clearly defined, such a farce in educational reform will likely reoccur in the future. That said, in order to deepen comprehensive reform in education, a significant task on the part the central government is to change its traditional approach of solely relying on issuing administrative orders and requiring the local governments to abide by and carry out educational reforms. Instead, it should establish incentive mechanisms to motivate the local governments to take initiative in educational reform, thus turning them from passive participants into active executives. Just as Song Demin pointed out, “The central government should give top priority to empowering the

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local districts which have a solid foundation, a good management, a more advanced economy and greater initiative in education reform. To those local districts whose reform is more successful, the central government may consider offering them some special policy support and more educational resources. In a word, we should reassure the reformers about our determined and persistent support for their work and create a positive institutional environment to encourage innovation and experiment (Song Demin 2013).” Besides, in order to reduce vicious competitions across the local governments on the same level, the central government should make fairer regional educational policies and more differentiated assessment and evaluation mechanisms, and guide the local governments to establish interregional communication mechanisms and achieve the sharing of talents, information and resources through coordinated development. 2. Push Forward Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Through the Transformation of the Role of the Local Governments in Education Management The transformation of the administrative role of the local governments in education is a significant component of comprehensive reform of regional education and the guarantee of its success. Therefore, how to achieve this transformation is crucial for the success of regional educational reform. Under the highly centralized administrative system, the government has absolute control over every aspect of education, be it education guidelines, development plans, management regulations, education methods, teaching approach or class organization, all arranged by the government. According to Wei Zhichun, “All these enable the government to conduct a comprehensive management of educational affairs, expand the scale of national education and support the improvement of facilities. However, they also suffocate the initiative of the education practitioners, be it administrators, teachers or staff (Wei Zhichun 2009).” As a consequence of the government’s monopoly, education loses its vitality. Without active participation of the schools, it has become more and more difficult for the government’s reform policies to be effectively implemented. Therefore, it is high time to transform the administrative role of the government. As a matter of fact, most successful experiments of comprehensive education reform benefit from prioritizing the transformation of the government’s administrative role. As Liu Jialin and Guo Jinyuan noted, “In the 1990s, as a testing ground in comprehensive education reform in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, Shunde County carried out a series of reforms in education and made impressive accomplishments. The county has established a preliminary modern national education system characterized by internal coordination, high quality and a higher level of equality. It covers preschooling, primary education, secondary education, higher education, vocational training, adult education and special education. ShunDe County ranks among the first on the county level in education reform in China. In 2009, ShunDe County distinguished itself as a provincial model of promoting education modernization in Guangdong Province and a national model of promoting a more balanced development of compulsory education in China” (Liu Jialin and Guo Jinyuan 2010). Shunde’s success story highlighted the significance of deepening administrative

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reforms and transforming the administrative role of the government. “The comprehensive education reform in Shunde starts with the reform in educational system and intends to establish a two-tier education system on the municipal and town levels where they have more autonomy (Liang Yongfeng 1998a).” A major component of the educational reform in Shunde is to restructure the education bureau on the district level and change its administrative role. The education bureau of Shunde County used to directly administer all the schools, supplemented by macro-management. Therefore, there were many repetitive institutions. For instance, prior to the reform, there were 10 offices in the bureau, consisting of 60 people. There was also an office for adult education, which was on the same administrative level as the bureau. However, with the increasing scale of education, and the clear division of labor between the education bureau and the schools, particularly the schools’ increasing autonomy, the education bureau found it increasingly difficult to adapt to the changing situation. The problems included low efficiency and ambiguous division of responsibilities. In 1992, the education bureau took the opportunity of institutional reorganization and restructured its organization. They believed that the educational administrative department was the administrative and professional authority of the local educational management. The municipal education bureau was responsible for implementing macro-management and indirect administration of the schools and providing relevant services. The education office of the town should empower the schools and give the schools sufficient autonomous power to run the schools. Accordingly, they integrated the office of adult education into the education bureau, separated the teaching and research section and teaching aiding facilities section from the education bureau and became an independent government office. The education bureau was reorganized into four offices, including the office of basic education management, the office of human resources, the office of planning and universalization, and the office responsible for higher education, adult education and vocational education. The personnel quota was 28. The restructured bureau overcame the problems that used to plague the institution and achieved the transformation of its administrative roles (Liang Yongfeng 1998b). The goal of transforming the administrative role of the government is to establish a service-oriented, responsible government based on the rule of law. Accordingly, the transformation of the administrative role of government is comprised of the following. First, the government should change its understanding of the very idea of education administration from the administrative hierarchy to achieving effective governance and providing service. Second, the government should clarify the responsibilities and power boundaries, i.e., keeping the administrative powers within but not beyond the boundary of law. Third, the government should enhance its awareness of the rule of law and run the school and teaching by law. Just as stipulated in The National Outline for Medium-and-Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) issued on September 6, 2013, “We should change the onedimensional approach, i.e. directly control every aspect the school. Instead, we should combine lawmaking, appropriation, planning, information service, policy guidance and necessary administrative measures, and reduce the unnecessary administrative

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interference.” To push forward comprehensive education reform, it is highly necessary to transform the administrative role of education and enhance the capacity of the local governments in education management, which is the guarantee of a successful comprehensive reform of regional education. The local governments should not only have the faith, determination and persistence to deepen comprehensive education reform. They should also have a strong sense of mission and a high level of capacity in education governance. Just as the former minister of education Yuan Guiren pointed out, “A sense of mission reflects the generosity, courage and character of a leader in education. The leaders in education should always remember their responsibility for the nation, the people and the education career. They should rise to the challenge. Now, education reform has become more difficult and challenging than ever before. Various interests are intertwined and they form a complex and complicated network. Education reforms and risks are increasing. Our responsibilities have never been so formidable. We cannot win the battle of comprehensive education reform without a strong sense of mission, a strong sense of responsibility. We need to have the courage to face the difficulties and endeavor to alleviate the concerns of the CPC party and resolve the problems that the people encounter (Yuan Guiren 2014).” The capacity of education governance on the part of the local governments is the key to determining the outcome of comprehensive reform of regional education. Therefore, the officials in charge of the local educational affairs should study hard and comprehend the spirit of the central government’s determination to push forward educational reforms. They should also learn earnestly from the professional educators and experts and actively take initiative to coordinate various interest groups and push forward the comprehensive reform of regional education. They should also take into account the local conditions on the provincial, municipal and county levels. They should investigate and debate on the educational policies before these policies come into effect.

8.1.2 Establish Collaborative Innovation Mechanisms to Advance Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Unlike the reforms concentrating on one specific element in education such as curriculum, textbooks, teaching methods and class organization, the focus of comprehensive education reform lies in its “comprehensiveness.” It requires the participation and collaborative innovation of multiple administrative departments. In order to coordinate and integrate the reform of each specific element, we must change the traditional administrative system and establish a new collaborative innovation mechanism consistent with the spirit and requirement of comprehensive education reform. So what is collaborative innovation? The following is a literature review of the studies conducted by Chinese scholars. The early studies on collaborative innovation in China concentrated on the economic field, and the research was targeted

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at the enterprises. For instance, Cheng Rong’s definition of collaborative innovation, or in her terms “cooperation/synergy innovation,” highlights the coordination of the innovative elements. She argues that “the essence of collaborative innovation is cooperation. That is, different innovative actors with common interests share their resources, maximize the advantages of all innovative elements, perform a reasonable division of labor, and through a complex non-linear process work together to produce the outcome that any single element could not achieve. It is a holistic process” (Cheng Rong 2008). Jin Lin’s definition of collaborative innovation emphasizes the role of the innovation actors, i.e., the medium- and small-sized technological enterprises. He argues that the enterprises can use technology as a medium to facilitate their cooperation with the government, the innovators and different interest groups and boost the dissemination of technologies, the conversion of technology to productivity, technological review, the allocation of the innovative resources, innovative policymaking, managerial consultation, etc (Jin Lin 2007). Other scholars combine the aforementioned two approaches and believe the innovative elements and actors are equally important (Sun Changqing 2009). Since the Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance issued the Opinions on Enhancing Innovation Capabilities of the Higher Education Institutions in 2012, the research on collaborative innovation in education flourished. One prominent phenomenon is the establishment of various “Collaborative Innovation Centers” in many colleges and universities throughout the country. However, the implementation of collaborative innovation in education relies more on the formation of collaborative innovation mechanisms rather than on the merely establishment of these centers. 1. Establish the Organizing Mechanism of the Collaborative Innovation in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Just as Yang Jirui et al. point out, “In the process of regional economic development, owing to the conflict of interests between and among all the actors involved, the collaborative system cannot naturally achieve its desired outcome. Therefore, an organizing mechanism is required to coordinate the interests of each actor to ensure a more balanced distribution of interests among each actor of the system (Yang Jirui et al. 2013).” As a matter of fact, regional education reform is confronted with a similar conflict and adjustment of interests. In order to coordinate the interests of each actor in the system, or in this case, each actor in regional education reform, we need to establish an organizing mechanism, particularly the leadership mechanism, which means the leadership must exceed the interests of the each individual department. With regard to this issue, a delegate of the “two sessions” (i.e., the 2nd Session of the 12th National People Congress and the 2nd Session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress) of 2014 put forward such a proposal: “The issue of education must transcend the landscape of individual departments, for it involves not only the interests of educational departments but also those of other departments such as human resources, fiscal policy, and development and reform. A higher level of system design is indispensable to break the interest landscape of divergent departments. Therefore, we should establish a cross-department leadership mechanism that is

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able to transcend the interests of the individual departments (Zhang Zhiyong 2014).” In fact, just as the case on the national level, the interests of the different administrative departments on the regional and local levels do not necessarily converge and in many cases are in conflict. In order to alleviate pressure and reduce investment, the individual departments of educational administration will evaluate their own interests before determining the extent to participate in comprehensive education reform in their own region. It is difficult for the educational administrative departments on the same level, be it the administrative power or fiscal regulation, to have any impact on them. Therefore, it is very difficult to implement the specific policies of comprehensive reform of regional education by solely relying on local education administrative departments. Besides, some comprehensive reform of regional education exceeds the current administrative demarcation. The participating departments are affiliated to different administrative regions. This inevitably leads to the contradiction and conflict in the general administrative management and specific management of comprehensive reform of regional education. Hence, it is vitally important to establish a leadership that is able to transcend the regional and local educational administration and meanwhile coordinate the regional comprehensive education reform. For instance, in the 1990s when comprehensive education reform was promoted on the city level, Changzhou City of Jiangsu Province was designated as a pilot city on the provincial and national level. After five years of experiment, the comprehensive education reform in Changzhou made remarkable progress. The then Vice Mayor Chen Sanlin highlighted establishing and enhancing a coordinated leadership of educational reform as a significant successful experience. He summed it up as follows. In 1989, Changzhou established the municipal leading group for educational reform, responsible for managing and regulating various forms of education and coordinating the municipal educational department and other departments of the municipal government. The municipal leading group for education established a general office. In addition to managing the city’s higher education, the office is also responsible for planning and coordinating various forms of education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels based on the principles of integrating and coordinating the education development in towns and rural areas. In 1990, the city set up the municipal adult education office to manage the city’s adult education. All the previous work laid a solid foundation for the creation of the municipal education committee, which is designed to manage and coordinate all forms of education at different levels. Now upon the approval of the provincial government, the municipal government is working on establishing the municipal education committee, which is going to be a highly capable, efficient and pragmatic institution. By reforming the planning, appropriation, school-running and oversight mechanisms, the committee is designed to enhance its roles of macro-regulation and coordination and improve the comprehensive management of the city’s various forms of education at all levels (Chen Sanlin 1992).

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2. Establish the Joint Cooperative Mechanism to Promote the Collaborative Innovation in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Comprehensive reform of regional education is a complex, systematic project involving the participation of diverse departments and actors. It requires the crossregional and cross-departmental coordination in terms of the reform planning and implementation. It also requires a proper arrangement and distribution of various resources and the participation and promotion of various actors and forces. Therefore, to ensure the smooth progress of comprehensive education reform, in addition to establishing the organization mechanism to promote the collaborative innovation in education reform, we should also set up a joint cooperative mechanism involving the participation of multiple actors. First, we should establish the collaborative promotion mechanism within the regional administrative departments to achieve the sharing of information and resources. The mechanism is supposed to be led by the local government and participated by the relevant subsidiary departments in charge of education, planning, fiscal and human resources affairs. They should convene regularly or irregularly to coordinate the internal relations within the education department and its relations with other departments, discuss the progress of comprehensive educational reform and address the tough issues in educational reform. Second, we should establish a cooperative incentive mechanism to mobilize various social forces to participate in educational reform. It is far from being enough to depend merely on various levels of government to promote comprehensive educational reform. It requires mobilizing the wisdom of social institutions, experts and scholars, teachers and staff, and the ordinary citizens to work together to promote collaborative innovation. The public has substantial wisdom, but their voluntary participation in educational reform is limited. Many educational reforms in history failed to achieve their desired outcomes simply because the reformers underestimated the difficulty and complication of educational reform and overestimated the advantages of the government and the voluntary participation of the public. Therefore, in order to mobilize the enthusiasm of all sectors of society to participate in educational reform, we should first set up a cooperative incentive mechanism that is able to appeal to and engage a diversity of social forces to participate. In terms of establishing a collaborative development mechanism to promote comprehensive reform of regional education, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Pilot Area of Comprehensive Educational Reform took bold steps and achieved noticeable results. This trans-regional pilot area expands across Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai Municipality and lays a solid foundation for educational reform through system and mechanism innovation. Here is a detailed explanation presented by the Working Group for Building “the Yangtze River Delta Pilot Area of Comprehensive Educational Reform.” Under the current administrative framework and with the objective of enhancing the vitality and potential of education, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) strengthened the collaborative innovation and achieved major breakthroughs in talent cultivation, school-running, management, logistics and other systems. It formulated a

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cooperative incentive mechanism and regulation mechanism with the participation of various industries, enterprises, social organizations, elementary and secondary schools, teachers and students, experts and scholars, and the public. It also took initiative to establish a thriving, efficient and more open mechanism conducive to the development of education. This mechanism will gradually develop into an integrated supporting system that facilitates comprehensive reform of regional education, motivates its vitality and lays a solid foundation for promoting education development (The Working Group for Building “the Yangtze River Delta Pilot Area of Comprehensive Educational Reform” 2014).

8.1.3 Perfect the Inspection Evaluation System of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education According to the Regulations on Education Inspection issued by the Office of Education Inspection Committee of the State Council, “Education inspection is a significant component of education administration, a vital part of administering education by law and a significant means to guarantee education development.” With the issuing of the regulations, China’s education inspection embarks on the legalizing process and is universally acknowledged and valued among the public. It plays a vital role in China’s educational reform and development. To facilitate educational reform, China needs to deepen education inspection reform and perfect inspection system. In terms of comprehensive reform of regional education, we need to focus on the following initiatives to enhance the inspection assessment system. 1. Establish a Multilayer Education Inspection Evaluation System Comprehensive reform of regional education is a long-term, comprehensive, multifaceted and integrated educational reform characterized by significant regional differences, local idiosyncrasies and periodical features. Therefore, in order to allow education reform to give its full play, we should establish a multilayered evaluation system for education inspection. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China has made tremendous progress in education, but the unbalanced development has been a longterm problem. Besides, comprehensive reform of regional education is also an overall, multifaceted and integrated education reform, which includes preschooling, compulsory education, high school education and even vocational education. Faced with this reality, we should establish a multilayered, multi-categorized and localized inspection evaluation mechanism. In the evaluation process, we should set proper evaluation criteria to adapt to the actual circumstances of the specific localities. According to Huang Wei, “At the present time, a vast majority of the education inspection departments have adopted a unified evaluation standard respectively at provincial, municipal and county levels. However, as is known to all, China’s provinces cover a large land area. Even within the same province, cultural traditions and educational

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conditions vary from region to region. Even in the same region, different schools have their own distinct features (Huang Wei 2009a).” Meanwhile, in the process of education reform, everything is in a constant change. Therefore, it is impossible to have an evaluation standard that is universally applicable to all the regions. Of course, in some respects such as funding, the qualifications and salaries of teachers and school facilities, education evaluation does need a unified standard, but the inspection evaluation should take into account such differentiation. Just as Huang Wei points out, “We should carry out different evaluation inspections based on the differences in schools and regions and put forward targeted advice for modification consistent with their specific needs and characteristics. If we apply the same standard to measure the development of all schools and the education reforms of all counties and districts, we would end up with a single model of education development, which is not conducive to educational innovation and the cultivation of creative talents (Huang Wei 2009b).” Therefore, in educational reform, we should not take a “one-size-fits-all” approach and impose a uniformed requirement. For the regions that still lag behind, the imposition of higher criteria would deprive them of confidence. For the regions which are already highly developed, the application of lower criteria would discourage them from motivation for reform. Therefore, we should adopt proper criteria consistent with the realities of local conditions in the process of education inspection. The evaluation criteria should reflect the general character. They should also take into account the individual differences. Different layers and types of education demand targeted supervision and evaluation criteria. Only in this way can we effectively promote the educational reform and development of the localities. 2. Enhance the Information Collection Mechanism for Education Inspection Although China has made great progress in its education inspection system, the information collection during education inspection still lags behind and needs to be improved, for as we know, in the process of education inspection, the collected information should be as objective, comprehensive, systematic, timely and effective as possible. The information collection mechanism is of great significance to ensure the success of education inspection, and it will affect the outcome of inspection. However, just as Wang Peizhang points out, “As for the reality of China’s education inspection, the four major components of information collection—concept, capability, communication and institution—are all problematic (Wang Peizhang 2007a).” The reasons behind this phenomenon are complicated. One major factor is the overconcentration of power in the hands of the government. The education inspection institution is a significant component of modern government, which leads some inspectors who view themselves as administers and managers to have a false sense of superiority vis-à-vis those under inspection. For the lack of proper communication atmosphere and mechanism to promote equal dialogues, those under inspection often take a “passive resistance” approach to deal with the inspectors. Therefore, the information they obtain is often distorted or even false. Another factor is the relative weakness of China’s inspection team, which, to a great extent, limit their capabilities to collect the right information. “Many inspectors know very little about scientific methods,

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skills and procedures of information collection. They simply repeat the old tricks, listening to the introduction, asking several questions and viewing several scenes. This approach is becoming increasingly limited in the face of huge amounts of complicated information in modern society (Wang Peizhang 2007b).” Therefore, we should reinforce information collection mechanism in education. How should we strengthen the information collection mechanism in education? First, we should enhance the service-oriented inspection culture and create a favorable interactive platform. This requires the transformation of the role of education inspection departments, cementing their service and responsibility consciousness, and weakening their management consciousness. The inspectors should not just have a people-centered attitude and spirit, but also master superb communication skills. They should take an active approach to communicate with those under inspection. Only in this way can they overcome various barriers and build a favorable platform to promote the communication between the inspectors and those under inspection. Second, we should strengthen the formulation of regulations, clarifying the rights and obligations of the inspectors. A clear division of labor and clearly defined rights and obligations are two prerequisites to arouse the enthusiasm of the inspectors to accomplish the goal in information collection. Regulations should also include punishing those who practice fraud and deception and conceal truth and rewarding those who faithfully carry out their duties and performance through incentive mechanism. Last but not least, we should work out a scientific process for information collection and clarify the basic principles, methods and workable procedures. Only in this way can we reduce or avoid the problem of data distortion as much as possible.

