Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier Department of Education
Urban and rural students
A qualitative study of the urban-rural divide among
graduates from a “super high school” in China
Ying Huang
Derived from the education division of China, this study emphasizes the urban-rural divide in students’ results of the NCEE (National College Entrance Examination). The NCEE is the official selection examination for higher education and the final examination of high school in Mainland China. As the major criterion in higher education selection, the divide can be found in the NCEE results of urban and rural students in which urban students are able to get higher grades than rural students. Aiming to discover the urban-rural divide in the NCEE results from how students prepare the NCEE in their high schools, this study uses a case of graduates of a “super high school” as an example. A “super high school” is a type of high school where achieving top performances of the NCEE is the goal of all pedagogic activities. Both urban and rural students can be enrolled in a “super high school”. The “super high schools” are common in overpopulated areas of China. In one way, the differences of urban and rural students in their high school studies can be perceived within a “super high school”; furthermore, the certain pedagogical activities of a “super high school” may influence students’ behaviours and trigger the urban-rural divide. Based on the theoretical frameworks of Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital, his theory of symbolic violence, and Erving Goffman’s theory of total institution, ten high school graduates as well as three of their high school teachers are interviewed in this study. The analysis focuses on three aspects, the differences between urban and rural students in terms of their educational resources and practices in high school, their behaviours in a “super high school”, and their attitudes towards the NCEE system. In summary, this study finds out that firstly, urban parents have more economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital than rural parents and they can offer more educational resources to their children in high school. Secondly, urban students are not very supportive of the “super high school” model but they can get more help from their teachers, while rural students strongly follow the “super high school” model but they don’t often get more help from their teachers. Last but not least, rural students attach great importance to the NCEE and their NCEE results, but urban students do not always think so.
Supervisor: Mette Ginnerskov Dahlberg Examiner: Mikael Palme
Introduction _________________________________________________ 9 1. Background ________________________________________________ 12
1.1. The emergence of an urban-rural divide in the Chinese context _____________ 12 1.1.1. Income gap appeared along with the economic growth _____________ 12 1.1.2. Social status classified by “Hukou” __________________________ 14 1.2. Preparing to be the selected: the way to higher education _________________ 16 1.2.1. Inheriting the privilege – from ascribed status to provincial quota _____ 16 1.2.2. It’s all relative – the “super high school” under the NCEE ___________ 18
2. Aim and research questions ____________________________________20 3. Previous research ___________________________________________ 21
3.1. The higher education division in gender, social background and geography _____ 21 3.2. The urban-rural divide of basic education ___________________________ 22
4. Theoretical frameworks _______________________________________ 25
4.1. The concept of capital ________________________________________ 25 4.2. Symbolic violence through the NCEE ______________________________ 26 4.3. A “super high school” as a total institution ___________________________ 27
5. Method ___________________________________________________ 29
5.1. Research design – a case of graduates from a “super high school” class ________ 29 5.2. The qualitative interview as the main method_________________________ 30 5.3. Ethical and political considerations ________________________________31 5.4. A description of the interviewees _________________________________ 32
6. Analysis __________________________________________________ 34
6.1. Students’ practices and resources in high school _______________________ 34 6.1.1. Economic capital – financial support from the families VS. financial support to
the families _________________________________________ 34 6.1.2. Social capital – to reach extra tutoring ________________________ 37 6.1.3. Cultural capital – How do students learn English? ________________ 40 6.2. Students’ behaviours in a “super high school” ________________________ 43 6.2.1. Rebel or follower? _____________________________________ 44 6.2.2. Within teachers’ “preference”______________________________ 46 6.3. Students’ attitudes towards the NCEE ______________________________ 49
Gao Kao, also called the NCEE (National College Entrance Examination), is the final examination for high school studies1 and the official selection into higher
education in Mainland China.2 For students, their NCEE results are the most
important credential to fulfil their further education in universities.3 It is
common to believe that every individual has the opportunity to study in universities by taking the NCEE; however, criticism can be made that using the results of one examination as the evaluation criterion fosters the education division in China.4 Xiong, who, in 2017, achieved the highest grades of the NCEE
in Beijing region, explained how he succeeded in this exam:
… I was born and raised in Beijing, you know, the capital of China and a metropolitan city, So, it’s not too difficult for me to get higher grades in the NCEE. Of course, I worked hard but I could always get some support too! A village student has no way to get what I have, like good teachers. Definitely, it’s harder for them [rural students] to get good results in the NCEE today. I feel sad for them. I guess being born in a city is my biggest advantage.5
Xiong attributes his success to his place of birth. According to him, it is much harder for students from rural areas to be successful in the NCEE and compete with students from urban areas. There are seldom reports of students from rural areas on top of the NCEE ranking during the last 10 years.6 In the competition of
the NCEE, the privilege is often entitled to urban students whose achievement in their NCEEs seems impossible to be exceeded by those from rural areas.7 In
general, the phenomenon of the urban-rural divide has existed in many aspects in China, such as the gap of annual incomes and the differentiation between social status; furthermore, the NCEE as the higher education selection exam enlarges the gap between rural and urban students.8 From a sociological perspective, it is
possible to think that the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results is originated from the differentiation of one’s social status, which in the case of China, can be significantly influenced by individuals’ birthplaces.9
Overall the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results can be perceived as a subcategory of the education division in China. Previous studies have provided shreds of evidence of the urban-rural divide in basic education and higher
1 The high school studies here refer to the secondary education for children from the age 16-19.
2 Mainland China: a geographical term referring to People’s republic of China (PRC). Taiwan, Hong Kong
and Macao are not included.
