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Guihua Liu
Xiaofei Wang
Comprehensive
Regional Reform
The Transformation and Breakthrough
in China’s Educational Reform
Research in Chinese Education
Series Editors
Mingyuan Gu, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing, China
Weihe Xie, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China
In recent years, the Chinese economy has grown rapidly, and Chinese society has
undergone enormous changes. Education provides strong intellectual support for
economic and social development in this process, although it has also encountered a
number of problems. In order to address these problems, China has made tremendous
efforts in terms of both policies and practices. The “Research on Chinese Education”
series presents the current situation and experiences of education in China, addresses
local issues and discusses relevant research, providing a reference resources for
foreign readers to help them understand education in China and conduct international
comparative studies.
The editors and authors of this book series are well-known scholars in the field of
Chinese education. Based on the concept of China’s reality, and using diverse study
methods, such as historical analysis, literature analysis, policy analysis, field study,
data analysis and modeling, the authors look inside the educational problems that
China is working on through specific and sensitive lens. They interpret the
development status and policy measures using new expert studies, explore the
common global concerns with insightful and creative thinking, and offer suggestions
for improving the education system, school management and classroom teaching
practices.
This series depicts the features of China’s education from various perspectives,
from historical tradition to modernization requirements, from promoting individual
growth to participating in the globalization process. The volumes focus on
significant educational issues emerging as a result of the social change process.
They cover areas such as comprehensive reforms to regional education, education
puzzles in urbanization process, education equity and parity, education quality
improvement, classroom teaching, and education assessment. For example, how to
promote educational reform at different levels of administration in such a large
country; how to adapt education policy to the changing population composition,
city layout and industrial structure; how to protect the right of every child to go to
school and receive impartial education; and how to scientifically assess the
academic achievements of students and guarantee education quality by introducing
professional monitoring systems.
The book series explores the successful practices, accumulated experiences, and
ideas in the modernization of China's education, representing Chinese contributions
to global education development, and enriching cross-cultural education exchanges
and communications. It is intended for researchers, policymakers, teachers, and
anyone concerned about education.
Comprehensive Regional
Reform
The Transformation and Breakthrough
in China’s Educational Reform
123
Guihua Liu Xiaofei Wang
National Institute of Education Sciences National Institute of Education Sciences
Beijing, China Beijing, China
Translated by
Shengqi Wu
School of English for Specific Purposes
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Beijing, China
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020
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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Preface
In the 1960s and 1970s, the famous English educator Eric Ashby identified four
revolutions in education. The first revolution occurred when the task of educating
the young was shifted, in part, from parents to teachers and from home to the
school. The second came with the adoption of the “written word as a tool of
education.” The third came with the invention of the printing press and books. The
fourth came with the advent of electronics, and development in communication,
particularly the invention of computers. At the present age, information technolo-
gies, represented by big data, intelligent manufacturing and wireless Internet, have a
tremendous impact on the time, space, contents and forms of education, and the
way of human communication. This transformation is really the fifth revolution in
education.
A popular saying goes like this: “One who fails to plan for the whole situation is
incapable of planning for a partial area.” Faced with the changes of the world
situation, national situation and teaching situation, the Communist Party of China,
with its strategic vision and superb wisdom, passed the Decision of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning
Comprehensively Deepening Reform at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC
Central Committee (or Decision in short). The Decision makes major plans for the
significant fields and crucial issues on comprehensively advancing reforms. The
Decision highlights the general requirement of “advancing comprehensive reform
in the field of education” put forward in the report of the 18th CPC National
Congress, clarifies the striving orientations and targeted measures, and serves as a
significant guidance to promote the scientific development of education and provide
an education to people’s satisfaction.
The promotion of educational reform on the regional level is the most significant
and the most effective way to lead the educational development in the future. China
has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, 2 special administrative
regions and 670 “cities” or regions on the municipal level. The population in
Chinese mainland in 2013 was 1.36072 billion, and 731.11 million lived in towns
and cities, accounting for 53.73% of the total. Today, the 1.36 billion people are
from 56 ethnic groups and they speak 130 languages, making China the world’s
v
vi Preface
Today, China is carrying out the task of comprehensively deepening reform. The
two keywords “comprehensiveness” and “deepening” are inspiring new confidence
and new energy. To comprehensively illustrate the topic of regional educational
reform, we need to answer a series of theoretical and practical questions.
