THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE ADULT EDUCATION WITHIN ITS SOCIAL CONTEXTS: A REVIEW SINCE 1949

Abstract

Since the founding of the modern Chinese state in 1949 until the end of the century, China has mobilised and experienced several social/political movements and economic transformations. Entering the twenty-first century, China's repositioning within the global context has brought about its new national policy and blueprint to build a socialist harmonious society. Using some leading ideologies as criteria, the central administration and leadership can primarily be clustered into three phases, which divides Chinese contemporary history into roughly three developmental periods. Historically, Chinese adult education has served as an effective means of resolving the nation's political, socioeconomic, and educational issues with the exception of some damages and interruptions experienced during the political movements of the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The development of Chinese adult education has also reflected China's economic boom and social advancement. This paper, presenting the three main periods of China's development under three different administrations and leaderships, reviews the historical development of Chinese adult education, examines how the purposes and roles of adult education have been adjusted and modified within certain social contexts, serving the nation's needs, and reflects on some issues and discusses future trends. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

Abstract

Since the founding of the modern Chinese state in 1949 until the end of the century, China has mobilised and experienced several social/political movements and economic transformations. Entering the twenty-first century, China's repositioning within the global context has brought about its new national policy and blueprint to build a socialist harmonious society. Using some leading ideologies as criteria, the central administration and leadership can primarily be clustered into three phases, which divides Chinese contemporary history into roughly three developmental periods. Historically, Chinese adult education has served as an effective means of resolving the nation's political, socioeconomic, and educational issues with the exception of some damages and interruptions experienced during the political movements of the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The development of Chinese adult education has also reflected China's economic boom and social advancement. This paper, presenting the three main periods of China's development under three different administrations and leaderships, reviews the historical development of Chinese adult education, examines how the purposes and roles of adult education have been adjusted and modified within certain social contexts, serving the nation's needs, and reflects on some issues and discusses future trends.

EL DESARROLLO DE LA EDUCACIÓN DE PERSONAS ADULTAS EN CHINA EN SUS CONTEXTOS SOCIALES: UNA REVISIÓN DESDE 1949 EN ADELANTE

Resumen

Desde Ia fundación del moderno Estado chino en 1949 hasta finales de siglo China se ha movilizado y experimentado diversas transformaciones económicas y diferentes movimientos sociales y políticos. Ai entrar en el siglo XXI, el reposicionamiento de China dentro del contexto global ha dado lugar a una nueva política nacional y se han diseñado ios planos para Ia construcción de una sociedad armoniosa socialista. Tomando algunas de las principales ideologías como criterio, en una primera instancia Ia administración y los liderazgos centrales pueden ser agrupados en tres fases que dividen a grandes rasgos Ia historia contemporánea de China en tres períodos de desarrollo. Históricamente, Ia educación de personas adultas en China ha servido como un método efectivo para resolver los temas nacionales políticos, socioeconómicos y educativos, con excepción de algunas interrupciones y quiebres experimentados durante los movimientos políticos del Gran Salto Adelante en los años cincuenta y Ia Revolución Cultural de ios años sesenta, El desarrollo de Ia educación de personas adultas en China también se ha visto reflejado en su auge económico y en sus avances en materia social. Este artículo, que presenta ios tres principales períodos de desarrollo de Ia educación de personas adultas en China, examina de qué manera los objetivos y ios roles de Ia educación de personas adultas se han ido ajusfando y modificando dentro de ciertos contextos sociales y sirviendo a las necesidades de Ia nación, reflexiona sobre ciertas temáticas y plantea tendencias a futuro.

