Abstract
The intersection between education and regional development has long been a key discourse in educational research. This study used Hainan, the second largest island in China, as a case to explore the role of education in regional repositioning, taking both the economic and cultural domains into account through the lens of history and space. Policymakers from three selected administrative areas of Hainan were interviewed. The findings suggest that regional economic structure and cultural traditions in both the past and the present together shape the provision of education in Hainan, local people’s participation in education, and their education aspirations for their offspring. The people on the island view education choice through a lens of accumulated and contemporary, intergenerational economic, and cultural experiences. This study also confirms the mutual interaction of education and regional economy and culture. Education serves the region via manpower fostering and cultural mobilization. Many policies and initiatives developed to improve regional education are strategic and realistic, but local inhabitants’ voices deserve to be heard and respected for better acceptance and effectiveness of policies. For education to fully play its mediating role in regional repositioning, it is necessary to locate any policies and initiatives within an analysis and full understanding of the region’s complexities and specificities.
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Notes
China has seven SEZs in total, all at the municipal level except Hainan: Shenzhen, Xiamen, Shantou, Zhuhai, Hainan, Kashgar, and Khorgas.
The Belt and Road Initiative is a transnational economic belt advocated and led by the Chinese government that involves infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organizations in Central, Northern, and Western Asia; the Indian Ocean coast; the Mediterranean coast; South America; and the Atlantic region that were historically part of the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road.
The five key tasks include internationalization of education, coordinated development of science, education and industry, enhancement of all levels of education for public well-being, innovating education service ecology, and capacity building of regional education system.
Talent introduction refers to recruiting and retaining high-level and general talent from other parts of China and overseas that covers all types of institutions such as the government sector, public and private enterprises, and social organizations (The People’s Government of Hainan Province, 2018).
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Liu, J., Gao, Y. The role of education in regional repositioning: experiences of Hainan. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 23, 87–99 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09717-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-021-09717-6