International Schools

A Good with Special Value for Chinese Middle Class

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220105.177How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Chinese international school; Chinese middle class; international education; education commercialization

Abstract

In recent years, the international school market in China is developing prosperously. Most families choose international schools as a means to achieve future overseas study. At the same time, more and more middle-class families consider providing international education for their children. International schools become more and more popular among middle-class families. To understand this phenomenon, this review essay analyses the social function of international schools for Chinese middle class and the commercialization of the international schools in China. This paper argues that Chinese middle class utilize international school as a shortcut to attain higher education and maintain their social status. International schools also serve as a status signifier for emerging middle class that can be brought through capitals. Recently, international schools and the education in China in general is becoming a commodity rather than a social good. In the context of extensive competition in traditional Chinese education system, such as Gaokao and Zhongkao, the increasing of education commercialization further exacerbates the competition and education stratification. The international schools act as an alternative to traditional ones, but not as a solution to the problem of intensive competition and existing inequality in Chinese education system. This paper emphasizes this problem and calls on future study to provide valuable insights and solutions.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ruiqi Cao
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/01/17
TI  - International Schools
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 962
EP  - 967
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220105.177
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220105.177
ID  - Cao2022
ER  -