Dear subscribers
The cacophony continues.
Last week’s EDDi Extra highlighted the noises coming out of China regarding changes to educational policy. We even asked whether British private schools in China may have reached their high water mark.
If you didn’t read the piece, the answer was: Yes.
Well, another week has brought another round of news. We couldn’t help but follow up.
There was this piece confirming that the Chinese government sees itself as acting in the interests of national stability and that following a neoliberal ideology at any price, is not in those interests.
And, if anyone thinks the changes will stop with after-school tutoring, this article challenges that notion. The battle grounds are being drawn around a much bigger target - the source of Western ‘soft power’, the English language.
The third piece we came across reveals the deeper problem: that Xi Jinping's actions are actually applauded by a great many Chinese citizens. There is a rising nationalist discourse in China, one which is avidly anti-Western. So Xi Jinping is now hitching his policies to that. It suits the CCP to do so but as we know from history, this is like riding a tiger.
In this case, that tiger might be parental demand. Regardless of nationality, parents are not generally minded to put the stability of their country first. Their over-riding priority is the competitive educational advantages they can bestow on their children.
The original EDDi piece has been very popular on social media, and has already made into our ‘top 10 most read articles’.
For those interested, it’s here:
That sound you hear is China reversing globalisation and crashing international schooling.
The sound gets louder and louder….
Next week we’ll give you a break from China. We have a fascinating combined digest on school governance. Watch this space and, if you haven’t already, subscribe to make sure EDDi lands in your inbox:
Happy reading
EDDi
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