3 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
scientific. 2002, 42
4 Ibid. 45
5 The interview is recorded and interpreted in the work of Ying Wo. Beijing’s No.1 NCEE student Xiong
Xuan’ang: I have easier way to success than rural students. 2017-06-27 http://m.sohu.com/n/498881094/
(Accessed: 2017-06-27)
6 Ying Wo. Beijing’s No.1 NCEE student Xiong Xuan’ang: I have easier way to success than rural students.
2017-06-27 http://m.sohu.com/n/498881094/ (Accessed: 2017-06-27)
7 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
scientific. 2002, 46
8 See works from Hangsheng Zheng (2009) and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2002).
9 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
education10, most of them make the comparison between urban and rural schools,
as well as emphasize the university enrolment rate between urban and rural regions. In terms of the NCEE, researchers focus on the problematic aspects of the NCEE system and how to change the situation.11 For example, Haifeng Liu
discusses the possible reformations of the current NCEE system to increase one’s chance of studying in universities, which includes suggestions like giving the NCEE twice a year and using different exam papers in different provinces.12 The
NCEE results are often analyzed to illustrate the gap in university enrolment between urban and rural regions. Researches concerning the NCEE results have rarely been combined with the urban-rural divide in basic education. Hence, this study can fill in the research void by emphasizing the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results from how students prepare for the examination during high school.
This study uses a case of students who graduated from a “super high school”. A “super high school” can be explained as a type of high school where achieving top results of the NCEE is the aim of all pedagogic activities. It is common to see such schools in lots of regions in China.13 Usually, there are many students in a
“super high school”, they often have to follow intensive schedules (i.e. students need to be in the classroom for about 8-9 hours a day), and they are able to reach higher results in their NCEE.14 Both students from urban and rural backgrounds
can be enrolled in a “super high school” and need to pay tuition fees. Based on the documentaries I watched about the “super high schools” and my own experiences of studying in a “super high school”, I realize that there is a potential urban-rural divide in such schools in terms of their NCEE results. Also, the urban-rural divide can possibly result from some activities or rules of the “super high school” model. Therefore, I choose to explore the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results with graduates from a “super high school” as an example.
There are seven chapters in this study. Chapter one draws a picture of the transformations of Chinese society, and the implementation of the NCEE, in which the urban-rural divide of Chinese society, the policies of higher education admission, and the background of “super high schools” will be illustrated. Research aims and questions will be proposed in chapter two. Chapter three combs through the previous researches from two perspectives, the division of higher education and the urban-rural divide of the basic education in China. Sociological theories are presented in chapter four, Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital, his theory of symbolic violence, as well as Erving Goffman’s philosophy of the total institution constitute the main theoretical frameworks. Chapter five includes the method of this study and the basic methodological practice, the introduction of the case, and the research subjects. Chapter six is the analysis section in which three aspects are highlighted in terms of the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results: the differences between urban and rural students in terms of their educational resources and practices in high school, their behaviours in a
10 For studies regarding these subjects, see works from Shanmai Wang, et al. (2013), Ye Liu (2013,2016),
Xuesong Jiang, et al. (2007) and Xiulan Yu (2002).
11 See relevant works from Shuijing Xu, Yao Long (2013), Haifeng Liu (2002,2010) and Xuesong Jiang, et al.
(2007)
12 Haifeng Liu. The possible reformations for the NCEE. Educational research, no. 2 (2002): 21-25, 25 13 Ying Gan, Junren Liu. Exploring the “super high school” pattern in terms of education equality. Education
exploration, no.2 (2015): 6-9, 6
1. Background
During the last 40 years, Chinese society underwent a huge transformation, which bequeathed both positive and negative influences on individuals. The main change began in the late 1970s when a policy known as “reform and opening”15
was carried out. On the one hand, the nation’s economy was greatly improved, urban areas were largely expanded, and the middle classes began to emerge.16 On
the other, the development was unbalanced. A large portion of areas with high poverty remained while economically thriving cities rapidly developed. Such a huge economic disequilibrium between rural and urban regions directly local financial distributions and residents’ income. 17 At the same time, the
implementation of the demographical policy – the “registered household system”18 – also resulted in a geographical disparity and further shaped the social
structure in China.
To understand the issue of the urban-rural divide in the NCEE results, it is important to see it against the background of the transition of social structure in China over the last 40 years. Besides that, in order to explore the education division, it is necessary to understand how the NCEE has been organized and applied in a Chinese context. Firstly, an overview of the transformations of the higher education selection system will be given, in which the fundamental policies will be highlighted to understand the geographical discrimination in the higher education admission and furthermore the urban-rural divide in the NCEE results. Secondly, the characteristics of the “super high school”, a phenomenon that exists in many regions as a direct consequence of the competition of the NCEE, will be highlighted towards the end.
1.1. The emergence of an urban-rural divide in the Chinese
context
1.1.1. Income gap appeared along with the economic growth
The “reform and opening” policy was issued in 1978, after a massive political and economic disruption caused by the “Cultural Revolution”. In essence, it included a series of economic reforms that largely changed the economic model and the social system of China.19 Undoubtedly, this campaign met with great success in
the development of the Chinese economy. By transforming a planned economy system to a market economy, China started to break the isolation of its domestic market and integrate with global markets, in which the Chinese economy greatly
15 The “reform and opening” policy is commonly known as the Chinese economic reform. It aimed to turn
the planned economy (economy dominated by state ownership and central planning) to a market economy (de-collectivization of agriculture, privatising state-own industry, opening to foreign investment, etc.)
16 Hangsheng Zheng. Thirty years after “reform and opening”: the transformation of Chinese Society.
Chinese science and society, no.2 (2009): 10-20, 10
17 Ibid. 12
18 The registered household system, literally called “Hukou”, is a household registration system used in the
mainland of China. For individuals, a registered household is an official record of their identification as residents of an area with identifying information such as name, parents, spouse, and date of birth.
