Education for development? A case study of Guizhou, China (Chinese text)

Education is a transnational institution. The practice of basic education is not only a process of knowledge transfer, but also a process of knowledge transformation. However, the educational contexts and experiences of the people in the "locality" have always been neglected and tend to remain invisible in the macro development discourse.; The thesis is a case study of Fengsheng Xiang, a township of Leishan, Guizhou Province. I tried to look into the interface of the rural schooling between the state, community and the individuals from the standpoint of "locality". Taking locality as a dimension including physical and human environment, time and space, contexts of local history and relationships, the study explores the true picture of the practice of basic education from daily life experience of the individuals there.; Is it true that education contributes to development? It is necessary to go back to the local context to answer the question. Between 1998 and 2002, I visited Guizhou four times for conducting enthrographic data collection. The thesis describes how the local government and community take up the financial responsibility of general basic education after 1985. The case also shows that concepts like school fee, enrolment, going up to higher grade and social mobility, have different meanings in the rural economic context. From various stories of the informats, the study finds out that the concept "translocation" is important, and people who are willing to "returning home" always bring contributions to the local community. The interface of schooling, there emerges the hierarchical order of knowledge from different situations, reflects how the basic education is practicing in complete different economic and social context. The thesis also delineates the paradox and complexity of the concept of development. It tells us that the process of the practice of education may not be a single unilateral process of knowledge transfer, the complex transformation usually accompanies with the choices and autonomy of the agent. The hidden ways of knowing implicates an imbalance power relation, which have not enough been considered from the needs of the locality, has made great impact on the community development. As a result, the poor rural regions cannot be developed, and they even have been further marginalized. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...