The emerging of top-notch creative talents in natural sciences is the main topic in China today. Whether its philosophical foundation and key points can be revealed is related to the transformation of educational concepts and the orientation of educational practice. This thesis also concerns the essence of the “Double Reduction” policy that has not yet been grasped. In “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” and Kuhn’s series of discourses, the relationship between paradigm, teaching and learning is the essence of science education in the normal science era. Inappropriate teaching and learning form a paradigm trap in the mind of students. The paradigm trap, as a metaphor, is highly similar to Heidegger’s “covering-up” metaphor, although different, but awakening each other. Textbooks in teaching and learning use “true” text and language to form a covering up which is similar to a “trap” in the sense of being buried over. The covering up itself in the sense of distortion makes anomaly difficult to “see” and discover, and the difficulty of conversion highlights the characteristic of paradigm traps as “traps”. In Heidegger’s view, the essence of truth reveals itself as freedom, that is, freedom that is not covered up by old paradigms, or freedom that is not trapped in paradigm. “Double Reduction” as the English translation of 双减 reveals the subtle light and lichtung that were once hidden in the concept of 双减. The metaphor opposite to the covering up is lichtung. It is the philosophical foundation to lighten the quantity of structured learning/the required credit units for graduation and the “Double Reduction” policy. Lichtung and freedom are the philosophical foundation and the key point to the emerging of truth and creative talents in the field of natural sciences. The whole nation must always regard the lichtung and freedom that students possess in the (old) paradigm and in the constantly growing knowledge and technology as treasures. This article is an attempt to connect Kuhn and Heidegger.
The “Double Reduction” policy proposes the goal of “reducing the burden of off-campus tutoring expenditures on the families of students in the compulsory education stage.” However, there is currently a lack of research to evaluate the degree of achievement of this policy goal. This study uses a large sample survey data of families of students in the compulsory education stage sampled nationwide, applying the difference-in-differences model (DID) to analyze the impact of the “Double Reduction” policy on the participation and expenditure of students’ families on off-campus tutoring. The study found that (1) the “Double Reduction” policy has significantly reduced the participation and expenditure of students’ families on “disciplinary” off-campus tutoring. The effect remain robust after applied PSM-DID model. (2) the “Double Reduction” policy has a significant reduction effect on student families’ participation in various “disciplinary” off-campus tutoring in “mid-semester, winter and summer vacations”, “online and offline”. The conclusion remain robust after applied PSM-DID model. (3) The “Double Reduction” policy has a significantly increasing effect on the participation and expenditure of students’ families in “non-disciplinary” off-campus tutoring, and the findings does not pass the PSM-DID robustness test. (4) Heterogeneity analysis found that the “double reduction” policy significantly reduced the participation and expenditure of “disciplinary” off-campus tutoring for families of students with middle and low socioeconomic backgrounds, but had no significant impact on families of students with high socioeconomic backgrounds. The research findings of this article provide evidence that the “Double Reduction” policy goal has been achieved. The government should strengthen the supervision of “disciplinary” off-campus tutoring, further strengthen the supervision of “non-disciplinary” off-campus tutoring, intensify efforts to manage the “invisible variation” problem of “non-disciplinary” off-campus tutoring.
The rectification of off-campus tutoring institutions is one of the important aspects of the “Double Reduction” reform. This article empirically examines the impact of the reduction in disciplinary off-campus tutoring institutions on students’ time spent in school. Using data from the shop information of disciplinary tutoring institutions on Dianping.com, combined with geographic coding and search POI application interface from Gaode Map, as well as a nationwide survey on the usage of information technology in primary and secondary education, the study empirically tests the effects. The research findings are as follows. (1) During the “Double Reduction” period, the nationwide reduction rate of disciplinary off-campus tutoring institutions was approximately 88%. (2) The higher the reduction level of disciplinary off-campus tutoring institutions around schools, the more time students spend in school daily, indicating a certain degree of substitution between in-school and off-campus education. This substitution effect is more pronounced among disadvantaged groups. While this phenomenon is not significant in the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, it can be observed in many other second and third-tier cities. (3) The higher the reduction level of disciplinary off-campus tutoring institutions around schools, the higher the probability of students completing homework in school, while the probability of completing homework in off-campus tutoring institutions is lower. However, the reduction of tutoring institutions does not affect the total time students spend on homework.
The college orientation programs serve as a crucial bridge to help first-year students adjust to the college environment, develop self-cognition and social cognition, and integrate into college life. Considering the prevalent academic and social adjustment barriers among Chinese freshmen, and based on the international comparison of the orientation programs, the study evaluates the impact of the orientation programs on first-year students’ adjustment using a nationwide survey data. The study demonstrates that implementing long-term orientation programs, which deliver discipline-based introduction, study skills courses, and mental health services, has positive impact on both academic and social adjustment. However, due to the lack of support for disadvantaged freshmen, the compensatory impact of orientation programs is supposed to strengthen. The findings provide scientific insights for improving orientation programs to ensure the quality of talent cultivation.
