Educational Decentralization:A Literature Review of Controversies of Chinese-English Bilingual Education in Mainland China

Abstract

At present,educational decentralization has become a global phenomenon,which is different in forms leading to various results in different socio-economic contexts.“Driven by resource scarcity”,China first ignited the educational decentralization as early as in 1985 by the central government and strengthened it in 1993 so as to relate education with economic reform so that it can promote the effi cacy of school management.Since then,educational decentralization has become an important policy of educational reform in China.different scholars express different stances toward Chinese-English bilingual education under the policy of educational decentralization.Some think educational decentralization is widely recognized as a way of strengthening the professionalism of teachers while others critique the conduct of bringing market values into education.From all these views,it can be concluded that all the implementations of bilingual education are double-edged and need critical examination.
The literature review will be outlined in four parts.In the first part,it will present some background information about educational decentralization and bilingual education in mainland China.The second part will discuss some viewpoints about the contributions and challenges in the process of conducting bilingual education.The third part will make a reflection on the challenges as mentioned above and draw some pedagogical implications of implementing Chinese-English bilingual education in mainland China under the policy of educational decentralization.The fourth part is the conclusion part which reviews the issues discussed in the paper and highlights some insights and implications.