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Introduction

The development of a nation's education, in general, is strongly influenced by its political, social, and economic developments and transformations. So too is its adult education. In return, the enhancement of education and adult education contributes to national improvement. As Freiré (1970) acknowledged, there is no such a thing as neutral education. Authentic education is unquestionably political action. Education is either for domestication or for liberation. This has been evidenced in Chinese education, of which adult education plays a substantial role. From its foundation in 1949 until the end of the century, China has mobilised and experienced several social and political movements, and economic transformations. Adult education has historically played various roles in serving the nation's goals and in resolving political, socioeconomic, and educational issues. The development of Chinese adult education has presented a unique and pragmatic path along with the political and economic transformations of China (Dong, 1990). Entering the twenty-first century, China's repositioning within the global context has brought about its new goals and strategies for a 'well-off society' (16th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party [CCP], 2002) and subsequently new national policies and blueprints have been declared in order to build a socialist harmonious society (The 16th National Congress of CCP, 2006). Consequently, Chinese adult education has once again been employed as an effective vehicle for building a learning society that is to ultimately help establish a socialist harmonious society (Sun, 2007). The development of Chinese adult education has also reflected China's economic boom and social advancement in certain ways. First, the three main epochs of China under the three administrations and leaderships are described in this paper. Then, the historical progress of Chinese adult education is presented, examining how the purposes and roles of adult education have been adjusted and modified to meet the needs of its social contexts under each ideological focus and set of pragmatic strategies. This paper concludes with reflections and discussion.

The three main epochs

The central administration and leadership of the People's Republic of China, if using some of the leading ideologies which have directed the country respectively as criterion (such as 'Marxism, Leninism, and Mao Zedong Thought', 'Deng Xiaoping Theory,' and [Hu 's] 'Building a Socialist Harmonious Society') can be mainly clustered into three phases, which divides contemporary Chinese history into roughly three developmental periods. Each period has its own historical characteristics and social contexts. Each has featured its own ideological and practical agendas that have directed and demanded Chinese adult education to develop in certain ways.

From 1949 to 1976, the Chinese administration was under Mao's leadership (Law, 2000; Ngok, 2007; Sun, 2001; Yang, Vidovich, and Currie, 2007). Two main periods passed between 1949 and 1966. The first seven years were called 'the Period of Socialist Reform'. The next ten years were called the Overall Construction of Socialism' (see Dong, 1990; Li, Zhong, Lin, and Zhang, 2004; Su, 1994, for more details on phases classified), which also encompassed the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) (Law, 2000; Sun, 2001; Yang, Vidovich, and Currie, 2007). The Cultural Revolution occurred between 1966 and 1976 (Law; 2000; Li et al, 2004; Su, 1994; Sun, 2001; Yang, Vidovich, and Currie, 2007).

Chinese adult education through its various forms and providers has directly and successfully served working adults in China since as early as the New Cultural Movement from 1915 to 1921 (see Sun, 2001, pp. 84-86; Xiao 2003, p. 492 for more details). However, on the whole, education was predominately preserved as a domain for the privileged few (Li et a?., 2004). In 1949, illiterates consisted of 80 per cent of the total population (Dong, 1990; Xiao, 2003). Only 5 per cent of the population was school students (Dong, 1990). After the founding of the People's Republic of China, education was prioritised in order to serve the people and to construct a socialist country. An important mission statement of education by Mao in 1949 described:

First, it was to serve the revolution and the new 'democracy.' Secondly, it was to be a national scientific, people's culture, and education. Finally, it was to cultivate people capable of building a nation, which could combat and defeat the remnants of feudalism, imperialism, and fascism, and which would seek to serve the People with their heart and soul (As cited in Li, Zhong, Lin, and Zhang, 2004, p. 451).

Accordingly, China has made great efforts to grant universal access to education across the country. This was an immensely significant turning point in Chinese educational history (Mao and Shen, 1989). During the 1950s, adult literacy programmes were significantly launched nationwide in order to reduce illiteracy, which was 80 per cent then (Dong, 1990; Su, 1994; Xiao, 2003). The development of adult education continued with the addition of more and more programmes for workers and peasants via various formats as a means of improving the educational levels of socialist workforces (Dong, 1990; Su, 1994). Adult education has constantly been implemented as a means for realising political ideology and providing educational opportunities to its people, i.e., workers, peasants, and cadres who had previously been excluded from educational opportunities (Sun 2001; Xiao, 2003). It has also been utilised and aimed at building China into a modern country in the face of foreign military and economic threats since the earlyl960s (Xiao, 2003).

Nevertheless, during the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), China underwent enormous political movements and turmoil that significantly devastated Chinese education (Dong, 1990; Li et al., 2004; Yang, Vidovich, and Currie, 2007), of which adult education was no exception. Under such social contexts, Chinese society may be seen as being closed, conservative, authoritarian, and hierarchical, and the major mission for the country was to direct its people to participate in political struggle, which formed a 'class struggle centred' society (Qi and Tang, 2004). Chinese adult education, therefore, was essentially applied as an instrument to serve its political roles and reinforce the overall focus of the CCP in ideological indoctrination and the political movement.