19 Hangsheng Zheng. Thirty years after “reform and opening”: the transformation of Chinese Society.
expanded and improved.20 Mixed and private ownership developed alongside the
public possession system and hundreds of millions of families were able to meet their daily needs.21
However, except for all the remarkable economic advances, no one can neglect the increased inequality caused by this great economic transformation.22
Most significantly, the continuously enlarged income gap appears to be a crucial issue during the post-reform era. With complex geographical and social circumstances, strategies such as “Let some people and some regions prosper before others, so that they can bring along the backward regions” and “The rich first pushing those being rich later” were initiated by Xiaoping Deng, the party leader at that time. This inequality has a spatial dimension. The strategies basically mean that the economy of certain regions is prioritized and supported, which inevitably leads to a geographical income disparity in the state.23
Furthermore, together with the “reform and opening” policy, urban areas in China, especially the eastern coastal regions, are largely expanded and developed. Urban residents often have higher incomes with the benefits of an economic boost while people from rural areas remain poor.24
During the sustained economic transformation of the past few decades, scholars discussed whether such spatial inequality in China could be improved. While some suggested that replacing the state monopoly with privatized ownerships would effectively change the situation25, others thought it was
necessary to establish an equitable income tax system and revive the welfare state.26 However, either of these remedy measures requires long round practice.
About thirty years after the economic transformation, the Gini coefficient27 has
been estimated to be in the range of 0.4-0.5 in China, which indicates that the problem of income inequality across the nation remains.28
Initially, one of the aims of the “reform and opening” policy was to change the condition of widespread poverty in China. In most cases, however, it was only achieved in urban regions. The income gap was further enlarged between urban and rural regions and social inequality was increased.29 In the meantime, the
urbanizing process in China turned out to be effectively improving people’s lives in urban areas, yet people who lived in the villages could still be suffering from
20 Loren Brandt, Thomas G. Rawski. China’s Great Economic Transformation. In China’s Great Economic
Transformation, Loren Brandt, Thomas G. Rawski (Eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 21
21 Ibid.
22 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
scientific. 2002, 45,46
23 Hangsheng Zheng. Thirty years after “reform and opening”: the transformation of Chinese Society.
Chinese science and society, no.2 (2009): 10-20, 12
24 Qiang Li. The justice of social stratification and social space. Journal of Renmin University of China, no.
1 (2012): 2-9, 6,7
25 Weiyin, Zhang. Completely bury Keynesianism. 2009-02-17
http://finance.sina.com.cn/20090217/10345864499_3.shtml (Assessed: 2009-02-17)
26 Dwayne Benjamin, et al. Income Inequality during China’s Economic Transition. In China’s Great
Economic Transformation, Loren Brandt, Thomas G. Rawski (Eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 773,774
27 The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of income or wealth distribution of a nation’s
residents. A Gini coefficient that is close to zero expresses maximal equality; A Gini coefficient that is close to one expresses maximal inequality.
28 Dwayne Benjamin, et al. Income Inequality during China’s Economic Transition. In China’s Great
Economic Transformation, Loren Brandt, Thomas G. Rawski (Eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 729
29 Eric J. Heikkila. Three Questions Regarding Urbanization in China. Journal of Planning Education and
poverty. In all, the exploits of “reform and opening” create a huge economic boost for China over the last 40 years. Unfortunately, such a prosperous economy also causes spatial income inequality nationwide, which inevitably affects people’s lives in China. Other than economic disparity, the divide between urban and rural residents is also connected to certain demographical factors. The following section will discuss the formation of social order in China concerning the demographical policy, the “registered household system”30.
1.1.2. Social status classified by “Hukou”
In today’s China, the issue of geographical disequilibrium is strongly associated with the gap between social classes, meaning that one’s social status can be largely determined by one’s birthplace.31 In 1958, to avoid an uneven demographic
migration flow from rural regions to urban regions, “Hukou”, a household registration system was established. It remains to this very day.32 Essentially,
people born in rural areas are officially registered as belonging to an “agricultural household”, while people who are born in urban places, as it is regulated, usually have “non-agricultural household” status. The system of household registration clearly defines urban and rural status with different general welfare offers. For instance, “urban people” are often offered state subsidies of life’s basics and health care while rural residences are not. People born in urban regions can thus benefit more from their “non-agricultural” status.33 Today, even though the
household registration is not as restricted as before, the barrier between urban and rural residents persists. Being born in a village or a city means different social status not only different birthplaces.
Despite the income gap mentioned above, the divide can also be found in the differences in cultural assets between urban and rural families. The development of urbanization and the practices of “reform and opening” fails to increase the global awareness and cultural intellectuality of rural people but brings various cultural products to urban citizens. With the convenience of globalized information networks, people who live in urban areas can easily get access to various cultural interactions; while rural residents, who live relatively isolated, usually have less cultural assets.34
Moreover, the economic transformation in the 1970s structures the different social classes in a new era in China. According to a report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences35, the contemporary social classes in China can
roughly be sorted into five levels based on different professions: (See Table 1)36
30 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
scientific. 2002, 44
31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid.
34 Eric J. Heikkila. Three Questions Regarding Urbanization in China. Journal of Planning Education and
Research 27 (2007): 65-81, 76
35 The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is a Chinese research institute for studies of philosophy and social
sciences, and it is the premier, comprehensive national academic research organization in China.
36 The table is made based on the work of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, A report of contemporary
Table 1. The contemporary class status in China by professions
Class status Professions
Upper classes The highest governmental leaders and senior officials; CEOs and senior managers of large enterprises; leading scholars and specialists; Upper-middle
classes
The intermediate governmental officials; junior managers of large enterprises; owners and managers of small enterprises; upper-intermediate specialists and
engineers;
Middle classes Governmental officials; self-business owners; intermediate and junior specialists and engineers; Lower classes Self-employed labour workers; attendants; skilled workers; labour workers; farmers; Bottom classes Unskilled workers; farmers; jobless people;
To a large extent, the status groups in China are pyramid structured. Among all five levels of social classes, it is not hard to see that people with different professions have different political status, economic status, and cultural status. In the upper classes, the highest governmental leaders and senior officials have the highest political status because they own the absolute power to assign and determine major political and institutional issues; at the same time, leading scholars and specialists enjoy the most cultural resources since they have certified qualifications and skills.37 After the series of economic reforms, the private
sectors develop and become an essential part of the Chinese economy, granting the CEOs and senior managers of large enterprises the largest share of national economic resources.38
Nationally, from the top to the bottom of the social classes, the number of people increases, yet the inequality persists. Specifically, from the urban-rural perspective, due to the geographical features, there are more rural people from lower classes and bottom classes. For instance, in a city, engineers and technicians can represent 10%-20% of the whole population; but in a village, the percentage may be only 1.5%-3%.39 With most farmers, unskilled workers, and
labour workers, rural areas in China have the largest groups of people from the lower and bottom classes.40
Although the “reform and opening” policy and a series of economic reforms improve the Chinese economic structure, the urban-rural divide has been expanded. With the impact of the “Hukou” system, rural residents receive relatively limited economic assurances and lower social recognition. At the same time, the urban-rural divide also has impacts on education, and most visibly on the National College Entrance Examination, which will be developed in the next part.