8.2 Information-Driven Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Each progress in information technology has a direct or indirect impact on the reform and development of education. It also transforms our idea of education, the way we run schools and the way we teach. In the process of comprehensive reform of regional education, we need to learn and absorb the latest development in information technology, apply it to educational reform and thus provide technological support to facilitate comprehensive reform of regional education.

8.2.1 The Revolutionary Impact of Information Technology on Education Reform and Development As we entering the twenty-first century, as one of the latest developments in science and technology, information technology has penetrated every field of economic and

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social development and brought about a profound impact on the way of production and the way of life in the world. It also has a revolutionary impact on the reform and development of education. Information technology is mainly composed of microelectronic technology, optoelectronic technology, intelligent technology, software technology, computer multimedia technology, etc., and is widely used in the social production of political, economic, cultural, military and other fields. It connects the world as a network and diminishes the physical distance. People resort to information network to do business, carry out political and military cooperation and seek international medical services and so on. The global village is becoming a reality. Meanwhile, information technology also dramatically transformed our way of life. Indeed, “everything in modern civilization man enjoys today is directly or indirectly associated with information technology.” “We human beings are living in a world surrounded by various information terminals (The Regulations Formulation Panel 2012).” With the rapid penetration of information technology in education, the multimedia teaching, distance education, digitalized education management, electronic textbooks and other forms of new educational, teaching and managerial approaches spring up. Information technology thus exerts a tremendous impact on the reform and development of education and brings a new wave of shock to the traditional idea of education, education system, teaching approach, administrative model and so on. It also gives birth to new forms of education and learning approach and thus greatly speeds up the modernization process of education. In recent years, the information technology (IT)-driven education reform and development has gradually become a significant strategic initiative taken by many countries in the world to cultivate high-quality talents, increase their comprehensive power and enhance their international competitiveness. Since 1993, the US government has issued four national education technology plans, the latest of which is Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology, issued by the Obama administration in November 2011. The plan presents a model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity. The UK ranks among the first in the world in education informationization. The British government takes such effective measures as providing funding and policy support to accelerate the application of information technology in education. In order to speed up the informationization of the primary and secondary education, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) issued a report Harnessing Technology for Next Generation Learning, 2008–2014, in July 2008. It intends to “raise awareness of technology-enabled learning with parents, learners and employers, encourage them to pay more attention to information technology, help them to understand its benefits and facilitate the best learning experience and outcome for the learners (Li Fan et al. 2010).” Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries also rank among the best in education informationization. They highly value the role of information technology in promoting reforms in teaching, management, science and research and other elements of education and ultimately achieve the goal of cultivating high-quality talents.

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In China’s building of socialist modernization, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government also pay close attention to the role of information technology in advancing the educational reform and development. Based on China’s social and educational reality, they issued a series of documents and regulations and achieved noticeable results. For instance, the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Reform of Education System issued in 1985 emphasizes that in the age of new technological revolution China should pay close attention to various scientific and technological achievements, information transmission means and epistemic tools and apply them to teaching to promote the transformation and progress of education. The fifteenth clause of the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening Educational Reform and Comprehensively Promoting Quality Education issued in 1999 points out that “China should greatly enhance the degree of informationization and expand the utility of modern technology in education, particularly in school education.” The National Informatization (information) Development Strategies (2006–2020) issued by the General Office of the State Council issued in 2006 puts the informationization of education as a national strategic initiative and points out that China will implement “National Information Skills Education and Training Plan,” “Digital Divide Reduction Plan,” etc. Later on, more documents were promulgated, such as the Outline of Education Planning, Ten-Year Development Plan for Education Informationization (2011–2020) and Views of the Ministry of Education on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform in Education in 2013. The Outline of Education Planning stipulates that “information technology will have a revolutionary impact on the development of education and therefore sufficient attention should be paid to this issue.” All these policy documents promote the informationization of education to the unprecedented level and are of vital significance to the cultivation of high-quality talents and the increase of China’s comprehensive power.

8.2.2 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Needs Information Technology to Push It Further Information technology is a key to the social and economic development in the world today. It offers a basic platform for the life and learning of the public and constitutes the indispensable requisite to transform the education system. A great majority of the countries in the world, China included, provide substantial policy support and funding to the wide use of information technology in education. Comprehensive reform of regional education is a significant component of China’s educational reform. It is the foundation to the success of the entire education system. To ensure the effective implementation of comprehensive reform of regional education, we need to expand the width and depth of utilizing information technology to enhance

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the major elements of educational reform such as education administration, teacher training and the distribution of high-quality resources. 1. Optimize the Distribution of High-Quality Resources and Reduce Regional Digital Divide Educational resources are the foundation and the requisite for schools to carry out education activities. The quantity and quality of educational resources have a direct impact on the development of regional education. China is a large country with a large population. The wide gap still exists between different regions and between rural and urban areas in terms of social and economic development and the investment of resources in education. In general, the eastern regions enjoy better educational resources than the western regions, and the urban areas enjoy better resources than the rural areas. Confronted with such national conditions which are difficult to change in the near future, China resorts to information technology to realize the co-construction and sharing of resources within the region and the cooperation between different regions, which serves as a great beacon light of hope to address the unbalanced distribution of education resources. First, information technology is conducive to promoting the co-construction and sharing of educational resources within the region. Information technology breaks the space barrier and enables different schools of the same region to share the same educational resources. In the traditional model, the utilization of educational resources is generally limited to books, CDs, recorders and other linear and exclusive approach of communication. Different learners could not share the same resources at the same time. The administers of the schools purchased a certain quantity of education resources to meet the needs of the learners. This traditional distribution of resources is slow, inefficient and limited in scope. It is also a substantial waste of social resources resulting from the repeated demands of different learners for the same learning materials. If modern information technology is introduced to regional education, the computer information network will help to overcome the weaknesses of the traditional educational approach and turn into a powerful force to accelerate the reform and development of regional education. Just as Xiong Caiping et al. point out, “As long as the broadband network and the flow of information permit, many people can synchronously enjoy the same educational resources online. In that case, it is unnecessary for schools to constitute the key actor of the construction of educational resources (Xiong Caiping et al. 2012a).” Different schools within the same region can take advantage of the Internet communications technology to share the same high-quality resources, thus helping to reduce the digital divide between the urban and rural areas. Information technology enables the users of the information resources to evaluate and supplement the necessary resources and thereby generate new information resources to allow the schools in the school district to share them. Different schools of the district acquire information resources from other schools via Internet whereby modifying and supplementing new education resources consistent with the needs of the locality. Therefore, all the schools in the district can have access not only to the original information resources and but also to the new information resources

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modified by other schools in the district that are in line with their own needs and unique features. They can also update the modified resources, and thus “everybody becomes the constructor of the information resources.” With such favorable cycles, the education resources in the district gradually accumulate and become enriched, which makes it possible for different schools to share their education resources. The inter-school communication is increasingly frequent, and therefore the gap between different schools in terms of the “quality” and “quantity” of information resources is gradually narrowed until it is finally closed. Second, information technology facilitates the communication and sharing of the information resources between different regions. The education resources can be co-constructed and shared not just within the same region but also between different regions. Since China’s socialism is still at the primary stage, the gap between different regions is still obvious and it is impossible to allocate the finite education resources on absolute equal terms. Now the provinces in the eastern part of the country are more developed than those in the middle and western part. Therefore, the former enjoy much more abundant resources than the latter. The reality of unequal development widens the gap between the east and the west in the allocation of education resources and thus the digital gap as well. With the rapid development of the Internet and its extensive use in education, this digital gap is gradually closed. The high-quality education resources will no longer concentrate in the hands of the privileged few in the region. Instead, they will be shared between different regions via the Internet, satellite broadcasting and other means of communications, which help to break the barrier between different schools in the region, expand the scope of high-quality resources to be covered by more people, improve the efficiency of these high-quality resources and thus “increase the obtainability of the high-quality education resources (Chen Haidong 2010).” This is highly conducive to the equal development of education between different regions. Besides, owing to the differences in customs, social psychology and other factors, education accordingly exhibits the regional uniqueness. Different regions can utilize information technology to share their respective advantages and thus optimize the allocation of resources, bridge the digital gap and facilitate the long-term development of education. 2. Share the High-Quality Education Resources and Innovate the Model of Teacher Training First, information technology can effectively help the schools with insufficient teacher resources and those with abundant teacher resources within and outside the region to share high-quality education resources and thus serve as a significant technological support for regional education reform and development. In comprehensive reform of regional education, the high-quality teacher resource is one of the key factors to the success of educational reform. At present, schools within the region differ in terms of the quality of teachers. The poor teaching conditions and insufficient teacher resources are still troubling the rural areas and the middle and western parts of China. The high-quality teachers concentrate in the eastern part of China and the urban areas. As a result, the students in the rural areas and the middle and western parts of China are unable to have adequate, timely and effective access to the

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high-quality education resources, thus affecting their confidence in study, weakening education equality and having a negative impact on comprehensive reform of regional education. With the extensive and profound use of computer network technology in comprehensive reform of regional education, this phenomenon will substantially improve and all the schools will be able to share the same high-quality education resources synchronously in different locations. By fitting the multimedia Internet video facilities with the synchronous function, the students in the schools with poor education resources will be in a position to sit in the long-distance classes taught by the teachers in the schools with high-quality education resources through video facilities while these teachers are teaching their own students. These teachers can have a face-to-face communication with the students sitting in the long-distance classes via Internet video system and answer their questions as well. Such are “synchronous classes in different locations.” This teaching approach enables the students in schools with poor education resources to enjoy the high-quality education resources, stimulate their interest in study and boost the efficiency of teacher resources, and thus is of significant value to promote the comprehensive reform of regional education. Second, information technology can break the traditional model of teacher training, achieve the cross-spatial synchronous teaching observation, thus greatly bolster the efficiency of teacher training and serve as an incentive to train more highquality teachers. The success of comprehensive reform of regional education relies on a group of highly qualified, experienced and capable teachers. Observing the actual teaching and research activities at spot is a significant approach in teaching training at present. It emphasizes that the teachers in the schools within the region organized by the education departments regularly gather in public classrooms to observe the teaching process of a certain highly experienced teacher, learn from his or her teaching and thus improve their own teaching. Besides, the education departments also often organize teachers of the same school district to study teaching theories or methodologies in a certain teachers’ college or normal university and receive systematic professional training. These training programs are inefficient, complicated and costly, and in many cases unrewarded. The extensive use of information technology has greatly advanced the progress of teacher training and comprehensive reform of regional education. The development of information technology makes it possible for the teachers within the region to observe the teaching process and read the teaching notes of the renowned teachers and teaching experts on a certain subject via the Internet. The education departments can also distribute the teaching CDs of the highly qualified and experienced teachers to other teachers and help them improve their own teaching. Besides, organized observations can be innovated with the support of information technology to better serve the needs of teacher training. The observers do not necessarily have to show up at the classroom where the actual teaching takes place. They can observe the teaching process through the Internet and have online discussions with other observers. In this case, the teacher is freed from the pressure at the actual spot and his or her class teaching becomes more real and natural. Meanwhile, the observers no longer passively observe the class. They become active participants in the observing teaching activity.

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3. Transform the Traditional Teaching Approach and Lead the Students’ Personalized Growth Comprehensive reform of regional education is not possible without the exploration of excellent teaching approach. The traditional teaching approach is under doubt against the backdrop of rapid technological development. Some traditional teaching methods are no longer suited for the new reality of educational development. Therefore, how to transform the traditional teaching approach through information technology to meet the personalized needs of the students and ultimately promote the comprehensive reform of regional education smoothly has become a key issue in the transformation of schools. First, information technology can break the limitation of school teaching caused by space and time. In the age when class teaching is the dominant form, the teachers’ teaching activities are usually limited in the classrooms. The students are confined in the restricted space and taught by the same teachers. The teachers might occasionally broadcast some model classes to the students through the Internet. However, this teaching process still restricts the horizon of the students and there is not sufficient communication between the teacher and the students. It is difficult to achieve the personalized development of the students. The rapid development of the Internet technology gives birth to the interactive teaching approach through multi-terminal synchronous videos, which help to free the schools from the restriction of space and time and allow the interaction between the teacher and the students and among the students through the online video. In the traditional class teaching, the interaction is a linear process. The students have very few opportunities to communicate with one another, and the teacher plays a dominant role in the interaction. However, in the interactive teaching approach through multi-terminal synchronous videos, the interaction between the teacher and the students and among the students is virtual. As long as the students log in and go online, they can listen to the online teaching and communicate with the teacher and other students freely and equally. Besides, the students can also choose the online subjects that interest them. As Zong Qiurong points out, “The computer network offers abundant information to allow students to have personalized and individualized study and thus reduce the inequality among the students in terms of education resources” (Zong Qiurong 2001). Therefore, the extensive use of information technology has a significant impact on resolving the problem of neglecting the personalized development of the students by the traditional teaching approach. Second, information technology increases the students’ initiative in the teaching process. In the traditional teaching approach, teachers are the moral authority and monopolist of knowledge and play a dominant role in the teaching process. The students are a passive “container” to receive knowledge passed on to them by their teachers. This traditional approach has to be transformed in the process of advancing comprehensive reform of regional education. Against the backdrop of rapid technological development, “the exchange of information and knowledge is now characterized by interaction, non-neutrality and self-organization with the involvement of information technology, particularly the internet technology, which thus breaks the

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traditional way of communication” (Qu Kun and Zhong Xiaoyan 2012). Teachers are not the only source of knowledge. “Libraries, internet and other means of communications constitute much more abundant, interesting and effective source of information” (Guo Qin 2000). The role of teachers is transformed from “experts” to the participants and leaders in the process of the students’ pursuit of knowledge. Under the guidance of the teachers, the students can autonomously choose the proper time and location, take their own favorite methods and study what interests them most. In the teaching process, the students take more initiative and become more active. They are the equal partners with their teachers in their communication. Compared with the past, the students have more willingness and opportunities to express their views. In this sense, the transformation of the teaching approach triggered by information technology does not just lie in a few dramatic changes in the teaching process. It also involves more profound theoretical questions, such as teaching ideas, teaching concepts and the relationship between teaching and learning,. Such changes will have far-reaching impact (Ding Gang 2013). Third, we should enhance the construction of digitalized campus and the modernization of regional education management. Comprehensive reform of education is the foundation of pushing forward the educational modernization, which in the context of rapid technological development requires comprehensive reform of regional education to adopt information technology and digitalize the scientific research, teaching and management on the campus. “Digital campus is based on the internet. It utilizes advanced information means and tools, and achieves the complete digitalization of everything from the teaching environment (including facilities, classrooms, etc.), resources (such as libraries, teaching notes, teaching aids etc.) to activities (including teaching and learning, management, services, office work, etc.)” (Li Xiaoyong 2003). Through a series of technological tools such as digitalized networking, artificial intelligence and multimedia, information technology transforms the traditional campus, expands its time and space dimensions, improves the quality of teaching, learning, research and development, and managerial efficiency, and therefore plays a significant role in boosting modernization of regional education. Besides, the digitalized campus does not limit the campus on a lonely information island. Instead, it allows the exchange of information between schools within and outside the region and between schools and other information entities through the computer Internet technology. This open digital space has greatly bolstered the development of comprehensive reform of regional education. The extensive application of information technology in the educational administration is the basis and prerequisite of the modernization of educational administration. The information of educational administration mainly refers to the information in the daily work of the educational administrative departments and the schools, including the information of administrative office, business management, personnel, accounting, facilities, research and other managerial offices. Obviously the informationization of educational administration includes the use of information technology in the school management. School management is a significant part of the construction of the digitalized campus. Only when the school management follows the scientific, regulatory and standard principles can the digitalized campus achieve its desired

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goal in enhancing comprehensive reform of regional education and boosting the teaching and learning efficiency. Meanwhile, the advanced technological means on the digitalized campus is of significant value in promoting the managerial skills and its modernization. The school administrative system includes such systems involving students, personnel, accounting, teaching affairs, libraries, logistics and others. The wide use of information technology is conducive to the dramatic promotion of the quality and efficiency of office work and managerial decision-making process. This networking and autonomous managerial system is possessed of such advantages as fast speed, high efficiency and short cycle. This paper-free running model also helps to save plenty of resources. The extensive use of information technology in the school administration simplifies the managerial process, overcomes many restrictive factors in the process of school administration and effectively diminishes the distance not just between people but also between people and physical entities. Meanwhile, the networking management also strengthens the transparency of the school administration and expands the space for the teachers and students to participate in school administration. It facilitates the interaction and coordination between educational departments and schools, and among different schools and thus effectively guarantees the smooth progress of comprehensive reform of regional education.

8.2.3 Speed Up the Wide Use of Information Technology to Promote the Pathways of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education The rapid development of information technology and its extensive application not just pushes forward the modernization of China’s education but also accelerates the integrated progress of comprehensive reform of regional education. “In the field of education, the application of technology should not just be limited to the improvement of the current teaching models and methods. It should also help to promote the revolution of education in the age of technology. The technological innovation will inevitably have a revolutionary impact on educational thoughts, theories, models, methods, and even organizing systems etc” (Yu Shengquan 2011). It is highly necessary to take more effective measures to bring information technology to its full play and bolster the informationization of regional education. 1. Design an Informationization Plan Consistent with the Features of the Schools in the Region Schools in the region differ in terms of their geographical locations, cultures, customs, levels of economic development and other factors. They also demonstrate their unique features in terms of the cultural history, the quality of education, the number and age structure of the students, etc. Therefore, the education administrative departments cannot take a one-size-for-all approach in enhancing the informationization of school education. Instead, they should take into account the macro- and micro-reality of

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different schools, listen to the advice of the experts on education information technology, consult the administrators of the schools in the district and form a set of proposals to “provide a series of multi-layered, feasible, professional guidance and strategic planning services to promote the informationization of education” (Liu Zhibo and Zheng Liangdong 2004). This managerial process is of great significance to make a proper informationization plan consistent with the unique features of the school itself. A construction plan not in line with the reality of the school is blind and doomed to failure. It will also result in the disengagement between the school’s teaching and management and therefore is a waste of resources. The construction of the school’s information technology compatible with the unique reality of the school is of great practical value to its teaching, learning and management. The school’s facilities, the teachers’ age structure and their teaching habits, the students’ cognitive level and their psychological features, etc., have to be taken into account in the construction of the school’s information technology. The analysis and summary of all these factors are the prerequisite to bring information technology to full play. Meanwhile, the development reality of different schools in the region also requires the schools to consider their own conditions in the process of introducing information technology to ensure that digitalized management will effectively enhance the efficiency and quality of the school management and achieve the informationization, autonomy and systemization of the school management. 2. Strengthen the Construction of Information Technology Infrastructure in the Poor Schools in the Region Information technology infrastructure is the indispensable physical base of the informationization of regional education. It is also the physical platform for various information resources to flow and interact. The quality of IT infrastructure has a direct impact on whether information technology can be widely used in education. For a long time, owing to the efforts of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government, China has made rapid progress in the extensive use of information technology in the field of education. The modern long-distance education network platform based on China Education and Research Network (CERNET) and Satellite Video System has come into being. However, owing to policy orientation and the difference in local economic development and geographical locations, even in the same region, a major digital gap still exists in terms of the information technology infrastructure. The more developed key cities and their surrounding suburban areas have largely achieved “the connection of schools via Internet,” and some key schools have even fitted advanced digital teaching facilities. However, in some backward rural areas, the highways have not been built, let alone “the information highway.” The digital gap between the urban and rural areas escalates the poverty in terms of information and knowledge, creates many “new types of illiterates,” endangers the education equality and has a negative impact on comprehensive reform of regional education (Liu Xinghong 2009). That said, it is highly necessary to take effective measures to change the situation. We should set the major battlefield of the educational informationization in the rural areas where the IT infrastructure is backward and increase the investment there.