First, what is comprehensive reform of regional education? This question
includes the following aspects: How can we construct the concept system of
regional education? What are the past experiences and future direction of regional
educational reform? What are the rationales or adequate “theories” of advancing
regional educational reform? Are the theories in area studies and ecological studies
applicable to the research in regional educational reform? What is the significance
or value of advancing regional educational reform? etc.
Second, why should we carry out comprehensive reform of regional education?
A significant concept in ecology is the carrying capacity. In 1921, Park and Burgess
used this concept in human ecology for the first time. Carrying capacity means the
maximum capacity of the individuals of a certain species under a certain
environmental condition. The meaning of carrying capacity is twofold. One is the
self-maintaining and self-adjusting capacity of the ecological system and the
holding capacity of resources and the environmental subsystem. This is the sup-
porting part of carrying capacity. The other is the development capacity of the
economic and social subsystems within the ecological system. This is the pres-
suring part of carrying capacity. The gaming of these two forces determines the
stability and development of the ecological system. Therefore, the question we need
to answer is: Is it the major driving forces of regional educational reform that lead to
the loss of balance of the regional educational ecology? How can we measure and
calculate the carrying capacity of regional education? Are these theories and
methods good enough to be tested by practice?
Third, what are the factors that impact on comprehensive reform of regional
education? Comprehensive reform of regional education is influenced by many
factors. In a given historical environment, the impact differs from factor to factor.
Those with tremendous impact are called sensitive factors, whereas those with little
impact are called insensitive factors. Only when we accurately identify the sensitive
and insensitive factors can we enhance the target and effectiveness of the reform.
Therefore, we need to strive hard to examine how to figure out the sensitive and
insensitive factors that impact comprehensive reform of regional education and how
to select the tools and models of measurement, etc.
How can we effectively advance comprehensive reform of regional education?
This question involves the research on the major practical pathways to advance
reform. For instance, how can we make the development plans for comprehensive
reform of regional education? What are the key fields and crucial issues of com-
prehensive reform of regional education? What are the principles and strategies of
advancing the modernization of regional education? How can we establish the
distinctive school clusters within the region? What are the guaranteeing conditions
to effectively achieve comprehensive reform of regional education? etc.
viii Preface
In the context of new normal, the internal and external environment of education is
undergoing profound changes. Faced with the new concepts and new requirements
of the “Four Comprehensives” strategic layout to education, this book conducts a
systematic research on Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education, a new
transformational and groundbreaking model in educational reform, and is of great
significance to advance China’s educational modernization.
By employing theoretical discourse (Chaps. 1, 2 and 3), policy discourse (Chaps.
4, 5 and 6) and practical discourse (Chaps. 7 and 8), this book systematically and
profoundly addresses some key issues in comprehensive reform of regional edu-
cation: What is comprehensive reform of regional education? Why should we carry
out comprehensive reform of regional education? What are the factors that influence
comprehensive reform of regional education? How can we effectively advance
comprehensive reform of regional education? etc.
In answering these questions, this book strives to integrate theoretical discourse
and practical guidance, knowledge innovation and policy-making service, rationale
illustration and problem solving, and qualitative research and quantitative research.
It is expected to offer the key for policy-makers, educators and those who are
concerned about China’s educational development to understand regional
education.
ix
Contents
xi
xii Contents
Afterward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Chapter 1
Comprehensive Reform of Regional
Education: Origin and Theory
Regional education is constrained by the economic conditions and other factors and
its developmental model and speed vary from region to region. This is a typical
feature of China’s educational development. The concept of regional education can
be traced back to the 1980s when China’s regional economic development boosted
the local governments’ enthusiasm to promote the development of local education.
Admittedly, regional disparity in China’s economic development is a fact of life.
Although regional educational development is not necessarily in proportion to the
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. and Educational Science Publishing House 2020 1
G. Liu and X. Wang, Comprehensive Regional Reform, Research in Chinese Education,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6914-2_1
2 1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory
increase in its economic prosperity, it cannot be denied that there is a high correlation
between the two factors.
objective circumstances, particularly the physical conditions. But once it has come
into being, it is an objective existence per se.
On top of that, region is a relative concept. It can be as broad as a country, a
province, a state or other layers of administration and as narrow as a village or a street.
The study of the concept is also multifaceted and multi-dimensional: economic,
political, educational, cultural, resources, customs, daily life, population composition
and even the mindset of the local people. This book defines the concept of region as
county in the administrative sense except for any particular note.
