Search

In July 2021 the Chinese Government unexpectedly released what has become known colloquially as the 'Double-Reduction' policy. The policy decreed the reduction of homework pressure on students and greater control of private tutorial companies. In this paper, we set out to understand why the Chinese central government launched the 'Double-Reduction' policy in mid−2021 by using narratives to analyse the three most circulated explanations for the policy and its timing. We use data from a range of formal and informal policy texts. The three narratives, including one policy narrative dominant in the official discourse and two alternative ones, constructed the causal stories about the policy's rationale from multiple perspectives. The combination of multiple perspectives and a narrative approach helps reveal the policy event's complexity and lays a foundation for researchers interested in tracking the development trajectory of this new policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the potential of implementing an action competence teaching model as a framework for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education. The paper seeks to draw insights from the students on the potential of this teaching model. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a quantitative research design in exploring the potential of an action competence teaching model. This study used self-report measures to obtain insights into the objective of the study. Findings: The action competence teaching model was seen as useful in equipping students with knowledge about a problem, confidence and willingness to act. However, some issues like the design of the projects, teamwork and instructional practices were identified and discussed. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to implement an action competence teaching model to help draw insights from students on its potential. This paper documents certain aspects of action competence that require attention before being implemented in higher education. This information so far lacking in scientific literature contributes to ongoing discussions on SDGs while unveiling strengths and weaknesses to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China is internationalizing its higher education sector - setting up several bilateral and multilateral partnerships between public and private institutions across the globe. However, as the "West" is disentangling itself from partnerships with Chinese institutions of higher education and the Confucius Institutes (CIs), African countries seem to be turning to Beijing. As a result, China overtook France to become the most preferred destination for African students. But, is higher education Beijing's new strategy to enhance its global status? What is the effect of the shift toward Chinese higher education on Africa's migration trends, and what is the agency of actors in Africa? Focusing on these questions, and premised on the concepts of student mobility, South-South Cooperation (SSC), and people-to-people exchange to explain the novelty and exceptionality of the partnerships, this paper explores the typology, nature, and processes involved in these partnerships and collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of involution – a culture of overwork in China – have grown especially rife on the Chinese Internet, reinforced by a dismal outlook on employment. Translated from an academic term 'involution,' 'neijuan' references a contemporary structure of alienation experienced primarily by college students: a sense of being entrapped in a society without opportunities, yet having to endure an endless series of stressful competitions to carve a respectable life. Drawing from fieldwork and interviews, this paper examines the culture of involution through self-study rooms, places where people pay to study. Rapidly expanding in number since 2019, self-study rooms have become a popular tool used by youths to cope with involution. Modulating attentional capacities through design, these rooms assure users that they could study better, and excel in competitive exams and certification processes to find progression in life trajectories. However, in doing so, self-study rooms also normalize an alienated learning and work culture in China, framing the attentional discomfort of forced learning as gain, and the privacy of self-study rooms as forms of individualistic therapy. Users learn not only to push their bodies within these rooms, they also use it to weep privately, expelling pressures to return to 'gainful' behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the status and lessons learned from veterinary medicine and its One health perspective in academia, comparing the systems of China with the rest of the world. For this purpose, multiple databases, including PubMed, CNKI, Web of Science, etc., were used to analyze various aspects of veterinary education in China. The paper is structured into sections including veterinary medicine in academic institutions, the development of veterinary culture, the status of veterinary education in China, issues and challenges, international comparisons, and optimization suggestions. In this study, a simple approach to the historical evolution of veterinary education in different developmental stages is revealed through a retrospective analysis. The section on the status of veterinary education in China focuses on critical areas such as talent cultivation, practical teaching and internships, educational evaluation systems, professional education, and innovation and entrepreneurship. Through the analysis of challenges and issues in Chinese veterinary education, the paper reveals inadequacies in curriculum systems and imbalances in internship and practical opportunities. Comparing with Europe, America, and developing countries, this paper offers insights and inspirations to guide the 'future development of veterinary education in China. Finally, the paper proposes optimization suggestions, including improvements to the curriculum system, strengthening practical teaching, and promoting international cooperation and exchange. These measures aim to propel Chinese veterinary education towards a healthier, more diverse, and internationalized direction, enhancing the overall quality of veterinary professionals to meet better veterinary workers, nonhuman animals, and one health in societal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Talent is a crucial resource for economic and social development, serving as the driving force behind urban progress. As China experiences rapid growth in digital city construction, the capability of e-services continues to improve incessantly. In