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We must purchase more computers for those schools, expedite the installation of multimedia facilities and accomplish “the connection of schools via Internet” there. We should also build more backbone networks, increase their speed, stability and safety, launch the regional network construction projects, particularly in the rural areas, and enhance the connectivity between the urban and rural areas. The construction of the IT infrastructure in the backward regions relies on a large amount of funding. It is neither sufficient nor feasible to completely rely on government investment in the near future. Therefore, we need to raise funds from multiple channels to increase the support of the schools in the backward regions. That said, we can adopt the market mechanism to stimulate the enthusiasm of the society, enterprises and individual entrepreneurs to invest in education informationization. This approach to investment and management is flexible and efficient. Meanwhile, it is highly necessary to establish the national funding for the application of information technology, which ensures that the local government will spend a portion of its revenues on building the IT infrastructure. Moreover, we should also encourage all walks of life to provide philanthropic support to the schools in the backward regions. Such a multi-channel approach to raising funds is of great significance to resolve the funding problem to construct the IT infrastructure in the backward schools. 3. Strive to Jointly Build and Share the High-Quality Education Resources Education information resources are the heart and soul of the school IT construction. All types of modern educational activities need these resources to connect the teachers and students. The regional IT construction requires abundant high-quality education resources as their basic guarantor. High-quality education resources can break the barrier of physical walls with the aid of the Internet, benefit every student in and outside the region and promote a more balanced development of information technology between different schools. Therefore, “We need to prioritize the construction of education information resources in the process of spreading information technology in the elementary and secondary schools” (Chen Zhili 2000). First, the education departments should endeavor to categorize all types of education resources and establish high-quality education information database in accordance with the guidance of the New Textbook Criteria. “The building of resource database is a significant measure to promote the efficiency and sharing of resources and the core of building the database lies in the abundant information” (Zhang Xinming and Huang Xuemin 2001). The construction of education resources is the prerequisite of achieving the sharing of these resources. The key to building the database is to select the high-quality educational resources in the vast sea of information. At present, for the lack of the effective management mechanism, many highquality teaching materials and relevant educational resources are scattered among the teachers, who have no way to share these valuable resources. As a result, plenty of premium educational information resources are wasted. That said, the departments of educational administration should organize the experts and teachers in the region to collect and classify these valuable information resources based on the needs in daily educational and teaching activities and ultimately build a complete high-quality educational information database. After the completion of the database, the database

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should be open and accessible to all the schools for free, and the co-construction and sharing of the high-quality educational resources will come true. Apart from the construction of high-quality educational resource database on the regional level, the schools within the region should also organize their teachers and set up their own information databases to enhance the extensive use of information technology. In the process of building their own educational information databases, the schools do not have to copy the construction model of the regional high-quality educational resource database. They should take into account the actual needs of their teachers and students and base their databases on the schools’ management, teaching, scientific research and the students’ autonomous study. Since different schools have different distinctive features, they also have their distinctive databases. These highquality educational resources can be further enriched and shared among the schools in the region. 4. Foster a Highly Qualified Corps of Teachers Equipped with Information Technology “The hope for the national rejuvenation lies in education; the hope for the rejuvenation of education lies in teachers.” The extensive application of information technology in education lies in the cultivation of a large corps of highly qualified teachers who are skilled at using the technology. This is also the prerequisite for the success of comprehensive reform of regional education. With the development of the information age, modern education requires the teachers to have the advanced educational concepts, rich teaching experience, solid professional knowledge and superb teaching skills, learn computer networking and multimedia teaching, and master the information technology to cope with the problems encountered in everyday teaching. In order to accelerate the application of information technology in regional education, the educational administrative departments, the relevant training institutions and the schools themselves need to take effective measures to train a large corps of high qualified teachers who are skilled at using information technology. First, the teachers’ colleges and universities should strengthen the major of computer science, open sufficient IT courses and enhance the students’ computer skills. The teachers’ colleges and universities are the bases of cultivating teachers and have a tremendous impact on China’s educational development. They should seize the opportunity to set the major of computer science, particularly the major of educational information technology, which is conducive to cultivating a large corps of IT talents with a better understanding of education. It is also a huge boon to help the students in teaching major to raise their consciousness of the extensive use of information technology and learn adequate IT knowledge and skills. In terms of the curriculum, we should help the students in teaching major to learn the basic knowledge about the multimedia, the use of Internet, the designing of the courseware, etc., and provide them with the opportunity to learn the new teaching models, teaching media and courseware in the context of various modern information technologies. We should also help them to learn about the process and methods to integrate information technology into teaching and therefore strengthen their practical operational

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skills. It will be of great significance to help them innovatively utilize the information network technology to improve their teaching in their future work. Besides, we should reconstruct the teacher training model on the whole and adopt the approach which combines short-term intensive training with long-term guidance. Short-term intensive training is intended to inspire the teachers to ponder over the application of information technology to education and improve their theoretical, technological and ethical qualities through targeted special lectures, online teaching and research interaction, the workshops, seminars and teaching case studies on the basis of respecting the characteristics of different disciplines. Meanwhile, in order to enable the teachers to integrate information technology into their daily teaching activities, we should also make sure that the IT training provides the teachers with the long-term guidance, motivate the teachers to reflect on their experience to make steady progress in the training process and ultimately enhance their technological qualities.

8.3 Increase the Investment to Provide Material Guarantee for Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education The Outline of National Educational Plan points out, “The investment in education is the basic and strategic investment to support a country’s long-term development. It is the material basis of the educational development.” Reform is the reallocation of interests. How to enable the finite educational resources to maximize the social benefit is a difficult problem that every reform is faced with. In the context of market economy, as a significant educational reform measure on the strategic level, comprehensive reform of regional education has to win the recognition and the sustaining and powerful support of the relevant interest-driven stakeholders to ensure its survival and success. Considering the complexity of the internal and external environment of comprehensive reform of regional education, we should focus on the educational investment and make the economic policies compatible with the needs of the reality and the development of the future. In so doing, we can simplify the problem and advance comprehensive reform of regional education.

8.3.1 The Measurement and Calculation of the Expenditure in Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Comprehensive reform of regional education identifies or builds the symbiotic educational system in a relatively homogenous environment by examining the educational activities agglomerated in a given space. Its essence is to explore the optimum point of balance in the educational input and output. The Outline of National Educational Plan clearly stipulates that “we should establish a multi-channeled fund-raising system

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dominated by the government and dramatically increase the educational investment.” Only when we figure out exactly how much is spent to maintain the educational operation can we make a workable plan for the investment and distribution of the educational expenditure and effectively balance the conflict of interests among different stakeholders. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is to measure and calculate the necessary expenditure. 1. The Success of Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education Requires Us to Increase the Investment Budget Comprehensive reform of regional education is confronted with the problem of the resource imbalance between urban and rural areas, different regions, different provinces, different schools and different semesters. Reform is not possible without the support of the government, particularly the government’s fiscal support. China’s regional educational development is mainly affected by the residents’ income, the local governments’ educational investment, the local infrastructure, educational policies, etc. Of the four factors, except the level of the residents’ income, the other three factors are all directly related to the government and can be transformed with the strong government intervention. The average educational expenditure per student is a direct indicator to show the financial capacity and educational investment of a region. From this indicator, we can have a better understanding of the sufficiency of the educational supply. In Chap. 3 of this book, we use gray system theory to establish the gray relational model and examine the degree to which factors such as the ratio of the average educational expenditure per middle school student within the annual government budget in the average educational expenditure, the average educational expenditure per middle school student, the residents’ average income and population density influence comprehensive reform of regional education on the provincial level. After the calculation of the gray relation, we conclude that the sensitivity of the factors differs from province to province (Table 3.7). The data after calculation shows that the increase of the ratio of the average educational expenditure per middle school student within the annual government budget is a significant measure to strengthen the effectiveness of comprehensive reform of regional education. This is the measure targeted at rapidly achieving the goal of “improving the educational quality, forming the school’s distinctive feature and providing an education to people’s satisfaction.” Look at Table 3.7 carefully. If we take the sensitivity of the ratio of the educational expenditure per student within the government budget in the educational expenditure per student as the standard to categorize the regions of the country, we will find that the twelve provinces (Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Hainan and Shaanxi) are on the first level, the eight provinces (Tianjin, Jilin, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou) are on the second level, the seven provinces (Beijing, Shanxi, Shanghai, Anhui, Yunnan, Gansu and Ningxia) are on the third level, and the four provinces (Chongqing, Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang) are on the fourth level. We can conclude that the share of the average educational expenditure within the government budget has a tremendous or relatively great impact (64.5%) in most provinces. That means

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the government still needs to increase the expenditure within the annual budget and increase its ratio in the educational expenditure. 2. The Schools Need the Financial Support to Integrate Themselves into Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education China is now in a period of strategic opportunity in the transformation and upgrading of its economic structure and therefore needs school education to make contributions to developing its human resources. Some scholars argue that China’s transformation of economic growth will inevitably follow the pathway of element-driven model to human capital-driven model. Therefore, strengthening human capital is the key to breaking down the bottleneck of economic growth and maintaining the sustainable economic development. Now the contribution ratio of China’s human capital to economic growth is far below that of other countries and also that of its own material capital and simple labor (Wang Xi and Zhang Yong 2013). Correspondingly, in the course of comprehensive reform of regional education, the reliable strategy is to rely on the school, use the school as the basic unit, take into account the realistic needs and enhance the regional development through innovation-driven concept and the formation of the distinctive features of the school. We can establish a standard model of school expenditure, which means using a series of indicators to examine whether the use of educational expenditure is compatible with the reality of the school and thereby look for a breaking point of the reform. It is a common phenomenon that schools of all types and layers are in a tight budget. Comprehensive reform of regional education will conduct exploration and innovation in the layout of the schools, the flow of teachers, the opening of the courses and the arrangement of the teaching activities. However, a tight budget will constrain the school’s willingness to carry out educational reform and even the survival of the school. Take compulsory education as an example. Some schools are burdened with the debts in fulfilling nine-year compulsory education. After the students’ school tuition and miscellaneous fees are exempted, the school has to pay for the shortfall in the funding which the government fails to compensate for. Therefore, the shortfall in the funding seriously affects the normal operation of the school. Some scholars conducted an investigation of 17 school principals on their educational expenditure in the 2010–2011 academic years. None of the principals responded that they had a shortfall in the funding, 50,000 to 80,000 RMB per year in the minimum and 600,000–700,000 RMB per year in the maximum. This phenomenon lasted 5 years or even longer (Yue Wei and Huang Daozhu 2014). Other scholars also found in their investigation that the public funding is not sufficient to guarantee the maintenance of school houses and hardware facilities. As a result, the schools in rural areas fail to fulfill their obligations to provide advanced teaching facilities to the students. Meanwhile, the public funding is not sufficient to sustain the basic operation in some small-scaled schools (Qu Shaowei and Li Tingzhou 2012). Similar problems existed in other types or layers of education. In the field of vocational education, long-term insufficient funding results in the serious contradiction between the scale and quality of vocational education. Many schools lack the basic experimenting facilities and conditions for field practice and cannot carry out the real vocational

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education. The colleges and universities continue to enlarge their enrollment, “dilute” the dormitories, classrooms, computer laboratories, libraries and other hardware facilities and teaching staff and other software, and cannot meet the needs of the students. To integrate itself into the system of comprehensive reform of regional education, the primary task for the school is to resolve the problems of historical debts and the shortage of educational expenditure. Chongqing municipal government innovated the educational development concepts and ideas and eliminated the common poverty problem in education. Since 2007, the government has been working hard on balancing the educational resources and enhancing the autonomous development capabilities. For instance, Chongqing was the first government on the provincial level to spend 1.97 billion RMB repaying the debts in the process of universalizing the nine-year compulsory education. It was also one of the first provincial governments to allocate RMB 3.2 billion yuan every year to pay the performance salary of 0.3008 million teachers and RMB 1.22 billion yuan every year to strengthen the campus security. These measures created favorable conditions for the development of the distinctive schools in the objective context of the relative shortage of educational expenditure and of the relatively big gap between urban and rural areas, and enabled each school to optimize its own distinctive feature. The priority of the school’s educational investment is to ensure its normal operation. The promotion for further development comes second. That said, the calculation of the cost to maintain the school’s normal operation is the primary issue to be addressed. 3. We Should also Know Well the Students’ Real Burden of the Educational Expenditure The educational expenditure paid by the students and their parents is also an imperative dimension to calculate the cost of comprehensive reform of regional education because it is directly related to winning the hearts and minds of the public. Education, health care and housing are humorously dubbed as the three new “mountains” on the shoulders of the public. The burden of the educational cost directly affects the students’ study at school and their families’ living standard. It also strongly affects the position and image of the Communist Party of China and the government in the mind of the people. For the individual students and their families, having access to highquality education is a significant means to accumulate their human capital. It will have a direct impact on the individuals’ future economic and social status. Therefore, the family investment in education has been a significant part of the family expenditure. However, “when the educational expenditure goes beyond a certain proportion of the family’s total income, the family burden will be too heavy, its accumulation of wealth will be affected, its other consumption spending will be reduced, its living standard will go down, and its consumption and saving capacity become lower. All these will have a negative impact on China’s successful transition from a foreign trade-driven economy to a consumption-driven economy” (Chi Wei et al. 2012). Comprehensive reform of regional education is oriented by “balanced development,” expecting to achieve the balance in terms of the educational development among different groups

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of people, particularly to compensate for those disadvantageous groups because they do not have sufficient funding for their children’s education. Meanwhile, one of the mechanisms to advance comprehensive reform of regional education is to introduce competition and cooperation into the region. However, we should avoid the manipulation of the educational resources by the privileged social groups in the name of competition and cooperation to protect their own interests. Compared with the people’s expectations of social justice and equality, in reality the expenditure of public education is not fair and square. Qui Weihua analyzed the panel data of 26 provinces from 1996 to 2003 and concluded China’s public education expenditure did not bridge the income gap. Instead, it widened the income gap. It failed to achieve its goal as an effective means to adjust the income gap (Qui Weihua 2008). Huang Chaoying investigated the educational burden in rural families in a county in Henan Province and found that nearly 80% of the families could afford one child to go to the junior high school. But when it came to more than one child to go to the junior high school or one child to go to high school or go to college, their family burden would dramatically increase. Those low-income families were heavily burdened when their children go to every level of schools (Huang Chaoying 2007). Feng Bang did a case study of the educational expenditure of a 13year-old middle school student in 2012 and found that after the implementation of the new educational expenditure mechanism of compulsory education, the student’s family burden was not alleviated. Instead it increased. The educational expenditure of this student was on the middle level in his class. That was RMB 2798.5 yuan for one semester (and RMB 5597 yuan for one year). The average income per peasant in that county was RMB 6305 yuan in 2011. The educational expenditure accounted for 90% of the average income per peasant. However, in 2005 when the policy of free compulsory education was not implemented, the educational expenditure accounted for the average income per peasant was about 80% (Feng Bang and Xiong Wen 2013). That said, the educational expenditure of comprehensive reform of regional education must take into account the difficulties of the disadvantaged groups. In the course of comprehensive reform of regional education, we should also pay close attention to the management concept, teaching staff, social environment and other relatively “implicit” educational resources. The families and students often pay close attention to these resources. Take the migrant workers as an example. Some scholars found that after the policy of free compulsory education was implemented, many children of the migrant workers returned and now “gather” in the cities. These workers are eager to have their children enjoy the high-quality education in the cities. In their view, even the schools for children of migrant workers are better than those in rural areas. They also think it will not cost too much to enable their children to stay with them. Besides, they themselves can take care of their children instead of leaving them behind in the countryside. They can also help their children to open their horizon. Therefore, it is more suitable to look after their children themselves (Yue Wei and Huang Daozhu 2014). Ultimately, we should calculate the basic criteria of the educational expenditure and the government financial appropriations per student in schools of all types and levels.