Regional reform and development are a focal point of China’s Eleventh Five-Year
Plan (2006–2010). This is initially reflected in the economic sector. China’s regional
developmental plans and relevant guiding principles have been laid out at an unprece-
dented speed across the country, be it in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta
and the Bohai Sea rim area in the east, the Yellow River Delta, the Wanjiang (in Anhui
Province) City Belt and the Poyang Lake (in Hunan Province) Eco-economic Region
in the center or the Guanzhong-Tianshui (Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces) Economic
Zone in the northwest and Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt in the northeast. Regional
development has become the engine of China’s reforms and innovations. Mean-
while, the focal points have also shifted gradually from the initial overemphasis
on the economic sector to a more comprehensive, integrated and systematic social
reform. It is in this historical context that a comprehensive reform in the public sector,
including education, is about to arise.
Regional education has three major developmental trajectories, chronological,
spatial and mega-trend in reform. In the chronological dimension, it is a linear
process, characterized by a rapid increase of the educational scale. In the spatial
dimension, it is an optimization process, typified by the improvement of the educa-
tional structure and function on the intermediate plane. In the mega-trend dimen-
sion, it is a transformational process, pushed by a systematic reform and an ensuing
transformation of the structure and function of the regional education on the micro-
plane. Such a transformation prompts the formation of the mega-trend of compre-
hensive reform of regional education, thereby boosting the interconnectivity between
different regions.
In recently years, it has become a new trend in public domains and the specific
decision-making process concerning educational development in many countries
to promote a systematic educational reform on the regional (primarily the county)
level. In China, the task of deepening comprehensive reform in education was clearly
revealed in the document of the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Some
Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform (or simply put
the Decision) adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China on November 12, 2013. Comprehensively deep-
ening the reform is a prerequisite to implement the strategic planning adopted at
the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on January 8, 2012,
boost a sustainable economic and social development, build a moderately prosperous
society in all respects and speed up socialist modernization. As the country’s foremost
mission in the reform and innovation in the social sector, deepening comprehensive
reform in education is in line with the mega-trend of the times and conducive to
meeting the expectations of the public.
The education reform in the past 30 years has laid a solid foundation for China to
accomplish the new objective in the new century. It has also promoted China’s trans-
formation from a country with a large population to one rich in human resources.
1.1 Define the Terms: Region, Regional Education and Comprehensive … 5
China’s education development, as a whole, has thus reached the world’s medium
level. However, it should also be noted that imbalance, incompatibility and unsus-
tainability are still the three primary problems in China’s educational development.
China’s education reform now enters the most difficult period. The obsolete views,
institutions, mechanisms and the interest groups all become the major obstacles to
the promotion of education reform. Now China has no choice but to take effective
measures to tackle these problems, for if China does not deepen comprehensive
reform, it would be difficult for education to play its vital role in building a moder-
ately prosperous society and realizing the dream of rejuvenating the Chinese nation.
The Decision highlights the importance of promoting a systematic, integrated and
compatible education reform and stipulates that the focal points of comprehensive
education reform should be on eliminating the institutional obstacle that hinders
educational development and enhancing the coordination between education reform
and the reforms in other social sectors.
The Decision systematically illustrates the general requirements for comprehen-
sively deepening China’s education reform. Its basic policy guidelines aim to “address
the most pressing issue the public are concerned with” and move ahead with “pro-
viding the public with a diversity of social service and better meeting the demands
of the people.” The deeper and more strategic intentions of the Decision should be
at least threefold: (a) clarifying the differences among the basic public education,
the non-basic public education and the non-public education, (b) constituting a new
model of relations among the government, schools and society and (c) adhering to
the principles of guaranteeing the basic public education, strengthening the district
schools and building up effective mechanisms to stimulate the enthusiasm of all
parties concerned to participate in education reform. All these are intended to provide
every child with more choices for their personal development, every family with the
benefits of a better education and every citizen with a fair chance to succeed through
public education.
Extended Reading
In 1985, the Decision of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the
Education System Reform issued in 1985 pointed out, “The basic education, in this
context, compulsory education, is the most basic part of China’s education system. It
is in the charge of different levels of the local governments.” In 1993, the CPC Central
Committee and the State Council issued the Outline of China’s Education Reform and
Development (the Outline in short), which further stipulates that “We must change
the monopolistic role of the government in education, and gradually establish the
education system with the government playing the dominant role, and participated
by all the sectors of society. At the present stage, the basic education should be in the
charge of the local governments. The higher education should be put in the charge
of the Central and provincial (autonomous regional and municipality) governments,
and gradually participated by all the sectors of society. The vocational and adult
education should mainly rely on the efforts of the relevant industries, enterprises,
government agencies and all sectors of the society.” The seventh clause of the newly
6 1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory
revised the National Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (which came
into effect on September 1, 2006) stipulates that “Compulsory education is led by
the State Council, planned by the provincial, autonomous regional and municipality
governments and administered by the county governments.”
