The dominant view today is of a global knowledge-based economy, driven by the application of new technologies, accelerating the shift to high-skilled, high-waged European economies. This view is reflected in the expansion of higher education and the key role of higher education in national and European economic policy. The Lisbon agenda seeks to…

This thesis points out the main problems consisting in general education in higher education institutions (HEIs) of China mainland. General education needs to be further improved and so does the quality of general education curriculum. The faculty construction should be more reasonable; the teaching administration models and the evaluation system…

Despite a policy focus on educating the whole child, China continues to struggle with a culture of testing, placing a premium on academic knowledge to the detriment of a more well-rounded curriculum. Students are overworked, lack adequate sleep, and have little time for anything beyond school work. The Chinese Ministry of Education has enumerated…

This article presents the findings of a survey, conducted on league tables and rankings systems worldwide, including seventeen standard ones and one non-standard league table. Despite the capacity of existing league tables and rankings to meet the interest of the public of transparency and information on higher education institutions, ranking…

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently issued the Action Plan for the Development of Civic Morality. It is a profound exposition on the importance of the development of civic morality and its guiding ideology and policy principles. It puts forward the basic moral standards of patriotism, respect for the law,…

This paper is a keynote speech delivered at the National Symposium of Early Childhood Education) held by the Ministry of Education, December 16-19, 2004. In this paper, Jiang Jin first analyzed the difficulties and challenges that China faced in the development of early childhood education (ECE), including the partially dissolved ECE system,…

The International Handbook of Teacher and School Development brings together a collection of research and evidence-based authoritative writings which focus on international teacher and school development. Drawing on research from 18 countries across 7 continents, the 40 chapters are grouped into 10 themes which represent key aspects of teacher and…

Having experienced three stages of "preliminary establishment", "rapid and comprehensive development" and "steady development" for twenty years, China's postdoctoral system is moving towards a new one, the stage of "quality improvement and innovation development." Remarkable achievements in the system…

More attention should be paid to four issues during the massification of Chinese higher education: (1) how to understand the prime cause of the expansion of higher education; (2) how to reinforce liberal education; (3) how to balance the relationship between equality and excellence; and (4) how to harmonize the relationship between the university,…

Based on a survey of rural school districts in Western China, this essay explores the effects of fiscal centralisation on the relationship between local governance and school district management, most particularly on how managerial power is distributed in the rural education sector. The essay also examines some of the possible effects that changes…

In an attempt to raise China's international competitiveness, the government instituted a series of sweeping reforms to expand rapidly the number of higher education places. Rapid growth, however, gave rise to a new set of problems, namely, a scarcity of resources, poor educational quality and underemployment of Chinese university graduates. In…

A sample of 523 Chinese university students was given a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classrooms. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, t-test and correlations were used to assess the respondents' general attitude towards inclusion, the factor structure of the attitudes, the…

The year 2004 has been extremely important in China's efforts to carry through the scientific view of development. Under the overview of the scientific view of development, both the microscopic and macroscopic aspects of educational development and the speed, quality, structure, and results of education have drawn widespread attention from the…

Timely collection of feedback on the quality of teaching from graduates and their employers is of great significance in distance education, and can help enhance the quality of teaching and improve management and all-round learner support. However, since the graduates left university some years ago, are now widely dispersed and consequently may…

It's a trend that many countries over the world try their best to enhance General Education in order to actualize educational reform in higher education. This paper clarifies eight misapprehensions about General Education from its meaning, content and the relationship with Specialized Education in the hope of having correct understandings to…