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'From Point to Surface': The Role of Policy Experimentation in Chinese Higher Education Reforms
- Source :
-
British Journal of Educational Studies . 2021 69(2):217-236. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- China has undergone unprecedented changes since the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1978. Policy experimentation (PE) has been key in generating and catalysing reforms in the process. This study proposes a conceptual framework to describe the different pathways of PE-enabled reforms. Comparing two empirically informed case studies, this study demonstrates the functions of this policy tool plays within China's higher education policy-making and development: generative, rhetorical and regulatory. The paper argues that PE can be a genuinely productive mechanism for producing, identifying and negotiating new policy options while allowing the government to supervise and regulate institutional reform behaviours. However, under certain conditions, it assumes more of a symbolic role allowing the government to acquire or consolidate reform legitimacy without engaging substantial innovation. By highlighting those key roles of PE, this paper provides a distinctive perspective for understanding the policy-making and reform process in China's higher education development.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0007-1005
- Volume :
- 69
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- British Journal of Educational Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ1295759
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2020.1795079