Katy Gladden
Professor Janzen
ED 779, Mod. 2 Dramatic Political/Economic Change
Directions: Choose two countries from the five addressed in Part I. Read
those two chapters to understand the impact on schooling when dramatic
political/economic change occurs. As you read, keep in mind the Analytic
Framework triangle and the Political Economy, the Ideology, and
schooling factors. For each of the two countries you chose for your
reading, analyze the impact on the educational system in each country
when there is significant change in the political economy.
After you have posted your response please respond to one other
classmate's forum post.
Chinese Educational Reform
In our class text entitled, Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education
Reform by Iris Rotberg, the author reports that Chinese education has
experienced significant changes from the early 1980’s compared to the socialist
system originally established in 1949. As the result of the Cultural Revolution
and revised system of public education management during this time period,
China’s public education system grew to support “about 319 million students”
in 2003 (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 3). The author states “China’s experience,
therefore, contradicts the widespread belief that a nation’s level of economic
development determines its level of educational development.” (Rotberg, 2010,
pg. 3). The author maintains that this is due to education reforms which have
occurred over the last 25 years and the influence of strong cultural traditions.
To explain this educational reformation period further, the author recalls the
Chinese Cultural Revolution which came about in 1978 as the result of
economic reforms. During this time, many changes occurred in the socialist
economic system that was practiced in China. Farmers were allowed to keep
some of their crops which in turn gave them money to pay for their children’s
education. During this time other reforms occurred which focused on
restructuring, financing, and managing the Chinese educational structure. The
educational system became decentralized and expanded. As a result, the public
education became funded by a combination of resources “from the government,
private contributions, and income generated by schools.” (Rotberg, 2010, pg.
5). This new wave of funding and reformation of public education management
resulted in an impressive “almost universal attendance in primary education
and above 80 percent enrollment in junior secondary education (grades 7 to 9)
around the 1990’s. (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 5).
As the result of the reformation era, education finance was decentralized and
funding has become dependent on local resources, school income and
donations. This system of education income in turn has caused disparity of
educational resources in different community locations. As a part of the
Chinese cultural tradition, emphasis was placed on the importance of education
and preparing for the entrance exam into college. A formal education was
viewed as a means for students to get financially ahead. In response to the
reform, many management strategies were implemented to bring about success.
Teachings in the classrooms were changed, professional development of
teachers became better organized, and the teachers subscribed to teaching “the
best method.” (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 12). In addition, almost all of the members
of Chinese education management are teachers with experience.
“In short, the Chinese education reforms have adopted an approach that builds
on traditional culture (such as the authority of examinations), inherited
conventions (such as the organized nature of the teaching force)…This is
perhaps a result of Chinese pragmatism and a reflection of broader national
reforms in the economy and society.” (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 13).
A Time of Change
According to the author, there has been much change to the education system in
China since 2003. In contrast to the decentralization approved in 1985, “…the
Ministry of Education implemented a policy of ‘two frees, one subsidy’: this
meant free miscellaneous fees, free textbooks for poor families, and subsidy for
boarding students.” (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 16). In 2006, a law was passed to
provide funds for basic public education by county governments with the
central government sharing 80 percent of the costs for more rural areas. In
addition, the Chinese educational system was dealing with the problem of how
to educate an increasing amount of migrant children as the result of their
parents moving to the city for employment. “By 2007, 20 million children had
followed their parents to the cities”. (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 16). Consequently a
Miniban schools law was passed to promote the establishment of more private
schools.
In terms of overall educational reform, the author believes that China has
significantly progressed in a short amount of time. “Much of what has
happened could not have been foreseen even ten years ago, and we can expect
changes that are even more dramatic in the future.” (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 13).
Germany
Like China, Germany has also experienced a period of education policy
reconstruction. At the end of World War II, the German educational system
underwent a reformation period during which the education of its people
became the responsibility of the individual states. At this time, the
coordination of education amongst the states was completed by the Standing
Conference of the Ministers of Culture and Education of the German States.
