Mechanism of and Freedom in Students' Subject Choice in the "New Gaokao" Reform in Shanghai

• In Event: Testing in Education: Validity, Access, Equity, and Choice

Abstract

The ‘New Gaokao’ Reform has been implemented in China to give students more freedom in subject choice. Shanghai was one of the two cities where the Reform was piloted. This study examined the intended consequence of the Reform by exploring how test-takers made their subject choice and perceive their freedom in the process. 8 test-takers in Shanghai from 2017 to 2020 were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed by the grounded theory. This paper presents the mechanism of subject choice, which indicates some unexpected factors for student’s decision making. Moreover, the provision of more choices to make among optional subjects does not necessarily improve student’s perceived freedom during the process.

Authors

• Yiyang Hu, University College London

• Xiao Chen, East China Normal University