A Comparison of the Textbook Systems in Junior High Schools between Taiwan and Mainland China

• Main Authors: He,Tai-Sheng, 何泰昇
• Other Authors: Lin,Hsin-Fa
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/36304155031551733163

博士 === 國立臺北教育大學 === 教育經營與管理學系 === 104 === A Comparison of the Textbook Systems in Junior High Schools between Taiwan and Mainland China Abstract This doctoral dissertation aims at making a comparison between the textbook systems in junior high schools Taiwan and mainland China. The developments of textbook policies on both sides are first examined to find out the contents and problems in both textbook systems and analyze their similarities and differences, so that they can serve as a reference for the textbook system of junior high schools in Taiwan. This study collects literature and references across the Strait, especially the theses and dissertations on both sides, and employs the comparative education research approach. By doing so, generalization and mindless quotation colored by personal ideology and nation-centrism can be avoided. The research method of comparative research is to avoid personal ideology and ethnocentrism, piecemeal and blindly transplanting references. The results of the present study are as follows: A. Compilation of textbooks system (across the Strait): 1. On both sides, textbooks are compiled on the basis of curriculum guidelines. 2. Both public and private institutions engage in the compilation of textbooks in mainland China, while in Taiwan only private institutions do so. 3. The compiling of textbooks in mainland China requires censorship and approval, whereas in Taiwan the compilation does not involve them. 4. The compilation and research of textbooks on both sides do not involve large amounts of funding. 5. Research institutions for textbook compilation are scarce on both sides. 6. There is a problem of bad transitions in the compilation of textbooks on both sides. 7. Compiling teams in private institutions on both sides are organized temporarily and are not sufficiently staffed by professionals. 8. The quality of compiled textbooks on both sides leaves a lot to be desired. 9. Impacted by entrance examinations, teachers in Taiwan have to prepare their own supplementary materials or teaching materials, and often do not put the ideas in the textbooks into practice. The contents in the textbooks in mainland China, on the other hand, are determined by entrance exams and thus serve as a means to pass exams. B. Censoring of textbook system (across the Strait): 1. An censoring system is employed on both sides, and approval institutions are set up as well, but in mainland China, the approval institutions involve two-ranked and endowed with government power to manage and control. 2. The censoring committees on both sides select their members differently. In mainland China, members are selected from an information base and it is thus fairer. 3. The number of teachers in the textbook censoring committee in mainland China is smaller than that in Taiwan. 4. The bar in mainland China is higher as only textbooks that have been through the trial teaching and experiment procedure can be eligible to approval; in Taiwan, there doesn’t have to be an experiment procedure, and hence textbooks are prone to mistakes and lacking in applicability. 5. In Taiwan, there are more detailed guidelines on the entries and bounds of the textbooks, and there are supervision mechanisms. 6. The textbook censoring procedure in Taiwan is more democratic and open, the approval decisions are less strict and more transparent. 7. There are problems resulting from the lack of precision and clarity in the textbook censoring criteria on both sides. 8. There is, to different degrees, a problem of bad communication in textbook censoring on both sides. 9.The number of teachers in the censoring committee in mainland China is smaller, and there is a lack of civil participation and transparency. In Taiwan, by contrast, there are more teacher representatives in the censoring committee, and the censoring l procedure is more transparent, fair and open. 10. Accountability is not yet part of the textbook system in mainland China, and there are no laws to monitor and supervise textbooks. 11. In the censoring process between Taiwan and mainland China has not established a channel of appeal and expressly accepting institutions, there are no institutions for editors to appeal to. C. Publication and issuing of textbooks system (across the Strait) : 1. Textbooks in Taiwan are published by private institutions, while those in mainland China are published by government agencies. 2. The issuing of textbooks in Taiwan is open to market competition, using bargaining to lower the prices; the publication of textbooks in mainland China involves bidding, thereby contributing to local protectionism. 3.Taiwan and Mainland China issuing processes both have problem of unfair competition. 4. Interferences with free market competition and infringements on laws may arise from the publication of textbooks on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. 5. In Taiwan, there is a growing trend in the concentration of the textbook market, and textbook versions tend to be assimilated. In mainland China, there is a compulsory renting of copyright for the writers of the textbooks. D. Selection of textbooks system (across the Strait)： 1. On both sides, textbooks are selected after they are approved, and in the selection process, the textbooks themselves are closely examined, with some variations. Taiwan and mainland China advocate the textbooks selection process to absorb multivariate opinions. 2. There are variations in the fairness and openness in the selection criteria on both sides. 3. The selection of textbooks are administered by the school authorities but implemented by teachers, combining selection and actual use. In mainland China, education institutions in the local governments are in charge of the selection of textbooks. The government agencies in each province are responsible for the selection procedure, thereby making it easier to manage and administer. 4. The selection procedure in Taiwan is formulated by schools, and the procedure is open and transparent; in mainland China, it is formulated by education and administration agencies, making it complicated, varied and not open. 5. There are variations in the openness in textbook policies across the Strait, thus causing variations in flexibility and freedom during the selection. 6. In mainland China, there is a stricter supervision mechanism for the selection of textbooks. 7. Examples of infringement and unfairness can be found in both selection procedures. There had involved illegal means about textbooks selection process. 8. There is a problem of lack of participation for interested parties and lack of transparency in the selection procedure across the Strait. And textbook selection processes of the Taiwan and mainland China have problems of underrepresented stakeholders and lack of transparency. 9. Unexpected problems such as increasing academic pressure and economic burden arise from the different versions for one guideline. The selection in mainland China, on the other hand, is deeply affected by exams. 10. Transition difficulties arise for transfer students or students in different school years as a result of the different versions with one guideline. E. Using of textbooks system (across the Strait) : 1. In Taiwan, government agencies and schools in counties and cities are in charge of the bargaining of the prices of textbooks on a rotating basis. In mainland China, the prices of textbooks are approved by administration agencies, and then local governments will determine the prices at which to buy the textbooks through bidding. 2. On either side of the Strait, free textbooks are not provides on a national scale. Free textbooks are offered in some regions or in some special cases. 3. Though reuse of textbooks is advocated across the Strait, there is still a long way to go before it is effectively implemented. 4. The valuation and bargaining in Taiwan cannot effectively lower the prices; in mainland China, the regulated prices of textbooks affect the reuse of textbooks. Fixed prices by the government is a violation of market rules. F. Evaluation of textbooks system (across the Strait) : 1. There is no well-rounded evaluation procedure on either side of the Strait. The textbooks evaluation system of Taiwan and mainland China planning are not enough perfect. 2. Examples of textbook evaluation are few and far between, and therefore lack wholeness and are not systematic; textbook evaluation in mainland China is featured by a lack of differentiation between selection and evaluation, with those in charge of selection also in charge of evaluation. 3. There is no evaluation mechanism for textbooks in Taiwan, thus affecting the quality of textbooks. With no evaluation mechanism in mainland China, no reference for the selection of textbooks is available. On the basis of the above conclusions, offers a few suggestions on the textbook system in Taiwan and future research. Key Words:Textbooks; Textbook System; Textbook policy