The death of Mao Zedong in 1976 marked the end of the Cultural Revolution and Mao's leadership. Following the Third Plenary Session of the eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1978, the communist leadership was led by the economic reformer Deng Xiaoping (Law, 2000; Lin, 1993; Ngok, 2007; Su, 1994). Deng featured 'Chinese Characteristic Socialism' that illustrated the socialist economy by the incorporation of market forces (Boshier and Huang, 2006a; Law, 2000; Ngok, 2007). Deng's leadership and then his theory guided the nation throughout the end of the twentieth centry. Although Jiang Zemin was in charge during the 1990s and the early 2000s, there were no major changes to Deng Xiaoping 's Theory, rather, more efforts were put forward to deepening and widening its practice.

In other words, Deng's economic focus and his pragmatic approach reversed the Maoist policies and political orientation (Qi and Tang, 2004; Xiao, 2003). Deng placed China on an express track for modernisation and social progress. Thus, from 1978 until the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Chinese government adopted a policy of opening up and economic reform, which catalysed China into a rapid process of transformation and modernisation. Considered as the general architect of Chinese economic reform, Deng specified the guiding principal of Chinese education in the early 1980s. Deng (1983) proclaimed, 'Education must be reformed to meet the needs of national economic development' (p. 100). He asserted, 'education must meet the needs of China's modernisation, of the world, and of the future, of which the core of meeting the need of China's modernisation is to cope with the needs of economic-centred socialist construction' (Cited in Gao, Xiao and Huang, 1995, p. 78).

The period from 1978 to 1992 represented reform and an opening to the outside world. Adult education was quickly restored and greatly applied as a means to meet the immediate needs of large inadequately trained workforces for economic construction (Dong, 1990; Liu, 2008; Ngok, 2007; Xiao 2003). Starting in 1993, economic reform in China was broadened and deepened. The Chinese government gave priority and strongly supported the reform of adult education. Study on Chinese on-the-job-training system became one of the national philosophical and social science key research projects of the eighth five-year national developmental plan. A series of twelve books was published based on the research projects Chinese on-the-job-training research studies series). On-the-job-training and adult degree education were widely developed (Liu, 2008; Xiao, 2003).

In 1997, the 15th Central Committee of the CPC declared Deng Xiaoping 's theory the guiding ideology and asserted, 'to promote fundamental changes of economic system and the economic growth modes and establish a fairly complete socialist market and lay a solid foundation for the establishment of a communist social system' (Qin, 1998, p. 54). Adult education during these years gained a solid status and was developed variously. It has actively served the nation's transforming economy and educational needs. It has played various roles in providing educational opportunities to workers, peasants, professionals, and the general populace to meet their diverse learning needs.

In 2002, the Central Communist Party Committee elected Hu Jintao as the new leader of China (Boshier and Huang, 2006a; Ngok, 2007; Sun, 2007). Still following the 'Chinese Characteristic Socialist System', Hu's administration has subtly made changes in the Amendments to the CPC Constitution and added new supplements to the general programme on the strategic objectives and guiding principles for China's economic and social development at the new stage in the new century (Xinhua News Agency, November 18, 2002). Further, in 2006, Hu's administration declared, 'building a socialist harmonious society' as the top priority of the Party and the country (The Sixth Conference of the 16th National Congress of CPC, 2006).

Though the Chinese government continues efforts to build a socialist country, the negative impacts of economic -centred strategy and policies have been realised, especially the imbalanced development in many aspects that have caused various social problems and issues (Chen and Davey, 2008; Liu and Xiao, 2006; Ngok, 2007; Sun 2007; Wu, Zhang and Zhang, 2008). At the beginning of the twenty-first century, with a new philosophy/ideology that is more caring and 'people -centred,' the Chinese government under Hu's leadership has given much attention to issues resulting from previous developments and policies. For instance, new policies and directions have been adopted to promote education and specifically lifelong learning and education (Boshier and Huang, 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Chen and Davey, 2008; Ngok, 2007; Yang, 2008). Although vocational education and on the job training (OJT) are still priorities (Dong, 1990), adult education has started to play its role in helping establish a lifelong education system that enables everyone to have an opportunity to learn and learn lifelong via formal, informal, and non-formal educational systems. Adult education is viewed as an effective vehicle to help establish a more humane learning society (Boshier and Huang, 2007; Sun, 2007), which ultimately facilitates the building of a socialist harmonious society.

