Problems Faced in Reforms for the Modernization of School Governance and Causes Thereof

Abstract

School governance is a topic of general interest worldwide in educational research, and in recent years, it has also drawn widespread attention in China. In order to examine the problems faced in the process of promoting the modernization of school governance at Chinese primary and secondary schools, we conducted interviews with different stakeholders such as experts, principals, teachers, and parents, and as a result, we found that the problems currently in urgent need of attention are concentratively reflected in the areas of pluralistic co-governance and accountability, specifically including: A low degree of and few channels for teachers’ participation in school governance; shallowing and superficializing of parents’ participation in school governance; no establishment of checks and balances and accountability mechanisms in the internal operation of power. The causes producing the problems are complex and multifarious, including both causes in the area of social psychology and causes in the area of school leadership styles. Recommendations addressing the problems and their causes are provided at the end of the paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Accountability
• modernization of school governance
• pluralistic co-governance
• primary and secondary schools

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article is a research result funded by the special funds of “XIEYing Plan” basic education reform pilot project of the Basic Education Development Management Department of Beijing Normal University.

Notes on contributors

Decheng Zhao

Decheng Zhao is a Professor at the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University.

Yao Zhou

Yao Zhou is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University.

Meng Wang

Meng Wang is a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University.