China, the new-generation highly educated migrants (NGHEMs) account for ~ 20–30% of the total floating populations. This study aimed to explore the settlement intention of new-generation highly educated migrations in China from the new perspective of urban e-service capabilities. Furthermore, the mechanism of the urban e-services on the settlement intention on the NGHEMs will be proved. Methods: This paper employed data of China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2017 and Evaluation Report of Government E-service Capability Index (2017). Descriptive analyses were conducted to investigate the factors influencing the settlement intention of NGHEMs in the destination city. Based on the principle of utility maximization, LASSO regression was employed to select individual and city characteristics that determined the settlement intention of NGHEMs. The impact of urban e-services on settlement intention was analyzed by using ordinal logit model. Additionally, robustness check, endogeneity analysis, and heterogeneity analysis were performed to validate the benchmark regression results. Finally, mediation model was employed to examine whether urban e-services enhance the settlement intention of NGHEMs by improving urban livability and urban innovation. Results: The results indicate that the urban e-services promote the NGHEMs' settlement intention in the destination cities. Moreover, the results are still robust through a series of robustness tests. Furthermore, from the perspective of individual and regional heterogeneity, urban e-services significantly enhances the settlement intention of NGHEMs with male and female, married and urban household registration, and urban e-services can promote the settlement intention of NGHEMs with over 3 million inhabitants and those in the eastern regions of China. Finally, the intermediary effect test shows that urban e-services promote the settlement intention of NGHEMs through urban livability and urban innovation. Conclusion: This study highlights the important impact of urban e-services on the settlement intention of new-generation highly educated migrants. The conclusions of this study provide suggestions for the government to use when designing policies to enhance the settlement intention of the NGHEMs and to improve the development of urban e-services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom and evidence from democracies suggest that more education should increase voter turnout. This paper revisits this issue by analyzing turnout in China's rural elections. Employing an instrumental variable strategy, I find that more education reduces turnout in rural elections. I provide suggestive evidence that more educated people may face higher opportunity costs of voting, which explain about a quarter of cross-province variation in education-turnout links. I also discuss the role of other factors, including Confucian culture and election stakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the conviction that formulaic expressions in a language are carriers of stable thought patterns of its culture, the paper conducts a thematic analysis of Chinese educational idioms with the goal of exploring the traditional Chinese educational values reflected in the Chinese language use. Altogether, about 100 Chinese idioms that pertain to teaching, learning and parenting are identified from a Chinese Chengyu (idioms) dictionary. Findings of this study challenge the common practice of borrowing Western pedagogical discourses to justify curriculum change initiatives in China, arguing that the traditional Chinese educational discourses should be retained in order to secure a strong cultural identity for young generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first evidence of the causal relationship between adult children's schooling and changes in parental health in the short and long term. By using supply-side variation in schooling as an instrument for adult children's education and a representative dataset for rural China, we find that adult children' education has a positive influence on the long-term changes in parental health, with limited evidence of any short-term effect. Our results remain consistent after a variety of sensitivity tests. The heterogeneous analyses show differences in socio-economic status and gender, with low-educated parents and mothers being the primary beneficiaries of children's schooling. Potential mechanisms for the long-term effects of adult children's education on changes in parental health include better chronic disease management, improved access to health, sanitation, and clean fuel facilities, improved psychological well-being, and reduced smoking behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With the rapid development of the economy in China, the wealth of residents has continued to increase, and most families have gradually been aware of the importance of commercial insurance. The family purchase of insurance in China was still not optimistic. Many scholars focus on wealth allocation, but the attention to the commercial insurance market was still less. Based on previous research studies, this study aims to investigate the impact of education and financial literacy on the commercial insurance purchase in China. Design/methodology/approach: China Household Finance Survey data was used to investigate the purchase of commercial insurance in Mainland Chinese families. Factor analysis was used to construct financial literacy, and the education data were combined to analyze the commercial insurance purchase using the Probit model and the Tobit model. Finally, the contributions of education and financial literacy to commercial insurance purchases were analyzed. Findings: Both education and financial literacy exerted a positive impact on the purchase of commercial insurance in China. Individual characteristics such as gender, age, marital status, risk attitude, purchase of social insurance and consultation with a financial advisor possessed significant effects; household factors like household size and assets, macro factors such as the density of financial institutions and the density of financial industry staff, and regional factors as local unemployment rate excreted influences on the commercial insurance purchase. Originality/value: Based on the current economic development in China, this study investigated and expressed opinions on the public and insurance companies regarding commercial insurance purchases. It accentuated financial literacy and education as factors that facilitated commercial insurance development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNESCO's relatively high prestige across East Asia