Choosing to promote education reform on the regional plane is a new trend taken
by the national governments around the world in the process of making macro-
education policies or proposing specific initiatives in education development. Based
on China’s experience in regional education reform and by examining its causes,
characteristics, forms and assessments, it is safe to conclude that China’s government-
led, research-oriented and practice-tested education reform takes on the following
models.
1. The Project-Cooperation Model
(a) The Causes
The project-cooperation model is a more traditional and still popular model in
regional education reform. This model originated from the researchers in the
academic institutes to take initiative in starting projects. It has a strong academic
imprint.
(b) The Characteristics
The researchers in the academic institutes define the goal of a research project, its
theoretical basis and research plan, seek suitable regional partners (e.g., the govern-
ment institutions, schools or teachers) and thus promote educational research in a
given field.
(c) The Forms
Field study, investigation, experimenting to turn education theory into practice and
the combination involving production, teaching and research are the major forms of
cooperation models.
(d) Assessments
The advantages of the project-cooperation model lie in its diversity in content and
form, its clear division of labor and the role of research in enhancing regional
education in a particular area. However, the disadvantages of this model are also
obvious. For instance, the diverse sources of the projects result in the uncertainty
and instability of cooperation in terms of content and form and the inevitability of
the theory-equipped researchers playing an unfairly dominant role in the process of
cooperation.
1.1 Define the Terms: Region, Regional Education and Comprehensive … 7
Compared with the two models mentioned above, the distinctive exemplary model
is designed to transform the Intro-Regional and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation
(IRMBC) mechanism from a more microscopic and specific perspective. The distinc-
tive exemplary model derives from the region’s self-motivation to explore the distinc-
tive education development. Its goal is to enhance a comprehensive and balanced
development of education through its radiating functions.
In the distinctive exemplary model, the research institutes are taking the initiative to
work for the government decision-making and policy implementation. This model
sets its goal to promote the education modernization with Chinese characteristics.
Since the reform and opening up in the early 1980s, China’s regional education
has accumulated much experience from its long-term developmental practice and
formed its own distinctive characteristics such as the theory and practice of balanced
education development, education modernization in rural areas, the classic triad of
moral education: school, family and community, and the establishment of educa-
tion corporations, etc. These characteristics are well adapted to the reality of the
local conditions. For instance, the departments of education of the three provinces in
the northeast of China worked with Northeast Normal University and established
a Teacher Development Experimental District (Chen Fanbo and Wang Dantong
2008). Qinghai Province worked with Shaanxi Normal University and established a
Teacher Development Innovation District (Chen Lina 2008). These are the distinc-
tive exemplary experimental districts for teachers’ development. China’s Distinctive
Exemplary Counties Program on Regional Education launched by the Oversight and
Assessment Center of National Institute of Education Sciences affiliated to China’s
Ministry of Education in 2003 is another case in point. (The Research Center of
Education Oversight and Assessment, National Institute of Education Sciences 2008)
The distinctive exemplary model is a typical form of the cooperation between the
government and research institutes in promoting the distinctive regional and school
development. In this model, the government, schools and researchers work together
to promote education reform, with the regional barriers and restrictions gradually
removed and the educational resources shared in the process of reform.
(d) Assessments
Does the distinctive exemplary model really have its unique features? Can these
features serve as a model? Its effectiveness still needs to be borne out by further
practice.
1.1 Define the Terms: Region, Regional Education and Comprehensive … 9
As early as May 1995, China’s Ministry of Education, together with the provincial,
regional and municipal governments, launched “the Prairie Fire Program,” which was
designed to set up comprehensive reform experimental centers in over 100 counties to
promote education reform in rural areas. The Ministry of Education also formulated
a Ten-Year Education Reform Outline (1990–2000) (Ministry of Education 2001).