As an important part of the regional innovation system in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, research universities should play a key supporting role in promoting regional innovation. However, the current situation is that the dominant forces of the regional innovation system are still enterprises and governments, and the role of research universities in it needs to be further enhanced. Based on the triple helix and regional innovation ecosystem theories and the qualitative analysis of the interview materials, this paper analyses the main components of the innovation system of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, focuses on the positioning and role of research universities, and then analyses the factors that hinder the roles of research universities in the Greater Bay Area innovation system in terms of the production of knowledge, the transformation and diffusion of research and development, and the construction of human capital. Finally, it is proposed to strengthen the important role of research universities in the development of the innovation region of the Greater Bay Area by improving the talent evaluation and incentive system, bridging the talent flow between universities and enterprises, and innovating the mode of talent cultivation.
This paper presents a comprehensive theoretical exploration of the relationship between sibling number and adolescent development, and utilizes data from the 2010—2018 Chinese Family Panel Survey (CFPS) to provide micro-level evidence for identifying the impact of siblings on adolescents’ cognitive ability and subjective well-being. The results indicate that having a sibling has a positive effect on adolescents’ subjective well-being, which increases with age and remains stable in adulthood. Having siblings may have a negative effect on adolescents’ cognitive ability in mathematics, but this effect is mainly seen in the young age sample and gradually disappears with the increase of grades and age. This paper provides information to support more effective cost-benefit analyses when parents make fertility decisions, as well as policy implications for alleviating parenting anxiety, improving fertility policies, and promoting sustainable population development.
Moral emotion is a motivating factor for character realizations, which is a key point to examine the unity of children’s cognition and behavior. Based on a large-scale overall dynamic dataset on the moral development of Chinese children in 2016, 2019, and 2022 (sample sizes: 77,953, 77,367, and 79,914), using Sharp Index decomposition and logistic regression analysis, we have got the the following findings. Firstly, the types of Chinese children's moral emotion development are not balanced, with insufficient expression of sympathy. Secondly, the level of moral emotions initially increases and subsequently declines as age increases. The age of ten is a critical developmental milestone for moral emotions. Thirdly, structural differences in moral emotions among Chinese children exist based on gender and geographical region. Fourthly, there is a unique ecosystem logic by the intensity of the influence of the factors, in descending order of “individual-school-social support-family”. Life satisfaction, people who know the child, and the psychological environment of the school and the family are the high-impact factors. And there are differences in the influence of the different factors on the development of the moral-emotional development of the children of different genders and school segments.From the above findings, it is proposed that the cultivation of moral emotions in Chinese children should pay attention to the developmental imbalance of the types of moral emotions, the differences in the development of the group and the key influencing factors, optimize the ecosystem of children’s moral emotion development, seize the critical period of development, further clarify the focus of education, and enhance the relevance and timeliness.
The Special Program of colleges and universities is a compensatory policy for admission opportunities to promote the high-quality educational equity and solve the difficulty of rural students to go to good universities. Descriptive statistical methods were used to track the enrollment of two elite universities under the Special Program from 2018 to 2023. Judging from the overall scale and tendency of the number of students who passed the “initial review”, got the “score reduction” and achived the “final admission”, the Special Program have been strengthened in recent years, more and more students from poor families have entered elite universities. At the same time, the actual enrollment of the Special Program in elite universities showed a distinct feature of “uneven compensation and excessive selection”. Rural students and schools in economically and educationally underdeveloped provinces were not compensated for more high-quality admission opportunities in the Special Program. An important reason is that they were at a disadvantage in the independent selection of elite universities and the selection of college entrance examination. In the next step, to promote the “substantive educational equity”, we should adjust the enrollment methods and related policies of the Special Program, establish the value orientation of “compensation first while taking into account selection” and put it into practice.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s education has undergone structural and historical changes. A series of new concepts have been proposed around the development of education reform, which constitute the basic expression of Chinese characteristic pedagogy in the new era. These concepts can be analyzed from multiple dimensions, and can be classified into original concepts, derivative concepts, and reshaped concepts based on their sources. They can be classified into basic educational theory concepts, curriculum and teaching theory concepts, educational governance and change concepts based on their content. Also, they can be classified into category relationship concepts, cross relationship concepts, and contradictory relationship concepts based on their compatibility.
The construction of the independent knowledge system of pedagogy with Chinese characteristics is fundamentally guaranteed by the independent concept system, which requires the concept to have discipline identity, theoretical identity and Chinese identity. To refine the symbolic concept of pedagogy with Chinese characteristics, we should first clarify the theoretical framework of pedagogy with Chinese characteristics, and ensure that the refined concept is the concept of “pedagogy” with disciplinary connection, which is the disciplinary premise of concept construction; Secondly, we should take root in China and refine the concept of pedagogy extensively within the theoretical framework to ensure that the original concept of pedagogy is a concept with academic rationality, which is the theoretical cornerstone of concept construction; Finally, following the principle of difference, we should further highlight the Chinese identity of the local concept of pedagogy and construct the concept of pedagogy identity with Chinese characteristics. However, the independent knowledge system of pedagogy with Chinese characteristics cannot be established on the fragmented concept of pedagogy, which requires further clarifying the disciplinary structure, logical level and content system of the symbolic concept of pedagogy with Chinese characteristics, so as to make the concept of pedagogy logical and systematic.