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8.3.2 Strengthen the Overall Coordination of Expenditure on Education After the emergence of human capital theory, many people begin to measure the contribution of education to social–economic development, economic benefits of enterprises, the increase of individual’s income, etc. That means education has the attributes of consumption and production. On the one hand, the human investment in the form of education proves to gain more benefits than the physical investment in the form of non-liquid assets and therefore greatly stimulates the enthusiasm of certain interest-oriented investors. On the other hand, “The one who invests benefits” has become a mainstream popular view. The raising of funds for education is no longer the sole responsibility of the government. The investors in education have diversified. The seventh clause of National Education Law of the People’s Republic of China clearly stipulates the avenues of raising funds for education and confirms the legality of diversified avenues, that is, the appropriations of the financial departments supplemented by fund-raising through multiple channels. The expenditure on comprehensive reforms of regional education needs to be shared by all the relevant beneficiaries, including governments at all levels, enterprises, nonprofit organizations, individual citizens, etc. Since all the relevant beneficiaries differ in gains and investment capacity, we need to strengthen the overall coordination, clarify the obligations of each beneficiary and make sure that we can raise sufficient stable sources of investments for educational reform. 1. Stick to the Government-Dominated Approach and Clarify the Obligations of Each Layer of the Government As the people’s organization to govern society, the government must take the public obligation to develop education and play an absolute dominant role. Many clauses of National Education Law of the People’s Republic of China clearly state that there are many channels for the government to raise funds for education, such as the fiscal appropriations, obligatory taxation, financial credit, land use and so on. In terms of fiscal appropriations, the total sum of the national expenditure on education amounted to 212.421 billion RMB in 2012, reaching the goal of 4% of the GDP, among which the central government invested 110.146 billion RMB. The local governments also put in 201.4064 billion RMB in education (National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China 2013). In terms of taxation, the government should reinforce the imposition of surtax in raising funds for education. For instance, it should impose 3% of surtax on increment tax, transaction tax and consumption tax and use it solely on education. In financial terms, the government endeavors to establish and perfect all kinds of financing projects. For instance, the government provides student loans at a low interest rate to those who have difficulty in paying for their tuitions. The government will pay the interest while the students are still in the college or university and they are supposed to pay back the loans after graduation. To deal with the repayment risk, the government also designs mechanisms such as credit checking and locally granted student loans. In terms of land use, government

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at all levels should take effective measures to prioritize education development. At one of the State Council executive meetings chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the government proposed increasing the fiscal input in education. The meeting required government at all levels to take a proportion of the gains from land sales and put it in education (Zhai Xuan 2011). It is obvious that the government is quite effective in using the above-mentioned legal channels to raise funds for education. However, it is far from being enough to solely rely on these direct channels. There is still much room to scout out new avenues of funding. It is an imperative task to clarify the funding responsibilities of government at all levels. Government is generally categorized into the central government, and the local governments refer to those at the provincial, municipal, county and town levels. We also divide education into preschooling, basic education, higher education, vocational education and community education. Government at different levels differs in their capacity and will to invest in education, which derives from their rational calculation of the benefits and costs of their interests. It is predictable that with the rapid development of market economy, the flow of labor will become more frequent, and the scale will become larger and larger. Therefore, it is a mega-trend to lower the barrier of talent flow or establish a reasonable mechanism consistent with the free flow of talents throughout the country. Therefore, we should strictly follow the talent-centered principles when allocating educational expenditure to government at all levels. First, we should reallocate the responsibilities of governments at all levels in search for new avenues of funding for education. The predominant role of the central government is to provide the nationwide public services and utilize the general and special transfer of expenditure on education in fiscal policies to advance educational reform as a whole. The local governments are responsible for the implementation of the specific policies. Take compulsory education as an example. Before the reform of the public financial investment mechanism, the local governments are mostly responsible for the running of compulsory education. When the policy of free compulsory education is carried out in the rural areas, people usually follow the principles of “clarifying the responsibilities of government at each level, sharing expenditure between the central and the local governments, expanding the fiscal input, guaranteeing the basic level of expenditure on education and implementing the policy step by step.” In doing so, we can gradually incorporate compulsory education in rural areas into the scope of public finance and establish a mechanism to guarantee the sharing of the expenditure between the central and local governments through the allocation of the right proportions. The historic achievements of free nine-year compulsory education show that the mechanisms of sharing expenditure on education are workable. They include the integration of compulsory education into the scope of public finance, the differentiated support from the central government based on the conditions of the local economic development and their accomplishment in compulsory education, the overall coordination of the provincial governments to take charge of compulsory education, the responsibility of the municipal governments for the implementation of specific policies and the responsibility of the county governments for the policy implementation in rural areas.

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Moreover, we should strengthen the cooperation between governments at different levels, which can be either vertical or horizontal. The former refers to the cooperation between the central government and the local governments, such as Pudong Comprehensive Educational Reform Pilot District, Guangdong Modern Educational Reform Pilot District, Chengdu Urban and Rural Education Integration Experimental District and Wuhan Comprehensive Education Reform Pilot District. The latter refers to the cooperation between the local governments. For instance, National Institute of Education Sciences (NIES) worked with Qingyang District, Chengdu City of Sichuan Province on Qingyang Pilot District, which is designed to bridge the gap of education between the rural and urban areas. Meanwhile, Chengdu municipal government also endeavored to offer help to less developed counties or prefectures under its own administration, such as the targeted aid to Pujiang County, Pengzhou City and Ganzi Prefecture. Derong County of Ganzi Prefecture alone obtained nearly 10 million RMB (The Expert Team of Chengdu Qingyang Pilot District affiliated to National Institute of Education Sciences 2011). However, to ensure the reasonable flow of expenditure on education between the local governments, we need to promulgate relevant policies to further their cooperation. 2. Enhance the Integration of Education and Profit-Driven Capital There is possible room for cooperation between education and profit-driven capital. Such a cooperation can strike a balance between the maximization of profits and the defending of public interest. The enterprises pursue profits. So do the individuals. The individuals as students have the legitimate right to seek their interest as long as they acquire education resources through their talent and efforts by adhering to the principles of openness, fairness and transparency instead of the privileges if they have. The individual’s pursuit of interest belongs to the private domain, and the government has no right to interfere as long as they observe the law. The focal point is how to monitor the profit-driven behaviors of the enterprises and guide them to increase the input of education resources properly and effectively, and thereby we need to understand the following points. First, the scarcity of resources results in the fierce competition and the increasing difficulty to acquire them. Nowadays, China’s education resources, particularly the high-quality resources, are extremely unevenly distributed. Owing to the wide income gap resulting from the impact of education on the labor market and the huge benefits from receiving high-quality education, the high-quality education resources become indispensable. However, the limited resources are not able to meet the needs of a large corps of students. Therefore, a series of mechanisms emerge to acquire the limited numbers of available classroom seats. For instance, to break the restriction of China’s rigid household registration system and gain an advantage in obtaining the high-quality resources, many parents choose to buy the apartments in the highly developed school districts to assure a seat for their child. Many high school students in more developed provinces choose to migrate to less developed provinces to take advantage of the quotas allocated to these provinces in college entrance examinations and are thus called Gaokao (college entrance examination) immigrants.

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To get into better primary and secondary schools, many students choose to attend Zhankeng Class (i.e., prior admission class by paying high fees) or enroll as Gongjian Sheng (i.e., students whose parents work in government institutions or business enterprises that donate money or provide other services to the school and thus their admissions to the schools are guaranteed). Many students enter universities as Baosong Sheng (i.e., recommended students for direct admission) or apply for independent enrollment without participating in the national college entrance examinations. That said, to optimize the admission system and ensure a fairer admission is one of the imperatives of educational reform in the future. Second, the public nature of public education leaves some room for the capital to pursue profits. In order to protect the public nature, Item 3 of Clause 25 in National Education Law stipulates that “no organization or individual is allowed to run schools or other educational institutions on the sole purpose of seeking profits.” This stipulation regulates the behavior of school running, but it does not forbid the cooperation between the school and the profit-seeking funding. If seeking profits is not the sole purpose of capital or if there is no direct causal relationship between the capital and school running, then the school should be allowed to cooperate with the profit-seeking capital. Therefore, as the representative of profit-seeking capital, the business companies can work directly together with the practical vocational education and higher education institutions intended for “practical development and social service.” Such cooperation is conducive to the favorable interaction between China’s vocational training, higher education, economic transformation and industrial upgrading. Third, the national government should strictly regulate the cooperation between education and profit-seeking capital, particularly through the legal means. In fact, many “education companies” do exist in the form of school running, training or consultation, such as Xin Dong Fang, Haiwen, Zhong Gong and other renowned training enterprises. The key of the issue is how to monitor these training companies and ensure that the profit-seeking capital does not undermine the public interest. For instance, the Private Education Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China states that “the funders of the private schools are allowed to receive the reasonable rewards after the schools deduct the cost of school running, reserve the developmental funds and draw the necessary fees according to the regulations of the government. The methods to receive the reasonable rewards are stipulated by the State Council.” With this regulation, the private schools will refrain from a flagrant pursuit of profits and dividends in the actual practice. Besides, the government can strengthen rule making, such as property ownership and personnel regulations, actively develop education resources and attract the private funds through bidding, renting and joint development. In the USA, besides the private universities in higher education, the profit-seeking capital also enters the basic education. In spite of the doubt raised about the private funding in compulsory education, many private organizations still participate in the management of public schools through signing contacts with the school boards and the education departments of the local governments as long as they meet the standards set by the government, live up to their responsibilities and fulfill their obligations (Zhang Hui 2013). This practice sheds light on the educational reform in economically developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

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3. Guide the Nonprofit Organizations and Individuals Through Orderly Participation in Education Stories abound about the participation of nonprofit organizations and individuals in funding education. Out of compassion and love, they move from self-interest to altruism and serve the interest of others. They are reflected in two major forms in the field of education in China. One is the numerous donations to set up schools (i.e., Hope Project), fund office and teaching buildings (i.e., Sir Run Run Shaw Building), offer nutritional meals and scholarships, etc. The other is to offer voluntary services such as internship, free teaching, free campus cleaning and free legal aid. Some scholars classify the nonprofit organizations and individuals that provide educational services as the third department (the government as the first and the business enterprises as the second) which falls into seven categories: nonprofit foundations, education appropriation board, education appraisal and certification institution, education policy consultation institutions, alumni associations, teachers’ organizations and volunteer organizations for education. They serve as the bridge to communicate and coordinate the conflicts of interests and behaviors among the government, enterprises, schools and the individuals (Tang Bin 2012b). These organizations and individuals emerged as a significant supplement when the government and enterprises fail to provide sufficient resources to education. The Hope Project is a case in point. However, the education services provided by these organizations and individuals are still very limited and in some cases are a waste of resources. For instance, some Hope primary schools were deserted not long after they were built as a result of the adjustment of school distribution. Some short-term voluntary teaching by college students also had some negative impact. “Nearly 73% of college students regard voluntary teaching as a compulsory course, but it is difficult to get schools that are willing to take them. Nearly 62% of the school headmasters frankly said that the college students who did voluntary teaching brought about negative impact on their schools. As a result, they no longer trust the voluntary work of college students and have to find excuses to decline such offers. Nearly 78% of the students who were taught by college students feel regret and perplexed by complaining that the older brothers and sisters ‘came in a haste and stayed for too short a date’.” (Zhou Kai 2011) Besides, nonprofit does not necessarily mean the above-mentioned organizations and individuals are not permitted to make profits. Instead, the government should open more channels for nonprofit organizations and individuals to participate in fundraising, such as buying bonds and stocks. Meanwhile, it is imperative to strengthen the rule of law and ensure that volunteers and the students are well protected by law and their obligations fulfilled so that the nonprofit organizations and individuals can provide education services in an orderly fashion.

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8.3.3 Reinforce the Effective Oversight of the Expenditure on Education In comprehensive reform of regional education, it is of vital importance to effectively manage the funding from all the institutions. Reform is experimentation and is difficult to avoid the risk of failure. Therefore, risk management of investment, stable progress and applying successful experiments to broader areas are the basic principles to “make strategic planning and encourage the initiative of the grassroots experimentation.” That said, the investment in educational reform should be well targeted, proactive and efficient. To achieve these ends, we should set concrete criteria, establish effective evaluation mechanisms and strengthen a law-based oversight and accountability. 1. Implement Performance Budget A budget is “a financial plan of government institutions, business enterprises and other economic organizations for a defined period in the future. It is an effective way to manage revenues and control expenses” (Chen Dedi et al. 2001). Performance refers to economic results and efficiency (Yu Genyuan 1994). It is often widely used to evaluate all kinds of activities conducted by individuals, enterprises, government institutions, nonprofit social organizations, etc. As a modern national budgeting system, performance budget is the transfer of the corporate scientific management to the planning, implementation and review of the national budget to strengthen the economic control of the budgeting process. The term performance budget first appeared in the Hoover Commission report to US Congress in 1949 (Liu Shibai & Zou Guangyan 2000). Performance budget states “the goal intended to attain and the plan to spend the possible sum of money to achieve the goal and use adequate criteria to evaluate the progress of each stage” (Ma Guoxian 2008). Performance budgeting manages, oversees and evaluates the performance through the goal set to achieve. It pays attention to the methods of making the budget and the outcome of carrying out the budget. Later on from performance budgeting, a more easily operated method emerges. It is called project budget, which includes regular expenditure and special expenditure. These methods are helpful to resolve the problems of “placing more emphasis on the input of resources but neglecting the output” or simply overlooking the unit cost that exists in many local governments. It is also helpful to reduce the waste of resources and transform the bureaucratic practices from management-oriented to service-oriented. This is also consistent with the basic principles of comprehensive reform of regional education. In this respect, governments at all levels have made many explorations and accumulated plenty of helpful experience. Almost a decade ago, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued one document after another and tried performance budgeting in the departments of China’s central government. They include Guidance of the Budget Performance Appraisal Management of the Departments of the Central Government Responsible for Economic Affairs issued on October 18, 2004, Guidance of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Budget Performance Appraisal of the Investment

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Projects by the Central Government issued on December 23, 2004, and Notice of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Issuing Guidance of the Budget Performance Appraisal of the Departments of the Central Government issued on May 25, 2005. These documents constitute the basic elements of China’s policy system of budget performance. Roughly at the same time, the local governments also began to pay close attention to the performance evaluation of the investment. For instance, on September 11, 2003, in the instructions on Report of the Department of Finance of Guangdong Province on the Performance Appraisal of the Spending of Special Funds on the Construction of Privately-Run Science Park, Zhang Dejiang, Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, pointed out that the performance evaluation of financial expenditure of the projects or large sum of operating expenses is a significant part of strengthening financial management. Other provinces began to follow suit. The Pearl River Delta, Shanghai Pudong New Area and Beijing are a few examples of the champions of budget performance. In the field of education, performance budget is a policy tool on the micro-plane to impact on the quality and efficiency of the education services. It includes the planning, organization, implementation and control of education expenditure. Performance budget includes daily and special appropriations. Its basic procedures include the making of strategic planning, of annual performance plan and of performance reports, the appraisal of the performance, and the application of the appraisal conclusions (Guo Jianfei 2008a). Performance budget performs a variety of functions. On the macro-level, it ensures the implementation of the top-level design in comprehensive reform of regional reform. On the middle level, it clarifies the reform orientation, effectively oversees the expenditure of the major education projects and makes sure the effective use of the funding in proposal, bid invitation, implementation and the evaluation of research results consistent with the policy orientation. On the microlevel, it can also effectively diagnose the potential risk in the use of funds and the function of rewarding system. Performance budget is useful in evaluating whether the budget is compatible to the actual needs. For instance, is the proposed project reasonable or feasible? Are the spending items or performance indicators clear enough? It can also detect the problems with the loss of budget balance in the process of budget implementation. For instance, why does the budget suddenly increase? Or why is there such a large budget surplus? etc. Meanwhile, the budget implementation itself can help to provide conditions for refining and perfecting the performance budget. In Shanghai Pudong New Area, the performance of the resource input was evaluated. They invited a third party—the experts from the Department of Social Management and Policy of Fudan University—to adopt the Delphi evaluation system, consulted the panels and established a three-tier indicator system. All the data collected was the primary data from the grassroots, and they used them to evaluate the performance of the specific institutions, such as the agency of social development, the bureau of education, different schools and different types of education (Guo Jianfei 2008b). A certain university from Beijing designed a four-tier index system in 2010 to evaluate the efficiency of its own performance budget of the 2009 academic year

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(Guan Zhenyu 2012). These are the model cases to detect the problems that exist in the current education expenditure and come up with proper solutions. 2. Oversee by Law The goal of performance budget cannot be achieved without strict oversight. The expenditure on education is not only a significant part of the government fiscal expenditure, but also a fast rule to measure and monitor whether the behaviors of the providers of education services are reasonable and legal. In terms of the expenditure on comprehensive reform of regional education, whether it is the public finance from the government, the enterprises, the nonprofit organizations or the individuals, they have to try their best to be transparent. This is because education is public and serves public good. To guarantee the authority and the seriousness of performance budget, we need to reinforce the dominant role of the People’s Congress in performance budget. In order to guarantee people’s right to know and oversee, we should enhance the transparency and openness of the performance budget. To put the above-mentioned oversight contents and forms under the framework of law is of great significance to enhance the legitimacy of performance budget. People’s Congress is a lawmaking body. It has the regulatory power targeted at the government financial budget. It is in a more advantageous position in its gaming with the government. For instance, the People’s Congress has the power to make laws to change the contents and forms of the budget. The 55th clause of National Education Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates “three increases.” The 45th clause of the new Compulsory Education Law of the PRC states that all levels of local governments should list expenditure on education as an independent unit. The government should make it clear to the People’s Congress in its budget report. The Constitution and the Budget Law of the PRC also stipulate that People’s Congress has the power and the means to oversee the governments of its own level and of the subordinate level, such as the power to inquire, interrogate, hear the implementation report of the budget, review the budget, etc. People’s Congress has the power to request the government to make specific performance budgets consistent with the actual needs of comprehensive reform of regional education and regulate the behaviors of the government in the process of performance budget making by strictly following scientific, reasonable and genuine requirements. It also has the power to conduct a specialized review of the expenditure on comprehensive reform of regional education. “From 2008 till now, the Municipal People’s Congress of Guangzhou has undertaken an independent specialized review of the budgets of most city departments, such as the Bureau of Education, of Public Health, of Agriculture, of Environmental Protection, of Civil Affairs, etc. The bureaus have to explain in every detail the planning and execution of their budgets to the representatives of the people’s congress. Therefore, it bears it out that this measure is very effective and conducive to enhancing the budget efficiency. To help the representatives of people’s congress to have a better review of the budget, the Guangzhou Municipal Government submitted three items of its general budget expenditure as independent units to the Municipal People’s Congress for its special review. They included the 1.71 billion Yuan of overall planning of basic construction,

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1.48 billion Yuan of the city maintenance, and 650 million Yuan of technological research and development. Thus, the specific expenditure of each item was stipulated before the budget was submitted to the people’s congress, which drastically overturned the previous practice of specifying the amount of expenditure after the whole package was approved by the people’s congress” (Wu Junpei 2012a). Moreover, in terms of the distribution of the expenditure on education in comprehensive reform of regional education, the People’s Congress can establish a set of easily quantified and operated oversight model to reinforce its regulation on performance budget. The transparent performance budget is like the sunshine, which can not only dispel corruption but also enhance the “immunity” (or credibility) of the relevant parties. It can also foster public good and the birth of democracy. This transparency can be both static and dynamic. In static terms, transparency means that the making, review and the approval of the annual budget closely follow the legal procedure. In dynamic terms, it means this legal procedure is completely under the oversight of the People’s Congress (Wang Shitao 2012). This transparent process can be active openness or openness through application. In the process of comprehensive reform of regional education, the government, schools, enterprises, nonprofit organizations and other actors need to access information to make sure their decision is rational. Therefore, all actors should try to make their information known to the public, such as their financial budget and the use of expenditure on education in their schools. We need to protect the rights. It is now imperative to improve the relevant laws and regulations and clarify what kind of information and procedure should be open to the public and what legal obligations they will have to take if they fail to make certain information known to the public. If the organizations or individuals involved in education are not able to access the budget information through legal means, nor is there proper way to protect this right, then there is no way for the law to urge those who make the budget to fulfill their obligations to make the information known to the public. Besides, we can also explore the channels participated by the public to make the relevant information known to the public. For the government budget, we can explore the participatory models, such as the earnest consultation and the vote on the budget in Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, the public decision and participation in the whole process on the launch of public projects proposed by the People’s Congress and the local government in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, etc (Wu Junpei 2012b). For the expenditure of the nonprofit organizations and individuals, we can explore the “vote by feet” participatory model. That is, if they do not make the budget information known, the public will not refuse to participate. Nor will they donate money to express their disapproval.