37 The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A report of contemporary Chinese social classes. Peking: Social
science, 2002, 3
1.2. Preparing to be the selected: the way to higher education
1.2.1. Inheriting the privilege – from ascribed status to provincial quota
The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as “Gaokao”, is the official higher education selection examination in Mainland China and the final evaluation for high school education. As the only legitimate national examination for higher education, the significance of the NCEE has long been discussed. With no doubt, the most essential criterion for entry into higher education is an individual’s performance in the NCEE. Yet, in the evolution of the higher education selection system of the last 40 years, what should not be neglected is the privileges assured by certain policies which can be equally important as the NCEE results.
The NCEE emerged in the 1950s when the new communist government was established. At that time, higher education was not valued by most people because one could easily find a job without a university degree. Therefore, students rarely participated in the NCEE.41 During the Cultural Revolution
(1967-1977), the schools were closed, the NCEE was cancelled, and the only requirement for higher education was one’s ascribed status, which mainly referred to one’s political background such as direct ancestors and the behaviours of their relatives.42 People with a proletarian or peasants background, who at that time
were regarded as the honourable social groups had more possibility to get through the admission.43 Only people recommended by state organizations, party
or party members could be accepted by higher institutions. In these ten years, people who got their higher education mostly appeared to be those with ascribed status. In fact, the higher education selection system was not established until the late 1970s when the NCEE was re-established. For a few decades, even though the layout of the examination has been revised several times, the fundament of the NCEE as the official university selection exam is not changed.44
The current NCEE takes place annually during two days in July, applied with a traditional hundred-mark grading system. All students in their final year of high school are encouraged to participate in the NCEE for further study in higher institutions. 45 Using examination as the evaluation of one’s high school
performance and one’s credential for entering into the university, the current NCEE provides the opportunity for higher education to individuals with different backgrounds. However, due to the size of the country, both area and population wise, it is manifested that national geographical discrimination exists within the university admission process.46
The university admission often consists of three steps: students apply to their universities of preference with their NCEE results; the universities evaluate and rank their NCEE results; the universities determine whether or not students can be admitted based on their NCEE performances and the university’s enrolment plan.47 An enrolment plan generally refers to the number of estimated enrolment 41 Haifeng Liu. A comparison between Gao kao and Keju. Higher education research, no.2 (2002): 39-42,41 42 Xuesong Jiang, et al. Examination equality and reginal equality – a discussion of educational equality in
NCEE. Jiangsu Higher Education, no.4 (2007): 104-106, 104
43 Haifeng Liu. A comparison between Gao kao and Keju. Higher education research, no.2 (2002): 39-42,41 44 Ibid.
45 In some provinces, the examination can take three days.
46 Shuijing Xu, Yao Long. The educational exclusion and value conflict on college entrance examination in
China. Modern Educational management, no.11 (2013): 20–25, 22
students and is made by each university every year.48 In the university admission
process, two fundamental rules can be regarded as the significant determinant of one’s way to higher education: the NCEE results and enrolment plans of the universities students apply to.49 As for the evaluation of the NCEE results, the
basic approach is to select from higher scores to the lower. As for the outline of the enrolment plan, student’s registered residence50 can be taken into account. In
fact, a specific provincial quota is set in higher education admission through the university’s enrolment plan, which means that students from different provinces are not offered equal opportunities. The higher institution, as the decision-maker in the admission process, has a clear quota for the enrolment of students from each province every year.51 Table 2 shows the enrolment plans of the two top
universities, Peking University and Fudan University, specified with the estimated enrolment number of students from eight major regions52 in 2013 (See
Table 2). The eight regions, according to their urbanization development levels, can be roughly divided into three groups: well-developed regions such as Beijing and Shanghai; medium-developed regions such as Guangdong, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei; underdeveloped regions such as Guangxi and Tibet.53
Table 2. The enrolment plans of Peking University and Fudan University in 2013
Province
University Beijing Shanghai Guangdong Shandong Henan Hubei Guangxi Tibet
Peking
University 248 37 26 54 60 44 16 6
Fudan
University 40 341 52 45 56 42 31 3
Total number 288 378 78 99 116 86 47 9
The enrolment plans of Peking University and Fudan University in the table present a geographical hierarchy in the NCEE admission. First of all, students from Beijing and Shanghai, i.e. well-developed and economic-thriving regions, are offered most places at the two universities. Secondly, provinces such as Guangdong, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei, are offered the second most opportunities by the two universities. Last but not least, the underdeveloped regions like Guangxi and Tibet get the least quota of places.
Furthermore, when taking a second look at this table, it is evident that Peking University offers far more places to students who are from Beijing, as does Fudan University to Shanghai students. The fact is that Peking University is located in Peking and Fudan University is located in Shanghai, which means that the provincial quota policy also takes the location of higher institutions into account. Economically thriving regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou
48 Ibid. 49 Ibid.
50 Based on the household registration system, one’s registered province is the provincial region of his
birthplace; according to the National Education Ministry of China, students are only allowed to participate in the NCEE in their registered provinces.
