A Study On The U.S.’s Promotion Of Educational Influence From The Perspective Of Public Diplomacy

The deepening of the globalization process,the increasingly obvious trend of "multipolarization",and the increasing awakening of national national consciousness have fundamentally changed the traditional paradigm of public diplomacy,making national image and influence an important issue in international relations.The transnational exchange and cooperation of education put forward new requirements.The influence of education is rooted in the quality of the country’s education itself,and it is displayed through appropriate channels and methods.It is an important part of the country’s soft power.The United States officially entered the field of international education as early as1946.With continuous adjustments in policy and continuous attempts in practice,the United States has accumulated a wealth of human management and organizational operation systems in enhancing the influence of education.Its enlightening experience is worthy of reference for our country.The thesis takes the United States Agency for International Development(USAID)’s educational assistance to Africa as the object of analysis,and uses the literature analysis method,historical research method,case analysis method and comparative method on the value concept and practice of the United States Agency for International Development’s non-education assistance project Research on measures and effects,operating mechanisms,etc.,with a view to providing constructive suggestions for enhancing the influence of education in my country.There are five parts in the full text.The first part explores the connotation and extension of the international influence of education,analyzes the value of the international influence of education in politics,economy,culture and national security,and constructs the representational framework of educational influence from the theoretical level.The second part discusses the policy evolution process of the United States to enhance its educational international influence from the main point of view.It is divided into four stages: The first is from the 1940 s to the 1960 s,with post-war reconstruction and the US-Soviet struggle for hegemony as the background.The second is the period of meeting basic human needs against the background of economic crisis and the “baby boom” from the 1960 s to the 1980s;the third is the period from the 1980 s to the end of the 20 th century that emphasized the possibility of The stage of sustainable development;the fourth is the stage of highlighting the overall national interests in the context of globalization after the 21 st century.From an objective perspective,the current situation of education development in Africa is combed.African countries are facing a huge number of out-of-school populations,low quality of education at all levels and types of education,serious shortage of education funds,and uneven educational opportunities for special groups.The third part combs the realistic background of educational development in Africa from the objective perspective,and then lists the representative projects of the USAID for education assistance and their specific impacts.Among them,USAID’s assistance to non-basic education focuses on strengthening basic subjects and ability training in Africa,assistance to higher education focuses on management and high-end talents,and assistance to vocational education focuses on cultivating the life and employment skills of African youths,assistance to social education focuses on actively guarantee the education opportunities of disadvantaged groups such as the disabled and women,and provide alternative education and health education for students in conflict and crisis environments.From the perspective of input and output,it presents the overall funding input of the USAID for education assistance to Africa.Based on this analysis,it is concluded that for a single education recipient country,USAID adopts a top-down approach.For the entire African region,USAID has adopted a point-to-face expansion route to promote the development of education linkages throughout the region,thereby consolidating and enhancing the overall international influence of the United States in education in the African region.The fourth part analyzes the operating mechanism of the USAID’s educational aid.USAID has gradually formed five operational mechanisms including strategic planning,project implementation,communication,supervision and evaluation,and logistical support.The fifth part summarizes the enlightenment of the United States through educational aid to enhance the international influence of education.China needs to enhance the international influence of education through educational aid.First,update the concept of educational aid to highlight China’s international influence in education;second,strengthen cooperation in educational aid and promote the construction of recipient countries’ systems;third,integrate educational aid forces,strengthen institutional capacity building;fourth,develop educational aid partnerships and broaden project implementation channels;fifth,standardize educational aid processes and build an evaluation feedback system;sixth,expand the scope of educational aid and create a good public environment.