Shadow Education in a Digital Age: Evolving Provision, Diverse Function, and Varying Effect

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

As education continues to evolve in an increasingly digitized society, particularly after the pandemic era, the shadow education sector—an academic metaphor for private supplementary tutoring because much tutoring imitates mainstream education: as the curriculum changes in the mainstream, so it changes in the shadow—has transformed, expanding its reach and reshaping its impact across diverse contexts. This panel, titled Shadow Education in a Digital World: Evolving Provision, Diverse Function, and Varying Effect, brings together a range of perspectives that examine the intricate interplay between digitalization and shadow education across different cultural and national landscapes. The four presentations highlight how digital tools are reshaping the provision of tutoring services, their pedagogical implications, culturally different functions and their diverse effects in different contexts.

The first presentation explores entrepreneurs in the shadow education sector, analyzing the local, national, and international dynamics driving digital private supplementary tutoring. It sheds light on how digital platforms are utilized by tutoring businesses to scale and cater to diverse educational demands. By examining digital forms of shadow education, the study focuses not only on the pedagogical dimensions but also on the economic and commercial aspects, offering insights into the role of technology in reshaping the business of private tutoring in both local and global contexts.

The second presentation investigates tech-enabled private tutoring in India, focusing on the promises and realities of digital pedagogical innovations. The study evaluates whether these technologies are truly transformative for students and educators or if they reproduce existing educational inequalities. It specifically explores how secondary school students experience private tutoring activities that integrate digital tools, revealing gaps between the “constructed imaginaries” and “lived realities” associated with digital technologies in private tutorial spaces in the context of India.

The third presentation addresses the cultural and symbolic roles of supplemental education in Amdo Tibet, focusing on the paradox of why so many Tibetans participate in sabjong (supplemental education programs) despite widespread critiques of schooling in China. The study explores how these programs, while appearing to mimic formal schooling, serve broader purposes by helping students acquire valuable dispositions and knowledge beyond the explicit curriculum. Drawing on Bourdieusian capital theory, it examines how Tibetan educators conceptualize this form of capital and how sabjong facilitates its acquisition, particularly for students whose home cultures are marginalized by mainstream education. This study underscores the complexity and culturally generative nature of certain shadow education programs, which do more than merely mimic mainstream schooling.

The fourth presentation provides a comparative analysis of the diverse effects of shadow education on student tracking in three countries with different educational systems. The study investigates how families with different socioeconomic statuses use shadow education to navigate key transitions in the education system. Using national panel data, it explores how shadow education affects school allocation and admission to higher education institutions, focusing on whether shadow education reinforces or mitigates social inequalities. The findings reveal significant cross-national differences in the motivations for using shadow education, highlighting its varying effects on educational trajectories and outcomes.

Together, this panel advances existing research on shadow education by incorporating a multi-faceted approach that connects digital innovation with broader cultural and socioeconomic frameworks. The presentations collectively demonstrate how technological advancements are transforming business models and pedagogies in shadow education while also exploring how cultural and symbolic roles persist in specific contexts, such as Tibet or comparative international settings. By applying theoretical frameworks like Bourdieu’s cultural capital and comparative perspectives on education, the panel extends the discourse on shadow education’s interaction with digital tools, socioeconomic stratification, and cultural diversities. Ultimately, it situates shadow education within broader and complex global transformations, offering a multi-dimensional view of its provision, function, and effect in contemporary society.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Organizer

• Renxiang Tian, The University of Hong Kong

Chair

• Renxiang Tian, The University of Hong Kong

Individual Presentations

• Entrepreneurs in the Shadow Education Sector: Local, National and International Dynamics in the Digital Provision of Private Supplementary Tutoring - Mark Bray, University of Hong Kong; Wei Zhang, East China Normal University

• The Diverse Functions of Supplemental Education: Acquisition of Symbolic Capital in Amdo Tibet - Andrew David Frankel, Denison University

• The Diverse Effects of Shadow Education for Tracking Allocation in Germany, Japan and the United States – Evidence from National Panel Studies - Steve Richard Entrich, Universität Zürich; Hiroki Nakanishi; Soo-yong Byun, Penn State University

Discussant

• Nutsa Magda Kobakhidze, The University of Hong Kong