51 Shuijing Xu, Yao Long. The educational exclusion and value conflict on college entrance examination in
China. Modern Educational management, no.11 (2013): 20–25, 22
52 Beijing and Shanghai are two direct-administered municipalities, which are in the same administrative
level as provinces.
are also academically thriving areas and they have more higher education resources than other regions in China.54
To make it clear, the enrolment plans of the two universities here are just one example of the provincial quota policy in higher education admission in China. The universities, although having alternatives when making their plans, follow the fundamental rule of the provincial quota. To sum up, with the provincial quota policy, residents of highly urbanized areas and big metropolitan areas are privileged in regard to university admission, which leads to geographical discrimination in the selection system itself.55 In the long run, the higher
education admission in China has changed from the ascribed status to the NCEE, yet the divide remains with the implementation of the provincial quota.
1.2.2. It’s all relative – the “super high school” under the NCEE
Since seats at higher institutions are mostly granted to individuals from economically and academically thriving areas, students from other provinces have to compete with hundreds of people to be admitted to a university. In that case, their NCEE results seem to be the decisive factor for their success. In the big competition of the NCEE, a new high school type, commonly known as the “super high school” emerges. Like “ordinary” high schools, “super high schools” are institutions for students who have completed their primary and middle school education.56 Likewise, the “super high schools” offer the same period of education
(three years), they follow the national curriculum and require tuition fees from their students.57
On the other hand, what distinguishes a “super high school” from an “ordinary” high school is its super high grades, super many students, and super intensive schedules.58 To start with, the main goal of a “super high school” is to
achieve better results in the NCEE. Therefore its students have higher grades in their NCEE. Secondly, there are no specific requirements for entering such schools (i.e. no requirement for “non-agricultural household” status, higher grades from middle school, or recommendations from someone), which results in many enrolled students in “super high schools”. Thirdly, its managerial system follows a rather intensive schedule of students’ everyday activities, for instance, students need to be in the classroom for about 8-9 hours a day.59
In the study of Hanzu Tian, et al., the authors analysed how the “super high school” model was generated and how it evolved in the high school market of China and under the influence from Chinese culture. Firstly, although often used as an economic term, a market can be understood as a social structure where rights are exchanged with offers which are evaluated, priced, and set in
54 Shuijing Xu, Yao Long. The educational exclusion and value conflict on college entrance examination in
China. Modern Educational management, no.11 (2013): 20–25, 22
55 Shuijing Xu, Yao Long. The educational exclusion and value conflict on college entrance examination in
China. Modern Educational management, no.11 (2013): 20–25, 22
56 In general, primary school refers to the education period in one’s age of 7-12; Middle school refers to the
education period in one’s age of 13-15; high school refers to the education period in one’s age of 16-19.
57 Ying Gan, Junren Liu. Exploring the “super high school” pattern in terms of education equality. Education
exploration, no.2 (2015):6-9, 6
58 Hanzu Tian, et al. An institutional logic analysis of the phenomenon and evolution of “super high school”,
Education and economics, no.5 (2016): 3-11, 3
59 Ying Gan, Junren Liu. Exploring the “super high school” pattern in terms of education equality. Education
competition.60 In the high school market of China, the most critical element that
individuals as costumers prioritize in their school choices is the previous NCEE achievement of one school. The “super high schools” with records of better grades attract more students who can potentially increase their chances of achieving better results in the NCEE. In a long term, the scale of students enrolled in such schools can reach an exceeding number.61 Secondly, in most families, getting a
university diploma commonly becomes the top one request parents have for their children. The NCEE, therefore, turns out to be a must-do task and a must-well-do task. On the other hand, since the motto in school education has long been dominated by the Chinese philosophy of “great success always comes after tremendous sufferings”, encountering hardship seems to be seen as unavoidable for getting higher grades in the NCEE. Therefore, a “super high school” can become popular because of its intensive study schedules for students.
In some opinions, the “super high school” model has an overloaded duration and intensity, which can possibly frustrate ones’ creativity; on the other hand, supporters believe that the promotion of the “super high school” model can largely promote individuals’ NCEE.62 In all, due to the provincial quota of
university admission, the “super high schools” have been widely recognized as the school institutions where students can achieve better results in the NCEE and continue their further studies in universities. In other words, aiming to reach top grades in the exam, the “super high school” becomes the best-case for students who are generally at a disadvantage in the higher education selection.63
Individuals who can benefit from the provincial quota only represent very few percentages of the whole population of the NCEE participants, more generally, students regard their NCEE results as the most critical criterion for entering universities. In that case, the “super high school” can be the institution that most students choose to go and it is possible to see how students prepare for their NCEE by tracking their lives in a “super high school”.64 Moreover, since students
from both rural and urban backgrounds can be accepted by a “super high school”, it is possible to see the urban-rural divide in their preparations for the NCEE through this school model as well. On a large scale, the NCEE results have been significantly attached to the “super high school” model, in which it is possible to see the differentiation of students from urban and rural regions in their preparations for the NCEE.
60 Aspers Patrik. Markets. Cambridge: Polity, 2011, 82
61 Hanzu Tian, et al. An Institutional Logic Analysis of the Phenomenon and Evolution of “Super High
School”, Education and economics, no.5 (2016): 3-11, 7
62 Ibid. 4
63 Dongping Yang, Shuai Wang. The dilemma and solution of basic education governance through and
analysis of Hengshui High School model. Tsinghua Journal of education, 39, no. 4 (2018): 87-94, 92
2. Aim and research questions
The social structure of China has been largely influenced and shaped by the transformation of the national economic system during the last 40 years. The hierarchy is established where urban people often have higher incomes than rural residents.65 Classified by the household registration system, people who have
urban status, and are registered as “non-agricultural households”, own higher social status based on their occupations.66 In many ways, urban residents are
privileged and rural residents are underprivileged. Particularly regarding the higher education selection system, the gap can easily be found in the NCEE results of urban and rural students. It is often the case that urban students get higher grades than students with rural backgrounds.67 This study aims to explore
the divide of the NCEE results by analysing how urban students and rural students prepare for the exam during high school. Since a “super high school” is an institution for high school education and the pedagogic activities in a “super high school” can potentially result in the urban-rural divide, the study also focuses on students’ behaviours in a “super high school”. The following questions will guide this study:
• In terms of their educational resources and practices in high school, what are the differences between urban and rural students? Which resources can urban students/rural students draw on during high school? What educational practices have urban/rural students had during high school? What are the differences between the resources and practices of urban/rural students and how do the differences lead to the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results?