In the era of “big science,” academic research and technological innovation face unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Against this backdrop, deepening the innovation and application of educational research methods is paramount for promoting paradigm shifts in educational research in China and building an independent knowledge system. How to achieve a positive interaction between educational research methods, theories, and practices to meet the challenges of future educational research has become a pressing issue for Chinese educational researchers to address collectively. To address this issue, a team of faculty and students from the Department of Educational Management at East China Normal University invited Professor Herb Marsh, one of the first recipients of the Global Innovation in Educational Research Methods Award, for an in-depth conversation. Drawing on his research experience in the field of self-concept, Professor Marsh demonstrated how the collaboration between substantive and methodological approaches can drive the innovation of educational research methods. He elaborated on the triple “addition” in educational research methods innovation: the “problem + method” approach to continuously driving innovation in educational research, the “theory + data” approach to fostering the renewal of educational research, and the “technology + collaboration” approach to addressing new challenges in educational research.
Human capital is a core concept commonly used in macro education and economic policy research. To complete a macro-econometric study of education policy, it is essential to achieve an accurate measurement of a country’s human capital. Forming an internationally comparable database of educational human capital through certain measurement methods and data conversion technology is the basic work of scholars to carry out macro education policy research. Following the “evolutionary history” of educational human capital measurement, this paper systematically introduces four commonly used measurement indicators of educational human capital, including years of education, students’ cognitive skills, quality-adjusted years of education and adult cognitive skills, including their basic principles, measurement steps, conversion techniques and commonly used international databases. Based on the theory of human capital and educational production function, a comparative analysis was conducted on the advantages and disadvantages of these indicators. Four basic principles for evaluating these indicators were proposed, namely “direct measurement is superior to indirect measurement”, “stock measurement is superior to flow measurement”, “output measurement is superior to input measurement” and “quality measurement is superior to quantity measurement”. Finally, we discuss the development direction of future national education human capital research.
Laughter is everywhere in our daily life, yet it holds an ambiguous position in the educational context. While we expect laughter in the classroom, unexpected shared laughter is often viewed as a signal of disengagement from learning. This article conducts a multimodal discourse analysis of three episodes of laughter in a middle school science classroom from the theoretical perspective of laughter as a social action. It reveals the rich interactional sense-making of laughter and suggests that analyzing laughter contributes to a deeper exploration of issues such as the formation of knowledge authority, construction of social boundaries and identities, and the influence of social discourses and historical-cultural contexts on the classroom. The significance for textbook designers, teachers, and researchers is discussed.
Big idea-based teaching is an instructional paradigm that embodies the cultivation of competencies. The core of competencies is to solve real-world problems creatively, which better aligns with the mechanisms of high-road transfer. Guided by the methodology of the design experiment, the study took the “optimization” unit in elementary mathematics as an example. Firstly, the theoretical prototype of big idea-based teaching was refined through lesson study. A comparison was made between big idea-based teaching and conventional teaching from various dimensions of unit teaching, extracting elements and characteristics, and clarifying the model of big idea-based teaching, which was then exemplified. Subsequently, the effectiveness of the big idea-based teaching model was tested through comparative experimental research. The results of multiple regression analysis indicated that big idea-based teaching enhanced students' competencies, which was reflected in the enhancement of their ability for high-road transfer. Further analysis of students with varying levels of mathematical proficiency revealed that this instructional model could markedly improve the competencies of higher-achieving students in the short term and potentially benefit lower-achieving students over time.
Social and emotional skills play a crucial role in students’ human capital development. Based on field survey data from 13 counties in three prefectures of a province in Northwestern China, this study investigates the status and determinants of primary school students’ social and emotional skills in disadvantaged areas. The results show that, first, female students, left-behind children, non-boarding students, and those from non-single-parent families, as well as students with higher parental education levels and better family economic conditions, exhibit higher social and emotional skill scores. Second, family assets, supportive parenting, parent-child communication, playing with friends, and reading extracurricular books positively influence social and emotional skills, while punitive parenting and activities such as internet use and mobile phone gaming are negatively associated with students’ social and emotional skills. Third, social and emotional skills are significantly correlated with math performance, sense of school belonging, teacher-student relationships, school bullying, and mental health. Fourth, international comparisons reveal that students from Suzhou outperform most of their international peers in social and emotional skills, while students in rural Northwestern China demonstrate average levels of agreeableness but lag behind in other dimensions. Furthermore, on a global scale, female students, high-achieving students, and those from wealthier families generally outperform their counterparts. This highlights the need to prioritize the development of social and emotional skills among rural students with limited educational resources, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between schools and families to foster holistic development.
