Governance and Citizenship in Asia Shuqin Xu School Leadership, Citizenship Education and Politics in China Experiences from Junior Secondary Schools in Shanghai Governance and Citizenship in Asia Series editors Kerry J Kennedy, Centre for Governance and Citizenship, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Yan Wing Leung, Centre for Governance and Citizenship, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Sonny Shiu Hing Lo, Centre for Governance and Citizenship, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Aims and Scope This series explores how citizenship is shaped by social, political, cultural and historical contexts and how it may be moulded to serve the nation state in the age of globalization. In these publications we see how governance relates to all aspects of civic life, including politics, public policy, administration, civil society and the economy, as well as the core values of society. Titles cover themes including public trust and trust building, the role of civil society, citizens’ rights and obligations, citizenship identities including those related to gen- der, class and ethnicities. Authors explore how young people are shaped by demo- cratic and traditional value systems and the importance of citizenship challenges in the Asia Pacific region. Research collaborations in this interdisciplinary series probe questions such as: What are the links between ‘good governance’ and new forms of citizenship? What is the role of citizenship education as a tool in state formation and the development of active citizenship cultures? How do we explain the distinctive features of governance and citizenship in Asian societies? Through these publications we see that citizenship is an integral part of ‘good governance’ and that such governance ultimately enriches citizenship. Scholarly investigation and academic dialogue in this series describe the interdependence and mutuality of governance and citizenship. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11911 Shuqin Xu School Leadership, Citizenship Education and Politics in China Experiences from Junior Secondary Schools in Shanghai 1 3 Shuqin Xu School of Government Sun Yat-Sen University Guangzhou Guangdong China ISSN 2365-6255 ISSN 2365-6263 (electronic) Governance and Citizenship in Asia ISBN 978-981-10-1641-7 ISBN 978-981-10-1643-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1643-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944326 © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. Foreword Across the globe, education is recognized as a means of social justice; social jus- tice in and through schooling is minimally about enabling all students to realize their full potential through equal access to the social and cultural capital which schools offer. Citizenship education, both through the academic curriculum and through extracurricular activities, has a key role to play in enabling social jus- tice and inclusion and in preparing youth for living together. In the early twenty- first century, we have witnessed growing interest in citizenship education in diverse contexts (Osler and Starkey 2006; Reid et al. 2009), in schools established democracies, emerging democracies, and authoritarian states. As this book con- firms, competing perspectives on citizenship education have sometimes empha- sized it as a moral endeavor and at other times as a political endeavor (Osler 2016 in press). The processes of globalization mean that citizenship education has, in differ- ent contexts and to different degrees, increasingly sought to prepare young people not simply for national citizenship but for social and political efficacy at differ- ent scales from the local to the global. This demands a cosmopolitan perspective (Nussbaum 2002) and it is what I have characterized as “education for cosmopoli- tan citizenship” (Osler and Starkey 2003, 2005; Osler 2016). Yet human mobil- ity, as well as highlighting existing diversity, creates societies characterized by increased diversity, and frequently also by increased inequality. As Castles (in press) notes: “Human mobility is an integral part of globalization” and this mobil- ity it is also supported by the social, cultural, and technical conditions of globali- zation. At the same time, as all regions of the world seek to address the challenges posed by international population movements, many nation-states also encounter the challenges of significant internal migration. In China, for example, the “float- ing population” of people moving from the agricultural central and western prov- inces to the newly industrialized east coast was estimated a decade ago to be as at least 100 million, with many internal migrants experiencing legal disadvantage and economic marginalization not unlike that faced by international migrants (Skeldon 2006). The impact of demographic change and consequent social challenges are felt at schools and by teachers on an everyday basis, demanding v vi Foreword creative leadership and innovative solutions. For these reasons, this book, address- ing leadership, citizenship education, and politics, is both timely and valuable to a global audience of scholars. One of the most important and original contributions of this book is its close analysis of the dual-lined leadership in China’s schools, which, as Shuqin Xu observes, is an area of school leadership research that has hitherto been neglected. As Xu explains, this dual leadership has existed since the 1949 founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with each school led by both a school prin- cipal and by a school party secretary (SPS). The SPS is assigned by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to conduct political work and lead citizenship education. The school principal also has responsibilities for citizenship education with the curriculum. By studying the leadership and implementation of citizenship education at school level, Xu offers us in-depth insights into the micro-politics of school leadership and new perspectives on potential tensions between understand- ings of citizenship education as a moral or life skills project on the one hand, and citizenship education as a political project on the other. With her careful analysis and clear examples, Xu also reveals something of the external school politics which school principals in Shanghai must negotiate in their attempts to recruit the highest attaining students; respond to the bureau- cratic demands of school inspection; manage the local CPC leadership and power- ful interest groups; and respond to parents, many of whom hope to influence the attainment and future career path of their child through offering hospitality and gifts. This engaging and insightful book provides both school leadership research- ers and citizenship education scholars with valuable detail on the ways in which education for citizenship is constructed, power consolidated, and school reputa- tions established. Xu is keenly aware of her international audience and the book provides valuable contextual data on China’s twentieth century political and his- torical development. It shows how school leaders perceive their professional roles; engage in processes of negotiation; make compromises; and work on behalf of their teachers and students. It presents leaders’ views of what school leadership looks like “on the ground” and how principals are viewed by SPSs and vice versa. Given the senior position of the principal and author’s assessment that in the com- petition for power, principals usually prevail over SPSs, one interesting insight from school leaders, reflecting prevailing gender relations, is that the relationship between the two parties appears to work best, according to some, when the role of principal is held by a man, and that of SPS, by a woman, rather than vice versa. This book is timely and noteworthy, since China’s engagement in the world economy is placing pressure on educational institutions and actors to respond to changing societal and economic needs. Effectively, globalization has significantly challenged conceptions of education for citizenship which emphasize patriotic pride as a sole or primary goal. Xu provides a dynamic example of the different and often contradictory ways in which local and national political and