Afterward

This book is intended to help the educational administrators, teachers, educational researchers, parents and the general public to understand and master the significant aspects of the promotion of comprehensive reform of regional education. It offers the basic principles, policy orientations, practical methods and case studies and guides the local administrative departments and the primary and secondary schools to explore how to advance comprehensive reform, boost its development and improve educational equality from a fresh perspective. This book employs the educational ecology as the primary theoretical base, borrows many other concepts and thinking modes from other disciplines such as area studies and explores the major hot and difficult issues in the course of promoting comprehensive reform of regional education. Based on the experiences in participating in the Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental District (since 2008) of China Central Institute of Educational Sciences (now China National Institute of Educational Sciences), the authors use the case studies which reflect the realities of the localities they have witnessed in their own eyes, and therefore avoid the purely theoretical narration and come closer to the readers. This book is the accomplishment of collective wisdom. Liu Guihua and Wang Xiaofei are responsible for the plan, outline, revision and proofreading. Liu Guihua is responsible for the final draft. The author of every chapter also contributes to the plan of the book. Li Xiaoqiang, office director of the Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental District of China National Institute of Educational Sciences, contributes to the theoretical perspectives, and Dr. Liu Guangyu provides part of the data and cases of the experimental district. For each chapter, Liu Guihua is responsible for the preface, Wang Xiaofei and Yangqing for Chapter One, Liu Jinsong for Chapter Two, Liu Jinsong and Yan Xuemin for Chapter Three, Zhang Wei for Chapter Four, Wang Xiaofei for Chapter Five, Yang Qing for Chapter Six, Zhang Wei for Chapter Seven, Yue Wei for Chapter Eight and Wang Xiaofei for Afterward. Education Science Publishing House also makes great contribution for the publishing of the book. We are extremely grateful to Chief Editor Li Dong, Direct Liu Mingtang and Managing Editor He yi for their generous help and hard work.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2

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For the limitation of time and research abilities, there are inevitably some trivial slips and some ideas remain to be further explored. We would be very glad to invite the advice and criticisms from our experts and readers. Wang Xiaofei December 11, 2014

Appendix

See Tables A.1, A.2, A.3, A.4, A.5, A.6, A.7, A.8, A.9, A.10, A.11, A.12, A.13, A.14, A.15, A.16, A.17 and A.18.

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2

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Appendix

Table A.1 Education gini coefficient index Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

National

0.132 0.144 0.147 0.147 0.146 0.151 0.151 0.152 0.153 0.157 0.159

Beijing

0.166 0.160 0.160 0.164 0.164 0.164 0.165 0.165 0.165 0.165 0.166

Tianjin

0.158 0.158 0.158 0.163 0.166 0.168 0.164 0.163 0.164 0.167 0.168

Hebei

0.121 0.143 0.149 0.144 0.138 0.134 0.134 0.138 0.139 0.139 0.139

Shanxi

0.130 0.141 0.134 0.138 0.144 0.147 0.148 0.146 0.147 0.151 0.153

Inner Mongolia

0.129 0.143 0.142 0.149 0.151 0.149 0.154 0.150 0.152 0.158 0.160

Liaoning

0.143 0.144 0.154 0.149 0.153 0.157 0.158 0.161 0.158 0.164 0.166

Jilin

0.143 0.158 0.155 0.154 0.153 0.154 0.154 0.150 0.154 0.154 0.155

Heilongjiang 0.137 0.145 0.140 0.138 0.148 0.149 0.146 0.144 0.143 0.147 0.148 Shanghai

0.154 0.144 0.150 0.155 0.159 0.159 0.161 0.162 0.161 0.165 0.167

Jiangsu

0.132 0.135 0.140 0.139 0.149 0.153 0.154 0.149 0.151 0.158 0.161

Zhejiang

0.128 0.148 0.149 0.151 0.148 0.161 0.160 0.164 0.166 0.172 0.176

Anhui

0.118 0.122 0.140 0.136 0.129 0.134 0.129 0.132 0.133 0.136 0.137

Fujian

0.128 0.146 0.146 0.145 0.146 0.152 0.153 0.154 0.168 0.166 0.169

Jiangxi

0.127 0.141 0.156 0.148 0.144 0.151 0.163 0.160 0.161 0.168 0.171

Shandong

0.126 0.141 0.137 0.137 0.134 0.144 0.142 0.141 0.142 0.145 0.146

Henan

0.121 0.134 0.129 0.135 0.130 0.130 0.130 0.131 0.134 0.134 0.134

Hubei

0.135 0.142 0.146 0.146 0.143 0.155 0.156 0.157 0.152 0.160 0.162

Hunan

0.130 0.147 0.148 0.148 0.145 0.150 0.154 0.154 0.151 0.157 0.159

Guangdong

0.134 0.154 0.154 0.154 0.153 0.152 0.153 0.155 0.153 0.158 0.159

Guangxi

0.130 0.142 0.147 0.149 0.143 0.148 0.141 0.136 0.141 0.143 0.143

Hainan

0.130 0.143 0.152 0.146 0.146 0.140 0.144 0.140 0.144 0.145 0.145

Chongqing

0.127 0.142 0.144 0.142 0.148 0.149 0.145 0.146 0.155 0.155 0.158

Sichuan

0.124 0.140 0.142 0.140 0.134 0.146 0.145 0.145 0.153 0.153 0.155

Guizhou

0.110 0.132 0.142 0.139 0.128 0.126 0.132 0.135 0.133 0.136 0.138

Yunnan

0.115 0.116 0.111 0.136 0.128 0.131 0.137 0.136 0.133 0.142 0.145

Tibet

0.069 0.071 0.065 0.073 0.063 0.072 0.080 0.086 0.086 0.086 0.088

Shaanxi

0.135 0.140 0.150 0.159 0.149 0.154 0.154 0.157 0.158 0.163 0.165

Gansu

0.118 0.133 0.139 0.145 0.138 0.130 0.135 0.139 0.142 0.143 0.145

Qinghai

0.118 0.126 0.138 0.138 0.146 0.147 0.153 0.157 0.165 0.170 0.175

Ningxia

0.129 0.144 0.147 0.154 0.148 0.153 0.153 0.156 0.156 0.162 0.164

Xinjiang

0.151 0.173 0.173 0.170 0.165 0.165 0.167 0.169 0.168 0.170 0.171

Appendix

275

Table A.2 Ratio of the average educational expenditure per junior high school investment in the government annual budget in the average educational student Region

Year 2002 2003

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

National

0.612 0.651

0.658 0.673 0.686 0.735 0.784 0.804 0.816 0.830 0.825

Beijing

0.589 0.598

0.582 0.611 0.628 0.626 0.673 0.714 0.749 0.786 0.768

Tianjin

0.741 0.643

0.702 0.731 0.778 0.798 0.830 0.854 0.822 0.817 0.789

Hebei

0.687 0.738

0.757 0.762 0.779 0.775 0.821 0.845 0.854 0.831 0.814

Shanxi

0.671 0.647

0.706 0.739 0.752 0.749 0.804 0.824 0.871 0.869 0.845

Inner Monolia

0.668 0.693

0.718 0.739 0.777 0.813 0.801 0.812 0.822 0.803 0.802

Liaoning

0.614 0.647

0.697 0.707 0.729 0.793 0.774 0.801 0.783 0.805 0.806

Jilin

0.574 0.591

0.588 0.620 0.646 0.683 0.746 0.783 0.806 0.929 0.893

Heilongjiang 0.768 0.825

0.813 0.854 0.824 0.857 0.886 0.911 0.943 0.922 0.912

Shanghai

0.663 0.712

0.708 0.702 0.729 0.768 0.850 0.854 0.873 0.901 0.898

Jiangsu

0.544 0.561

0.559 0.587 0.598 0.635 0.721 0.748 0.774 0.829 0.769

Zhejiang

0.497 0.561

0.567 0.576 0.581 0.642 0.694 0.698 0.716 0.723 0.756

Anhui

0.646 0.681

0.666 0.667 0.669 0.710 0.793 0.810 0.818 0.815 0.821

Fujian

0.616 0.585

0.634 0.663 0.669 0.739 0.749 0.784 0.779 0.791 0.776

Jiangxi

0.608 0.659

0.676 0.700 0.719 0.745 0.839 0.840 0.838 0.828 0.870

Shandong

0.615 0.676

0.694 0.723 0.729 0.756 0.849 0.877 0.863 0.876 0.858

Henan

0.603 0.692

0.699 0.725 0.743 0.790 0.849 0.840 0.855 0.857 0.832

Hubei

0.542 0.632

0.630 0.659 0.672 0.722 0.824 0.849 0.870 0.860 0.859

Hunan

0.516 0.6271 0.634 0.666 0.701 0.730 0.733 0.757 0.778 0.777 0.772

Guangdong

0.558 0.594

0.616 0.626 0.620 0.689 0.716 0.764 0.752 0.771 0.776

Guangxi

0.640 0.681

0.691 0.680 0.692 0.834 0.837 0.871 0.886 0.884 0.908

Hainan

0.583 0.617

0.562 0.642 0.768 0.657 0.818 0.781 0.854 0.856 0.791

Chongqing

0.570 0.570

0.537 0.541 0.525 0.635 0.669 0.722 0.735 0.719 0.746

Sichuan

0.570 0.606

0.578 0.567 0.555 0.688 0.729 0.700 0.674 0.768 0.811

Guizhou

0.724 0.761

0.740 0.790 0.789 0.855 0.897 0.888 0.912 0.937 0.917

Yunnan

0.789 0.792

0.808 0.784 0.784 0.831 0.839 0.848 0.886 0.853 0.825

Tibet

0.969 0.953

0.983 0.958 0.988 0.867 0.985 0.962 0.967 0.926 0.947

Shaanxi

0.715 0.755

0.740 0.769 0.777 0.855 0.862 0.876 0.902 0.889 0.878

Gansu

0.755 0.781

0.793 0.778 0.802 0.878 0.876 0.885 0.885 0.882 0.872

Qinghai

0.870 0.891

0.874 0.873 0.890 0.848 0.808 0.846 0.861 0.859 0.851

Ningxia

0.775 0.735

0.750 0.689 0.767 0.789 0.791 0.860 0.882 0.856 0.812 0.882

Xinjiang

0.709 0.722

0.696 0.699 0.704 0.737 0.754 0.777 0.871 0.917 0.899

1919.67

8934.52

1849.71

3278.34

Heilongjiang

Shanghai

Jiangsu

Zhejiang

932.28

1151.98

1361.73

2054.45

Henan

Hubei

Hunan

Guangdong

1120.44

1681.15

Jilin

1815.25

2165.20

Liaoning

Shandong

1999.80

Inner Monolia

Jiangxi

1398.11

Shanxi

1512.56

1404.03

Hebei

Fujian

3605.17

Tianjin

935.33

5706.57

Anhui

1561.69

Beijing

2002

Year

National

Region

1492.08

767.03

801.86

608.54

922.06

696.05

1098.55

686.00

1777.73

1192.81

4349.10

1127.57

1119.98

1144.38

1156.04

899.20

795.83

1983.89

3340.29 |

998.09

2003

1776.47

822.53

828.11

649.41

1101.80

745.76

1188.24

697.08

2242.44

1270.11

5523.96

1291.71

1141.59

1327.35

1239.20

960.54

865.21

2329.43

3793.11

1096.98

2004

1929.06

1022.89

986.95

773.38

1381.30

883.98

1370.61

809.56

2832.04

1504.35

7014.04

1499.69

1362.94

1731.35

1532.67

1080.64

1081.27

2726.10

4746.75

1296.13

2005

2054.45

1361.73

1151.98

932.28

1815.25

1120.44

1512.56

935.33

3278.34

1849.71

8934.52

1919.67

1681.15

2165.20’

1999.80

1398.11

1404.03

3605.17

5706.57

1561.69

2006

Table A.3 Average educational expenditure per junior high school student

2403.45

1847.96

1442.97

1210.74

2292.39

1378.95

1965.05

1229.98

3916.27

2299.87

10,459.78

2501.42

2147.23

2809.90

2370.55

1720.25

1718.39

4477.27

8049.15

1962.67

2007

2848.53

2681.66

2234.79

1926.00

3391.69

2105.14 |

2653.21

1818.27

4931.98

3661.02

13,377.01

3289.69

2940.24

3514.59

3195.78

2368.21

2377.30

5620.14

11,411.37

2731.27

2008

3308.00

3729.29

3127.31

2489.90

4391.18

2683.35

3578.20

2593.39

5819.83

4584.12

15,982.94

4355.23

4233.68

4645.85

4724.30

3360.35

3585.90

7785.90

14,054.57

3644.98

2009

3534.79

4705.46

4224.20

3046.85

4931.50

3283.63

4602.48

3189.79

7011.07

6094.32

18,484.31

4932.78

5519.56

5621.86

6421.99

4190.69

4420.46

11,083.16

17,348.52

4538.39

2010

4111.73

5067.10

4641.97

3470.75

6155.78

3477.13

5901.76

4109.50

8455.78

8585.05

20,276.10

5788.93

6931.71

7116.94

8160.36

4889.85

5343.92

14,914.89

24,203.46

5415.41

2011

(continued)

5065.69

6086.42

5605.95

4616.39

7778.98

4993.45

7494.80

5858.07

10,159.63

10,183.52

22,643.57

6844.29

8534.43

9680.51

9373.83

5985.08

6321.74

18,229.86

29,052.63

6743.87

2012

276 Appendix

1039.17

1526.38

5190.30

1102.68

1216.92

2179.02

1710.20

1932.56

Guizhou

Yunnan

Tibet

Shaanxi

Gansu

Qinghai

Ningxia

Xinjiang

1304.78

Chongqing

947.43

1617.40

Sichuan

1127.13

Hainan

2002

Year

Guangxi

Region

Table A.3 (continued)

1535.33

1204.03

1574.69

862.25

749.09

2958.07

1122.09

664.45

737.33

794.69

1022.32

841.06

2003

1514.17

1143.30

1523.66

845.68

769.03

4361.64

1187.69

715.66

739.44

821.22

993.56

859.58

2004

1530.54

1353.99

1685.64

993.91

937.77

4829.82

1349.63

821.72

850.50

1007.63

1252.39

967.15

2005

1932.56

1710.20

2179.02

1216.92

1102.68

5190.30

1526.38

1039.17

947.43

1304.78

1617.40

1127.13

2006

2616.28

1945.85

2399.39

1645.33

1512.26

4152.15

1805.22

1251.72

1403.36

1553.68

1866.57

1558.44

2007

3310.66

2698.31

3023.56

2080.79

2188.59

6701.42

2235.38

1760.46

2016.29

2208.94

2619.85

2044.88

2008

4878.50

4766.78

4697.60

3164.69

3498.21

6152.96

3030.18

2357.23

2769.26

2928.20

3626.28

3042.14

2009

6977.45

5523.70

6588.88

4012.31

5213.57

8202.72

4311.09

2772.40

3643.23

3810.79

5048.79

3478.23

2010

8457.75

6364.35

8528.01

4575.79

5522.27

7317.37

4649.15

3279.70

4308.86

4545.68

6022.78

4419.16

2011

10,878.71

7330.19

11,388.71

5343.92

7653.36

9895.80

5055.86

4225.72

5334.66

6002.60

8056.37

5609.15

2012

Appendix 277

7522.68

7706.15

Jilin

Heilongjiang

8208.14

9080.02

Hubei

Hunan

14,185.00

7365.28

Henan

Guangdong

7737.62

9905.59

Shandong

11,693.80

Fujian

Jiangxi

7688.85

Anhui

15,047.01

8354.94

Liaoning

Zhejiang

7509.26

Inner Monolia

11,159.81

7347.10

Shanxi

Jiangsu

85,88.42

Hebei

18,754.33

12,906.42

Tianjin

Shanghai

9225.98

16,603.28

Beijing

2002

Year

National

Region

Table A.4 Residents’ income

15,049.10

9356.481

9232.58

8461.14

10,562.01

8642.09

12,728.19

8149.96

16,655.96

12,157.43

19,473.35

8505.80

8561.15

9275.86

8137.02

8384.18

9364.84

13,616.27

17,862.40

10,178.43

2003

16,435.01

10,207.07

9888.74

9161.80

11,550.40

9358.95

13,733.43

8905.51

18,568.57

13,501.72

21,521.41

9187.84

9535.58

10,175.02

9280.55

9304.20

10,092.44

14,878.92

19,484.17

11,094.44

2004

17,993.52

11,455.24

10,912.76

10,258.05

12,945.23

10,346.42

15,264.75

10,010.76

20,490.44

15,235.78

23,749.15

10,475.89

10,840.23

11,314.70

10,729.36

10,492.46

11,122.37

16,486.69

21,808.17

12,358.01

2005

19,460.43

12,641.71

11,885.14

11,538.55

14,675.34

11,748.55

16,771.67

11,111.64

22,953.72

17,594.86

26,892.80

11,493.78

11,954.61

12,797.76

12,125.66

11,804.57

12,588.73

18,218.42

24,999.21

13,747.96

2006

21,095.36

13,894.29

13,222.00

13,071.29

16,560.57

13,010.65

18,588.03

12,740.13

25,599.91

19,897.49

29,806.56

12,734.74

13,416.20

14,460.01

13,699.87

13,208.62

14,106.38

20,511.03

28,252.99

15,346.49

2007

23,323.34

16,197.74

15,483.28

15,328.65

19,250.04

15,496.39

20,973.13

15,029.85

28,838.97

22,939.02

33,767.35

14,377.57

15,476.86

17,073.82

16,330.94

15,230.61

15,983.90

23,367.41

31,428.34

17,926.17

2008

26,132.65

18,333.62

17,809.24

17,685.35

21,946.84

17,563.63

24,157.52

17,192.84

31,984.59

26,035.99

38,115.16

16,436.87

17,762.19

19,969.17

19,088.73

17,216.29

18,236.55

27,333.31

35,386.81

20,541.38

2009

28,481.65

19,993.35

19,402.74

19,178.51

23,929.81

19,096.55

26,257.01

18,590.06

34,618.12

28,555.26

41,320.72

17,772.74

19,272.18

21,719.38

20,786.99

18,240.65

19,867.92

30,089.57

38,407.07

22,327.82

2010

30,218.76

20,083.87

20,193.27

19,526.92

24,889.80

18,656.52

27,378.11

20,751.11

34,264.38

2,971.98

40,532.29

17,118.49

19,211.71

22,879.77

21,890.19

19,666.10

19,591.91

29,916.04

37,124.39

23,979.20

2011

(continued)

34,044.38

22,804.55

22,903.85

21,897.23

28,005.61

21,150.24

30,877.92

23,524.56

37,994.83

32,519.10

44,754.50

19,367.84

21,659.64

25,915.72

24,790.79

22,100.31

21,899.42

32,944.01

41,103.11

26,958.99

2012

278 Appendix

8610.06

8065.31

8692.27

8347.47

6863.64

8331.45

9273.17

6974.53

6891.52

7411.04

7367.23

8105.48

Hainan

Chongqing

Sichuan

Guizhou

Yunnan

Tibet

Shaanxi

Gansu

Qinghai

Ningxia

Xinjiang

2002

Year

Guangxi

Region

Table A.4 (continued)

