China’s third attempt of education reform with a global outlook

This article is a historiography or critical analysis of history of education reform in the Chinese modernity. The main question from this manifold phenomenon which we address is that there were three clearly identifiable attempts of education reform in the history of modern China. Our central thesis in addressing this question is that they share a number of common aspects, albeit their unique contexts, making them distinguishable. Our aim and purpose in this paper is thus to offer a critical comparative analysis of the history of the three education reform attempts in their respective contexts of modernization and globalization. We examine both the tackled and unsolved problems at every stage of the education reform in order to suggest the main features and difficulties of China’s further development of education. The research context of this study is in the domain of history and meta-sociology of education. We conclude by examining the third and unfinished stage of Chinese education reform. We argue that despite the fact that it is the most successful modernization effort of education, Chinese education reform is not without its own uncertainties and challenges. Copyright © 1989-2015 by the CESHK.