has spurred intensifying efforts by governments to use its imprimatur to legitimate official narratives of the past and visions of the future. This article focuses on China's use of UNESCO as an arena for competitive national 'branding' in the education field, especially relating to STEM and AI. We analyse the Chinese state's engagement with UNESCO's education work in the context of shifts in budgetary and political influence within the organisation, and of a growing 'securitisation' of education within China itself. We show how Chinese engagement with UNESCO's educational agenda reflects both domestic political considerations and the 'major country diplomacy' of Xi Jinping, as manifested in the 'Belt and Road Initiative' and intensifying strategic competition with the USA. We conclude by discussing the implications of rising Chinese influence within the organisation for UNESCO's capacity for articulating a coherent and consistently humanistic vision for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Digital health plays a vital role in healthcare services. Governments in many countries, including China, are increasingly advocating for the appropriate use of digital technologies to address significant health system challenges. It is crucial to incorporate digital health education into the curriculum for future nurses to adapt to the changes in the digital medical system. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an online Digital Health and Informatics Course in China on the knowledge and comprehension of key digital health and informatics topics, self-assessment of nursing informatics competencies, and satisfaction among undergraduate nursing students. The findings of this study provide recommendations for the design and implementation of future digital health education. Methods: This study employed a one-group, quasi-experimental mixed-methods design with pre- and post-assessments. The participants received digital health and informatics education through six three-hour online sessions in six interactive days, with online self-learning materials in between. An online quiz and focus group discussions pre- and post the course were designed to evaluate the knowledge and comprehension of key digital health and informatics topics. Also, a validated Chinese version of the Self-assessment of Nursing Informatics Competencies Scale was conducted pre- and post-course to assess self-assessment of nursing informatics competencies. Additionally, all students were invited to participate in an online survey with a performance-focused course evaluation form as well as focus group discussions to gather their feedback on the learning experience and their evaluations of the course. Results: A total of 24 undergraduate nursing students were enrolled in the course. All students completed all sessions of this course, resulting in an attendance rate of 100%. Additionally, all students completed both pre- and post-assessments. In terms of the knowledge and comprehension of key digital health and informatics topics, scores of the quiz on knowledge assessment improved from the pre-test [mean pretest score: 78.33 (SD 6.005)] to the post-test [mean post-test score: 83.17 (SD 4.86)] upon completion of the course (P < 0.001). Also, students acknowledged that the course enhanced their knowledge and comprehension of informatics and digital health, the benefits of (nursing) informatics in clinical practice, and the role of health care professionals in informatics and digital health. In terms of self-assessment of nursing informatics competencies, scores on nursing informatics attitudes demonstrated significant improvement (P < 0.001). Furthermore, students reported high satisfaction with various aspects of this course, including the opportunity to explore broad horizons in informatics for future careers, engaging in group discussions, and analyzing case studies on the use of informatics and digital health in clinical practice. Conclusions: This Online Digital Health and Informatics education effectively improved undergraduate nursing students' knowledge and comprehension of the key digital health and informatics topics, nursing informatics attitudes in the self-assessment of nursing informatics competency with high levels of satisfaction. In order to ensure that future education in digital health and informatics for nursing students is in line with the technological advancements in clinical settings, it is necessary to foster collaboration between medical school training and clinical practice. This collaboration should involve the use of clinical examples to illustrate advanced digital health applications and the inclusion of practical exercises on the use of digital health technology in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study adopted the qualitative research method, aiming to explore the learning experience of nursing graduate professional curricula in China from the perspective of students and provided a basis for the continuous improvement of nursing graduate training. Design: A qualitative study. Methods: A purposive sampling method was employed to conduct semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 14 nursing master's students enrolled in professional curricula from September 03, 2021, to December 8, 2022. The Colaizzi seven‐step analysis method was utilized for data analysis, summarization and extraction. Results: Four themes emerged from the study findings: (i) The study of professional curricula is the cornerstone of scientific research work, but it is relatively boring; (ii) The teaching methods and assessment methods of postgraduate education need to be diversified; (iii) The postgraduate education needs to increase the study time of specialized courses and highlight the specialty characteristics; (iv) the study of professional curricula can enhance the comprehensive ability of postgraduate students. Conclusion: The study of professional curricula for post‐graduate nursing students plays an important role in the development of post‐graduate research and can statistically significant improve their comprehensive ability, but there are some problems such as boring courses, single teaching assessment methods and insufficient time. In the future teaching reform, it is necessary to highlight the specialty characteristics of nursing scientific research, optimize curriculum education and improve students' scientific research knowledge and thinking. Patient and Public Contributions: We thank all participants for their valuable input throughout the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the parental socio-cultural and political effects on parenting practices in China. Based on the