Competition and compassion in Chinese secondary education

203 Pages·2015·6.298 MB·English

by  Zhao, Xu

Competition and
Compassion in
Chinese Secondary
Education
XU ZHAO
Palgrave Studies on
Chinese Education in a
Global Perspective
Competition and Compassion in Chinese Secondary Education
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective
Series Editors:
Xiangyun Du , Confucius Institute for Learning and Development, Aalborg University,
Denmark
Fred Dervin , University of Helsinki, Finland
Titles include:
Fred Dervin (e ditor )
CHINESE EDUCATIONAL MIGRATION AND STUDENT-TEACHER MOBILITIES
Experiencing Otherness
Anni Kajanus
CHINESE STUDENT MIGRATION, GENDER AND FAMILY
Lihong Wang
CHINESE STUDENTS, LEARNING CULTURES AND OVERSEAS STUDY
Xu Zhao
COMPETITION AND COMPASSION IN CHINESE SECONDARY EDUCATION
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective
Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–137–40693–4 Hardback
ISBN 978–1–137–40695–8 Paperback
( outside North America only )
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order.
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Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Competition and Compassion
in Chinese Secondary
Education
Xu Zhao
COMPETITION AND COMPASSION IN CHINESE SECONDARY EDUCATION
Copyright © Xu Zhao, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-47940-2
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-55675-5 ISBN 978-1-137-47941-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-47941-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zhao, Xu, 1970 June 30–
Competition and compassion in Chinese secondary education /
by Xu Zhao.
pages cm.—(Palgrave studies on Chinese education in a global
perspective)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Education, Secondary—Social aspects—China. 2. Academic
achievement—Social aspects—China. 3. Educational psychology—China.
4. Competition (Psychology) I. Title.
LA1132.Z43 2015
370.951—dc23 2015012892
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: October 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents

Contents
List of Tables ix
Foreword xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction: Th e Stressed and Lonely Chinese Teens 1
Part I
1 Promoting Competition: A Dramatic Shift of Discourse 17
2 Reducing Competition: Th e Cat and Mouse Game 33
3 Th e Friendship Dilemma: Competition and Emotional Isolation 51
4 “What’s Your Friend’s Ranking Position?”
Parental Peer-Related Beliefs and Practices 73
Part II
5 Th e Ratty Shoe Case: Friendship and Compassion 97
With Robert L. Selman
6 Adolescents’ Perspectives on China’s Social Problems 117
With Robert L. Selman and Helen Haste
7 Can Education Be Both Competitive and Compassionate? 139
With Robert L. Selman
Appendix on Methodology 151
Notes on Contributors 165
Notes 167
References 173
Index 189

Tables
2.1 Participating schools and students in the 2008 study 39
3.1 Examples and coding of adolescents’ responses to
Da Ming’s dilemma (N=20) 56
4.1 Demographic information of six mothers 76
5.1 Participating schools and students in the 2011 study 101
5.2 Justifi cations associated with standing up or being a bystander 108
6.1 Civic narratives, perspectives on social problems,
and views of civic protest 137
A.1 Codebook for thematic analysis of journal articles
on competition 153