Inequality in Public School Admission in Urban China: Discourses, Practices and New Solutions (Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects Book 43)

This book explores and interprets discourses and practices in school admissions to public lower secondary education in urban China by utilizing a discourse analysis approach and a case study method. It identifies continuities and changes in discourses shaped by diverse forces in public lower secondary school admissions in the context of China’s social transformation from a profit-driven society to a more equitable society, and elucidates the power relationships among stakeholders in public school admissions by analysing their interplay in the process. More importantly, it exposes how current socio-economic, institutional and educational systems are shaping the engagement of stakeholders in the public school admissions process. It also presents some on-going projects intended to yield new policies and practices for more equitable public secondary education in China in the development stage of the post-2015. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxi Introduction (Jing Liu)....Pages 1-27 A Critical Definition of Zexiao (Jing Liu)....Pages 29-70 Public Discourses on Zexiao (Jing Liu)....Pages 71-95 Where There Is a Policy, There Is a Countermeasure (Jing Liu)....Pages 97-116 The Key Schools and Zexiao (Jing Liu)....Pages 117-140 Competition of Family Background with Local Characteristics (Jing Liu)....Pages 141-164 Admission to Public Lower Secondary Schools as Social Closures (Jing Liu)....Pages 165-170 New Solutions for Zexiao (Jing Liu)....Pages 171-183 Conclusion (Jing Liu)....Pages 185-200 Back Matter ....Pages 201-221