Revealing the intrinsic mechanisms of connectivist learning is a crucial focus for supporting the construction of a new curriculum model centered on connectivist learning, in response to the new propositions of cultivating top-notch innovative talents in the current era. The mining and representation of connectivist learning paths is the essential and cutting-edge research direction within this context. Current research lacks continuous and complete tracking and structural representation of connectivist learning paths, which is hindering the depth of curriculum practice. To solve this problem, based on the first domestic connectivist online course, and focusing on 56 connectivist learners, empirical research was conducted using methods such as cluster analysis, sequence analysis, and network analysis. The study found that, first, learners produced three types of learning paths, namely, main route—problem-oriented, learning support route—community-oriented, and novice route—path-dependent; learners with different experiences have differentiated path preferences, and linear course operation rules affect the space for topic selection. Second, the topological structure of connectivist learning paths has dual characteristics of temporality and networking. Third, learners exhibited three types of learning modes, namely problem-driven, curated connectivity, and knowledge restructuring. Future construction of connectivist online courses and related online learning practices should emphasize the hierarchical classification design and personalized provision of learning resources; design activity chains that stimulate collaborative knowledge creation; enhance dynamic operation and management of online learning practices; and optimize course organizational models, ultimately systematically improving course development strategies across resources, activities, and management dimensions.
“Reading” is a routine academic activity for students majoring in humanities and social sciences in research universities, aiming at acquiring disciplinary knowledge and cultivating the habit of deep thinking. However, in practice, many students possess their own set of “clever reading methods” that can be described as “knowing-without-studying.” This research utilizing qualitative research tools such as interviews and participatory observation examines the reading behaviors of students in the humanities and social sciences at Peking University. It reveals that behind the students’ technicalized learning behaviors lies the demand for “performable abilities” from the audit culture, the demand for “transferable abilities” from the “accelerated society,” and the algorithmic thinking patterns fostered by the computer age. Long-term adoption of “clever reading methods” will prevent students from delving into the texture and interior of knowledge, making it difficult for them to form the crucial comprehension and judgment in the humanities and social sciences. In the process of technicalized learning, they become “tools” carrying a certain algorithm in the technological age. However, the effort saved by their technicalized learning is precisely the core value of humanities and social sciences education. This approach dissolves the educational value of enlightening the mind, which is one of the crises in talent cultivation in contemporary research universities.
As the core carrier and means to achieve the goals of preschool education, the effectiveness of government responsibility largely determines the quality of development, characterized by the resilience measurement and mechanism of government governance. It is urgent to promote the high-quality transformation of preschool education through the improvement of government responsibility efficiency. Building an indicator system for government responsibility will help to implement development responsibilities in all aspects and at multiple levels. Therefore, based on existing literature and policy analysis, the four dimensions of government responsibility in terms of resource input, process management, policy output, and result perception are defined from the perspectives of input mechanism, management mechanism, policy mechanism, and accountability mechanism. The four-dimensional structure of government responsibility - adequacy, flexibility, responsiveness, and accountability - is summarized, and the structure of the model is explored and verified from an empirical perspective. The weights of the index were determined by analytic hierarchy process and entropy weight method. And it also calculated the comprehensive level of government responsibility for preschool education. Research shows that the government's responsibility rating for preschool education in China is at a medium to high level, with significant regional and urban-rural differences. To comprehensively enhance the efficiency of fulfilling responsibilities, the starting point should be to increase investment and optimize the investment guarantee mechanism for preschool education; taking clear accountability as the support point for fulfilling responsibilities, fully implement the assessment and reward mechanism for preschool education; taking public opinion response as the starting point for fulfilling responsibilities, comprehensively ensure the responsibility transmission mechanism of preschool education; and, taking flexible management as the breakthrough point to fulfill responsibilities, comprehensively and smoothly establish a collaborative development mechanism for preschool education.
The Preschool Education Law distinguishes itself from preschool education policies through its legal “normativity.” Understanding this “normativity” is the logical starting point for interpreting and comprehending the Preschool Education Law. Normativity refers to the behavioral models established by law that “ought to” be universally adhered to. It addresses how the law establishes these “ought-to” behavioral models and the justification for why these models “ought to” be followed.The Preschool Education Law contains 99 instances of the term “ought to,” primarily used to guide obligatory behavioral models. These obligations, which vary in strength, are imposed on the state and society at large, forming a content framework centered on the rights of preschool children and the corresponding obligations of the state and society. The justification for state obligations arises from the state’s duty to realize fundamental rights. Meanwhile, the obligations of society at large derive from the identity-based responsibilities of social actors and the ethical principles of modern responsibility. The state is required to continuously fulfill its obligation to ensure financial support and regulate the management of preschool education to guarantee the realization of preschool children’s rights.Within “society at large,” entities such as kindergartens, families, and other social actors are expected to fulfill preschool education obligations based on their respective social roles. This collective effort aims to foster a community of shared responsibility that promotes the development of preschool education through the synergy of multiple stakeholders.
The “Outline of the Plan for Building a Strong Education Country (2024-2035)” requires “shaping a new form of multi party participation in education and integration of industry and education”. Establishing a community is the main strategy for promoting the integration of industry and education in vocational education, with the aim of institutionalizing cooperation between school and enterprise, and providing institutional guarantees for the construction of a structured practical learning system. This is an inherent logical requirement for the further development of cooperation between school and enterprise in China. The institutionalization of cooperation between school and enterprise is the process of mutual integration of school and enterprise. To promote the integration, it is necessary to stimulate the enthusiasm of enterprises to participate in cooperation between school and enterprise, and more importantly, to build an external driving mechanism. The community of industry and education is an external driving mechanism for the institutionalization of relations of school and enterprise. It is a social organization that operates in a tangible manner. The operational strategies include the government fully stimulating the enthusiasm of enterprises to participate in cooperation between school and enterprise, community management institutions actively promoting the institutionalization of cooperation between school and enterprise, vocational schools actively promoting the development of functions of training in enterprise, and enterprises actively promoting the internalization of training processes. Building a structured practical learning system requires the development of a progressive skills training system, as well as strengthening the construction of vocational qualification and enterprise master certification.