The development of Chinese adult education within new China's social contexts

1949-1976

The Chinese revolutionary experiences and success with Mao's leadership have helped develop and strengthen the belief in the functions of adult education as a useful instrument for social goals, which experimentally echoed what Lindeman (1989) stated: 'Adult education . . . turns out to be the most reliable instrument of social actionists' (p. xxviii). During the New Cultural Movement (1915-1921), Chinese adult education through its various forms and providers directly and successfully served working adults (see Sun, 2001, pp. 84-86; Xiao, 2003, p. 492 for more details). In 1917, Mao initiated the first evening school for poor workers in Changsha, Hunan Province to help adult learners learn and become conscious of their oppressed situation via a literary programme (Sun, 2001; Xiao, 2003).

The application of adult education by Mao and his associates in their revolution work and their final success of the revolution also confirmed to them that adult education was an excellent instrument to empower poor peasants and workers and to train cadres committed to a new society (Dong, 1990; Su, 1994). This politically oriented, pragmatic, and problem-solving strategy helped establish their adult education philosophy, which rested upon Marxism and pragmatism (Sun, 2001). Mao and his associates later effectively used adult education for the political and ideological indoctrination and social construction of a new China (Ngok, 2007; Sun, 2001; Xiao, 2003).

In 1949, after exhausting wars (such as national and anti -Japanese), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won its anti-imperialist and anti-feudalist campaign and established an independent new China. Soon the new China began a transition to the socialist reform period (Su, 1994). Thus, the reshaping of the 'New China' and the reestablishment of an educational system became a top priority. The new China promulgated the nature of the new movement in Consortium Guidelines:

China is a new democracy, which means people's democratic country, governed by the leading worker 's class that is based on the union of workers and peasants who united with varied democratic classes and all minorities. This new country opposes imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism (As cited in Su, 1994, p. 4).

Being the leader of the new country, Mao understood that past feudalistic and semi-colonial forces had inevitably formalised the Chinese education system, which had assisted in the exploitation of the proletariat. To Mao, education for people was a top priority, particularly for workers and peasants (Sun, 2001). At the same time, the new government's new democratic educational guidance sought to eradicate the old ideological influences that made Chinese people unconscious of their oppressed positions (Freiré, 1970).

Mao believed that the new education, nurtured by the new socialist society, must aim to serve the new political and economic developments. Moreover, national economic restoration and development needed a huge amount of educated and skilled personnel, particularly with high political consciousness and knowledge of science and technology. To cope with the national political and economic requirements and to educate a new generation of intelligentsia, the adult educational purpose of serving workers and peasants has, therefore, stood up well (Su 1994).

In December 1949, the central government at the First National Educational Conference put forward:

[S]chools should be open to workers and peasants and their children; people's university, workers and peasants high schools should be established; remedial education for workers and peasants should be broadly offered; nationwide literacy programs and campaigns should be actively conducted and to hopefully spread to the whole country by 1951 (As cited in Zhang and Zhang, 1996, p. 11).

During this conference, a decision was made to establish the People 's University, Workers and Peasants' Middle Schools, and Workers' Remedial Schools (Dong, 1990). In the 1950s, the central government and educational administrative bodies held various meetings to strengthen and facilitate the development of adult education. For instance, literacy programmes were offered via spare time schools, evening schools and reading classes. The Little Teacher system was adopted (to hire middle and high school students as teachers of the programmes) to work with individual families. A strategy of using the Small Group was applied, utilising resources such as the family, neighbourhood, and workshops, both full-time and part-time, to deliver literacy programmes. There were also adult classes and classes for women with children. By 1953, national participation in the accelerated literacy programme reached seven million people, in addition to the participation of regular literacy programme delivery, which was 18 million (Dong, 1990).