China Education Panel Survey, we construct a new typology of parenting styles – intensive, permissive, authoritarian and neglectful – and focus on intensive parenting as a particular mode in which the more privileged families in China use superior cultural and political resources to reinforce their advantages. We show that parents in higher class positions, with higher education and with membership in the leading Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tend to adopt intensive parenting as a means of securing all-round development and obtaining favourable academic achievement for their children. Parenting styles thus reflect a more complicated feature of social stratification in China than in Western societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-reform China (1979–present), women have advanced rapidly in educational achievement, and now surpass men in undergraduate and postgraduate attendance. Scholars tend to attribute women's outperformance to the one-child policy, which empowered urban singleton daughters. But around 40 percent of women undergraduate students are from rural areas, where multi-child families and son preference are common. Based on participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and longitudinal family case studies, this article addresses educated migrant women from a broad range of backgrounds in Fujian province. It argues that academically outperforming daughters combine self-development, filiality, and resistance to patriarchal norms to pursue the full subjecthood that is conventionally reserved for men—encompassing recognition for individual accomplishment, independence, and filial contribution. By navigating marriage pressures and economically contributing to their natal families, diligent daughters shift patricentric family dynamics toward more bilateral arrangements, eroding the patriarchal structures that undergird male-centered power even as many gendered norms remain intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To identify independent factors of cognitive frailty (CF) and construct a nomogram to predict cognitive frailty risk in patients with lung cancer receiving drug therapy. Methods: In this cross‐sectional study, patients with lung cancer undergoing drug therapy from October 2022 to July 2023 were enrolled. The data collected includes general demographic characteristics, clinical data characteristics and assessment of tools for cognitive frailty and other factors. Logistic regression was harnessed to determine the influencing factors, R software was used to establish a nomogram model to predict the risk of cognitive frailty. The enhanced bootstrap method was employed for internal verification of the model. The performance of the nomogram was evaluated by using calibration curves, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and decision curve analysis. Results: A total of 372 patients were recruited, with a cognitive frailty prevalence of 56.2%. Age, education background, diabetes mellitus, insomnia, sarcopenia, and nutrition status were identified as independent factors. Then, a nomogram model was constructed and patients were classified into high‐ and low‐risk groups with a cutoff value of 0.552. The internal validation results revealed good concordance, calibration and discrimination. The decision curve analysis presented prominent clinical utility. Conclusions: The prevalence of cognitive frailty was higher in lung cancer patients receiving drug therapy. The nomogram could identify the risk of cognitive frailty intuitively and simply in patients with lung cancer, so as to provide references for early screening and intervention for cognitive frailty at the early phases of drug treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Understanding people's attitudes towards animals and their welfare is vitally important to enable governments to set a legal framework that meets people's expectation for the way in which animals are cared for in their community. Little is known about attitudes towards animal welfare in China, the biggest producer of farm animals in the world. We surveyed 1301 people from different Chinese provinces to gauge their attitudes towards animal welfare. We found that high school leavers were more concerned about animal welfare than those who had obtained a university degree. Scientists were less supportive, and artists more supportive, of good animal welfare. Rural dwellers were less concerned about animal welfare than urban residents, with village residents in the middle. Attitudes to animal welfare are not understood well in China, the country with the highest output of farm animals in the world. We surveyed attitudes of the public around China using a team of researchers to conduct individual interviews, with 1301 respondents in total. Contrary to results obtained in several other countries, high school leavers were more concerned about animal welfare than those who had obtained a university degree. We speculate that this may reflect the labour market currently existing in China, with limited opportunities for graduates. Scientists were less supportive, and artists more supportive, of good animal welfare. Urban dwellers were more concerned about animal welfare than rural residents, with village residents in the middle, which confirmed our theory that such a difference prevails in developing countries, where a large proportion of the rural population are involved in agriculture. It is concluded that education level, occupation and living place all have pronounced influences on attitudes to animal welfare in China, some of which follow international trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Data from the distant past are fertile ground for testing social science theories of education and social mobility. In this study, we construct a dataset from 3,640 tomb epitaphs of males in China's Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), which contain granular and extensive information about the ancestral origins, family background, and career histories of the deceased elites. Our statistical analysis of the complete profiles yields evidence of the transition away from an aristocratic society in three key trends: 1) family pedigree (i.e., aristocracy) mattered less for career achievement over time, 2) passing the Imperial Examination (Keju) became an increasingly important predictor of one's career achievement, and 3) father's position always mattered throughout the Tang, especially for men who did not pass the Keju. The twilight of medieval Chinese aristocracy, according to the data, began in as early as the mid-seventh century CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]