In recent years, university-enterprise collaborative research and development (R&D) has emerged as a key strategy for enhancing innovation quality, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, there is limited in-depth research in the academic literature regarding the role of university-enterprise collaboration in driving patent innovation within national “Little Giant” enterprises. This study examines the impact of university-enterprise collaborative R&D on patent innovation quality, based on invention patents granted to “Little Giant” enterprises. The key findings are as follows. First, university-enterprise collaborative R&D significantly enhances the innovation quality of patents. Second, it improves patent innovation quality by facilitating information sharing between universities and enterprises. Third, “Little Giant” enterprises collaborating with “211” universities, science and engineering or comprehensive institutions, and those that are medium to large-sized or located in eastern regions, gain greater benefits from university-enterprise collaborative R&D. Finally, extensive collaborative R&D with multiple universities helps enterprises acquire a broader range of information, fostering knowledge flow and improving patent quality, whereas sustained collaboration with a single university may hinder patent innovation quality. This study provides insights into the current state and mechanisms of university–enterprise collaborative R&D, offering valuable implications for improving the effectiveness of such partnership.
Against the backdrop of human societal development increasingly relying on universities and sustainable development becoming an inescapable imperative for the progress of human society, the sustainable development of universities themselves has emerged as a research topic of significant contemporary relevance. Drawing upon the first principles of nature and insights from open systems theory, this paper proposes for the first time that universities function as open knowledge systems governed by first principles. By examining the substantial parallels between the sustainable development of universities and the evolutionary persistence of natural ecosystems, this study identifies and deconstructs matter, energy, and information as the fundamental elements sustaining university sustainability, thereby uncovering the underlying logic of university development. Based on the first principles of universities and their sustainable development elements, with information—which coordinates resource input and energy output—as the logical framework, this paper explores optimal pathways for university sustainability from three perspectives: the accuracy and sufficiency of information, the strength of professional talent, and the modernization of internal university governance.
Interdisciplinary competence, as a core quality for cultivating complex high-level innovative talents, has a direct bearing on the strategic landing of the construction of a strong educational country. Based on the SECI knowledge transformation theory and matrix organization theory, this study constructs a general theoretical framework for analyzing Interdisciplinary competence transformation from the perspective of organizational structure, and uses empirical data to complete theoretical validation of the real effects of the current cultivation of China’s postgraduate students in the light of the theoretical framework. It is found that the cultivation of graduate students' interdisciplinary competence satisfies the SECI spiral model of knowledge transformation; expanding the interdisciplinary integration scope of departmental talent cultivation can only bring about a “substantial change” in graduate students’ interdisciplinary vision; and compared with joint cultivation, the independent cultivation system is conducive to the development of graduate students’ interdisciplinary knowledge and application, while combining multiple structures may “harness complementary strengths”. The study puts forward policy recommendations to form an effective organizational structure and policy mechanism for the cultivation of interdisciplinary talents for higher education in China.
Building a resilient education finance system is a crucial foundation for constructing an education powerhouse. The resilience of education finance refers to the ability of the education system to maintain the stability, equity, and quality of educational services through financial reserves and resource allocation adjustments when facing economic fluctuations, population changes, public fiscal tightening, emergencies, or social transformations. Its core lies in establishing a healthy, stable, and sustainable education finance mechanism that can proactively adapt to changes. The analytical framework for education finance resilience includes four dimensions: revenue resilience, expenditure resilience, institutional resilience, and support resilience. In terms of theoretical lineage, the connotations, core characteristics, constituent elements, and key challenges of basic education finance resilience and higher education finance resilience are distinct yet interconnected. There are international best practices and practical experiences that can enhance education finance resilience, which can be leveraged through international theoretical and practical dialogues to drive breakthroughs in China's unique theory of education finance resilience.
In recent years, China’s rapid rise in the fields of economy, technology, military, education, and global influence has significantly impacted the United States’ STEM education strategy, triggering a heightened sense of crisis and strategic alertness. Based on an analysis of 31 national-level STEM education policy documents issued by the United States between 2001 and 2024, this study identifies five main factors related to China: economic and technological growth, military modernization, a quantitative advantage in STEM talent, leading performance in international assessments, and enhanced global influence. The United States regards China’s rapid development as a systemic challenge and has responded through multiple pathways, including increasing educational investment, optimising domestic talent development mechanisms, attracting international talent, and building a comprehensive STEM education ecosystem, in order to maintain national competitiveness and global leadership. The adjustment of the U.S. STEM education strategy is driven not only by the internal logic of educational reform but also profoundly shaped by international geopolitical competition. Attention should be paid to the political mobilisation purposes underlying the U.S. crisis narratives targeting China. These findings deepen the understanding of education policy adjustment mechanisms in the context of major-power strategic competition and provide theoretical support and policy insights for China in advancing its education powerhouse strategy, strengthening strategic composure, and enhancing international discourse capacity.
