System (High-end Access to University Issues)

Author: Xiong Bingqi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Mr. Xiong Bingqi's book, along with his previous monograph Problems in Higher Education, has given a clear yet confusing account of our university education. It is clear because it compiles and lists almost every aspect of current university problems, resembling an "encyclopedia." It provides detailed accounts and critiques of the various shortcomings, misconducts, ugly behaviors, and strange phenomena familiar to faculty and students in universities. The "University Interest Structure Chart" at the beginning of the book is a precious resource for contemporary educational research. It is confusing, however, because while the book presents symptoms and solutions for university education, the most crucial issues remain unresolved and suspended—Who caused all this? Who is willing to defend it? Who takes responsibility? And ultimately, who can change the situation? Yet, the problems may truly be unsolvable, only suspended: within the education "system" that the author repeatedly mentions, there is no "human element." Even when the content nearly targets specific "people," the focus automatically blurs and shifts away, returning to the panoramic education "system." The System's Wall—High-Level Interviews on University Problems is divided into five chapters, adopting a narrative commentary, dialogue excerpts, and supplementary materials to conduct a three-dimensional analysis of the severe systemic and institutional flaws in university operations: Supremacy of Power, a Bureaucratic Educational Mechanism; Administrative Orientation, a Hierarchy-Ridden Academic Environment; Profit Motive, an Integrity Crisis Challenging Moral Boundaries; Supremacy of Scores, a Mindset That Destroys Education at All Levels; Formalism, a Pathological Reform That Is Like a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Industry insiders believe that together with Problems in Higher Education, The System's Wall and Problems in Higher Education can be considered the "encyclopedia of university problems in China."