• In terms of their behaviours in a “super high school”, what are the differences between urban and rural students? What behaviours do urban/rural students have in the “super high school”? What are the differences between the behaviours of urban/rural students in a “super high school” and how do the differences lead to the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results?
• In terms of their attitudes towards the NCEE system, what are the differences between urban and rural students? What attitudes do urban/rural students have towards the NCEE system? What are the differences between the attitudes of urban/rural students towards the NCEE system and how do the differences lead to the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results?
65 The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A report of contemporary Chinese social classes. Peking: Social
science, 2002, 3
66 Ibid
67 Xiulan Yu. The rural and urban differentiation in Chinese education system. Peking: Educational
3. Previous research
By searching the keywords of the education division, education equality/inequality of China in Google Scholar, and CNKI68, I find the research
topics of education equality in higher education and the urban-rural divide in basic education are most presented in the field of education in Chinese academia. Most researchers made quantitative analyses of the issue of education division in China using cases of certain provinces, certain periods, or certain universities/schools. In this chapter, previous research on these two themes will be reviewed. Firstly, the higher education division in gender, social background and geography will be emphasized. Secondly, the urban-rural division in basic education will be highlighted in terms of school finances, school teachers and school facilities. Last but not least, a brief overview will be given to further illustrate the research gap in this area and the relation to this study.
3.1. The higher education division in gender, social
background and geography
Research on the division of higher education of China is mainly centered on three aspects: the divide in gender, the divide in social background, and the divide in geography. The gender divide of higher education is often embodied in male domination in total university enrolment, in education level, and in advantaged specialties.69 Song illustrated the numbers in university enrolment by gender in
1987-2002 and the ratio of different education levels between male and female students in 2000-2003, drawing the conclusion that although the percentage of females enrolled in higher education and further in postgraduate and doctoral stages was continually growing, the enrolment rate of males still remained higher.70 By comparing the specialty acceptance between females and males in
2013, Zhang et al. found out that males were more often accepted for taking majors in areas highly valued in the labour market instead of females.71 Looking
into the value and culture of China, Li attributed this phenomenon to gender prejudice against women.72
While studies of the gender divide focus on three aspects – the male domination in total university enrolment, in education level and in advantaged specialties – the division of higher education related to social background and geography is mainly emphasized in terms of university enrolment. In 2006, Xie and Wang investigated the social background of students from more than 50 universities by distributing over ten thousand questionnaires. They classified students’ social profiles based on A report of contemporary Chinese social
68 CNKI, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, is the largest academical source website of China. 69 Jiping Zhang, Xiaoping Ran, Boling Liu. A sociological analysis of the gender equality of the higher
education opportunity. Journal of China Three Gorges University, 37, no. 6 (2015): 109-115,109
70 Tao Song. Gender segregation of higher education opportunity in China. China youth study, no.6 (2006):
57-61, 58,59
71 Jiping Zhang, Xiaoping Ran, Boling Liu. A sociological analysis of the gender equality of the higher
education opportunity. Journal of China Three Gorges University, 37, no. 6 (2015): 109-115,110
72 Li Ling. An analysis of gender equality of the high education opportunity. Statistics and management,
classes73 from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.74 Analyzing the data, the
study showed that university enrolment of students was significantly influenced by their social status: students from lower and bottom classes were much less enrolled in universities than others. In extreme cases, students whose parents were self-business owners, had fourteen times higher chance to be enrolled than those from the bottom classes.75 By examining enrolled students from 16
universities in 1982, 1990, 2000 and 2010, Wang’s study in 2013 further demonstrated that the divide in social classes had decreased since 2000 after a mild increase in the late 20th century. Yet students from the dominated classes in general still had twice as many chances to be enrolled in universities than the average.76 Moreover, considering parents’ education level, Yang’s study of
enrolled university students in 2007 from 175 universities suggested that the higher education one’s parents had, the more the chances to access higher education increased.77
To a large extent, the division of higher education in geography is related to the regional gap. According to a survey research of Yang, the university enrollment rate of students from metropolitan areas such as Peking, Tianjian, and Shanghai was 4.5 times than that of students from densely populated provinces and less urbanized regions.78 Further classifying students by their
registered household (agricultural or non-agricultural), researches touched upon the division of higher education in urban and rural regions. For example, Liu concluded that in the total number of graduated university students in 2018, students from agricultural households accounted for less than 20%.79 By
examining the students from 51 universities in 2004-2005 and analyzing the data of students from Fujian province, Fan highlighted that the average scores of the NCEE results of rural students were 15.15 percent higher than those of urban students, which meant that in order to be accepted in the same university, rural students had to achieve higher grades in their NCEEs than urban students.80
3.2. The urban-rural divide of basic education
The divide of basic education in China can be greatly reflected in the gap between urban and rural regions. In general, researchers compare school finances, school teachers, and school facilities in different areas.81 Using the development of
primary schools in 2003-2006 as an example, Shen’s study comprehensively analyzed the urban-rural divide of basic education in these three perspectives. He
73 See Table 1.
74 Zuoxiang Xie, Weiyi Wang. The difference in higher education access opportunity of the children in
different strata in China in the context of the popularization of higher education. Journal of education studies 2, no.2 (2006): 65-74, 65
75 Ibid, 66,74
76 Weiyi Wang. Class differences on obtaining access to higher education – based on the survey in 16
universities from 1982 to 2010 in China. Journal of higher education 34, no.12 (2013): 35-44, 42
