From Public To Private: A Study Of Rural School Selection Under The Restriction Of Structural Factors

With the promulgation and implementation of the new "private education promotion law" and its implementation regulations,the development of private education in China has entered a new stage.Rural private education,as an important part of private education,has been developing rapidly in recent years.More and more rural students choose to transfer from public schools to private schools.In the context of the implementation of the free compulsory education policy,the students give up the free public schools and go to private schools that require tuition fees.This school choice reflects the special educational needs of rural students and their families.This study aims at the phenomenon of school choice from public schools to private schools in rural areas,through field research on rural private schools,combined with relevant sociological theories to analyze the deep structural factors of this phenomenon,and analyze the rational choice of school choice subject under the restriction of structural factors.The phenomenon of school choice from public schools to private schools in rural areas is closely related to the influence of social structural factors.On the one hand,the unbalanced development between the county education has led to the phenomenon that students from other counties and cities have to "vote with their feet" and go to high-quality private schools across the county.The backward situation of rural education under the dual structure of urban and rural areas makes students in rural schools flee in succession.Under the background of urbanization development in the county,the environment of large classes in urban schools also makes some students turn around and enter private schools.On the other hand,with the China's urbanization,millions of rural labor force flow to developed areas,and the traditional family structure in rural areas has been changed.A large number of "left-behind children" and "children of divorced families" face the dilemma of having nowhere to go,and private schools providing boarding services become their temporary "home".Social structure deeply influences and restricts individual destiny and choice.As an active "rational person",the subject of school choice faces the restriction of structure not only passively,but tries to break free from the constraint of structure rules through the action of school choice.On the one hand,due to the thirst for high-quality educational resources,the school selection behavior occurred between counties,between urban and rural areas and between urban schools.Parents weremore motivated by the pursuit of maximization of cultural benefits,while the accumulation of family economic capital and social capital provided resources guarantee for resistance.On the other hand,parents of left-behind children and children from divorced families make the decision of choosing schools out of consideration of economic and safety benefits.Seeking the scheme to maximize the comprehensive benefit of children and families under the structure network reflects the individual's active consciousness and rational thinking.The phenomenon of school choice in rural areas from public to private is the result of the combination of social structure and individual choice.Individual school choice behaviors under structural constraints,affecting the re-growth of the structure,resulted in the occurrence of unintended consequences.The problem of "hollow school" is serious because of the escape of students from rural schools.The competition of school selection aiming at entering urban schools leads to the prominent phenomenon of large class quota.The "bottom-line" or "merit-based" strategy of accepting students in two types of private schools in urban areas risks further exacerbating educational inequality.A series of problems caused by the phenomenon of school choice in rural areas deserve the high attention of the government,which will profoundly affect the new round of reform and evolution of county education ecology.