Chinese are known worldwide as top students and scholars, but intellectuals were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and now only recently has attending college education been possible for the majority. China is transforming its higher-education system, now the largest in the world, to include collaboration with Western scholars and to provide history and contemporary educational access to students in rural areas. Education in China provides unique coverage of learning at all levels.

China has the largest education system in the world. The total enrollment of students in regular and adult schools at all levels exceeds 320 million, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation's population. Western educators, foreign companies, and individual entrepreneurs have invested in Chinese education but, perhaps because of the complexity of the Chinese education system and the rapid development of educational reforms, have had little success. This work examines the education system in post-Mao China from 1976 to the present. It explores how the Chinese government sees the development of its educational practices within the nation's broader social, economic, political, and cultural contexts; how it identifies new issues that emerge in the process of what might be called educational globalization; how it translates these issues into specific educational policies, activities, and goals; how the education reforms fit China's social and political realities and objectives; how the new policies affect foreign student affairs and Chinese students studying abroad; the ways in which the government promotes international educational cooperation and exchange; the opportunities for Western institutions to introduce programs in China; and current trends and their effect on the internationalization of education.

New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice; Real Simple Best of the Month; Library Journal Editors’ Pick In the spirit of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Bringing up Bébé, and The Smartest Kids in the World, a hard-hitting exploration of China’s widely acclaimed yet insular education system that raises important questions for the future of American parenting and education When students in Shanghai rose to the top of international rankings in 2009, Americans feared that they were being "out-educated" by the rising super power. An American journalist of Chinese descent raising a young family in Shanghai, Lenora Chu noticed how well-behaved Chinese children were compared to her boisterous toddler. How did the Chinese create their academic super-achievers? Would their little boy benefit from Chinese school? Chu and her husband decided to enroll three-year-old Rainer in China’s state-run public school system. The results were positive—her son quickly settled down, became fluent in Mandarin, and enjoyed his friends—but she also began to notice troubling new behaviors. Wondering what was happening behind closed classroom doors, she embarked on an exploratory journey, interviewing Chinese parents, teachers, and education professors, and following students at all stages of their education. What she discovered is a military-like education system driven by high-stakes testing, with teachers posting rankings in public, using bribes to reward students who comply, and shaming to isolate those who do not. At the same time, she uncovered a years-long desire by government to alleviate its students’ crushing academic burden and make education friendlier for all. The more she learns, the more she wonders: Are Chinese children—and her son—paying too high a price for their obedience and the promise of future academic prowess? Is there a way to appropriate the excellence of the system but dispense with the bad? What, if anything, could Westerners learn from China’s education journey? Chu’s eye-opening investigation challenges our assumptions and asks us to consider the true value and purpose of education.

In Education in China, ca. 1840–present the authors offer a description of the Chinese education system. In doing so, they touch upon various debates such as on educational modernization and the role of female education. Relevant statistical data is provided as well.

Transformative market reforms in China since the late 1970s have improved living standards dramatically, but have also led to unprecedented economic inequality. During this period, China’s educational system was restructured to support economic development, with educational reforms occurring at a startling pace. Today, the educational system has diversified in structure, finance, and content; it has become more market-oriented; and it is serving an increasingly diverse student population. These changes carry significant consequences for China’s social mobility and inequality, and future economic prospects. In Education and Reform in China, leading scholars in the fields of education, sociology, demography, and economics investigate the evolution of educational access and attainment, educational quality, and the economic consequences of being educated. Education and Reform in China shows that economic advancement is increasingly tied to education in China, even as educational services are increasingly marketized. The volume investigates the varying impact of change for different social, ethnic, economic and geographic groups. Offering interdisciplinary views on the changing role of education in Chinese society, and on China’s educational achievements and policy challenges, this book will be an important resource for those interested in education, public policy, and development issues in China.

This pioneering book offers a unique constellation of essays focused on the important social and economic changes affecting educational institutions in China. It provides an in-depth examination of the potential and obstacles for business and management education in the world's second largest economy and most populated country.This volume is an essential resource for anyone with an interest in teaching, developing a new program, or entering into a joint venture in China. A wide range of topics, such as economic transition, pedagogical issues, professional training and alliance formation, are discussed from the standpoint of deans, educators, directors and consultants of educational institutions hailing from both the East and the West.

Using primary evidence such as official documents, newspapers and memoirs, Paul Bailey analyzes the significance, impact and nature of women's public education in China from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century.