Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University (Canada), 1999. / Adviser: Bernard Luk. Includes bibliographical references.

This study examines multilevel factors that drive the demand for private supplementary tutoring among Grade 9 students in Mainland China. As in other parts of the world, private supplementary tutoring in academic subjects has become a major phenomenon in Mainland China. The growing demand is associated with the combined effect of factors at the system, institutional, household, and individual levels. The thesis draws on data collected through a mixed-methods approach in Chongqing which, with a population of 29 million, is the largest of China’s semi-autonomous municipalities. Three major steps were taken to serve the purpose of the research. First, the author analyzed questionnaire responses from students and parents about the features of tutoring received by the sampled students and related factors. Second, descriptive statistics were analyzed to speculate on the links between background factors of the sampled students and their participation in tutoring. Binary logistic regression was further performed to assess the most significant determinants of the probability of participation, using the background factors as predictors. Third, on the basis of the above, data collected through interviews and case studies with various stakeholders were analyzed to explain how factors at multiple levels shaped the demand patterns. The findings allowed the thesis to develop a model of key determinants of demand for tutoring. The model includes macro-level factors such as educational policies, high-stakes examinations, and the traditions of a Confucian culture. At the institutional level, school type was the strongest predictor of participation. Students sampled in the key schools in the metropolitan area were about five times more likely to receive tutoring than those in the remote rural schools. At the household and individual levels, the students’ socioeconomic status and academic aspirations had significant and positive effects on their likelihood of receiving tutoring. According to the study, over 90% of the students receiving tutoring were tutored by mainstream teachers. This feature, which reflected both students’ demand for tutoring and teachers’ desires to supply it, shaped power relations in the schools. The links between power relations and the patterns of demand for tutoring were investigated through social theories on power bases. The thesis contributes to research in a wider context by refining understanding of the nature of shadow education and by developing theories on the demand for tutoring from a Chinese perspective. It documents teachers’ involvement in private tutoring through the lens of power relations. The research findings have practical implications for policymakers and planners, school leaders, and families in making educational decisions. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / China Area Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The urban renewal is the inevitable product during the urban development process. Chongqing has been carrying out a serious of reconstruction and urban revitalization during these years, and the SHI-BA-TI area is included in the process. SHI-BA-TI area is one of the most famous sight-spots of Chongqing which represents the traditional culture spirit of the city. So that the high-valuable culture features of the site should be reserved in the reconstruction project and expressed in new way with creative method. The concept of my design is reserving the “old core and skin” while adding in the “new core and skin”. This reconstruction design achieved the objective that reserving the historic and cultural core of the site while adding some urban public functions upon the site, which makes the site correspond to the land value of the city center and help with enhancing the status and image of the city center. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

 Daoist architecture, as the cultural carrier of Daoism, has close relationship with cultural landscape which is a key element in the conservation of Daoism sites. However, very little scholarly attention has been paid to it, and obviously this is a threat to the integrity of Daoist architecture and also the intangible part behind it – the continuity of Daoism culture. To date, 86 properties with 5 trans-boundary properties and 1 delisted property on the World Heritage List have been included as cultural landscapes: of these only 3 were in the China, whilst none of them is related to Daoism. The relatively small number of Chinese nomination is due partly to less concern to the cultural landscape during inscription in china, despite its great importance. Moreover, though some Daoism sites and architecture have been proved to have universal value and inscribed as world heritage, such as Mount Qingcheng and Dujiang yan Irrigation System, Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mount and Mount Sanqing shan National Park, some official presences have ignored the fact that they would fulfil the category of continuing landscape of outstanding universal value with cross reference to the associative cultural landscape category. And the objective of this dissertation is to provide an understanding of the close relationship between Daoist architecture and cultural landscape which seems to have never been integrated with each other, and also the important role that cultural landscape plays in the survival and conservation of Daoist architecture, through a case study of a Daoism temple in Chongqing. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

In developing a set of guidelines for development in Chongqing this paper has first contextualized the city in terms of Chinese urban design history. This urban history is argued to have been shaped by three distinct eras of authoritarian rule: Imperial rule, from the 8th century B.C. to the 19th century; Maoist rule, from 1949-1978; and post-Mao communist rule, from 1978 to the present. It is further argued that the corresponding central authority in each of these eras has relied on a strategy of directing urban development as a means to propagate ideology. This characterization is then linked to many of the current problems with the direction of development in Chongqing. The urban environment of Chongqing is then analyzed from various scales and perspectives through history. From this analysis, a set of design guidelines is produced. These guidelines address educational structures, theoretical principles, governmental and legal instruments, and environmental strategies.

In developing a set of guidelines for development in Chongqing this paper has first contextualized the city in terms of Chinese urban design history. This urban history is argued to have been shaped by three distinct eras of authoritarian rule: Imperial rule, from the 8th century B.C. to the 19th century; Maoist rule, from 1949-1978; and post-Mao communist rule, from 1978 to the present. It is further argued that the corresponding central authority in each of these eras has relied on a strategy of directing urban development as a means to propagate ideology. This characterization is then linked to many of the current problems with the direction of development in Chongqing. The urban environment of Chongqing is then analyzed from various scales and perspectives through history. From this analysis, a set of design guidelines is produced. These guidelines address educational structures, theoretical principles, governmental and legal instruments, and environmental strategies.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education