This model integrated education reform into the holistic social and economic reform
in the rural areas and initiated a new form of cooperation between the Ministry of
Education and the provincial governments. It was also one of the first models to raise
and incorporate the concept “Comprehensive Reform” in the field of education. At
the turn of the new Millennium, people began to have a better understanding of the
importance of the nation’s comprehensive reform “experimentation.” The Intergov-
ernmental (i.e., the central government and the regional governments) Cooperation
Model has come into being. For instance, the central government and the provin-
cial governments worked together to establish a series of comprehensive educa-
tion reform experimental areas, such as Shanghai Pudong Comprehensive Education
Reform Experimental District, Guangdong Comprehensive Reform Experimental
District on Education Modernization, Chengdu Reform Experimental District on
the Integration of Education in Urban and Rural Areas and Wuhan Comprehensive
Education Reform Experimental District. (Ministry of Education 2008)
By combining the aforementioned education reform models, the regional compre-
hensive education reform model will highlight the active role of the government
institutions in promoting education reform and expect the government institutions to
provide more professional expertise in the decision-making process and coordinate
the inter-regional cooperation and development to promote mutual benefits.
The abovementioned four models are a few typical examples of China’s regional
education reform endeavor. The list can go on and on. These models clearly reflect the
mega-trend in China’s education reform, which is promoted from the national level
(i.e., the central government) to the regional level (i.e., provincial, municipal, county,
etc.). It is a top-down approach. Besides, the role of the research institutes in education
is becoming more prominent. They used to be in the margin, but now they are close
to the center of the decision-making process. Moreover, the participants in education
reform have diversified and the regional government institutions have become more
active in advancing education reform. In addition, the comprehensive reform model
10 1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory
has become more popular, and pushed by education research and integrating the
merits of the first three models, it enhances a more balanced development in regional
education reform. Since the reform and opening up in the early 1980s, with the
deepening of economic institutional reform, the promotion of economic reform alone
cannot keep up with the realities of China’s rapid economic development. Therefore,
promoting a comprehensive reform by integrating the economic, social and political
reforms has become the most important task in China’s domestic reforms. It is also
the key to the success of building a harmonious society. Education reform is part of
this endeavor.
To sum up, the project-cooperation model emphasizes the leading role of the
experts in promoting the project, the planning and development model highlights
the leading role of the national government in the promotion of education reform,
and the distinctive exemplary model stresses the distinctive development and the
exemplary impact of the successful cases in education reform. All the three models
accentuate the mutual benefits of inter-regional cooperation, but the comprehensive
reform model puts more emphasis on systematically promoting education reform
and comprehensive governance. Therefore, the comprehensive reform model, led
and pushed forward by the central government, is better suited to China’s current
social environment and will be the primary model to lead China’s public education
reform in the foreseeable future.
Education occurs and develops in a certain chronological and spatial domain. With the
shift of the ecological environment, communities and their cultures could oftentimes
migrate or drift in a certain period and space. From the chronological perspective,
the shift of the cultural centers would inevitably lead to the change of education
models. From a spatial perspective, regional education would often be influenced by
political, economic and social factors as well as the size of population. Be it at home
or abroad, there would always exist some clusters of education centers, whether they
are formed spontaneously or designed by the government.
Regional education has two prominent features. First, in terms of the content, it is
comprehensive education, so it has the general characteristics of national education.
Second, in terms of its chronological and spatial existence, it plays a cohesive role
and serves the interests of a certain region. It is national education in a certain region
and therefore has a distinct regional character. These two features determine the
two major elements of regional education: national education and distinct regional
character. The former influences the structure of regional education while the latter
shapes its developmental trend. In brief, the diachronic distribution actually contains
the two elements of regional education: the structure and the development.
Different disciplines and research goals have different principles and criteria of clas-
sification. Regions fall into different categories: natural, administrative, economic
and educational. Even for the same category, the approach of classification differs
owing to the differences in historical periods.
Examined from the diachronic dimension and particularly combined with the
“structural” and “developmental” elements, it is safe to conclude that in addition
to such features as being specific, micro and practical, regional education exhibits
such characteristics unique to national education such as integrity (as opposed to the
intro-regional education), (distinct) differentiation, radiation and openness (reflecting
the interaction and mutual impact among different regions). Integrity refers to the
interaction and reciprocal effects of various geographical elements (both natural and
humanistic). Differentiation refers to the uniqueness, which distinguishes itself from
other regions. Openness means the interaction with other regions. In other words,
regional education cannot stand alone. The change and development in one region
will inevitably affect or even radiate its neighboring regions or other related regions.
The methodology in the study of the chronicles bears the “static” or “linear” features.
Its focus is on unity and coherence. But regional studies, particularly the structural
12 1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory
studies of the “diachronic distribution,” emphasize the “sudden change” in the struc-
ture of regional development. Such a sudden change is revealed in the cultural and
educational ecological sense. For instance, as a rule, the study of educational develop-
ment should follow a time order, just like the conventional approach taken in the study
of political, economic and cultural development. However, history does not follow a
linear route. The pace of the political, economic, cultural and educational elements
is not necessarily synchronous with each other. Occasionally, one element might
develop faster or earlier than another. This phenomenon is particularly prominent in
the region with a more cohesive structure.
