Educating the Chinese individual: political ambitions and educational practices
| Dates: | 23 April 2013 |
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| Times: | 17:00 - 18:30 |
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| What is it: | Lecture |
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| Organiser: | School of Arts, Languages and Cultures |
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| How much: | free |
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| Who is it for: | Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public, University staff |
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| Speaker: | Professor Mette Halskov Hansen |
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The world’s largest education system is facing criticism from many of its own teachers and students, as well as from policy makers at the highest levels of office (including former prime minister Wen Jiaobao). Hefty public investments and several attempts at reform have not yet created the “neo-socialist” school that leaders of the Communist Party dream of: A school which to a much larger extent than today manages to foster “creative” and “innovative” young people, without compromising demands for political discipline and trust in authorities. Many students complain that reforms have failed, while teachers struggle to live up to different kinds of pressure from educational plans, parents, students, and school authorities.
Based on fieldwork since 2008 in a rural high school, this presentation will argue that Chinese education is indeed undergoing profound changes, but that these result from societal processes as much as from educational policies. More specifically, the presentation discusses how broader processes of individualization are remaking the Chinese state school from within.
Speaker
Professor Mette Halskov Hansen
Organisation: University of Oslo
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
A101
Samuel Alexander Building
Manchester