On June 1, 1950, the State Council released 'Instructions on carrying out workers' spare time educational programmes.' In addition, the Ministry of Education released 'Instructions on carrying out peasants' educational programmes.' Both stated that offering spare time education to workers and peasants was one of the most important mechanisms in increasing the levels of their political, cultural, and technical knowledge and skills (Zhang and Zhang, 1996, p. 12). Starting in 1951, China started the reform of the Chinese education system, which played a paramount role of positioning adult education in the system and defining the function played by adult education. Primer Zhou specifically addressed:

Adult education including education for workers and peasants and those who do not have a job yet, and education and training for senior intellectuals and cadres, should all be included in our educational system. We must change our previous perception. Traditional education solely served young people via formal education. We now must change the view so that our educational system meets adult learners' needs as well. Adults should be provided with equal opportunity for education (As cited in Zhang and Zhang, 1996, p. 12).

During the reform and establishment of the new Chinese education system, adult education was highly emphasised. On October 1, 1951, the State Council promulgated Decision on Reform Educational System, which pointed out:

The existing educational system of China (i.e. various kinds of schools' system) displays numerous errors and oversights, amongst the most important are schools for workers, peasants and cadres, practical training (interns) schools and programmes at all levels, which are not being recognised legitimately in the system.... These oversights must be corrected promptly. Although there are difficulties to unify the national educational system at this point of time, it is necessary and possible to confirm and create various kinds of schools and their positions in the system, altering unreasonable length and structures of certain schools. In so doing, to make all kinds of schools connected and integrated together. The new system provides learning opportunities to the people and workforce, to improve their knowledge and skills and to promote national construction by them (As cited in Zhang and Zhang, 1996, p. 12).

As a result, adult education and its programmes of varied kinds were officially recognised and created in the new educational system of China. For example, in addition to literacy classes/programmes, elementary education includes Workers and Peasants' Accelerated Elementary Schools (for young people who dropped out and adults who did not have opportunity to receive education); Spare-time/ Part-time Elementary School and Reading School (winter literacy programmes and reading classes); and Middle/ Secondary education consists of Workers and Peasants' Accelerated Middle/ Secondary Schools, and Spare-time/ Part-time Middle/ Secondary Schools. Adult education through these providers and forms has greatly improved adult learners' educational levels.

In addition, various higher education institutions are encouraged to offer pre-learning classes and interns/practice classes to facilitate cadres of workers and peasants, minorities and those who lived and came back from oversees for national construction (Zhang and Zhang, 1996). Higher education institutions also ran Correspondence Higher Education and Evening Universities. In 1957, there were 58 higher education institutions that ran Correspondence Education with 35, 000 adult learners. There were 36 higher education institutions that ran evening universities which enrolled circa 12,000 adult students. Middle level correspondence education also developed during this time. For example, there were normal schools that offered correspondence education. Further, Beijing and Tianjin also started correspondence schools through radio for secondary education graduates, which was the first step in the development of Chinese distance education (Dong, 1990).

To meet the immediate need of cadres for the economic construction, cadre classes within traditional higher education institutions were created. There were also 'three channels' to provide higher education to cadres, which were Worker's Spare Time University, Night/ Evening Universities, and Correspondence Universities. Administrative bodies also founded part time schools for in-service cadres. In 1955, 3,500 spare-time schools for cadres nationwide were set up. They also created 140 Agriculture Cooperation cadre schools, which provided short-term training with a focus on political education (Dong, 1990).

The new educational system also legalised the establishment of various schools and correspondence schools for remedial purposes. It is fair to say that the Decision on Reform Educational System, through policy format, clearly confirmed the status of adult education and its important roles to play in the new Chinese educational system. Thus, adult education became an important part of the Chinese educational system (Zhang and Zhang, 1996).

Under the principle that education should serve workers and peasants, a major effort was made to build and develop schools and programmes for workers, peasants, and cadres. Thus, many literacy programmes, evening schools, adult elementary and high schools, and the evening, correspondence higher education etc., were established and offered to working adults. These efforts and practices greatly improved their education levels. Throughout the 1950s, more policies were made to consistently improve the development of adult education, and the status of adult education was strongly emphasised as an important segment in the Chinese education system (Dong, 1990; Zhang and Zhang, 1996). Table 1 presents the progress on literacy during the First Five -Year Plan of the National Development.

One important reminder pertaining to China's context in the 1950s was that China was confronted by a largely hostile world. At that time, the close relationship with the former Soviet Union had been broken and China was forced to seek its own ways of developing its economy quickly. Therefore, the Great Leap Forward movement was launched to increase industrial and agriculture output (Li, et al., 2004).