Europe has a long history in higher education. It is no accident that higher educa-
tion thrived in the regions where famous universities clustered. The prosperity of
higher education in Europe resulted from and reflected the political, economic, reli-
gious and cultural progress. The development of higher education in the Middle
Ages did not go hand in hand with the slow pace of political and economic devel-
opment. Rather, it experienced a rapid development. Before the eleventh century,
the levels of the political, economic and cultural development in European countries
were different. Europe had no comparative advantage over other regions. However,
many famous universities sprang up in that period. The occurrence of this historical
phenomenon resulted from many factors combined. In a sense, the conflict between
the Roman Catholic Church and the kings resulted in the separation of the state and
the church, which freed education from the chains of the church and boosted the
rapid development of education.
In the like manner, owing to the strong government planning in the age of planning
economy, some regional centers in the middle and western part of China attracted
vast resources or talents from all over the country and thus became the clusters of
education. This phenomenon was particularly prominent in higher education. Xi’an
in Shaanxi Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province are typical examples. This unique
phenomenon in regional education, i.e., the diachronic distribution of regional educa-
tion and its sudden change of the regional structure do not fit into the linear chronicle
paradigm. Rather, it is similar to the European paradigm that argues that political
forces brought about the sudden change of social structure which, in turn, pushed
forward the development of higher education. In this case, the conflict between the
church and the state provided two requisites for the rise of higher education. First,
both the church and the state needed the support of the intellectuals who had rich
knowledge in law and theology. The two disciplines thrived in some emerging univer-
sities. Second, since the state was eager to win the support of universities, it granted
many charters to universities and thus ensured their survival and success. Likewise,
the policies in the era of planning economy facilitated the movement of the talents and
education resources to the middle and western parts of China, and thereby boosted
the emergence of clusters of (higher) education in the region.
1.2 The Past and Current Situation of the Regional Education Reform 13
The points, lines (axes), planes, domains or networks are not simple spatial patterns.
They have specific economic, cultural or educational connotations and relevant func-
tions of public service. Regional spatial structure is comprised of various points,
lines, planes, domains or networks. Based on these patterns, the spatial distribution
of regional education takes on the following forms.
(a) The points constitute the joint system, meaning the striped belts in the
distribution of urban schools or block clusters of urban schools.
14 1 Comprehensive Reform of Regional Education: Origin and Theory
(b) The lines constitute the transportation, industrial and other economic hub
system. The cultural and educational system around the economic hubs becomes
the center of education.
(c) The domains and planes constitute the city-region system. It takes on the form
of the clusters of urban schools (or urban education) and those of economic and
educational service centers.
(d) The combination of different lines (axes: from line to line) constitutes the trans-
portation, communications, electricity, water service system, drainage and other
public facility systems. They help to facilitate the formation of public service
systems such as cultural and educational facilities.
(e) The combination of the lines and planes (or from line to plane) constitutes
the regional industrial system, which brings about the service system such as
regional educational system.
(f) The combination of different planes (or from plane to plane) constitutes the
macro-economic regional system, such as economic regions, economic belts
and thus bringing about the clusters of regional education.
(g) The combination of the points, lines and planes (or from point to line to plane)
constitutes a system of spatial economic integration, from which a system of
spatial integration on regional education is brought about.
3. The Regional Clusters of the Spatial Distribution
The relationship of the points, lines and planes shows that the joint points are inter-
connected, the planes and domains are coordinated for further development, the
pathways operate smoothly, a variety of spatial entities are closely interwoven, and
thus a networking system is formed. The points in the regional spatial structure
reflect the dotted distribution patterns of the clusters of some public service activities
in geographical space.
As a rule, the industry, commerce, service, education and other organizations in
public sector take on the dotted form in space because they have to cluster to function
well. Therefore, the relevant industrial centers, commercial centers, service centers
and school clusters come into being. Since most of the points are gathered in the same
place, the people and the social activities within the region tend to gather around
these centers. Thus, cities, which accumulate relevant economic and social activities
as well as a certain number of people, begin to emerge and become important dots
in the regional spatial structure.
The clustering points are the important and focal centers of the regional economic
or educational activities. Just as there is a large or small size of clusters in economic or
educational activities, so is a division of the scale in the regional spatial structure. The
points of different sizes within the region are interconnected and form a hierarchical
system.