77 Qian Yang. social background distinction of higher education opportunity in China. Modern education
management, no.7 (2011): 22-24, 23
78 Jianghua Yang. The regional gap of access to China higher education and its change. Journal of higher
education 35, no. 12 (2014): 27-34, 33
79 Chang Liu. An introduction of the urban-rural distinction in higher education opportunity in China.
Journal of Yanan University 34, no.6 (2012): 121-125, 123
80 Mingcheng Fan. Research on the urban-rural difference in the chance of receiving higher education in
China. Education Science 24, no.1 (2008): 63-67, 63, 66
81 Youlu Shen. Research on fair allocation of basic education resources. Education research monthly, no.12
pointed out that firstly, rural primary schools often received far less financial support from the local government than urban primary schools; secondly, the gap of the number, education level and the professionality of teachers in rural and urban primary schools was increasing; and last but not least, the school constructions in rural areas were largely improved in those four years.82
While Shen’s research was based on basic education development at a national level, Yang and Jing’s case study of 192 schools in Heilongjiang province particularly paid attention to the use of multimedia, computer and internet in the school activities and they concluded that the new technology was more often used by teachers in urban schools.83 From that we can see that although the basic
facilities such as the constructions of rural schools are developed, the use of advanced equipment of rural schools may not be. In one way, the gap between school facilities is largely determined by the condition of school finances. According to Huang and Jiang’s analysis of school finances in basic education, there was an expenditure gap between urban and rural schools; rural schools used new technology to a lesser extent than urban schools, segregating them further.84
Additionally, it was suggested in their research that the largest portion of schools’ expenditure was teachers’ salaries. Without a good economy, rural schools often paid less to their teachers than urban schools do, resulting in less qualified teachers willing to work in rural regions. Likewise, a case study of Deng and Kong also demonstrated the gap between teacher’s destination and their attitudes towards rural and urban schools.85 By distributing questionnaires to teachers in
more than six districts of Jilin province, the authors found out that teachers often moved from underprivileged areas to privileged areas and from rural schools to urban schools. When investigating teacher’s attitudes towards the balance of urban and rural teachers, 91% thought there was a lack of teachers in rural schools, of which 23% believed the divide between urban and rural teachers greatly influenced the basic education in rural regions.86
In terms of higher education, the emphasis in researches is often on the gender, social status and regional divide within the context of higher education admission, higher education levels, and major choices; the divide in basic education, on the other hand, is generally symbolized by the urban-rural gap. To sum up, the urban-rural divide in education in China has long been investigated in higher education and basic education and the NCEE results are highlighted in studies on the urban-rural divide in university enrolment. Not often do researchers focus on basic education to investigate the gap found in the NCEE results between urban and rural regions. When searching on keywords related to the NCEE, equality and the divide in the NCEE results in CNKI, 312 papers are found. The common themes of these studies are the problematic aspects of the NCEE system, the disregarded NCEE results under the provincial quota policy
82 Ibid. 17, 18
83 Daoyu Yang, Tonghe Jiang. Unbalanced distribution of educational resources between town and country:
from the case of basic education in Heilongjiang province. Education and economy, no.1 (2011): 19-24, 19, 24
84 Shaoan Huang, Shuguang Jiang. Do we achieve the equalization of basic education in urban and rural
regions? Reformation and development of Chinese economy, no.7 (2013): 80-85, 81, 85
85 Tao Deng, Fanqin Kong. Some reflections on the teacher distribution in urban and rural areas – a case of
differentiations of urban and rural teaches in basic education level in Jilin province. Journal of Chinese society of education no.9 (2007): 34-41, 34
and how to change those situations.87 The results obtained in the NCEE, in one
way, are students’ credential to higher education; in another way, these results can be considered as the evaluation of their high school studies. Thus, this study probes into the urban-rural divide of the NCEE results in China in terms of basic education, focusing on how students prepare for their NCEEs in high school.
Moreover, as mentioned in chapter one, using the case of a class from a “super high school” where students with both non-agricultural household and agricultural household can be enrolled, the urban-rural divide in the NCEE results is reflected in the differentiation of not only students’ educational experiences in high school, but also their education practices as these are influenced by the “super high school” model. By doing a qualitative analysis of graduates from a class of a “super high school”, the educational practices of students themselves, as well as the approaches of the “super high school” can be highlighted. This case study, therefore, can contribute to the research area of the division of higher education admission in China with a focus on the differences of students in terms of their educational resources and practices in high school, their behaviours in a “super high school”, and their attitudes towards the NCEE system.
87 See relevant works from Shuijing Xu, Yao Long (2013), Haifeng Liu (2002,2010) and Xuesong Jiang, et
4. Theoretical frameworks
This study compares the urban and rural students in terms of their educational resources and practices in high school, their behaviours in a “super high school” and their attitudes towards the NCEE. To compare the educational resources and practices between students, it is necessary to understand their social background. The concept of capital is introduced because the different social background can be identified by different capital ownership among individuals. Meanwhile, as an educational system, the NCEE itself may lead to differences in practices between urban and rural students. In this way, it is important to discover how the NCEE affects one’s practices as well. Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic violence is highlighted to look into the NCEE as an educational system and how it affects the activities of the students. Last but not least, to understand students’ behaviours in a “super high school”, this school itself needs to be explained first. With reference to Erving Goffman’s theory of total institutions, schools can be counted as one type of total institution. Goffman’s concept will be introduced to analyze the influences on the differences between urban and rural students from a “super high school”.
4.1. The concept of capital
Capital is defined by Bourdieu in three principal forms: economic capital, cultural capital, and social capital. Economic capital is the total amount of economic resources that one possesses such as money and property.88 Based on their
economic capital, the resources that a high school family can offer their children can be materials such as better accommodations; and knowledge such as extra tutors.
Cultural capital is embodied in one’s tastes, skills, manners, knowledge, etc. it reflects the cultural dominant of individuals and clarifies them with other people. According to Bourdieu, cultural capital can be divided into three forms: the embodied form of knowledge and dispositions acquired from later upbringing and education over time such as table manners and languages; the objectified form of material goods and assets such as books; and the institutionalized form of credentials or qualifications that certifies and measures cultural capital itself such as university degrees.89 In this study, it is important to emphasize the
differences between urban and rural students by comparing their cultural capital in high school. Cultural capital is mainly used to analyse the different ways of learning English between the urban and rural students, in which both its’ embodied form such as students’ English knowledge acquired from their earlier English education and its’ objectified form such as English books they own are paid attention to.