With the widespread application of digital technology, the collection of personal information has not only improved management efficiency but also raised privacy protection issues, leading to potential resistance behavior from information subjects. This study focuses on the field of campus management, deeply analyzes college students’ resistance behavior towards university information collection and its influencing factors, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for improving personal information protection systems and optimizing university information governance. This study collects data through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews, and uses fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to systematically analyze the influencing factors and combination paths of college students’ information collection resistance behavior. The study finds that college students’ resistance behavior towards university information collection is the result of the interaction of multi-dimensional information awareness, among which three relatively important combination paths are presented: The “technology rejection” path shows that the acceptance of information technology is an important factor affecting students’ resistance behavior, with individuals who have a high awareness of information rights and low acceptance of technology being more likely to resist; The “trust deficiency” path finds that the lack of knowledge about information protection and the reduction of trust in the university will jointly strengthen college students’ willingness to resist; The “knowledge paradox” path explains that even if students have a high level of information technology literacy and technology acceptance, the lack of information management awareness and information security perception can still lead to significant resistance behavior.
Currently, the field of educational history in China faces the challenge of lacking a global perspective, urgently requiring a shift from nation-state narratives to a global history paradigm. This transformation follows a dual path: critically deconstructing the Western-centric global educational narrative and actively constructing a discourse of Chinese subjectivity. Based on the epistemological and methodological framework of Marx’s theory of world history, this paper analyzes the theoretical limitations of Western global educational narratives. At the epistemological level, they fail to reveal the material production basis of educational globalization and its class nature. At the methodological level, they overlook the dialectical unity of productive force revolutions and communication revolutions in shaping the history of educational globalization. At the axiological level, their advocated “universalism” is essentially an ideological construct of capitalist modernity. To address these theoretical shortcomings, an analytical framework centered on the dialectical relationship between “productive forces and communication” is constructed, examining global educational history through the dual dimensions of production systems and mutual exchange. This approach establishes a global educational history perspective that reflects China's stance, aiming to advance the development of a Chinese school of global educational history research, reshape the discourse power structure of global educational history, and provide historical references and theoretical resources for global educational governance in building a community with a shared future for humanity.
This study examines the structural influence of media technology innovations on the openness of European universities between the 16th and 19th centuries. By analyzing three key technological media shifts—the Gutenberg printing press, knowledge-oriented social spaces (“coffeehouse universities”), and the railway postal system, the research reveals that, media innovations reshaped the time-space dimensions of knowledge dissemination, enabling intellectual exchange to transcend university walls; emerging technologies weakened the teacher-student dependency characteristic of the manuscript era, fostering a culture of autonomous learning; new media accelerated the decline of the Latin scholarly community by promoting vernacularization in academic communication. These transformations mediated the relationship between early modern European universities and nation-states, positioning universities as active participants in the public sphere and shapers of national identity—a distinct departure from medieval institutional closure. Crucially, the study emphasizes that media technologies reconfigured university-society networks primarily through productive (rather than political) dimensions. The conclusion explores continuities and disruptions in higher education openness under contemporary digital media technologies.
The history of educational space is a new field of research in the history of education. Space has gone through three transformations of material space, spiritual space and social space, which eventually led to the triadic space theory integrating materiality, spirituality and sociality, triggering the spatial turn in the field of humanities and social sciences. Influenced by this, the exploration of space in the history of education has also developed from focusing on material space to focusing on the interaction between space and human beings, highlighting the rich connotation of educational space. Taking the temple school space of the Song Dynasty as an example, drawing on the analytical framework of ternary space, the temple school space of the Song Dynasty is divided into the physical space consisting of buildings and artefacts, the symbolic space consisting of architectural nomenclature, sacrificial figures and stone tablets, and the activity space consisting of rituals and learning activities. The triadic space intersects and complements each other, together revealing the basic pattern and nurturing role of the temple school space in the Song Dynasty.
Illustrated Literacy Textbook is a type of educational material for children that combines images with text, using the interplay between pictures and words to provide enlightenment. “Enlightenment” has been a recurring topic in modern Chinese history and is also a crucial point for the innovation of ideas. The ideological enlightenment reflected and embodied by modern Chinese Illustrated Literacy Textbook is a gradual process, a transition from tradition to modernity, and an interweaving of national salvation and cultural awakening. Representative works such as the Chengzhong Mengxuetang Zike Tushuo, Hui Tu Shizhi Shizai Yi, and Guomin Zike Tushuo are undoubtedly important vehicles for the ideological enlightenment of children in modern China. They not only responded to children’s demands for enlightenment, but also reflected the compiler’s will for enlightenment.
