Neoliberal Approach to Chinese Educational Reforms: Tuition-Charging "Public" International High School Curriculum Programs

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives of Neoliberalism

Abstract

This paper looks critically at the tuition-charging ‘public’ international high school curriculum programs in China. Using data from policy documents, high-profile news sources, and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an internationally-oriented public high school in China, this study points out existing and changing social, economic, and political forces in China that contribute to the creation of these tuition-charging educational programs. The contesting social forces include China’s existing key public high school system, significant social class changes in contemporary China, educational decentralization and financial diversification, and other market-oriented educational reforms and policies. Drawing upon the critiques of neoliberalism from David Harvey and Stephen Ball, this paper reveals the rise of the neoliberal approach to Chinese educational reforms.

Author

• Shuning Liu, Ball State University