In 1958, to promote the Great Leap Forward Mao claimed: 'Education must serve proletarian politics; it must be united with productive labour. Labourers must be "intellectualised", and intellectuals must be "laborised'" (Mao, 1973, p. 19). Therefore, education should educate people to be 'You Hong You Zhuan' meaning to be both 'red' and 'expert' (Sun, 2001, p. 891). That is, one must hold both a Marxist political stance and must have expertise in certain fields to be socially valuable.

To meet this goal, the Chinese government and State Council then issued the Directive Re Educational Work. In it the Two Legs, (formal and non-formal education) policy was made and explicitly stated the direction and principles of having diverse formats of education to meet the needs of educating people both socialist-minded, and professionally proficient. Thus, the specific purpose of Chinese adult education then, as Duke (1987) expressed, was to 'serve proletarian politics, to serve the needs of both material and cultural civilization, and to raise the qualification of workers in both aspects' (cited in Guo, 1996).

The nature of the Great Leap Forward movement enabled proletarian enthusiasm (Sun, 2001). The Two Legs policy theoretically laid a foundation for the development of adult education. Three types of schools thereafter existed: full-time, part-time, and varied kinds of spare-time schools, of which general education and vocational education were both offered via traditional teaching and self -directed learning with aids from radio, broadcasting, and correspondence. Practically, it enabled varied formats and providers of adult education and helped form formal and non-formal education, in spite of its having political purpose as nature in practice. However, the result was not ideal due to its mis-focus and malfunction. As Li et al. noted:

A pivotal mistake made during this time was the Party's focus on ideology - on the contradictions between socialism and capitalism, between an acknowledged proletariat and a largely residual bourgeoisie - rather than on the need to organise effective economic activity (Li et al., 2004, p. 452).

Dong (1990) recorded a unique experiment proposed by Vice chairman Liu Shaoqi in 1958 as having Two Systems for work and education. One was a full-time job and full-time education system, the other was a part-time school education and part-time working system. In 1958 in Tian Jin, a film factory ran the first school for junior high school graduates to receive part-time technical education while working part-time at the factory. Later, Jiangxi Communist University was founded and set up 30 branch universities on 30 farms of the province. Employees were workers/farmer and learners. They learned a half-day on forestry, agriculture and fisheries, then worked a half-day. This experimental system aimed to make education possible in the economic and cultural backwardness of China during that period. It did help improve the knowledge, skills, and production of the people. However, this system was not carried out nationwide and it was completely bent during the Cultural Revolution.

The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) deeply affected people's minds. Because Mao strongly emphasised the political nature of education, adult education along with other education in China again underwent reform and served the political movement with an altered focus on class struggle. That is, with socialist politics as the priority; the continuation of revolution and class struggle were the goals (Sun, 2001).

The goal of the reform, to Mao, was to enable workers and peasants to become literate and to make intellectuals socialist minded. There were both practical and theoretical needs in doing so. Practically, it met the social development needs, which were the needs for revolution, for socialist construction, and for cultivating new socialist labourers. Theoretically, education to Mao was social ideology, which functioned through the influences on human consciousness, through the knowledge it transmits, and through the training of working skills (Sun, 2001). Therefore, education was integrated with production in order to meet the requirements of realising the ultimate goal- a new socialist society.

To realise those goals Mao used education, including adult education, to play important roles in helping cultivate the correct viewpoint of learners, the viewpoint of the working class, the masses, the collectives, and the socialist labourers. One concrete example is the Supreme Directive issued by Mao in 1968, which made young adults go to the countryside to be re-educated by poor and middle-class peasants. The same directive sent cadres and intellectuals to the countryside to do manual labour. This was aimed at making them connect with the broad masses so that they would overcome their bureaucratic tendencies and 'official airs' (Sun, 2001). Consequently, 'schooling was virtually suspended for the sake of "revolution"... the Cultural Revolution indeed undermined the previous 17 years of educational development' (Li, et al., 2004, p. 452). During this time, adult spare -time schools/universities, evening schools/universities, correspondence schools, and the TV university were shut down. A few remained, but were used for political purposes in advocating class struggle (Dong, 1990).

