Education Reforms in China

陈蓉

There are many education reforms in China. But I think basic education reform had the most positive impact on Chinese schools. In this paper， I will illustrate the reasons from three aspects. Basically， there are two parts. One is the contents about the most positive education reform in China， that is， the basic education reform. The other is the contents about the college entrance examination， which is the reform that has caused problems for schools and teachers.

Introduction

The interpretation of “basic education” in the reference book is that to provide the minimum education for children. In 1997， UNESCO held the officials seminar of senior education program in Nairobi. Basic education was described to provide the minimum knowledge， opinions， social norms and experience shared by everyone. In China， basic education mainly refers to the primary and secondary education， which is a crucial period for the implementation of quality education， and its mission is to train the basic qualities for all students， so as to lay a good foundation for them to learn to be， receive professional education and improve the national quality.

Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC， China has entered the new historical period of the reform and opening-up. Reform is the theme in our country in the past 40 years. It is the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening up in 2018. In the same way， our countrys basic education has also experienced 40 years. In the past 40 years， the basic education reform in China has great and strong impact. Since the basic education reform， many new theories and ideas have been developed in the past 40 years. It has played an important role in guiding and directing the practice of educational reform.

The concept of “Three Facing”

Deng Xiaoping put forward that education should be geared to the needs of modernization， of the word and of the future. The connotation of “Three Facing” is very rich， and they are a dialectical unity. They interpenetrate and complement mutually. The concept that education should be geared to the needs of modernization， which is based on the need of educational development in the context of the historical background， emphasizes the relationship between education and economic development and social progress， indicates that education should fully adapt to the requirements of socialist modernization and trains “modern men” to meet the needs of the times. The idea that education should be geared to the needs of the world， which is in the space dimension， stresses that the education reform should be based on our national conditions， as well as we should have the whole world in view， absorb all the advanced achievements of human civilization and learn from the useful experiences of other countries educational reform to promote the progress of our education. The opinion that education should be geared to the needs of the future， which is in the time dimension， underlines that education should It is emphasized that education should be oriented to the long-term needs of Chinas economic development. It is required that educators should takes into consideration both the current and long-term perspective to make education ahead of the social and economic development.

The “three facing” indicated the correct direction for unifying and renewing educational ideas， carrying out educational reform and innovating the practice of education. It solves the idea of the development of basic education in China. It solved the fundamental problems of the development of basic education in China in terms of what the guiding ideology is， what is the way to go forward and what is the goal. First， “three facing” is the herald and banner of ideological emancipation in educational field. It has expanded chinese educators horizon of thinking education problems， accelerated the innovations of the education concept and encouraged people to break the barriers of old educational ideas， which made millions of educators begin to use a wide-angle thinking to rethink the educational practice that was difficult to break through and innovate. By mastering our partys educational policy， we can explore new educational ideas and accelerate the transformation of educational concepts from the broad perspective of international horizontally comparison and the vertical evolution of human history. The “people-oriented” educational values， the modern educational development concept， the lifelong learning concept of the whole nation provide an advanced theoretical basis and a good blueprint for educational reform. Secondly， the “three orientation” has made a clear direction for the reform of basic education. Secondly， “three facing” has made a clear direction for the reform of basic education. The “three facing” fully reflected the objective requirements of our socialist modernization for education and indicated the direction for educational reform from a strategic perspective. It broke the predicament of the basic education reform at the beginning of the reform and opening-up， guided the influential education reform practice in China since the mid-1980s and launched the extensive and profound reform in the aspects of education system， school-running system， educational structure and educational management.

The concept of “Overall Reform”

After the mid-1980s， China began to explore the “overall reform” in the basic education circles. It included three main connotations. First， the theoretical basis of “overall reform” is the overall optimization thought of system theory， that is， the overall optimization of system can be achieved through comprehensive optimization of all the local elements of the system. For basic education， it is to integrate all parts of educational reform into the overall conception of reform， and systematically build the key points， difficult points and logical sequence of reform so as to avoid the contradiction and mutual offset between the elements of reform. Second， macroscopically， in term of operational level， “overall reform” focused on improving the overall quality and efficiency of education by controlling the whole situation and coordinating and planning macroscopically to speed up the process of educational reform and promote the healthy development of education. When carrying out educational reform， governments at all levels conscientiously implemented the “three overall plans”， thus improving the quality and efficiency of education， giving full play to the overall function of education and serving the development of local economy and society better. Third， microscopically， in the micro operation of school level， “overall reform” paid attention to grasping the overall design， macro control， key breakthrough， and the step-by-step principle to consider the contents and requirements of the reform from the aspects of educational concept， curriculum structure， teaching contents， teaching methods， teachers， school conditions and management mechanism， so as to achieve mutual promotion and overall optimization. The “overall reform” of basic education in China firmly grasped the main line of “system engineering”. Its goal is clear and correct， its idea is new and advanced the plan is complete and feasible and the implementation is planned and systematical.

In practice， “overall reform” has improved the overall level of basic education. The practice of “overall reform” promoted the theoretical development of the educational reform and laid a practical foundation for quality education. It provided practical experience for improving the overall quality of basic education in China. With the development of “overall reform”， it expanded to all aspects of education， including management system， investment system， education system， length of schooling， teaching contents， teaching methods and so on. Through “overall reform”， the structure of education has been adjusted， the allocation of educational resources has been optimized， the situation that government controlled education has been changed， different peoples positivity of taking part in education has been motivated， education investment has been greatly increased and school conditions have markedly improved. In a word， basic education has made great progress both in efficiency and quality during this period.

The concept of “Quality Education”

Quality education， proposed in 1993， is to improve peoples quality and cultivate students innovation spirit and practical ability with the aim of training builders and successors who are well-developed morally， intellectually physically and aesthetically. Its theoretical connotation and practical directivity are to develop students knowledge characteristics， ability characteristics and quality characteristics fully.

In theory， quality education， which is a mode constituted by a series of education links and management links such as ideology， system， content， method and evaluation， is the materialization of the all-round education ideology in the new era of socialist construction. It advocated that the basic education reform should take quality education as the guidance and start from the basic point of realizing students all-round development and improving their abilities of innovation， so as to plan the concept， content， way， goal and evaluation standard of education reform. It pays attention to the classroom， teaching， practical activities and school management in primary and secondary schools to realize the quality education practice of the whole course and whole staff. This is a historical change， that is， the target of paying attention to the enrollment rate of the college entrance examination has turned to the realistic state of the students overall development.

In practice， the concept of quality education blocked the behaviors of schools that pursued the enrollment rate one-sidedly. In 1999， the state promulgated the “revitalization action plan” for the twenty-first Century education， China started the reform of basic education， including basic education curriculum and teaching reform， the reform of moral education， the system reform of entrance examination and evaluation， teachers training and so on. Especially the basic education curriculum reform， it has brought a series of educational reform， such as teaching philosophy， teaching method， learning method， curriculum structure， school management， school evaluation and so on. It also increased the interaction between teachers and students. This kind of people-oriented and student-oriented concept can improve the students innovative spirits and practical abilities.