The principle of regional clustering takes on different forms because of the
different focuses of social and economic development. For instance, in the process
of urbanization in ancient times, the topographical features such as mountains and
rivers became the basic requisites in the spatial distribution of regional education.
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Maar er werd niets neergezet, en opeens voelde Eduard hoe een
hand op zijn voorhoofd gelegd werd. —
Maar Eduard gaf geen antwoord, en aldoor bleef hij maar naar
Vader kijken, als kon hij nog maar half gelooven dat Vader er
werkelijk was.
"U bent het toch wel heusch?" vroeg hij eindelijk, "ik droom toch
niet dat u er bent, he Vader?"
"Nee, nee, je droomt niet," antwoordde zijn Vader, "ik ben 't echt!"
— en Eduard zuchtte, zacht over Vaders hand strijkend: "ik ben zoo
vreeselijk, zoo vreeselijk blij dat u weer thuis bent!"
"Ja, ik ben ook vrééselijk blij!" lachte Vader, en toen nam hij
Eduards hoofd tusschen zijn handen en ernstig keek hij zijn jongen
aan. "Hoe is 't er mee?" vroeg hij.
XX.
"Hier is 't rapport, Vader!" zei Eduard, en hij gooide zijn pet op een
stoel en liep naar Vader toe, die voor 't raam stond en naar buiten
keek.
En verder was 't beter worden erg gauw gegaan; wel hing zijn arm
nog in een doek, en dat zou ook [a365] nog wel een week of wat
duren, had de dokter gezegd, en ook zag hij nog wat bleek en
mager, maar toch was hij vanmorgen weer voor 't eerst naar school
geweest.
Eduard ging tegenover Vader aan tafel zitten; hij was daarnet hard
naar huis geloopen om gauw bij Vader te zijn en gezellig van alles te
vertellen, maar nu was 't ineens niks leuk meer; — zei Vader nou
maar wat, gaf Vader hem nou maar een flink standje [a366] over dat
rapport, want daar was Vader nu natuurlijk kwaad om — maar Vader
zei niks.
Zoo was 't bij Oom Tom en Tante Lina nou nooit, die gaven
tenminste dadelijk standjes als ze kwaad waren en dan was 't tien
minuten later weer net of er niks gebeurd was, maar zóó duurde 't
zoo vreeselijk lang. — Eindelijk kon Eduard 't niet langer uithouden.
Daar had je 't nou al! Nou was hij nog even ver! Had hij nu maar
niks gezegd!
En zonder verder naar Vader te kijken liep hij toen hij klaar was de
kamer uit.
Wie zou hij nu eigenlijk eens gaan halen, en waar zouden ze naar
toe gaan? Misschien wou Meertens wel mee. — O nee, die had van
twee tot drie timmerles. — Als hij eens naar Tante Lina ging? Ze
zouden zeker wel in den tuin spelen vanmiddag! Toch maar niet
doen, 't was zoo'n eind! Wat deed hij vroeger ook weer altijd 's
Woensdagmiddags? O ja, dan had hij vioolles, en meestal maakte
hij dan daarna zijn werk. Maar in dat vervelende huiswerk had hij nu
heelemaal niks geen zin, en de vioolles was nog altijd op Vrijdag. —
Kom, hij kon Theo wel eens gaan halen, die had hij in een heelen tijd
niet gezien, en wacht, hij kon eigenlijk best op de fiets gaan, hij was
[a367] immers al weer beter, en die arm hing nog wel in een verband
maar je kon ook best met één hand fietsen. Eduard haalde de fiets
uit de kast. 't Ding was na den val wel een week in de reparatie
geweest, maar nu zag alles er dan ook weer prachtig uit en de
remmen werkten weer uitstekend. Natuurlijk waren de banden weer
slap; hoe kreeg hij die nou weer opgepompt met zijn eene arm!
Gezanik ook! Aan Vader vragen? — Eduard bedacht dat hij toch
eigenlijk ook niet goed durfde gaan fietsen zonder 't eerst tegen
Vader te zeggen. Vooruit dan maar!
Aan 't groote bureau zat Vader te schrijven, en "Vader, wilt u m'n
fiets even oppompen?" riep Eduard.
"Nou, ik wilde wat gaan fietsen," zei Eduard, "en m'n banden zijn
zoo slap!"
"Maar ik kan best met één hand fietsen!" mopperde Eduard, maar
hij kreeg geen antwoord, en stil pruttelde hij verder: "Bij Tante Lina
mocht je altijd doen wat je wou."