In summary, Chinese adult education during the Cultural Revolution had been utilised as ideological indoctrination for the political movement. For example, in the countryside literacy programmes and spare-time schools were mainly utilised. In the cities, workers' colleges, 7-21 Workers' University2 and Five Seven University3 played their roles (Dong, 1990). As a result, China CC and SC (1981) estimated 'by the end of the Cultural Revolution, about 80 per cent of the workforce had not finished lower-secondary education; technicians in industry only accounted for 2.8 per cent of the workforce; and managerial personnel did not have appropriate training' (cited in Xiao, 2003 p. 492).

1978-2002

The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976. China then entered a new phase under the leadership of Deng Xianoping, who helped open China to the outside world and redirected China to move toward modern and economic constructions (Boshier and Huang, 2006a; Law, 2000; Lin, 1993; Ngok, 2007; Su, 1994). Since 1978, the tasks of the CCP and the Chinese government have transformed from the political movement under Mao to modernisation and economic construction under Deng. Although Deng upheld Mao's socialist system, he replenished the system with new meaning, defining the system as 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics' (Qin, 1998, p. 55). He and his administration then led China in the establishment of the new socialism with Chinese characteristics, focusing on social reconstruction and the reformation of the Chinese economy.

With new tasks and vision, Deng valued the essential functions of education. Modernisation needs modern science and technology. However, without education, without human resources, all is impossible. Therefore, Deng stressed the restoration and development of education, particularly adult education for training and human resource development (Liu, 2008; Xiao, 2003), which was reflected the growing application of human capital theory (Schultz, 1960) starting in the late 1970s in China. Deng stated:

Two Legs policy should again be applied to the development of higher education. Higher education institutions - including conventional colleges and universities - is one leg. Adult education institutions - including part-time, spare-time colleges, evening schools - is the other leg. For two legs are needed to walk (Deng, 1994, V 2, p. 40).

Education, particularly adult education, again was highly emphasised and played equally critical roles in the modern socioeconomic construction. Varied kinds of learning opportunities were provided through multiple forms of adult education providers. They consisted of Radio and Television Universities at central, provincial and local levels; Institutions of Higher Education for Workers and Peasants; Adult Education Colleges for Management Personnel; Independent Correspondence Colleges; and adult educational programmes offered by traditional higher education institutions through the departments of correspondence, evening schools, advanced training programmes for teachers, TV education via satellite, and the self-taught national examinations system (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education in China, 2001, II, III, IV).

In addition, adult secondary specialised (in technical/professional) training schools, classes for workers or cadres by regular secondary specialised (in technical/professional) training schools, adult middle schools, technical schools for peasants, agricultural schools via radio and television, as well as the selftaught examination system at secondary level have also been established. Various schools also existed for advanced studies, training, correspondence or face-toface tutorial lectures (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education in China, 2001, II III, IV). Literacy programmes and applied science and technology for farmers peasants in the countryside were also greatly improved and expanded.

With Deng's policy of opening to the outside world, China started to actively exchange information internationally. The concept of continuing education was first introduced to China in 1979 when Professor Zhang fromTsinghai University of China attended the first International Conference of Continuing Education in Mexico (Zhang, 1996). This new form of education provided a new learning opportunity to those who already had university degrees to keep up with the new developments in their fields (Chen and Davey, 2008).

Since 1978, China has entered a new phase in its history. Education has been generally viewed and used as an effective instrument to help rebuild the nation. Chinese adult education was assigned new roles and responsibilities for the new era of the Chinese economic constructions (Zhang and Zhang, 1996). Li (1990) described and categorized ten areas and roles Chinese adult education has played:

1. Literacy education especially in remote and less developed areas, and minority regions

2. Adult junior and middle school basic education

3. Adult secondary/ middle special and technical education

4. Adult higher education

5. Continuing professional education

6. On-the-job-training

7. Technical and applied science education for farms/peasants

8. Self study (and to take national) examination education

9. Social cultural and life enrichment education

10. Other areas include:

* Military education/training and local application after retire from military

* Senior adult education

* Education for adults with disabilities (in seeing, hearing and speaking and other areas) (pp. 112-135).

To facilitate and promote these new roles and responsibilities, the Central Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government have issued numerous policies, decisions, and regulations regarding primary roles, functions, and practices of adult education (Zhang and Zhang, 1996). Some of these pivotal points are noted with brief analytical commentary below (the full text of these policies are available in (Zhang and Zhang, 1996).