8762.90

7984.80

7839.46

7741.74

7927.09

9541.39

8849.20

7433.99

8718.44

9335.62

9245.92

9327.92

2003

9279.73

8573.78

8539.45

8330.29

8482.01

10,456.21

9340.69

8133.89

9271.73

10,308.22

9847.31

9879.55

2004

9748.35

9537.92

9277.32

9228.96

9358.99

10,967.38

10,735.07

9043.60

10,228.80

11,731.37

10,553.40

10,995.21

2005

10,472.30

10,602.53

10,209.31

10,066.70

10,324.65

11,509.08

11,307.69

10,028.09

11,188.74

13,052.78

11,127.97

11,781.37

2006

11,608.55

11,937.40

11,358.72

11,054.64

11,527.89

11,376.04

12,320.35

11,101.23

12,352.49

14,443.57

12,650.66

12,669.23

2007

13,496.41

14,040.17

12,959.84

12,341.26

13,408.03

13,919.13

14,130.20

13,052.39

14,644.97

16,100.07

14,788.24

15,424.49

2008

14,935.00

16,612.95

14,701.67

13,693.20

15,994.35

15,657.33

16,352.82

14,555.69

16,754.59

18,493.76

16„997.81

17,836.38

2009

16,140.62

18,073.03

16,038.00

14,909.88

17,566.31

17,076.13

17,793.27

15,867.94

18,301.45

20,227.02

18,495.21

19,431.92

2010

17,631.15

19,654.59

17,794.98

16,267.37

20,069.87

18,115.76

20,255.13

17,598.87

19,688.09

21,794.27

20,094.18

20,846.11

2011

2194.55

21,902.24

19,746.63

18,498.46

22,606.01

20,224.17

23,000.43

20,042.88

22,328.33

24,810.98

22,809.87

23,209.41

2012

Appendix 279

350.97

208.15

Hebei

Shanxi

2587.97

711.93

451.19

422.64

280.87

242.05

573.07

546.33

320.11

298.74

474.00

Shanghai

Jiangsu

Zhejiang

Anhui

Fujian

Jiangxi

Shandong

Henan

Hubei

Hunan

Guangdong

76.61

143.02

Jilin

Heilongjiang

287.06

Liaoning

19.72

871.57

Tianjin

Inner Mongolia

807.35

2002

Year

Beijing

Region

Table A.5 Population density

434.67

312.6“

322.70

574.52

578.27

251.80

284.53

455.20

455.06

719.81

2556.23

80.90

144.17

289.04

20.18

210.57

354.05

892.21 897.21

826.42 852.501

2003–2005

439.93

315.02

324.20

579.47

582.30

254.68

287.39

457.02

459.49

724.22

2579.72

81.15

145.00

290.40

20.24

212.53

356.79

879.21

852.50

2004

325.92

231.76

237.54

426.49

428.18

187.77

211.67

338.30

338.67

531.80

1988.22

59.42

106.31

212.90

14.82

156.52 |

262.47

659.08

638.23

2005

510.84

298.38

306.85

561.12

588.46

258.06

290.90

437.96

480.66

727.83

2801.63

80.68

144.79

289.42

20.15

214.85

360.22

922.09

914.18

2006

523.99

306.06

314.75

575.56

603.61

264.69

298.38

449.23

493.03

746.57

2873.72

82.76

148.51

296.87

20.67

220.38

369.49

945.84

937.68

2007

529.29

306.27

313.24

575.25

606.48

265.93

299.78

447.68

500.37

752.69

2928.15

82.67

148.62

299.83

20.73

221.29

371.35

973.06

962.17

2008

537.45

306.86

313.52

573.19

610.16

267.65

301.67

448.20

508.32

760.04

2997.02

82.68

148.98

301.68

20.79

222.44

373.71

1009.07

993.64

2009

541.40

307.30

313.40

575.99

611.90

268.94

302.85

448.33

511.66

763.33

3037.86

82.50

148.83

302.12

20.82

223.06

375.25

1061.64

1028.86

2010

580.06

310.20

30S.12

563.17

623.41

267.19

304.45

426.41

534.02

766.96

3655.56

84.28

146.59

299.86

20.90

228.66

383.27

1149.56

1167.86

2011

(continued)

583.60

311.41

309.71

562.16

626.59

268.77

306.68

427.20

535.59

769.86

3726.13

84.30

146.71

300.41

20.98

229.88

385.75

1199.12

1201.55

2012

280 Appendix

82.63

11.09

Ningxia

Xinjiang

2.13

Tibet

6.70

107.51

Yunnan

55.22

200.04

Guizhou

Qinghai

169.79

Sichuan

Gansu

367.62

Chongqing

171.84

222.85

Shaanxi

185.59

Hainan

2002

Year

Guangxi

Region

Table A.5 (continued)

12.04

85.19

7.29

56.83

178.51

2.15

109.25

216.48

178.86

374.66

235.49

203.47

2003–2005

11.52

86.65

7.39

57.36

179.69

2.19

110.71

219.23

180.02

376.82

238.34

205.39

2004

8.56

64.36

5.46

42.15

132.10

1.62

81.83

161.82

132.14

277.82

176.13

151.42

2005

12.05

89.67

7.54

56.95

180.58

2.25

112.83

211.47

169.15

336.77

243.86

197.01

2006

12.37

91.97

7.73"

58.42

185.22

2.31

115.74

216.92

l 173.51

345.44

250.15

202.08

2007

12.59

93.04

7.79L

58.58

185.63

2.34

116.38

218.10

172.28

346.05

252.10

204.27

2008

12.59

93.94

7.84

58.82

186.25

2.36

117.17

218.35

171.37

346.98

254.76

206.36

2009

13.06

94.95

7.85

58.92

186.48

2.38

117.63

219.60

171.16

348.94

256.85

207.92

2010

13.16

95.33

7.80

56.34

181.66

2.45

120.06

197.67

167.12

350.55

255.59

195.34

2011

13.31

96.30

7.87

56.43

182.03

2.47

120.81

197.09

167.22

354.68

258.04

196.82

2012

Appendix 281

282

Appendix

Table A.6 Educational Gini coefficient after non-dimensionalization Region (Provinces)

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

National

5.143 5.217 5.196 5.160

5.164 5.286 5.227 5.272 5.229 5.256 5.261

Beijing

7.187 6.176 5.930 6.246

6.181 6.045 6.095 6.117 5.992 5.743 5.676

Tianjin

6.706 6.056 5.817 6.182 , 6.294 6.278 6.033 5.987 5.928 5.864 5.795

Hebei

4.481 5.157 5.309 4.968

4.712 4.294 4.172 4.363 4.338 4.162 4.076

Shanxi

5.023 5.037 4.970 4.585

5.051 5.053 5.041 4.882 4.847 4.892 4.906

Inner Monolia

4.962 5.157 4.913 5.287

5.447 5.170 5.413 5.142 5.165 5.317 5.320

Liaoning

5.804 5.217 5.591 5.287

5.560 5.636 5.661 5.857 5.546 5.682 5.676

Jilin

5.804 6.056 5.648 5.607

5.560 5.461 5.413 5.142 5.292 5.074 5.024

Heilongjiang 5.443 5.277 4.801 4.585

5.277 5.170 4.917 4.752 4.593 4.649 4.609

Shanghai

6.466 5.217 5.365 5.671

5.899 5.753 5.847 5.922 5.737 5.743 5.735

Jiangsu

5.143 4.678 4.801 4.649

5.334 5.403 5.413 5.077 5.101 5.317 5.380

Zhejiang

4.902 5.457 5.309 5.415

5.277 5.870 5.785 6.052 6.055 6.168 6.269

Anhui

4.301 3.899 4.801 4.457

4.204 4.294 3.862 3.973 3.957 3.980 3.957

Fujian

4.902 5.337 5.139 5.032

5.164 5.345 5.351 5.402 6.182 5.803 5.854

Jiangxi

4.842 5.037 5.704 5.224

5.051 5.286 5.971 5.792 5.737 5.925 5.972

Shandong

4.782 5.037 4.631 4.521

4.486 4.878 4.669 4.557

Tl

4.527 4.491

4.529 Henan

4.481 4.618 4.179 4.393

4.260 4.061 3.924 3.908 4.020 3.858 3.779

Hubei

5.323 5.097 5.139 5.096

4.995 5.520 5.537 5.597 5.165 5.439 5.439

Hunan

5.023 5.397 5.252 5.224

5.108 5.228 5.413 5.402 5.101 5.256 5.261

Guangdong

5.263 5.816 5.591 5.607

5.560 5.345 5.351 5.467 5.229 5.317 5.261

Guangxi

5.023 5.097 5.196 5.287

4.995 5.111 4.607 4.233 4.465 4.405 4.313

Hainan

5.023 5.157 5.478 5.096

5.164 4.644 4.793 4.492 4.656 4.527 4.431

Chongqing

4.842 5.097 5.026 4.840

5.277 5.170 4.855 4.882 5.356 5.135 5.202

Sichuan

4.662 4.978 4.913 4.713

4.868 4.995 4.855 4.817 5.229 5.013 5.024

Guizhou

3.820 4.498 4.913 4.649

4.147 3.827 4.048 4.168 3.957 3.980 4.016

Yunnan

4.121 3.540 3.162 4.457

4.147 4.119 4.358 4.233 3.957 4.345 4.431

Tibet

1.355 0.844 0.564 0.432

0.476 0.676 0.823 0.984 0.968 0.941 1.053

Shaanxi

5.323 4.978 5.365 5.543

5.334 5.461 5.413 5.597 5.546 5.621 5.617

Gansu

4.301 4.558 4.744 5.032

4.712 4.061 4.234 4.427 4.529 4.405 4.431

Qinghai

4.301 4.139 4.688 4.521

5.164 5.053 5.351 5.597 5.992 6.047 6.210

Ningxia

4.962 5.217 5.196 5.607

5.277 5.403 5.351 5.532 5.419 5.560 5.558

Xinjiang

6.285 6.954 6.665 6.629

6.237 6.103 6.219 6.376 6.182 6.047 5.972

Appendix

283

Table A.7 Ratio of the average investment in the government annual budget in the average educational expenditure per junior high school student after non-dimensionalization Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

National

4.578 4.653

4.681 4.668 4.633

4.745 4.770 4.773 4.724 4.779 4.827

Beijing

4.359 4.090

3.906 3.986 4.022

4.226 3.178 3.345 3.714 4.015 3.767

Tianjin

5.807 4.568

5.130 5.307 5.600

5.046 5.430 5.567 4.815 4.553 4.158

Hebei

5.293 5.577

5.691 5.648 5.611

4.936 5.301 5.424 5.297 4.797 4.622

Shanxi

5.140 4.611

5.171 5.395 5.327

4.812 5.057 5.091 5.554 5.457 5.199

Inner Mongolia

5.112 5.099

5.293 5.395 5.590

5.117 5.014 4.900 4.815 4.310 4.399

Liaoning

4.597 4.611

5.079 5.043 5.085

5.022 4.627 4.726 4.227 4.345 4.474

Jilin

4.216 4.016

3.967 4.085 4.212

4.497 4.225 4.440 4.573 6.500 6.091

Heilongjiang 6.065 6.501

6.262 6.661 6.084

5.327 6.233 6.472 6.640 6.379 6.444

Shanghai

5.064 5.301

5.191 4.988 5.085

4.903 5.717 5.567 5.584 6.014 6.184

Jiangsu

3.930 3.698

3.671 3.722 3.707

4.268 3.867 3.885 4.091 4.762 3.786

Zhejiang

3.482 3.698

3.753 3.600 3.528

4.302 3.479 3.091 3.216 2.919 3.544

Anhui

4.902 4.972

4.763 4.602 4.454

4.626 4.899 4.869 4.754 4.519 4.753

Fujian

4.616 3.952

4.436 4.558 4.454

4.764 4.268 4.456 4.166 4.102 3.916

Jiangxi

4.540 4.738

4.865 4.966 4.980

4.793 5.559 5.345 5.056 4.745 5.663

Shandong

4.607 4.919

5.048 5.219 5.085

4.845 5.702 5.932 5.433 5.579 5.440

Henan

4.492 5.089

5.099 5.241 5.232

5.008 5.702 5.345 5.313 5.249 4.957

Hubei

3.911 4.4521 4.396 4.514 4.485

4.683 5.344 5.488 5.539 5.301 5.459

Hunan

3.663 4.398

4.396 4.591 4.790

4.721 4.039 4.027 4.151 3.858 3.842

Guangdong

4.063 4.048

4.253 4.151 3.938

4.526 3.795 4.138 3.759 3.754 3.916

Guangxi

4.845 4.972

5.018 4.745 4.696

5.217 5.530 5.837 5.780 5.718 6.370

Hainan

4.302 4.292

3.702 4.327 5.495

4.373 5.258 4.408 5.297 5.231 4.195

Chongqing

4.178 3.793

3.447 3.215 2.939

4.268 3.121 3.472 3.503 2.850 3.358

Sichuan

4.178 4.175

3.865 3.501 3.255

4.521 3.981 3.123 2.582 3.702 4.567

Guizhou

5.645 5.821

5.518 5.956 5.716

5.318 6.391 6.107 6.172 6.639 6.537

Yunnan

6.265 6.150

6.211 5.890 5.663

5.203 5.559 5.472 5.780 5.179 4.827

Tibet

7.980 7.860

7.996 7.806 7.809 10.143 7.653 7.281 7.002 6.448 7.095

Shaanxi

5.560 5.758

5.518 5.725 5.590

5.318 5.889 5.916 6.021 5.805 5.812

Gansu

5.941 6.034

6.058 5.824 5.853

5.427 6.089 6.059 5.765 5.683 5.701

Qinghai

7.037 7.202

6.884 6.870 6.778

5.284 5.114 5.440 5.403 5.284 5.310

Ningxia

6.131 5.545

5.620 4.844 5.484

5.003 4.870 5.662 5.720 5.231 4.585

Xinjiang

5.502 5.407

5.069 4.955 4.822

4.755 4.340 4.345 5.554 6.292 6.202

284

Appendix

Table A.8 Average educational expenditure per junior high school student after nondimensionalization Region (Provinces)

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

2009 2010 2011 2012

National

4.676 4.659 4.689 4.689 4.676 4.694 4.703

4.675 4.639 4.649 4.636

Beijing

7.157 7.476 7.099 7.203 7.157 7.809 8.060

8.171 8.204 8.727 8.810

Tianjin

5.899 5.844 5.788 5.731 5.899 5.981 5.820

6.066 6.460 6.711 6.785

Hebei

4.582 4.415 4.477 4.532 4.582 4.569 4.566

4.655 4.606 4.634 4.557

Shanxi

4.578 4.540 4.563 4.532 4.578 4.570 4.563

4.580 4.542 4.535 4.494

Inner Mongolia

4.939 4.849 4.812 4.861 4.939 4.903 4.883

5.038 5.163 5.245 5.128

Liaoning

5.037 4.835 4.891 5.006 5.037 5.128 5.006

5.011 4.940 5.019 5.186

Jilin

4.748 4.805 4.725 4.737 4.748 4.789 4.784

4.873 4.912 4.978 4.971

Heilongjiang 4.891 4.814 4.859 4.837 4.891 4.970 4.919

4.914 4.748 4.730 4.655

Shanghai

9.088 8.690 8.649 8.855 9.088 9.043 8.820

8.818 8.521 7.875 7.611

Jiangsu

4.849 4.893 4.840 4.840 4.849 4.867 5.063

4.991 5.072 5.337 5.280

Zhejiang

5.704 5.596 5.711 5.808 5.704 5.694 5.554

5.406 5.327 5.309 5.275

Anhui

4.302 4.283 4.327 4.334 4.302 4.319 4.350

4.322 4.263 4.366 4.470

Fujian

4.647 4.779 4.767 4.743 4.647 4.696 4.673

4.653 4.656 4.755 4.777

Jiangxi

4.412 4.295 4.370 4.388 4.412 4.396 4.461

4.352 4.289 4.229 4.309

Shandong

4.828 4.567 4.689 4.751 4.828 4.863 4.959

4.926 4.748 4.810 4.830

Henan

4.300 4.190 4.284 4.308 4.300 4.310 4.392

4.287 4.223 4.227 4.238

Hubei

4.431 4.422 4.444 4.463 4.431 4.428 4.511

4.501 4.551 4.481 4.423

Hunan

4.557 4.381 4.439 4.490 4.557 4.636 4.684

4.704 4.685 4.574 4.513

Guangdong

4.971 5.253 5.293 5.150 4.971 4.920 4.748

4.562 4.359 4.366 4.322

Guangxi

4.416 4.470 4.472 4.449 4.416 4.487 4.438

4.473 4.344 4.433 4.424

Hainan

4.710 4.688 4.592 4.657 4.710 4.645 4.660

4.669 4.781 4.781 4.882

Chongqing

4.523 4.414 4.438 4.479 4.523 4.485 4.501

4.435 4.436 4.460 4.497

Sichuan

4.309 4.345 4.365 4.364 4.309 4.408 4.427

4.381 4.389 4.409 4.372

Guizhou

4.364 4.257 4.343 4.343 4.364 4.330 4.328

4.243 4.147 4.186 4.165

Yunnan

4.655 4.808 4.766 4.728 4.655 4.614 4.511

4.469 4.575 4.483 4.320

Tibet

6.848 7.016 7.608 7.263 6.848 5.815 6.239

5.517 5.659 5.062 5.226

Shaanxi

4.402 4.359 4.391 4.428 4.402 4.464 4.493

4.626 4.827 4.672 4.806

Gansu

4.470 4.495 4.460 4.469 4.470 4.532 4.452

4.514 4.492 4.467 4.374

Qinghai

5.046 5.352 5.067 4.973 5.046 4.918 4.816

5.029 5.209 5.325 5.505

Ningxia

4.765 4.906 4.726 4.731 4.765 4.686 4.690 _ 5.052 4.913 4.855 4.746

Xinjiang

4.898 5.305 5.058 4.860 4.898 5.029 4.927

5.089 5.318 5.310 5.410

Appendix

285

Table A.9 Residents’ income after non-dimensionalization Region (Provinces)

Year

National

4.934 4.986 4.988 4.998 5.009 5.022 5.067 5.082 5.080 5.211 5.260

Beijing

7.407 7.472 7.421 7.475 7.566 7.631 7.571 7.548 7.537 7.396 7.098

Tianjin

6.168 6.099 6.086 6.080 6.025 6.066 6.076 6.210 6.266 6.198 6.038

Hebei

4.720 4.723 4.698 4.674 4.745 4.771 4.707 4.699 4.704 4.482 4.603

Shanxi

4.304 4.406 4.469 4.509 4.567 4.590 4.567 4.530 4.455 4.495 4.629

Inner Monolia

4.359 4.326 4.462 4.571 4.640 4.689 4.771 4.841 4.844 4.864 4.979

Liaoning

4.642 4.694 4.722 4.725 4.793 4.843 4.909 4.987 4.987 5.029 5.125

Jilin

4.363 4.463 4.536 4.600 4.601 4.632 4.612 4.620 4.613 4.419 4.572

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Heilongjiang 4.425 4.445 4.436 4.505 4.497 4.494 4.409 4.400 4.384 4.071 4.274 Shanghai