Today, this administrative body continues to oversee the education planning
function. Some of the major priorities accomplished were: “unifying the school
systems of the German states, implementing compensatory measures to ensure
equal opportunities, strengthening individual rights through greater
differentiation, broadening the curriculum, increasing participation in high
education, and linking education to economic competitiveness.” (Rotberg,
2010, pg. 104). During this period, the West German educational system
quickly expanded while funding slowly decreased. Later in 1990, both East
Germany and West Germany education systems were unified after the Berlin
Wall came down.
Unfortunately, in the early 2000’s, the Germany educational policy was not
functioning well. It was reported by the author that the test results of German
students were lower with most students placing in the mid to lower end of the
test results on three international assessment tests (Program for International
Student Assessment). The author reported that the lower scores were generally
linked to those students with lower socioeconomic status. In response, the
federal government’s Minister of Education and Research stated that
Germany’s plan was to raise those scores. Consequently, a joint effort was
made by the state and federal government to remedy this situation. Further, an
evaluation agency, national standards and reporting system, and 10,000 new
schools were created. However, the states rejected the federal plan except for
the acceptance of additional monies and created their own action plan which
was ironically very similar to that of the federal government.
Although equal opportunity was an issue in the 1970s, it seems to no longer be
a problem because of legislation, student financial assistance and more interest
by girls in attending schools. Students from migrant workers and war refugees
enroll in Hauptschulen schools for students with less education skills. In
addition, German schools have paid more attention to teaching foreign
languages and the integration of technology into their curriculum.
In a follow-up report on the German education system, the author writes that
more improvements have occurred. Increased testing on pupil and teacher
performance in schools has taken place. As a result, more professional training
has been made available for teachers and principals. Educational standards,
increased foreign language instruction and additional support for academically
challenged students have been implemented. Special programs have been
created to help international and migrant children to learn the German
language. As the result of political support, more foreign language learning is
being offered to students at lower grade levels.
However, Germany still is undecided as to how to help low achieving students.
Some individuals advocate that these students should receive more academic
support at the lower grade levels. While state ministries have created a number
of recommendations, the teaching staff for these types of students has been
substantially reduced. Consequently, regular teachers have been charged with
“providing high-achieving pupils with additional learning experiences,
inducing better test scores on national and international performance
assessments, and supporting low-achieving students. ” (Rotberg, 2010, pg.
118).
Currently, Germany maintains a public school system with a few private
schools available that are certified by the state. Some of these schools are
religion based. Public education is approximately 80 percent funded by the
state with the remaining 20 percent funded locally. Together, the state and
local administrations manage the schools. While all the students attend school
together in the primary grades, students are separated according to ability in the
upper grades. Students are required to attend school only up until grades 9 or
10 depending on the academic track of the student. During this period,
comprehensive school education options as well as vocational education and
training schools are made available to students in certain parts of the country.
These educational options are still made available today although the states
“…are generally responsible for education, the federal government does play a
direct role in vocational education through the Federal Institute for Vocation
Training...” (Rotberg, 2010, pg. 107).
Summary
In reviewing the development of the Germany public school system over the
years, one realizes that it is decentralized in that each state runs its own school
system. In this regard, the states do not appreciate interference from the federal
government and consequently, educational reforms are challenging. However,
after the poor results from the international comparison studies, the local
German school administration has become more accepting of educational
reform from political decision makers. Unfortunately, “…German states
continue to restrict the number of new teachers that enter the system and the
average age of teachers has increased. Because it is unlikely that funding levels
will increase, the hope is that the new emphasis on management and on school
autonomy will help alleviate inertia and introduce more competition among
schools and therefore more willingness to implement changes.” (Rotberg, 2010,
pg. 114). Poor test results in international comparative studies have been a
motivation to work for reforms and slight improvements have been measured
due to these changes, but Germany continues to face challenges in its
educational system.
References
Rotberg, I. C. (2010). Balancing change and tradition in global education reform
(2nd ed.). Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.