The school wall crumbles: Pollution, townization, and the changing ecology of rural schooling in northwest China

My dissertation is an ethnography on how rural Chinese students perceive their schooling and surrounding society in the larger context of rural "townization" and how such perceptions alter students' understandings of the value of school, their engagement in school, their educational and career aspirations, and life expectation. In particular, my dissertation study reveals the impact of social, economic, and demographic change on the "ecology of rural schooling", when "pollution" has become a powerful metaphor among students for widespread anxiety about the corruption of rural society. Rural youth became critical and even cynical about their society, especially at the township and county level, when they share with each other their concerns about the pollution of the countryside due to industrialization, and the corruption in the community and the larger society linked to recent socio-economic reforms and development. Schooling, media, and migration expand students' imagination, especially regarding "the city", which rural youth tend to romanticize as that is where their hope and future lies. Schooling is usually "a ticket to board on a train to the city". Yet, such belief in education is no longer as firm as before, as recent education policies de facto diminish rural youth's prospects to move upward through education. Besides, school has turned into "a big prison" for many students, due to heavy academic pressures and safety concerns. Thus, many rural students drop out at a very earlier stage of the compulsory schooling. As a result, the school wall crumbles: the boundaries between chaotic society and school are no longer as clear; students face many ambiguities and are confused about what they should do and be; and rural youths' faith in schooling is being called into question. My study fills a significant gap in the literature on contemporary rural schooling by providing an alternative to the dominant developmentalist paradigm that treats school as a black box, focusing almost entirely on access and attainment rates, and therefore neglecting the differential experiences of rural children. It enriches studies about rural China and rural youth in particular and provides recommendations for policy makers.