Wat moest hij nu gaan doen? Nu mocht hij niet fietsen ook, en dan
dat akelige rapport; hoe moest dat nu gaan met 't toelatingsexamen?
Als 't zoo doorging mocht hij 't zeker niet eens doen en toch bleef 't
vast zoo gaan als Vader er zich niet mee bemoeide. En natuurlijk
bemoeide Vader zich er niet mee zoolang hij er zelf niet over begon.
Maar wat moest hij dan zeggen?
Eduard stak zijn beenen vooruit en keek naar de punten van zijn
schoenen, toen nam hij een afgebrande lucifer van de tafel en bleef
daar mee zitten spelen. Maar eindelijk liet hij 't roode houtje op den
grond vallen, en zacht begon hij: "Vader!"
"Wat is er?"
"Dat weet ik niet," zei hij eindelijk, en hij zette [a372] een heel
ongelukkig gezicht, "alles was zoo vreeselijk moeilijk en u was er
niet!"
"Maar omdat ik er niet was had je toch precies even goed je best
moeten doen!"
"Ik kan niet werken als u er niet bij bent!" zei Eduard, maar zonder
Vader aan te kijken.
En Vader nam zijn pen weer op en boog zich weer over zijn werk.
"Ja."
Eduard ging naar 't raam en keek naar buiten. Stil bleef hij staan,
een heele tijd lang, toen draaide hij zich om en haalde zijn
schooltasch uit de gang. En hij ging aan een hoek van de schrijftafel
zitten, legde zijn schriften en boeken voor zich, en begon aan zijn
sommen.
Toen stond hij op en zwijgend legde hij zijn werk voor Vader neer.
Aandachtig las Vader de sommen door, toen deed hij het schrift
dicht en gaf het terug. "En?" vroeg hij, Eduard aankijkend.
"Goed," antwoordde Vader, "maar dan blijft er niet veel tijd over
voor andere dingen, heb je dat nu wel bedacht?"
"Ja Vader."
Vader knikte.
"Nou?"
"Dat je toch zoo aan elkaar went. Ik dacht toen ik bij Tante Lina was
aldoor dat ik niks om ze gaf, om Hugo en Piet en de anderen, de
heele familie bedoel ik, begrijpt u?" en Eduard stopte de boeken en
schriften weer in zijn tasch.
"Dat weet ik eigenlijk niet; maar je went toch wel erg aan elkaar,
vind ik. 't Was aldoor zoo'n drukte, en je hadt toch ook wel dikwijls
pret met elkaar, en ze hadden altijd plannen, zooals toen die kuil in
den tuin, en dat comediespelen en zoo."
"Nee natuurlijk niet," lachte Eduard, "maar met je tweeën gaat dat
ook niks leuk. Kijk, ik vind het natuurlijk wel vreeselijk plezierig om
weer thuis te zijn, maar je mist al die drukte toch wel een beetje, 't
was soms toch wel erg gezellig."
Vader zuchtte even. "Je zult weer aan je oude Vader moeten
wennen, Pepi!" antwoordde hij.
"Dat bedoel ik niet," zei hij, "ik houd van u natuurlijk toch veel meer
dan van hen allemaal bij elkaar, maar 't is hier zooveel stiller, begrijpt
u?"
"Ja zeker, ik begrijp 't wel." Vader dacht even na. "Weet je wat we
doen zullen, Pepi? Als je 't nu ernstig meent met werken en je houdt
flink vol, dan gaan we den eersten dag van de groote vacantie dat
het mooi weer is naar buiten, den heelen dag, en dan vragen we ze
allemaal mee, en dan mag jij kiezen waar we naar toe zullen gaan!"
Eduard vond het een prachtig plan. "Mogen ze allemaal mee?"
vroeg hij.
"En Theo ook? En Meertens? En van Merlen? Dat is ook een leuke
jongen!"
Eduard dacht even na. "We moesten Piet maar thuis laten," stelde
hij voor, "die was er toch eigen-[a376] lijk de schuld van dat ik viel,"
maar toen hij Vader aankeek, haastig: "Of nee, laat hij toch ook
eigenlijk maar meegaan." —
Augustus 1907.
Transcriber's Notes:
[Sneeuwitje] → [Sneeuwwitje]
Deze fout kwam 4x voor. Deze link verwijst naar de
eerst-voorkomende.
[mijn viool gekregen "en] → [mijn viool gekregen en]
[aan te merken hebt ruk je] → [aan te merken hebt, ruk je]
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