With China’s development from the “world’s factory” in the past to today’s increasingly prominent role as the “world’s R & D laboratory”, to the world’s important innovation plateau in the future, the status and role of its higher education have been changing, and the importance and order of the scale, structure and quality of higher education in the development of innovation have also changed. Based on the decomposition framework of the effects of higher education scale, structure and quality on innovation and provincial panel data, the empirical analysis using mixed regression, Shapley value decomposition, double fixed-effects model and systematic generalized moments estimation found that: (1) the scale, structure and quality of higher education significantly affect regional innovation, and with the upgrading of the stage of innovation development, the status and role of higher education have been increasing, in which the importance of structural optimization and quality improvement is increasing, while the importance of scale expansion is relatively declining; (2) the contribution of higher education scale expansion to regional innovation increment (patent output) is about 14%, accounting for about half of the total contribution of higher education, reflecting the fundamental status of the scale effect; (3) the quality has a more consistent and significant positive effect, for every 1% increase in the quality level of the per capita student population, the patent output grows by an average of 0.7%~1.1%; (4) the hierarchy has a non-linear effect, and there is a synergistic interaction effect with the scale. The growth of total innovation can be driven by the scale of postgraduate education, and the growth of invention and innovation needs to rely on the synergistic effect of the expansion of the total scale and the increase in the proportion of postgraduate students. For this reason, China’s higher education development mode relying on the incremental scale needs to be shifted to the “stock optimization” mode mainly focusing on structural optimization and quality enhancement, and implement the regional differentiated development strategy of “classified positioning, layered expansion, and comprehensive quality enhancement”. In addition, the leading original innovation zones need to strengthen the synergistic layout of high-level education, and technology diffusion carrying zones should consolidate the foundation of undergraduate education. Also, localities should build a layout system that fits the stage of innovation with the core of quality leap.
Higher education evaluation reform serves as a critical component in enhancing China’s comprehensive higher education capacity and establishing the nation as a global higher education powerhouse. Provincial governments’ policy reproduction during the formulation of evaluation reform policies significantly impacts local practices. Based on the machine learning method, a Doc2vec model was constructed to conduct quantitative calculations on the reproduction of higher education evaluation reform policy content in China’s provinces. Furthermore, Qualitative Comparative Analysis was employed to uncover the influence mechanisms of provincial governments’ policy reproduction in higher education evaluation reform. The research finds that the degree of policy reproduction in provincial higher education evaluation reforms remains generally low. Five high-reproduction configurations were identified, which can be further categorized into three pathways: pressure-driven, horizontal competition-driven, and autonomous optimization. Three low-reproduction configurations were identified, which can be further generalized into two distinct pathway typologies: resource-deficient type and pressure-alienated type. A comparative analysis of pathways with high and low reproduction reveals that the provincial government’s education fiscal input is the economic basis for the provincial government to promote the reproduction of policy content of higher education evaluation reform, and the comprehensive strength of provincial higher education is the realistic basis for the provincial government to promote the reproduction of policy content of higher education evaluation reform. There is a substitution effect between the provincial government’s education fiscal input and the attention allocation of the provincial government, both of which can respond positively to external pressure. When there is no external pressure, they have a synergistic effect with the comprehensive strength of provincial higher education development, and their coordination can effectively enhance the degree of policy content reproduction by provincial governments. Therefore, provincial governments should stimulate internal motivation, rationally allocate education fiscal input, and implement central policies in a way that suits local conditions. The central government should further strengthen supervision, inspection, and reward and punishment measures to better promote the implementation of relevant policies.
Promoting organized scientific research in higher education institutions is an important measure to serve national strategic needs. Currently, the effectiveness of organized scientific research in higher education institutions is insufficient. Research suggests that disciplines play a crucial foundational role in supporting organized scientific research in higher education institutions, and their output levels serve as the cornerstone for the collaborative efficiency of multidisciplinary research. Focusing on the key issue of how to enhance the output levels of disciplines, this study proposes the proposition of improving the organizational level of disciplines. Through a survey of 244 academic disciplines nationwide, this study employed higher-order factor analysis to validate the rationality of a second-order factor model of disciplinary organizational degree and, using structural equation modeling, revealed the underlying mechanisms by which disciplinary organizational degree influences disciplinary output levels. Empirical results indicate that disciplinary organizational degree significantly and positively impacts disciplinary output levels, with internal cohesion within disciplinary organizations playing a partial mediating role. Based on these findings, specific recommendations are provided on how to enhance disciplinary output levels by improving disciplinary organizational organization, thereby strengthening the foundational support role of disciplines in organized research at universities.
The world reveals itself with signs and semiosis, and being contains understanding and being understood. The relationship between signs and understanding shows the meaningful communication among all things in the world. Signs and their interpretants do not necessarily base on human language. All things, through signs and understanding, form intersubjectivities, establish co-creation and, affordances, and form the structures and orders of the world. The semiotic processes or actions of all things establish each other, give to each other, and shape each other, presenting a nurturing and educational relationship, establishing inter-educational meanings. For educational practices of human, it is necessary to face the multiple semiotic processes of the world, open up more semiotic spaces to perceive, respond to, and understand the semiosis of all things, and to form connections of educational meanings at multiple levels, in order to obtain educational shaping from the existence of all things, and thus it is a try to recreate new types of education that nurtures the human singularity in the era of artificial intelligence.
Institutional construction is a vital dimension of the construction of a learning society. The theory of adult learning systems regards adult learning and education as social institutions, and based on the perspective of political economy, regards institutional coordination issues at different levels as important issues. From the perspective of theory of adult learning systems, the paper re-examines the institutional construction of a learning society, and proposes that the institutional construction of a learning society exists in the process of effectively responding to institutional coordination issues at different levels, mainly including coordination issues between different types of educational resources, strategic interactions between educational stakeholders, and matching issues between educational and other related institutions. As an interdisciplinary research field, the study of a learning society urgently needs to go beyond the existing exploration of education and draw on the nutrients of multiple disciplines, including sociology, political science, and economics.
