Nilai Perjuangan dalam Film Better Days (少年的你）Karya Derek Tsang

This research is entitled 'The Value of the Struggle in the Film Better Days (少年的你 ) by Derek Tsang.' The background of this research departs from an interest in literary works set in the struggle of a girl named Chen Nian who is preparing for her college entrance exam. The formulation of the research problem is what are the values of struggle in the Better Days film. The purpose of this study is to find, reveal and describe the formulation of the problem in its entirety and in detail. The research method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. The theory used in this research is the theory of sociology of literature according to Wellek and Warren. The data source used in this study is the film Better Days directed by Derek Tsang and released on October 25, 2019. The results of this study are the value of struggle and the influencing factors, in the film represented by several pieces of quotes and scenes. This film contains the values of struggle, including the value of helping; the value of courage; the value of self-sacrifice; the value of working together; the value of mutual respect; spirit, and never giving up. Keywords: better days; film; the value of struggle; Derek Tsang; China.

A Bias for Science: Institutions, Pedagogy, and the Reality of Student Choice Across Subjects in China's NCEE Reforms

This paper examines the issue of student choice across subject streams in recent government reforms to China’s National College Entrance Exam (NCEE). Utilizing data from a case study of an urban high school in Beijing, it argues that student choice of subjects across previous streams of science or fine arts runs counter to existing institutional structures at the secondary and higher education level, consideration of pedagogical techniques that differ by streams, and a “bias” for science grounded in sociohistorical concerns of national development.

Finding a Chulu (Way Out): Rural-origin Chinese Students Studying Abroad in South Korea

Based on multi-site research in China and South Korea, this paper examines the motivations for rural-origin Chinese students to study abroad in South Korea and how their overseas experiences are mediated by both internal and international educational hierarchies. Existing literature on transnational student mobility from Asia mainly focuses on students from urban middle-class backgrounds, while little attention has been paid to students from less advantaged backgrounds. Scholars have noted that China's seemingly meritocratic gaokao (national college entrance exam) policy in reality functions to perpetuate the structural marginalization of rural students in its educational system. This research moves beyond the internal migration paradigm by examining how social inequalities associated with the rural/urban divide are reproduced and re-articulated by the intersection of class, gender, place of origin, and time management at the transnational scale.

Advanced Placement and Initial College Enrollment: Evidence from an Experiment

To evaluate how Advanced Placement courses affect college-going, we randomly assigned the offer of enrollment into an AP science course to over 1,800 students in 23 schools that had not previously offered the course. We find no AP course effects on students’ college entrance exam scores (SAT/ACT). As expected, AP course-takers are substantially more likely to take the AP exam than their control group counterparts. At the same time, treatment group students opt out of the exam at very high rates and most do not earn a passing score on the AP exam. Though less precisely estimated, the results also suggest that taking the AP course increases students’ aspirations to attend higher-quality colleges but does not lead to enrollment in such institutions.

Meritocracy and Its Discontents

This book investigates the wider social, political, religious, and economic dimensions of the Gaokao, China's national college entrance exam, as well as the complications that arise from its existence. Each year, some nine million high-school seniors in China take the Gaokao, which determines college admission and provides a direct but difficult route to an urban lifestyle for China's hundreds of millions of rural residents. But with college graduates struggling to find good jobs, some are questioning the exam's legitimacy — and, by extension, the fairness of Chinese society. Chronicling the experiences of underprivileged youth, the book illuminates how people remain captivated by the exam because they regard it as fateful — an event both consequential and undetermined. The book finds that the exam enables people both to rebel against the social hierarchy and to achieve recognition within it. It contends that the Gaokao serves as a pivotal rite of passage in which people strive to personify cultural virtues such as diligence, composure, filial devotion, and divine favor.