Paradigm shift of education governance in China: two compulsory education legislation episodes 1986 vs. 2006

Abstract

The thesis addresses the paradigm shift of education governance in China through a study of the policymaking process of two legislation episodes in China: the 1986 Compulsory Education Law and the 2006 Compulsory Education Law Amendment. The research started with two broad initial research questions: how was the Compulsory Education Law made and amended? Why was the Law made and amended? Using ethnographic interviews and documentary analysis as the main research methods, more specific questions on the 1986 and 2006 legislation were later delved into as the research evolved in depth: What were the driving forces behind the 1986 and 2006 legislation? What values of compulsory education were assumed in the central decisions of the 1986 and 2006 legislation? What was the institutional rationale underpinning the 1986 and 2006 legislation?

The data was collected through ethnographic interview with some forty informants involved in the policymaking process. The research findings were analyzed and presented on three levels. First, the findings were presented on the basis of narration analysis. Second, the policymaking process of the legislation was analyzed from three paradigms: agenda-setting, decision-making and organizational behavior. Finally, by examining the results of the previous stages of analysis and further comparing the two cases, the research arrived at a theoretical framework for education governance that embraces three essential elements: political ideology, perceived value of education, and institutional rationale.

The analysis of the two legislation episodes identified that the political ideology, which shifted from efficiency-oriented economic well-being to equity-oriented social cohesion, steered the agenda-setting of the compulsory education legislation. The perceived value of education reflects the role that education plays in development, changing from economic value to social value. The institutional rationale essentially determines strategies by which compulsory education materializes, with a variance from governing by goal and mobilization to governing by accountability and regulation. In conclusion, education governance in China witnessed a paradigm shift from “economic instrumentalism” toward “social rationalism” over the twenty-year period from the mid-1980s to 2006.