8.128 7.994 8.011 7.984 7.997 7.945 8.004 8.002 7.982 7.962 7.572

Jiangsu

5.582 5.627 5.686 5.752 5.883 5.942 5.996 5.995 6.031 6.041 5.983

Zhejiang

6.885 7.082 7.155 7.130 7.102 7.094 7.090 6.983 6.958 6.920 6.694

Anhui

4.419 4.330 4.354 4.383 4.410 4.495 4.530 4.526 4.508 4.675 4.814

Fujian

5.761 5.811 5.753 5.760 5.696 5.677 5.632 5.683 5.680 5.776 5.769

Jiangxi

4.435 4.489 4.485 4.471 4.554 4.550 4.616 4.587 4.586 4.327 4.506

Shandong

5.162 5.110 5.121 5.152 5.220 5.267 5.312 5.316 5.324 5.363 5.396

Henan

4.310 4.431 4.428 4.448 4.507 4.562 4.585 4.608 4.598 4.471 4.603

Hubei

4.593 4.680 4.639 4.619 4.585 4.592 4.614 4.628 4.633 4.582 4.733

Hunan

4.885 4.720 4.731 4.761 4.757 4.728 4.746 4.715 4.723 4.564 4.720

Guangdong

6.596 6.562 6.357 6.475 6.307 6.184 6.068 6.011 6.020 6.248 6.181

Guangxi

4.728 4.711 4.636 4.641 4.562 4.481 4.603 4.633 4.637 4.691 4.773

Hainan

4.545 4.685 4.627 4.525 4.413 4.477 4.485 4.493 4.494 4.566 4.721

Chongqing

4.755 4.714 4.760 4.834 4.851 4.839 4.728 4.742 4.759 4.848 4.981

Sichuan

4.640 4.514 4.460 4.440 4.427 4.417 4.458 4.453 4.464 4.498 4.659

Guizhou

4.142 4.098 4.130 4.129 4.163 4.164 4.163 4.088 4.092 4.151 4.362

Yunnan

4.634 4.556 4.480 4.573 4.454 4.410 4.363 4.386 4.387 4.592 4.746

Tibet

4.950 4.780 4.803 4.634 4.500 4.219 4.324 4.271 4.277 4.237 4.385

Shaanxi

4.179 4.258 4.231 4.212 4.231 4.250 4.229 4.327 4.352 4.562 4.695

Gansu

4.152 4.198 4.187 4.178 4.172 4.154 4.031 3.944 3.946 3.930 4.161

Qinghai

4.326 4.230 4.248 4.191 4.205 4.216 4.146 4.112 4.118 4.184 4.323

Ningxia

4.311 4.277 4.258 4.259 4.294 4.333 4.346 4.429 4.429 4.493 4.603

Xinjiang

4.559 4.528 4.462 4.314 4.264 4.266 4.245 4.151 4.134 4.156 2.043

286

Appendix

Table A.10 Population density after non-dimensionalization Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Beijing

5.940 5.977 6.015 5.996 6.041 6.040 6.057 6.078 6.113 6.101 6.118

Tianjin

6.075 6.118 6.109 6.053 6.056 6.056 6.078 6.106 6.172 6.073 6.115

Hebei

4.974 4.969 4.968 4.960 4.958 4.958 4.954 4.949 4.943 4.923 4.920

Shanxi

4.672 4.663 4.663 4.667 4.674 4.674 4.674 4.673 4.671 4.691 4.691

Inner Mongolia

4.274 4.257 4.257 4.277 4.294 4.294 4.299 4.306 4.309 4.380 4.384

Liaoning

4.839 4.830 4.827 4.823 4.820 4.820 4.821 4.818 4.813 4.798 4.795

Jilin

4.535 4.521 4.520 4.529 4.537 4.537 4.538 4.540 4.538 4.568 4.569

Heilongjiang 4.394 4.386 4.385 4.400 4.412 4.412 4.415 4.419 4.420 4.475 4.477 Shanghai

9.706 9.669 9.664 9.718 9.728 9.728 9.728 9.727 9.709 9.833 9.826

Jiangsu

5.738 5.750 5.744 5.702 5.676 5.676 5.666 5.653 5.638 5.499 5.484

Zhejiang

5.186 5.185 5.185 5.170 5.194 5.194 5.195 5.194 5.188 5.150 5.140

Anhui

5.126 5.185 5.179 5.169 5.110 5.110 5.097 5.085 5.074 4.988 4.981

Fujian

4.826 4.821 4.821 4.819 4.823 4.823 4.820 4.818 4.814 4.805 4.804

Jiangxi

4.744 4.751 4.752 4.754 4.759 4.759 4.757 4.756 4.753 4.749 4.748

Shandong

5.444 5.448 5.444 5.416 5.404 5.404 5.393 5.380 5.367 5.284 5.274

Henan

5.388 5.440 5.438 5.412 5.351 5.351 5.335 5.312 5.303 5.193 5.179

Hubei

4.909 4.902 4.899 4.891 4.854 4.854 4.846 4.839 4.833 4.811 4.808

Hunan

4.864 4.881 4.879 4.875 4.837 4.837 4.833 4.827 4.822 4.814 4.811

Guangdong

5.235 5.141 5.143 5.134 5.253 5.253 5.249 5.247 5.241 5.219 5.210

Guangxi

4.625 4.648 4.648 4.653 4.639 4.639 4.642 4.644 4.644 4.641 4.642

Hainan

4.703 4.716 4.717 4.721 4.731 4.731 4.731 4.732 4.732 4.732 4.732

Chongqing

5.010 5.013 5.010 5.002 4.912 4.912 4.907 4.900 4.896 4.874 4.874

Sichuan

4.591 4.595 4.594 4.600 4.585 4.585 4.582 4.580 4.578 4.599 4.599

Guizhou

4.655 4.676 4.677 4.682 4.668 4.668 4.668 4.666 4.665 4.645 4.643

Yunnan

4.459 4.447 4.448 4.461 4.475 4.475 4.478 4.482 4.482 4.528 4.531

Tibet

4.237 4.218 4.219 4.240 4.259 4.259 4.265 4.273 4.276 4.352 4.357

Shaanxi

4.595 4.595 4.594 4.600 4.607 4.607 4.607 4.607 4.606 4.621 4.621

Gansu

4.349 4.335 4.335 4.352 4.366 4.366 4.370 4.375 4.377 4.433 4.436

Qinghai

4.246 4.229 4.230 4.251 4.269 4.269 4.275 4.282 4.286 4.360 4.365

Ningxia

4.407 4.395 4.397 4.413 4.430 4.430 4.434 4.439 4.442 4.491 4.495

Xinjiang

4.255 4.239 4.238 4.259 4.278 4.278 4.284 4.292 4.295 4.368 4.373

Appendix

287

Table A.11 Differential value between the educational Gini coefficient and the ratio of the average investment in the government annual budget in the average educational expenditure per junior high school student Region

Year 2002 2003

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Beijing

2.828 2.086

2.024 2.260 2.159 1.819 2.917 2.772 2.278 1.728 1.909

Tianjin

0.899 1.488

0.687 0.875 0.694 1.232 0.603 0.420 1.113 1.311 1.637

Hebei

0.812 0.420

0.382 0.680 0.899 0.642 1.129 1.061 0.959 0.635 0.546

Shanxi

0.117 0.426

0.201 0.810 0.276 0.241 0.016 0.209 0.707 0.565 0.293

Inner Mongolia

0.150 0.058

0.380 0.108 0.143 0.053 0.399 0.242 0.350 1.007 0.921

Liaoning

1.207 0.606

0.512 0.244 0.475 0.614 1.034 1.131 1.319 1.337 1.202

Jilin

1.588 2.040

1.681 1.522 1.348 0.964 1.188 0.702 0.719 1.426 1.067

Heilongjiang 0.622 1.224

1.461 2.076 0.807 0.157 1.316 1.720 2.047 1.730 1.835

Shanghai

1.402 0.084

0.174 0.683 0.814 0.850 0.130 0.355 0.153 0.271 0.449

Jiangsu

1.213 0.980

1.130 0.927 1.627 1.135 1.546 1.192 1.010 0.555 1.594

Zhejiang

1.420 1.759

1.556 1.815 1.749 1.568 2.306 2.961 2.839 3.249 2.725

Anhui

0.601 1.073

0.038 0.145 0.250 0.332 1.037 0.896 0.797 0.539 0.796

Fujian

0.286 1.385

0.703 0.474 0.710 0.581 1.083 0.946 2.016 1.701 1.938

Jiangxi

0.302 0.299

0.839 0.258 0.071 0.493 0.412 0.447 0.681 1.18

Shandong

0.175 0.118

0.417 0.698 0.599 0.033 1.033 1.375 0.904 1.052 0.949

Henan

0.011 0.471

0.920 0.848 0.972 0.947 1.778 1.437 1.293 1.391 1.178

Hubei

1.412 0.645

0.743 0.582 0.510 0.837 0.193 0.109 0.374 0.138 0.020

Hunan

1.360 0.999

0.816 0.633 0.318 0.507 1.374 1.375 0.950 1.398 1.419

Guangdong

1.200 1.7681 1.338 1.456 1.622 0.819 1.556 1.329 1.470 1.563 1.345

Guangxi

0.178 0.125

0.309

0.178 0.542 0.299 0.106 0.923 1.604 1.315 1.313 2.057

Hainan

0.721 0.865

1.776 0.769 0.331 0.271 0.465 0.084 0.641 0.704 0.236

Chongqing

0.664 1.304

1.579 1.625 2.338 0.902 1.734 1.410 1.853 2.285 1.844

Sichuan

0.484 0.803

1.048 1.212 1.231 0.474 0.874 1.694 2.647 1.311 0.457

Guizhou

1.825 1.323

0.605 1.307 1.569 1.491 2.343 1.939 2.215 2.659 2.521

Yunnan

2.144 2.610

3.049 1.433 1.516 1.084 1.201 1.239 1.823 0.834 0.396

Tibet

6.625 7.016

7.432 7.374 7.333 9.467 6.830 6.297 6.034 5.507 6.042

Shaanxi

0.237 0.780

0.153 0.182 0.256 0.143 0.476 0.319 0.475 0.184 0.195

Gansu

1.640 1.476

1.314 0.792 1.141 1.366 1.855 1.632 1.236 1.278 1.270

Qinghai

2.736 3.063

2.196 2.349 1.614 0.231 0.237 0.157 0.589 0.763 0.900

Ningxia

1.169 0.328

0.424 0.763 0.207 0.400 0.481 0.130 0.301 0.329 0.973

Xinjiang

0.783 1.547

1.596 1.674 1.415 1.348 1.879 2.031 0.628 0.245 0.230

288

Appendix

Table A.12 Differential value between the educational Gini coefficient and the average educational expenditure per junior high school student Region

Year 2002

2003–2004 2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Beijing

0.030 1.300

1.169 0.957 0.976 1.764 1.965 2.054 2.212 2.984 3.134

Tianjin

0.807 0.212

0.029 0.451 0.395 0.297 0.213 0.079 0.532 0.847 0.990

Hebei

0.101 0.742

0.832 0.436 0.130 0.275 0.394 0.292 0.268 0.472 0.481

Shanxi

0.445 0.497

0.407 0.053 0.473 0.483 0.478 0.302 0.305 0.357 0.412

Inner Mongolia

0.023 0.308

0.101 0.426 0.508 0.267 0.530 0.104 0.002 0.072 0.192

Liaoning

0.767 0.382

0.700 0.281 0.523 0.508 0.655 0.846 0.606 0.663 0.490

Jilin

1.056 1.251

0.923 0.870 0.812 0.672 0.629 0.269 0.380 0.096 0.053

Heilongjiang 0.552 0.463

0.058 0.252 0.386 0.200 0.002 0.162 0.155 0.081 0.046

Shanghai

2.622 3.473

3.284 3.184 3.189 3.290 2.973 2.896 2.784 2.132 1.876

Jiangsu

0.294 0.215

0.039 0.191 0.485 0.536 0.350 0.086 0.029 0.020 0.100

Zhejiang

0.802 0.139

0.402 0.393 0.427 0.176 0.231 0.646 0.728 0.859 0.994

Anhui

0.001 0.384

0.474 0.123 0.098 0.025 0.488 0.349 0.306 0.386 0.513

Fujian

0.255 0.558

0.372 0.289 0.517 0.649 0.678 0.749 1.526 1.048 1.077

Jiangxi

0.430 0.742

1.334 0.836 0.639 0.890 1.510 1.440 1.448 1.696 1.663

Shandong

0.046 0.470

0.058 0.230 0.342 0.015 0.290 0.369 0.219 0.283 0.339

Henan

0.181 0.428

0.105 0.085 0.040 0.249 0.468 0.379 0.203 0.369 0.459

Hubei

0.892 0.675

0.695 0.633 0.564 1.092 1.026 1.096 0.614 0.958 1.016

Hunan

0.466 1.016

0.813 0.734 0.551 0.592 0.729 0.698 0.416 0.682 0.748

Guangdong

0.292 0.563 1

0.298 0.457 0.589 0.425 0.603 0.905 0.870 0.951 0.939

Guangxi

0.607 0.627

0.724 0.838 0.579 0.624 0.169 0.240 0.121 0.028 0.111

Hainan

0.313 0.469

0.886 0.439 0.454 0.001 0.133 0.177 0.125 0.254 0.451

Chongqing

0.319 0.683

0.588 0.361 0.754 0.685 0.354 0.447 0.920 0.675 0.705

Sichuan

0.353 0.633

0.548 0.349 0.177 0.587 0.428 0.436 0.840 0.604 0.652

Guizhou

0.544 0.241

0.570 0.306 0.217 0.503 0.280 0.075 0.190 0.206 0.149

Yunnan

0.534 1.268

1.604 0.271 0.508 0.495 0.153 0.236 0.618 0.138 0.111

Tibet

5.493 6.172

7.044 6.831 6.372 5.139 5.416 4.533 4.691 4.121 4.173

Shaanxi

0.921 0.619

0.974 1.115 0.932 0.997 0.920 0.971 0.719 0.949 0.811

Gansu

0.169 0.063

0.284 0.563 0.242 0.471 0.218 0.087 0.037 0.062 0.057

Qinghai

0.745 1.213

0.379 0.452 0.118 0.135 0.535 0.568 0.783 0.722 0.705

Ningxia

0.197 0.311

0.470 0.876 0.512 0.717 0.661 0.480 0.506 0.705 0.812

Xinjiang

1.387 1.649

1.607 1.769 1.339 1.074 1.292 1.287 0.864 0.737 0.562

Appendix

289

Table A.13 Differential value between the educational Gini coefficient and the residents’ income Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Beijing

0.220 1.296 1.491 1.229 1.385 1.586 1.476 1.431 1.545 1.653 1.422 1.491

Tianjin

0.538 0.043 0.269 0.102 0.269 0.212 0.043 0.223 0.338 0.334 0.243

Hebei

0.239 0.434 0.611 0.294 0.033 0.477 0.535 0.336 0.366 0.320 0.527

Shanxi

0.719 0.631 0.501 0.076 0.484 0.463 0.474 0.352 0.392 0.397 0.277

Inner Mongolia

0.603 0.831 0.451 0.716 0.807 0.481 0.642 0.301 0.321 0.453 0.341

Liaoning

1.162 0.523 0.869 0.562 0.767 0.793 0.752 0.870 0.559 0.653 0.551

Jilin

1.441 1.593 1.112 1.007 0.959 0.829 0.801 0.522 0.679 0.655 0.452

Heilongjiang 1.018 0.832 0.365 0.080 0.780 0.676 0.508 0.352 0.209 0.578 0.335 Shanghai

1.662 2.777 2.646 2.313 2.098 2.192 2.157 2.080 2.245 2.219 1.837

Jiangsu

0.439 0.949 0.885 1.103 0.549 0.539 0.583 0.918 0.930 0.724 0.603

Zhejiang

1.983 1.625 1.846 1.715 1.825 1.224 1.305 0.931 0.903 0.752 0.425

Anhui

0.118 0.431 0.447 0.074 0.206 0.201 0.668 0.553 0.551 0.695 0.857

Fujian

0.859 0.474 0.614 0.728 0.532 0.332 0.281 0.281 0.502 0.027 0.085

Jiangxi

0.407 0.548 1.219 0.753 0.497 0.736 1.355 1.205 1.151 1.598 1.466

Shandong

0.380 0.073 0.490 0.631 0.734 0.389 0.643 0.759 0.795 0.836 0.905

Henan

0.171 0.187 0.249 0.055 0.247 0.501 0.661 0.700 0.578 0.613 0.824

Hubei

0.730 0.417 0.500 0.477 0.410 0.928 0.923 0.969 0.532 0.857 0.706

Hunan

0.138 0.677 0.521 0.463 0.351 0.500 0.667 0.687 0.378 0.692 0.541

Guangdong

1.333 0.746 0.946 0.868 0.747 0.839 0.717 0.544 0.791 0.931 0.920

Guangxi

0.295 0.386 0.560 0.646 0.433 0.630 0.004 0.400 0.172 0.286 0.460

Hainan

0.478 0.472 0.851 0.571 0.751 0.167 0.308 0.001 0.162 0.039 0.290

Chongqing

0.087 0.383 0.266 0.006 0.426 0.331 0.127 0.140 0.597 0.287 0.221

Sichuan

0.022 0.464 0.453 0.273 0.059 0.578 0.397 0.364 0.765 0.515 0.365

Guizhou

0.322 0.400 0.783 0.520 0.016 0.337 0.115 0.080 0.135 0.171 0.346

Yunnan

0.513 1.016 1.318 0.116 0.307 0.291 0.005 0.153 0.430 0.247 0.315

Tibet

3.595 3.936 4.239 4.202 4.024 3.543 3.501 3.287 3.309 3.296 3.332

Shaanxi

1.144 0.720 1.134 1.331 1.103 1.211 1.184 1.270 1.194 1.059 0.922

Gansu

0.149 0.360 0.557 0.854 0.540 0.093 0.203 0.483 0.583 0.475 0.270

Qinghai

0.025 0.091 0.440 0.330 0.959 0.837 1.205 1.485 1.874 1.863 1.887

Ningxia

0.651 0.940 0.938 1.348 0.983 1.070 1.005 1.103 0.990 1.067 0.955

Xinjiang

1.726 2.426 2.203 2.315 1.973 1.837 1.974 2.225 2.048 1.891 3.929

290

Appendix

Table A.14 Differential value between the educational Gini coefficient and the population density Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Beijing

