Getting Schools to Work Better: Educational Accountability and Teacher Support in India and China

by Yifei Yan

Overview

Yifei Yan’s ambitious multi-method case study of government middle schools in Beijing and Delhi provides fresh insights into how educational accountability can be designed to work, in part and as a whole.

Getting schools to work better is a challenge just about everywhere. Many policy experts prescribe measures for strengthening school accountability, either through government command and control or through alternative market and societal actors. In challenging this conventional wisdom, this book examines how China and India are tackling the challenge with a specific focus on supporting teachers along with traditional accountability-strengthening measures. The book draws implications from its case studies for how education systems can be designed towards the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 4. It further develops the concept of "Accountability 3.0" to elucidate a novel and more holistic reconceptualisation of the appropriate means needed to fulfil multiple purposes of accountability, in which providing support to frontline workers is viewed as an integral component.

This book will appeal to a wide spectrum of scholars and practitioners in the fields of comparative education, public administration, public policy and development studies, among others. It will be especially interesting to those from the developing world facing similar accountability challenges as described.

Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032136677
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/15/2024
Series:	Routledge Critical Studies in Asian Education
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Yifei Yan is a Lecturer in Public Administration and Public Policy at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton, United Kingdom. She received her PhD degree from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Her doctoral dissertation, on which this book is based, is the recipient of the Best PhD Dissertation Award from the Indian Public Policy Network (IPPN) in 2019.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Reimagining the Quest Of Getting Schools To Work Better 2. Towards A More Holistic Understanding of Accountability In Education 3. Educational Governance in Beijing And Delhi: An Overview 4. Supporting Teachers in Delhi: Practice And Perceptions 5. Supporting Teachers in Beijing: Practice And Perceptions 6. Making "Accountability 3.0" Work: Evidence Synthesis and Design-Oriented Reflections 7. Conclusion: Make Educational Accountability Great Again, Again 8. Appendix: The Journey of Researching Government Middle Schools In Beijing And Delhi

Editorial Reviews

A compelling study that challenges conventional perceptions of teacher accountability in schools, demystifying the raison d’etre of poor quality of learning outcomes. Based on an in-depth, empirical and comparative analysis of two large education systems – India and China, Yan deconstructs and re-conceptualizes teacher accountability, designing a holistic approach built not exclusively on bureaucratic but on a professionally motivated teacher support system.  With the timely emphasis that a competent and soundly supported teaching workforce is essential for educational improvement, the book offers a fresh, non-Western perspective on educational governance and is an invaluable contribution to the larger theory of public administration. 

Anjana Mangalagiri, Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi 

Accountability is a key issue in the field of education. In this timely and original book, Dr Yifei Yan addresses education accountability in two of the world’s largest developing countries, China and India. The book provides a novel conceptualisation of accountability, in which the support provided to teachers is seen as a crucial component. Through surveys and interviews with teachers, school principals, government officials and NGO workers in Beijing and Delhi, Yifei Yan shines a light on support provided to teachers, policy challenges, potential solutions, and implications for accountability. This important book should be key reading for policy makers, teachers, teacher trainers, scholars and others concerned with strengthening education governance and school systems.

Anne West, Professor of Education Policy, Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science

This is a brilliant and innovative book on how to improve school quality and performance through a focus on teachers. Based on a multidimensional concept of accountability 3.0 and a deep, fine-grained, and compelling comparative study of India and China, Yifei Yan shows how it would be possible to improve policy design in support of educators to make schools work better. This is a book that needs to be read because of its ability to show how well-done analysis can lead to promising and potentially highly effective policy solutions.

Giliberto Capano, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Bologna, Italy

Yan’s book marks a unique shift in the existing discourse on education policy. Beyond critiquing mainstream accountability measures taken to enhance teacher performance, the author puts forward the foundational premise for a new type of accountability that would bolster the schooling systems of India and China.

Anushka Sinha, LSE Review of Books

 

Getting Schools to Work Better presents a compelling narrative that advocates for a shift away from traditional control and compliance models, as well as market-driven approaches. Instead, Yifei proposes a more co-produced model, where various actors and agencies could collaborate to continuously enhance the accountability system.

Meril Antony, COMPARE: A Journal of Comparative and International Education

 

An important strength of this book is that the author conducts on-the-ground research and provides a breakthrough perspective, from the viewpoint of teachers… this book is highly suitable for those wishing to understand the basic education systems in India and China.

Yan Ziwei, Contemporary South Asia

 

There remains a gap in understanding accountability concepts in low and middle-income countries, and this book is of immense value to policy scholars who are looking to make advancements in the region. Furthermore, the book would also be of interest to policy design and governance scholars, as it, and rather inventively, abstracts-up and connects education policy making to the ongoing governance debates.

Mohnish Kedia, Public Administration and Development

From the Publisher