Educating Competitive Students for a Competitive Nation - Why and How Has the Chinese Discourse of Competition in Education Rapidly Changed Within Three Decades

Oct 15, 2026

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In the late 1980s, Chinese government reforms promoted competition between schools and among students, but by the late 1990s policy shifted toward regulating and reducing competition in primary and secondary education. The article asks why such a rapid swing occurred and what rationale guided the change. Using textual analysis of 101 educator commentary articles (1986–2014), it identifies two competing views of educational competition, one dominant across 28 years, and traces how perceptions changed over time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

From Promoting Competition to Reducing Competition: Educational Reforms since the Mid-1980s

Methods and Article Selection

Two Views of Competition in Educator Commentary

Changes in Perceptions of Competition

Perceived Problems in Chinese Education

Policy Solution Proposals

Classroom Strategy Suggestions

Social Basis of the Dominant Discourse

UC Berkeley Berkeley Review of Education Title Educating Competitive Students for a Competitive Nation: Why and How Has the Chinese Discourse of Competition in Education Rapidly Changed Within Three Decades? Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5xh077w9](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5xh077w9) Journal Berkeley Review of Education, 6(1) ISSN 1947-5578 Author Zhao, Xu Publication Date 2016-01-01 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Available online at [http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre](http://escholarship.org/uc/ucbgse_bre) Educating Competitive Students for a Competitive Nation: Why and How Has the Chinese Discourse of Competition in Education Rapidly Changed Within Three Decades? Xu Zhao 1 University of Calgary, Canada Abstract In the late 1980s, the Chinese government instituted massive educational reforms to promote competition between schools and between students. By the late 1990s, however, educational reforms shifted to regulating and reducing competition in primary and secondary education. Why did a rapid policy swing occur? What was the rationale for the policy change? This article examines the Chinese discourse of competition in education by presenting a textual analysis of 101 commentary articles published by Chinese educators between 1986 and 2014. It reports two different views of competition among Chinese educators, one of which strongly prevailed throughout the 28 years. It also documents historical change in the authors’perceptions of competition: in the late 1980s, as a powerful solution to the educational and social problems facing China, and, by the late 1990s, as a major educational problem itself. Keywords: competition, educational reform, Chinese education, discourse analysis, neoliberalism, history of Chinese education From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the Chinese central government initiated massive educational reforms to make schools more efficient and responsive to economic development. A major goal of the reforms was to introduce competition mechanisms (jingcheng jizhi) into secondary education and promote competition consciousness (jingzheng yishi) among teachers and students. By the late 1990s, however, education reforms in China shifted to regulating and reducing competition between schools and between students, and this emphasis continues today. What was the rationale for such a rapid shift in policy? How had Chinese educators and policymakers reconceptualized the role of competition in education during this period of time? These questions are critical for understanding the past, present, and future of education reform in China. They are also integral to understanding how global economic competition impacts education and youth development in diverse contexts. 1 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Xu Zhao, EDT 646, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada. Email: [xuz930@mail.harvard.edu. A version](xuz930@mail.harvard.edu. A version) of this article was previously published in Zhao, X. (2015) . Competition and compassion in Chinese secondary schools. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Berkeley Review of Education Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 5–27 6 Zhao In this article, I analyze the development of educational discourses in China in the past three decades to demonstrate how global economic competition induces national ideological and institutional changes in education, which in turn profoundly influences the developmental context of school-aged youth. I present a thematic analysis of 101 commentary articles published by Chinese educators between 1986 and 2014. Through my analysis, I reveal two views of competition among Chinese educators, one of which strongly prevailed throughout the 28 years. I also illustrate shifts over time in the authors’perceptions of competition in education: in the 1980s, as a powerful sol

FAQs

What policy shift does the article examine in Chinese education?

It examines the shift from promoting competition between schools and students in the late 1980s to regulating and reducing competition by the late 1990s.

How does the author study Chinese discourse of competition?

Through textual analysis of 101 commentary articles published by Chinese educators between 1986 and 2014.

What major finding about views of competition is reported?

The article reports two views among Chinese educators and shows that one view strongly prevailed throughout the 28-year period, alongside historical changes in educators’ perceptions.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Ben