Political qualifications and academic achievement as criteria for access to higher education in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1976 [microform]
- Bib ID:
- 3287224
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Bich, Tran Huy
- Description:
- 361 p.
- Summary:
-
In recent years, the Chinese educational system has attracted the attention of many analysts for policies designed to counteract the elitist, inegalitarian effects of selection for schooling. Social scientists and educators have commended China for restricting the growth of higher education and emphasizing basic and middle-level training, encouraging a variety of school forms with flexible schedules, and designing curricula which stress the application of technical knowledge to practical production problems. China has also won praise for eliminating ability tracking and for replacing class-biased university entrance examinations with a method of selection by workplace recommendations that stress political qualifications rather than academic achievement.
These policies, which were pursued after the 1966-69 Cultural Revolution, came to be known as "the Chinese model."However, while several objective and scholarly analysts in the West conclude that these policies are probably more appropriate to China's developmental needs and that elements of them may well have practical relevance for several Third World countries, the Chinese themselves seem to be abandoning the model. If this is the case, then it is important both for students of contemporary China and for development theorists to understand the causes underlying this policy change. The purpose of this study is to investigate the alternative use of political qualifications and academic achievement as criteria for access to institutions of higher learning in China from the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949 to the death of Chairman Mao Zedong and the apparent switch of educational policy in 1976.
An attempt is made to explain why and how divergences and conflicts emerged among the Chinese leaders on higher education admission policy before the Cultural Revolution, how Mao and his idealistic supporters succeeded in implementing the policy they advocated after the purge of those political leaders and educators who disagreed with them during the Cultural Revolution, and what kinds of difficulties and problems they had to face while trying to have it enforced during the six years from 1970 to 1976. The study also examines the various changes that were instituted in China's higher educational sector after the Cultural Revolution, including changes in administrative organization, political control, teaching force composition, curriculum design, teaching and assessment methods and teaching materials. In this analysis, some of the unexpected obstacles and difficulties that confronted the application of the "Chinese model" are identified.
- Notes:
-
- (UnM)AAI8021402
- Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-04, Section: A, page: 1420.
- Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Texas at Austin, 1980.
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.
- Subject:
- Education, Higher
- Other authors/contributors:
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1980
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