When discussing vocational education, John Dewey frequently invoked the concept of calling. However, existing Chinese and Japanese translations of this term fail to fully capture Dewey's intended meaning, hindering a deeper understanding of his ideas on vocational education. Dewey’s use of calling transcends the conventional notions of “career” or “occupation” and embodies unique connotations. First, it provides rewards beyond mere economic returns. Second, it evokes an intrinsic sense of duty in individuals. Third, it establishes explicit behavioral constraints; and finally, it demands careful consideration and selection. Dewey’s debate with David Snedden highlights his opposition to vocational education, which prioritizes skill training and employment-focused objectives. Instead, Dewey valued whether individuals could discover a congenial calling that resonates with their unique dispositions and aspirations. Through such alignment, individuals could achieve personal development while simultaneously realizing their social value. In today’s context, where a commitment to duty and responsibility is increasingly emphasized, Dewey’s views on vocational education and the central concept of calling merit renewed attention. Calling serves as a theoretical tool to counter the prevailing “bread-and-butter” mindset dominating both vocational and general education, a tendency Dewey once opposed but which has repeatedly resurfaced over time.
Since the introduction of the concept of internationalization in higher education, the so-called “mainstream” definitions of it, represented by Jane Knight’s definition, have gradually developed into the “norm” of higher education internationalization on a global scale, and have become a key reference in the theoretical discussion and practice of internationalization in higher education. However, as these definitions were developed in the Western context, they only reflect the internationalization of higher education from Western perspectives, and are thus narrow. It is difficult to accommodate them for the de facto diverse understandings and requirements of internationalization in different countries and higher education institutions, and at different historical stages. These definitions are also restricting the potential and imagination of non-Western higher education systems. Furthermore, these definitions have intrinsic limitations, including their ignorance of the internationalization of knowledge. With a special focus on the interactions between multiple cultures, especially between Chinese and Western cultures, this paper reflects on the existing connotations of internationalization in higher education. It draws upon Chinese intellectual traditions and highlights intellectual pluralism in higher education as an essential aspect of higher education internationalization. It also underlines the responsibility and potential of Chinese intellectual and cultural traditions in contributing to the development of global higher education and human civilization.
Subjective consciousness is key factor in the construction of the autonomous knowledge system of China’s higher education discipline. The human nature assumption of the “relational person” in the continuum of “I-me” provides a precise analytical framework for understanding the “suspended thinking” of knowledge system constructing subject. Using the method of in-depth interviews, the relationship network of Chinese higher education knowledge system constructing subject takes self as the coordinate origin, vertically forming teacher-student relationships, and horizontally forming relationships with organizational members and community members. The relational environment provides a subtle and non-reflective background knowledge for knowledge system constructing subject at the institutional and habitual levels, known as cultural significance. Constructing subject constantly constructs a new higher education knowledge system as surface knowledge based on the “cultural significance” foundation that arises from various complex relationships. The relationship has a decisive significance for the identity and behavior of knowledge system constructing subject. The autonomy of the knowledge system depends on whether the constructor can establish a self-awareness of the subjectivity of “me” in the relational network, and has the ability to actively choose and construct new surface knowledge by jumping out of the subconscious and using background knowledge. Thus, it provides a judgment standard for autonomy.
The arrival of the digital age has made it commonplace for parents to share their children on self media platforms. Based on 15,104 big data texts crawled from Sina Weibo, a theoretical analysis framework for the public discourse of parents’sharenting was constructed. At the same time, purposive sampling was used to select 10 individuals for targeted interviews, using situational narratives from the interviewees to supplement any details that may have been overlooked.The act of sharenting is manifested in the perspective of children as a boundary crossing of their identity, forgetting of their ethics, and a warning of their safety. From the perspective of parents, it is understood as a growth record, a type of emotional medium, and a cluster effect; In the public perspectivee, it is seen as an implicit intrusion, a common occurrence among people, and a type of symbolic representation. Based on the social context of the integration of private and public domains, facing the discourse conflicts and practical problems of parents’ sharenting, the government needs to be committed to legislative protection of children’s digital survival and environmental supervision of children’s digital friendly ecology. Parents need to have a moderate grasp of the boundaries of children’s digital rights and have a dynamic understanding of the stages of children’s digital rights. The public needs to enhance their awareness of public space and work together to maintain the healthy growth of children in public spaces.
Artificial intelligence is a key driving force behind the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. It not only has a significant and far-reaching impact on economic development, social progress, and the international political and economic landscape, but also profoundly changing the ecology and structure of education. Through a conversation between Zhu Yongxin and John Hopcroft, this article explores several issues concerning the reform and development of higher education in the era of artificial intelligence: how to cultivate students’ curiosity and creativity; whether artificial intelligence can replace human teachers; what are the criteria for a good teacher and how undergraduate teaching should be reformed”.
中国人文社会科学核心期刊
