Authority and education in People's Republic of China

For my dissertation, I investigate the nature of authority in Chinese schools and how that authority influences teaching and learning. More specifically, I examine social theories on authority from Weber and Durkheim in relation to social, historical, and political influences on authority within Chinese education, considering both the applicability of those social theories and how multiple sources of authority relate to students' perceptions, behavior, and learning. For this investigation, I collected data at four Shanghai junior middle schools over the course of the 2003-2004 academic year. At each school, I conducted classroom observation and interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, and I also administered a student questionnaire.; My findings revolve around two major elements of Chinese education: study for examinations and moral learning. While Weber and Durkheim provide some insight about how study for examinations and moral learning exercise authority and control within modern education systems, both elements also owe their current form in China to a complicated mixture of characteristics inherited from both Confucianism and Communism. These historical and political influences likely serve to intensify the effects of authority as predicted by social theories on education. The positive outcomes of these effects include a high degree of student discipline and commitment to study alongside decreased misbehavior. However, at the same time, the multiple sources of authority within Chinese education have the negative effects of increasing academic pressures and large study burdens for students, as well as encouraging rote methods of learning and limiting the critical thinking work that students do.; I conclude that the multiple sources and additional effects of authority in China necessitate a revision of social theories on authority and control within education if they are to include cases outside of the United States. That revision can take into account the positive effects of moderate authority and value consensus in education settings where students are not subject to excessive additional controls. At the same time, social theorists should keep in mind the potential negative effects of authority in terms of the limits placed upon creative work and critical thinking in certain social environments.