An Attempting Discussion Of The Textbook Approval System For Compulsory Education In China

The development of textbooks is a national authority.Compulsory education is an important stage in shaping national identity and students’values,and textbooks are the key to realize its function.China’ s Compulsory Education Law has clearly stipulated the compulsory education textbook approval system,but the research on the legitimacy of the system is not sufficient.Hence,it is necessary to research the content and problems of current system,and explores ways to improve it.This research consists of five chapters as follows.Chapter 1 first introduces the research background and rational.It then situates the study against its literature context and presents the main research methods.The core concepts involved in this study,including textbooks and teaching materials,the textbook approval system,and the textbook approval system for compulsory education,are explained.Chapter 2 analyzes the legitimacy of the compulsory education textbook approval system from three aspects:the exercise of the state’s right to education,the historical inheritance of the textbook approval system,and the institutional function of safeguarding teaching quality and protecting national interests.Chapter 3 analyzes the content and problems of the compulsory education textbook approval system in China.Based on the legal nature ofthe approval system,the content of the current compulsory education textbook approval system is summarized,including the subjects,the objects,the standards and the process of the approval system.On this basis,the areas for improvement in the current system are proposed,including conflicting approval norms,lack of clarity in the subject of approval,relatively general approval standards,limited public participation channels,and imperfect supervision and accountability systems.Chapter 4 focuses on the overseas experience of the compulsory education textbook approval system.It compares the textbook approval system in China with that in Japan,South Korea and Singapore,focusing on the object,subject,process and standard of compulsory education textbook approval systems.Chapter 5 makes suggestions on ways to improve textbook approval system for compulsory education.It summarizes the regulations and measures of textbook approval in Japan,Korea and Singapore that China can learn from,and points out that the compulsory education textbook approval system should be developed and improved by unifying the normative system,clarifying the subject of approval,refining the approval standards,increasing the channels of participation,and guaranteeing the fairness of the procedure.