1.247 0.199 0.085 0.250 0.140 0.005 0.038 0.039 0.121 0.358 0.442

Tianjin

0.631 0.062 0.292 0.129 0.238 0.222 0.045 0.119 0.244 0.209 0.320

Hebei

0.493 0.188 0.341 0.008 0.246 0.664 0.782 0.586 0.605 0.761 0.844

Shanxi

0.351 0.374 0.307 0.082 0.377 0.379 0.367 0.209 0.176 0.201 0.215

Inner Mongolia

0.688 0.900 0.656 1.010 1.153 0.876 1.114 0.836 0.856 0.937 0.936

Liaoning

0.965 0.387 0.764 0.464 0.740 0.816 0.840 1.039 0.733 0.884 0.881

Jilin

1.269 1.535 1.128 1.078 1.023 0.924 0.875 0.602 0.754 0.506 0.455

Heilongjiang 1.049 0.891 0.416 0.185 0.865 0.758 0.502 0.333 0.173 0.174 0.132 Shanghai

3.240 4.452 4.299 4.047 3.829 3.975 3.881 3.805 3.972 4.090 4.091

Jiangsu

0.595 1.072 0.943 1.053 0.342 0.273 0.253 0.576 0.537 0.182 0.104

Zhejiang

0.284 0.272 0.124 0.245 0.083 0.676 0.590 0.858 0.867 1.018 1.129

Anhui

0.825 1.286 0.378 0.712 0.906 0.816 1.235 1.112 1.117 1.008 1.024

Fujian

0.076 0.516 0.318 0.213 0.341 0.522 0.531 0.584 1.368 0.998 1.050

Jiangxi

0.098 0.286 0.952 0.470 0.292 0.527 1.214 1.036 0.984 1.176 1.224

Shandong

0.662 0.411 0.813 0.895 0.918 0.526 0.724 0.823 0.838 0.757 0.783

Henan

0.907 0.822 1.259 1.019 1.091 1.290 1.411 1.404 1.283 1.335 1.400

Hubei

0.414 0.195 0.240 0.205 0.141 0.666 0.691 0.758 0.332 0.628 0.631

Hunan

0.159 0.516 0.373 0.349 0.271 0.391 0.580 0.575 0.279 0.442 0.450

Guangdong

0.028 0.675 0.448 0.473 0.307 0.092 0.102 0.220 0.012 0.098 0.051

Guangxi

0.398 0.449 0.548 0.634 0.356 0.472 0.035 0.411 0.179 0.236 0.329

Hainan

0.320 0.441 0.761 0.375 0.433 0.087 0.062 0.240 0.076 0.205 0.301

Chongqing

0.168 0.084 0.016 0.162 0.365 0.258 0.052 0.018 0.460 0.261 0.328

Sichuan

0.071 0.383 0.319 0.113 0.099 0.410 0.273 0.237 0.651 0.414 0.425

Guizhou

0.835 0.178 0.236 0.033 0.521 0.841 0.620 0.498 0.708 0.665 0.627

Yunnan

0.338 0.907 1.286 0.004 0.328 0.356 0.120 0.249 0.525 0.183 0.100

Tibet

2.882 3.374 3.655 3.808 3.783 3.583 3.442 3.289 3.308 3.411 3.304

Shaanxi

0.728 0.383 0.771 0.943 0.727 0.854 0.806 0.990 0.940 1.000 0.996

Gansu

0.048 0.223 0.409 0.680 0.346 0.305 0.136 0.052 0.152 0.028 0.005

Qinghai

0.055 0.090 0.458 0.270 0.895 0.784 1.076 1.315 1.706 1.687 1.845

Ningxia

0.555 0.822 0.799 1.194 0.847 0.973 0.917 1.093 0.977 1.069 1.063

Xinjiang

2.030 2.715 2.427 2.370 1.959 1.825 1.935 2.084 1.887 1.679 1.599

Appendix

291

Table A.15 E ij value of the ratio of the average investment in the government annual budget in the average educational expenditure per junior high school student Region

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Beijing

0.771 0.821 0.825 0.809

0.816 0.840 0.702 0.697 0.729 0.780 0.762

Tianjin

0.914 0.866 0.934 0.917

0.933 0.886 0.921 0.940 0.847 0.824 0.789

Hebei

0.922 0.959 0.963 0.935

0.915 0.938 0.860 0.859 0.866 0.908 0.920

Shanxi

0.989 0.959 0.981 0.923 | 0.973 0.977 1.000 0.971 0.898 0.918 0.957

Inner Mongolia

0.986 0.996 0.963 0.991

0.987 0.997 0.948 0.966 0.948 0.860 0.871

Liaoning

0.888 0.942 0.951 0.977

0.954 0.941 0.871 0.850 0.824 0.822 0.837

Jilin

0.857 0.824 0.851 0.863

0.877 0.910 0.854 0.903 0.897 0.812 0.853

Heilongjiang 0.939 0.887 0.868 0.822

0.923 0.986 0.841 0.788 0.749 0.780 0.770

Shanghai

0.872 0.993 0.984 0.935

0.923 0.920 0.984 0.950 0.979 0.960 0.934

Jiangsu

0.887 0.908 0.895 0.913

0.855 0.895 0.818 0.844 0.860 0.919 0.794

Zhejiang

0.871 0.845 0.861 0.841

0.846 0.860 0.750 0.682 0.683 0.652 0.691

Anhui

0.941 0.900 0.998 0.987

0.976 0.968 0.871 0.878 0.886 0.921 0.887

Fujian

0.972 0.874 0.933 0.954

0.932 0.944 0.866 0.872 0.752 0.783 0.760

Jiangxi

0.970 0.971 0.921 0.976

0.995 0.953 0.946 0.937 0.902 0.839 0.954

Shandong

0.983 0.990 0.960 0.933

0.942 0.999 0.871 0.823 0.873 0.855 0.867

Henan

1.000 0.955 0.913 0.920

0.909 0.911 0.796 0.817 0.826 0.816 0.840

Hubei

0.872 0.938 0.929 0.944

0.951 0.921 0.975 0.986 0.945 0.981 1.000

Hunan

0.882 0.913 0.929 0.946

0.976 0.958 0.843 0.832 0.890 0.837 0.836

Guangdong

0.895 0.850 0.884 0.874

0.861 0.929 0.824 0.837 0.829 0.819 0.844

Guangxi

0.990 0.996 0.990 0.954

0.978 0.998 0.892 0.808 0.846 0.846 0.770

Hainan

0.937 0.924 0.850 0.933

0.975 0.981 0.948 1.000 0.932 0.923 0.993

Chongqing

0.947 0.891 0.869 0.865

0.813 0.926 0.813 0.834 0.789 0.748 0.791

Sichuan

0.964 0.934 0.913 0.899

0.897 0.965 0.903 0.804 0.717 0.847 0.960

Guizhou

0.850 0.889 0.953 0.891

0.870 0.876 0.759 0.780 0.754 0.716 0.728

Yunnan

0.827 0.795 0.767 0.880

0.874 0.874 0.867 0.853 0.792 0.905 0.969

Tibet

0.596 0.582 0.568 0.570

0.571 0.507 0.507 0.510 0.516 0.539 0.516

Shaanxi

0.968 0.831 0.991 0.979

0.945 0.994 0.862 0.920 0.834 1.000 1.000

Gansu

0.679 0.703 0.677 0.789

0.681 0.636 0.556 0.590 0.600 0.590 0.591

Qinghai

0.551 0.521 0.545 0.528

0.593 0.955 0.953 0.988 0.770 0.698 0.647

Ningxia

0.675 0.916 0.880 0.773

0.966 0.889 0.860 1.000 0.944 0.926 0.623

Xinjiang

0.803 0.632 0.623 0.610

0.656 0.669 0.578 0.577 0.722 0.986 1.000

292

Appendix

Table A.16 E ij value of the average educational expenditure per junior high school student Region

Year 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Beijing

0.996 0.844 0.858 0.877 0.867 0.754 0.734 0.696 0.680 0.586 0.577

Tianjin

0.897 0.971 0.996 0.938 0.942 0.948 0.963 0.984 0.899 0.835 0.817

Hebei

0.986 0.905 0.894 0.940 0.980 0.952 0.933 0.942 0.946 0.903 0.907

Shanxi

0.941 0.934 0.946 0.992 0.931 0.918 0.919 0.940 0.939 0.926 0.920

Inner Mongolia

0.997 0.958 0.986 0.941 0.926 0.953 0.911 0.979 1.000 0.988 0.967

Liaoning

0.902 0.949 0.910 0.961 0.924 0.914 0.892 0.851 0.889 0.867 0.905

Jilin

0.870 0.849 0.884 0.887 0.887 0.890 0.896 0.950 0.929 0.982 0.998

Heilongjiang 0.927 0.938 0.992 0.965 0.943 0.965 1.000 0.971 0.972 0.986 1.000 Shanghai

0.729 0.670 0.682 0.682 0.667 0.622 0.648 0.621 0.630 0.665 0.699

Jiangsu

0.960 0.971 0.995 0.973 0.929 0.910 0.943 0.986 0.998 1.000 0.990

Zhejiang

0.898 0.981 0.946 0.946 0.937 0.969 0.964 0.884 0.871 0.835 0.819

Anhui

1.000 0.948 0.937 0.982 0.985 0.996 0.922 0.936 0.944 0.921 0.903

Fujian

0.965 0.927 0.950 0.960 0.925 0.893 0.893 0.867 0.759 0.805 0.806

Jiangxi

0.943 0.905 0.841 0.891 0.909 0.859 0.786 0.770 0.769 0.716 0.725

Shandong

0.994 0.938 0.992 0.968 0.949 0.997 0.954 0.933 0.961 0.943 0.938

Henan

0.975 0.943 0.985 0.988 0.994 0.956 0.925 0.931 0.964 0.925 0.913

Hubei

0.888 0.913 0.910 0.915 0.919 0.832 0.845 0.815 0.890 0.819 0.815

Hunan

0.938 0.874 0.897 0.903 0.921 0.902 0.886 0.876 0.924 0.865 0.860

Guangdong

0.960 0.926 0.960 0.937 0.916 0.927 0.904 0.843 0.849 0.820 0.827

Guangxi

0.921 0.918 0.907 0.891 0.917 0.897 0.975 0.957 0.981 1.000 0.987

Hainan

0.958 0.938 0.888 0.940 0.934 1.000 0.983 0.971 0.982 0.956 0.915

Chongqing

0.962 0.916 0.928 0.955 0.899 0.894 0.945 0.920 0.843 0.873 0.867

Sichuan

0.957 0.922 0.933 0.957 0.979 0.908 0.933 0.922 0.855 0.885 0.877

Guizhou

0.933 0.972 0.930 0.962 0.973 0.921 0.957 0.992 0.969 0.966 0.979

Yunnan

0.934 0.852 0.819 0.967 0.932 0.923 0.979 0.960 0.891 0.981 0.987

Tibet

0.565 0.536 0.503 0.503 0.503 0.517 0.503 0.513 0.504 0.510 0.507

Shaanxi

0.671 0.756 0.658 0.626 0.606 0.581 0.601 0.586 0.603 0.542 0.584

Gansu

0.932 0.986 0.880 0.774 0.870 0.754 0.880 0.964 1.000 0.995 1.000

Qinghai

0.751 0.633 0.878 0.850 1.000 1.000 0.970 0.953 0.845 0.907 0.916

Ningxia

1.000 1.000 1.000 0.850 0.983 0.882 0.907 1.000 1.000 0.916 0.862

Xinjiang

0.739 0.682 0.690 0.659 0.710 0.784 0.717 0.718 0.825 0.885 1.000

Appendix

293

Table A.17 E ij value of the residents’ income Region

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

2009 2010 2011 2012

Beijing

0.951 0.766 0.740 0.774 0.744 0.713

Tianjin

0.888 0.990 0.941 0.977 0.938 0.949

0.727 0.733 0.723 0.709 0.750 0.989 0.947 0.927 0.928 0.962

Hebei

0.947 0.907 0.874 0.935 0.992 0.892

0.880 0.921 0.921 0.931 0.901

Shanxi

0.855 0.871 0.895 0.982 0.893 0.895

0.893 0.918 0.916 0.914 0.954

Inner Mongolia

0.876 0.836 0.904 0.855 0.833 0.891

0.860 0.929 0.931 0.903 0.940

Liaoning

0.785 0.890 0.830 0.882 0.840 0.832

0.840 0.819 0.881 0.863 0.896

Jilin

0.746 0.727 0.792 0.807 0.808 0.826

0.831 0.883 0.859 0.863 0.916

Heilongjiang 0.807 0.836 0.921 0.982 0.838 0.853

0.886 0.918 0.956 0.878 0.941

Shanghai

0.719 0.604 0.616 0.645 0.657 0.642

0.646 0.654 0.641 0.643 0.696

Jiangsu

0.906 0.817 0.827 0.792 0.880 0.880

0.871 0.811 0.814 0.850 0.886

Zhejiang

0.681 0.723 0.697 0.710 0.688 0.763

0.751 0.809 0.819 0.845 0.922

Anhui

0.973 0.908 0.905 0.983 0.952 0.952

0.855 0.877 0.883 0.856 0.839

Fujian

0.832 0.900 0.874 0.853 0.883 0.922

0.933 0.933 0.893 1.000 1.000

Jiangxi

0.913 0.886 0.777 0.848 0.890 0.842

0.744 0.765 0.781 0.718 0.769

Shandong

0.918 0.983 0.897 0.870 0.846 0.910

0.860 0.838 0.840 0.833 0.859

Henan

0.961 0.958 0.945 0.987 0.942 0.887

0.856 0.849 0.880 0.874 0.873

Hubei

0.853 0.911 0.895 0.898 0.908 0.809

0.810 0.802 0.889 0.829 0.895

Hunan

0.969 0.862 0.891 0.901 0.920 0.887

0.855 0.851 0.921 0.859 0.928

Guangdong

0.761 0.851 0.818 0.829 0.844 0.824

0.846 0.879 0.841 0.816 0.856

Guangxi

0.935 0.917 0.884 0.867 0.903 0.862

0.999 0.908 0.968 0.941 0.946

Hainan

0.899 0.900 0.833 0.881 0.843 0.959

0.928 1.000 0.970 1.000 0.984

Chongqing

0.981 0.918 0.942 1.000 0.905 0.923

0.970 0.985 0.898 0.972 1.000

Sichuan

0.996 0.902 0.905 0.940 0.987 0.873

0.909 0.934 0.866 0.923 0.978

Guizhou

0.930 0.915 0.845 0.891 0.997 0.922

0.973 1.000 1.000 1.000 0.982

Yunnan

0.893 0.808 0.764 0.974 0.930 0.932

1.000 1.000 0.958 1.000 0.989

Tibet

0.544 0.530 0.511 0.511 0.512 0.538

0.556 0.582 0.580 0.581 0.578

Shaanxi

0.779 0.865 0.794 0.765 0.799 0.782

0.808 0.808 0.820 0.842 0.866

Gansu

0.970 0.937 0.897 0.841 0.900 1.000 L 1.000 0.952 0.931 0.953 1.000

Qinghai

1.000 1.000 0.975 1.000 0.968 0.987

0.916 0.869 0.811 0.810 0.807

Ningxia

1.000 1.000 1.000 0.916 0.964 0.941

0.953 0.935 0.956 0.939 0.961

Xinjiang

1.000 0.907 0.804 0.775 0.802 0.816

0.797 0.764 0.787 0.806 0.597

294

Appendix

Table A.18 E ij value of the population density Region

Year 2002 2003 2004

Beijing

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

0.782 0.958 0.982 1 0.943 0.968 1.000 0.992 0.992 0.972 0.921 0.904

Tianjin

0.877 0.987 0.937

0.970 0.946 0.950 0.990 0.973 0.945 0.953 0.929

Hebei

0.901 0.960 0.927

0.999 0.944 0.861 0.841 0.876 0.872 0.844 0.830

Shanxi

0.928 0.923 0.934

0.981 0.917 0.916 0.919 0.953 0.960 0.954 0.951

Inner Mongolia

0.867 0.833 0.868

0.803 0.781 0.825 0.787 0.831 0.828 0.815 0.815

Liaoning

0.823 0.921 0.850

0.899 0.848 0.835 0.831 0.798 0.849 0.823 0.824

Jilin

0.779 0.744 0.793

0.792 0.801 0.817 0.825 0.873 0.845 0.891 0.901

Heilongjiang 0.810 0.834 0.913

0.958 0.826 0.845 0.892 0.926 0.961 0.960 0.970

Shanghai

0.579 0.500 0.500

0.503 0.517 0.508 0.514 0.519 0.508 0.501 0.501

Jiangsu

0.866 0.781 0.802

0.784 0.918 0.930 0.933 0.857 0.865 0.951 0.971

Zhejiang

0.932 0.934 0.969

0.941 0.980 0.842 0.855 0.800 0.799 0.771 0.746

Anhui

0.823 0.748 0.911

0.843 0.808 0.816 0.737 0.755 0.754 0.773 0.765

Fujian

0.981 0.882 0.924

0.948 0.919 0.874 0.868 0.855 0.715 0.775 0.760

Jiangxi

0.976 0.931 0.801

0.891 0.930 0.873 0.740 0.768 0.777 0.745 0.731

Shandong

0.853 0.904 0.825

0.811 0.806 0.873 0.827 0.807 0.804 0.820 0.810

Henan

0.808 0.823 0.752

0.790 0.777 0.736 0.710 0.709 0.728 0.720 0.703

Hubei

0.903 0.952 0.942

0.950 0.965 0.844 0.834 0.819 0.913 0.846 0.841

Hunan

0.961 0.882 0.912

0.917 0.934 0.903 0.857 0.857 0.926 0.887 0.881

Guangdong

0.994 0.850 0.896

0.890 0.926 0.976 0.973 0.941 0.998 0.973 0.986

Guangxi

0.906 0.895 0.875

0.858 0.915 0.885 0.991 0.894 0.952 0.937 0.911

Hainan

0.923 0.897 0.834

0.911 0.898 0.978 0.984 0.936 0.980 0.945 0.918

Chongqing

0.959 0.979 0.997

0.960 0.913 0.934 0.987 0.996 0.882 0.930 0.911

Sichuan

0.983 0.910 0.924

0.972 0.976 0.899 0.928 0.936 0.841 0.893 0.887

Guizhou

0.821 0.956 0.943

0.992 0.880 0.811 0.849 0.874 0.829 0.838 0.842

Yunnan

0.919 0.808 0.748

1.000 0.921 0.911 0.968 0.933 0.868 0.950 0.972

Tibet

0.570 0.531 0.511

0.501 0.501 0.501 0.501 0.510 0.508 0.501 0.501

Shaanxi

0.790 0.878 0.760

0.717 0.743 0.711 0.723 0.680 0.669 0.650 0.651

Gansu

0.984 0.926 0.858

0.779 0.860 0.874 0.941 0.978 0.928 0.988 1.000

Qinghai

1.000 1.000 0.935

1.000 0.930 0.959 0.871 0.810 0.711 0.709 0.679

Ningxia

1.000 0.993 1.000

0.888 0.946 0.900 0.917 0.866 0.892 0.851 0.849

Xinjiang

0.909 0.794 0.687

0.668 0.685 0.704 0.685 0.660 0.677 0.697 0.706

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