This study investigates and analyses the processes of mathematics teachers' recontextualization of the official discourse, in the context of the recent Chinese education reform. Teachers' complex recontextualising processes are described in relation to the different discourses that influence them. Using a theoretical framework built on Bernstein's model of pedagogical discourse, the recontextualising process within- the pedagogic recontextualising field is analysed, exploring relations between the sub fields of this field. The recontextualising process in the field of reproduction is then studied. Twelve teachers from two comprehensive schools in a middle sized Chinese city took part in this study. The teachers were interviewed in order to explore the elements that influence their understanding and interpretation of the ideas of the official discourse. Lessons taught by these teachers were observed to find out what resources they draw on to support their teaching practices, and in what ways they incorporate innovative ideas into their practices. Analysis of these interviews and observations show how the teachers' recontextualisation process is affected by external influences from the discourses produced by the sub fields of the recontextualising field, and by internal influences created by the particular culture of a given school, by the relationships between teachers and school heads, between teachers themselves and between teachers, students and parents, as well as by teachers' own mathematics learning and teaching experiences. The effectiveness of the influences exerted by the various discourses is discussed in relation to the accountability, responsibility and authority of the agencies and agents of the different fields where these discourses are generated. This study has identified that the majority of teachers do not take a direct route of access to the rules and principles of the official discourse, but get to know these rules and principles by means of recontextualised discourses which they treat as equivalent to the official discourse. All the external and internal discourses play a part in the teachers' recontextualisation, affecting their practices in different ways. From amongst all the possible influences, the conventional discourse that relates to the teachers' past mathematics learning and teaching experience, and the local discourse that consists of school culture, the relation between teachers, school head, students and parents, appear to be the most influential.

My PhD thesis studies the rise of modern education in China and its underlying driving forces from the turn of the 20th century. It is motivated by one sweeping educational movement in Chinese history: the traditional Confucius teaching came to an abrupt end, and was replaced by a modern and national education model at the turn of the 20th century. This thesis provides the first systematic quantitative studies that examine the rise of education through the initial stage of its development. It mainly contains three analytical parts. The first one sets out the jourey toward the birth of the first modern education system, and generalized the main virtues and progresses it brought to China. The second section provides long-term estimates on how much education progressed through 20th century based on a rich variety of indicators: literacy rate, enrolment ratio, and more importantly -- human capital stock (average years of schooling). This exercise allows putting Chinese accomplishments in education into international perspective. The last Chapter of this thesis tackles one hotly debated question that ‘what factors drove the rise of mass schooling (primary education)?’ Given its political turmoil and economic backwardness, the expansion of modern primary schooling that was mainly driven by increasing public efforts seems puzzling. What contributed to mass education’s noteworthy diffusion in China? Based on a dataset that covers more than one thousand counties, we find that economic factors have little power in explaining the variations in educational outcomes. In contrast, both informal practice of governance imposed by gentry (one important social group in Chinese history) and regional political stability presented their critical importance. The findings of this section not only contribute to pin down determinants of education expansion, but also shed lights on a growing literature stressing the importance of informal institution in providing public goods in non-democratic societies.

This thesis uses experimental methods to study two topics on the effectiveness of school inputs on educational outcomes in rural China. For the first topic, I use unique administrative data from Wugang County Education Bureau (a rural county in Hunan), and a regression discontinuity methodology. I find that selective/elite schools, despite their resource advantages, only have limited effects on raising student educational outcomes. However, magnet classes are effective for the top student group. These findings imply that magnet classes provide benefits at the expense of other students, and in general that concentrating resources in a few elite schools is not an effective way to raise educational outcomes. For the second topic, this time using unique data from Shaoyang County Education Bureau (also a rural county in Hunan), I designed two RCTs to examine the effectiveness of a low cost communication intervention. The intervention used a 12-point assessment form measuring a pupil’s academic work and class behaviour. One RCT communicated these assessment results only to the students (Teacher-Student-Communication, TSC), and the other additionally to the pupil's parents (Teacher-Student-Parent-Communication, TSPC). Test score improvements before and after the 8-month intervention period (with 13 assessments) were the measure of educational effectiveness. I find that the TSPC intervention for maths for left-behind children is particularly important. In addition, TSC helped younger pupils (3d grade) more than old (5"' grade), whether left behind or not, showing the importance of early intervention.

The research focuses on the strategies for the transition from elite to mass higher education in China. The expansion of Chinese higher education has accelerated since 1998. The Chinese government plans to increase its gross enrolment rate in higher education to 15% by 2010. According to Trow's (1974:63) phase development theories, this increase of enrolment would lead to fundamental changes in higher education. These changes interact with its contextual factors, such as, economy, politics, society et cetera. The research aimed at analyzing this by using both literature study and qualitative inquiry. The Chinese strategies for the transition were preliminarily evaluated. Findings were that people's elite values, shortage of funds and social inequality are major obstacles for the transition. The study revealed that developing non-traditional higher education, among others, is an effective way to overcome these difficulties and to accelerate the transition from elite to mass higher education. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The research focuses on the strategies for the transition from elite to mass higher education in China. The expansion of Chinese higher education has accelerated since 1998. The Chinese government plans to increase its gross enrolment rate in higher education to 15% by 2010. According to Trow's (1974:63) phase development theories, this increase of enrolment would lead to fundamental changes in higher education. These changes interact with its contextual factors, such as, economy, politics, society et cetera. The research aimed at analyzing this by using both literature study and qualitative inquiry. The Chinese strategies for the transition were preliminarily evaluated. Findings were that people's elite values, shortage of funds and social inequality are major obstacles for the transition. The study revealed that developing non-traditional higher education, among others, is an effective way to overcome these difficulties and to accelerate the transition from elite to mass higher education. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)