Social capital is referred by Bourdieu mainly as the possession of social networks that can offer certain recognitions and acquaintances for individuals. It needs to be acquired and accumulated over time. Strategizing in investing social relationships, individuals have gradually established their social networks consciously or unconsciously which can be useful in a shorter or longer
88 Bourdieu, Pierre. The Forms of Capital. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of
Education, J. Richardson (Ed.) New York: Greenwood, 1986, 242
perspective.90 In the case of students in their high school, their social networks
may include their teachers, friends, and classmates. Regarding their NCEE performances, the social capital they utilized from their parents is analyzed to show the differences between the extra tutors that urban and rural students can get.
In terms of the high school students in China, the gap in their parents’ possessions of economic capital, social capital, and cultural capital can reflect the differences in their educational resources and practices. This way, the differences between urban and rural students in high school can be analysed.
4.2. Symbolic violence through the NCEE
Symbolic violence describes a kind of non-physical violence that emanates from symbolic power. Embedded in practices and actions of differentiated social groups, symbolic power maintains its effect through power relations in the social hierarchy between groups or classes; more specifically, the dominated group in the social formation imposes a dominating culture on the subordinated group through symbolic power.91 Hence, symbolic violence implies domination as well
as the imposition of a certain culture on the subordinated. In the field of education, Bourdieu specifies the term of symbolic violence for further illustration of how the educational system works. In general, symbolic violence embedded in the educational system works through the power of pedagogic authority, which “is objectively recognized as a legitimated authority, a power to exert symbolic violence which manifests itself in the form of a right to impose legitimately”.92 In this sense, the hierarchy within an educational system can be
structured through the symbolic effect and pedagogic effect produced by the symbolic power for which the imposition on a subordinated group is legitimated. At the same time, the culture imposed by the dominant within the institutionalized educational system is legitimated through symbolic violence. Furthermore, the power of symbolic violence exerted on the structure of an established educational system can contribute to reproducing the power relations, which comprises social reproduction through education.93
As a major educational evaluation, the NCEE can be considered as an embodiment of symbolic violence. Although this case study pays attention to the values and manners of students, aiming to achieve better performances in the NCEE, the differentiation between urban and rural students is possible to conceive in the perspective of symbolic violence operating within the NCEE system. The strategies and motivations of students for achieving the NCEE and the hierarchies between students from different regions in terms of results can be viewed as an effect of a symbolic power in relation to which the dominated and subordinated groups of students can be classified. In terms of the NCEE, the dominating group comprises students who reach higher scores. In contrast, weaker achievement in the examination is the most common for the subordinated group. From the relevant research on the educational distinction between urban
90 Ibid. 248
91 Bourdieu Pierre, Passeron Jean-Claude. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. London: Safe
Publications, 1990, 6
and rural students94 we know that urban students often have better schooling and
more higher education opportunities than rural students do. Therefore, the hypothesis can be made that rural students are often underprivileged in the NCEE competition, they are imposed legitimated culture through the effect of symbolic power within the NCEE system. The legitimated culture, which is embodied in students’ practices in high school and values of the NCEE, will be emphasized in chapter six.
4.3. A “super high school” as a total institution
Understanding the distinction among students of a high school class, the focus turns to the model of a “super high school” where students are able to interact with their teachers and even the school rules. In many ways, a “super high school” can be considered as a total institution. A total institution, according to Goffman, can be referred to as a working or living place for individuals who have been cut off from the wider society for a considerable period by means of an enclosed, formally administered life order. Usually, in a total institution, the number of residents or workers is significant and they are all connected.95 In general, the
total institutions in society can be roughly classified into five groups, no matter if they are a place to care for incapable people or an agency to pursue working tasks. They all break down the boundaries of ordinary life, separating the individuals’ three spheres of life (sleep, play, and work).96 For the inhabitants of a total
institution, their lives have four central characteristics: firstly, all of their activities are conducted in the same place and by the same authority; secondly, they are treated alike and asked to do the same things with each other, of which their daily activities are carried out together; thirdly, the phases of their daily activities are tightly scheduled under the supervision of rules and officials; last but not least, all the activities that they are involved in follow a rational plan to achieve the goals of the institution.97
In a total institution, there are two different characters: the inmates and the supervisory staff. The inmates usually live in the institution and have restrictions relating to contact with the outside world, while the staff can easily reach the society outside.98 For the inmates, they usually need to go through a mortification
process after they enter the institution. Individuals’ appearances, the services, and equipment they have maintained from the outside world will be stripped, so that their identities can be shaped and their self-expression changed.99 However,
even losing the attachment of their civilian selves, the inmates are able to reorganize themselves by receiving instructions from a so-called privilege system. The privilege system includes a formal and explicit requirement for inmates’ conduct as well as clearly outlined rewards and punishments, of which the privileges that inmates can have seem to be common for normal outside civilians.100 For example, if inmates make certain actions, they may be permitted
to drink coffee or watch TV. Under the total control and supervision inside the
94 See Chapter Three for relevant researches.
95 Erving Goffman. Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. Anchor
institution, the inmates develop their own strategies, such as to “withdraw”, “colonization” and “conversion”, to fight for their privileges.101
To conclude, even they are under the condition of being modified, the inmates can still obtain their demands through the profitable offers of the total institution as much as possible. As for staff, Goffman points out, their work does not only have to deal with people in general, but also considering people as objects and products. In as far as staff think inmates are human beings, they need to keep the human culture in mind; on the other side, it is important for them to follow a special standard to treat the inmates, who in this sense, are regarded as semi-products in a factory.102 As employees, the staff in a total institution are obligated
to mediate the conflict between human standards and institutional efficiency, for achieving the goals of the institution. In a “super high school”, the schedules and activities of students are supervised and organized to achieve better results in the NCEE. Therefore, it can be seen as a total institution, along with the different behaviours of students in the “super high school” as a total institution.