* In May 1980, the Secretary General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, at its education meeting, pointed out that if workers and peasants were not well educated, the modernisation of industry and agriculture would not be likely to be realised. They then suggested that workers' and peasants' education should be given high priority in the educational system.

* On September 5, 1980, the State Council approved and forwarded the Ministry of Education's Proposal on Highly Developing Higher Education Institutions' Correspondence and Evening Schools, which offered educational opportunities in a timely manner to help meet young workers' and high school graduates' needs for receiving higher education.

* In February 1981, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council jointly issued the Decision on Strengthening Workers/Employees ' Training and Education, confirming that they were the driving forces for modernisation, and thus workers needed to be well educated and trained .

* In September 1982, the second part of the conference report of the twelfth national conference of the Chinese Communist Party stated that we must popularise primary education, and strengthen middle school, vocational and higher education. We need to develop cadres' education, workers' education, peasants' education, literacy, and various kinds of learning activities for both urban and rural citizens. We also should train all kinds of special personnel together to improve the whole nation's educational level for Chinese socioeconomic development.

* In 1983, the Central Office of the State Council accepted and forwarded the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Education on Policies for Resolving Issues of Workers' University, PartTime College, and Graduates from Correspondence and Evening Schools of Higher Education Institutions. The policy permitted 'three equalities' , which meant that graduates from adult higher education institutions and correspondence and evening schools of traditional higher education institutions should be equally treated; their degrees should be equally valued; and they should have equal opportunities for employment and promotion. This policy significantly influenced adult higher education and strongly motivated in-service people to participate in adult education programmes part-time.

* On May 27, 1985, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued the Decision on the Reform of Education Structure, which stated that education for cadres, workers, and peasants, and educational programmes via broadcasting and T V delivery were important components of the Chinese educational enterprise. This policy became a guideline for deepening adult education reform at the time.

* In December 1986, in order to carry out the Decision on the Reform of Education Structure, the national adult education working conference was jointly held by the National Education Commission (NEC, now called the Ministry of Education), National Planning Commission, National Economy Commission, the Ministry of Labour and Personnel, and the Ministry of Organisation. During the working conference, a Decision on the Reform and Development of Adult Education was discussed and prepared for submission to the State Council.

* June 23, 1987, the Decision on the Reform and Development of Adult Education was approved and forwarded by the State Council to carry out. This milestone document acknowledged that adult education was necessary for social, economic, scientific and technological improvements. It addressed the important roles and functions adult education played for improving peasants' educational levels and workers' job skills for economic efficiency. It provided a new strategic plan for adult education to further carry out in the constructions of the socialist materialism and cultural cultivation. It also required that the whole society should recognise the significance that adult education holds for the socialist modernisations and constructions.

The Decision concluded and refined the responsibilities, major goals, and functions of adult education, in which five areas were identified, with pre-service and on-the-job-training listed at the first place:

1. to provide education and training of cultural knowledge, professional skills and practical ability for those who have become part of the workforce or those who may switch to new jobs and those job-seekers who have not met job requirements;

2. to provide literacy for the illiterates;

3. to continuously provide basic or higher education for those who have left formal schools, taking into consideration their cultural basis and actual needs - graduation certificates are issued to those who are qualified;

4. to provide continuous education for those professional technical or management personnel who have received higher education, with the purpose of renewing and enriching their knowledge and enhancing their ability;

5. to conduct diversified education of social culture or living, activities such as elementary knowledge of law, health of women and children, health of senior citizens, family life, fine art/calligraphy, beauty care, cooking/ nutrition, flower-planting etc.; to provide educational service for civilized, healthy, and scientific lifestyle for the elders, women and all citizens (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education in China, 2001, II).

This policy timely summarised previous reform and its achievements for adult education practices and provided a new outline for further reform and progress. Systemic pre-service and on-the-job-training became the important tasks of adult education, in which ethical, cultural, specific, and technological knowledge and skills were all included. Workers, technicians, managers, and leaders at all levels received training of various kinds. The Decision also confirmed:

[T]he social role of adult education, aiming to overall improve the quality of the work force, reinforcing the integration of learning with work and production, providing multiple formats of running adult education with flexible instruction and a convenient delivery system, improving teaching and learning quality' (Zhang and Zhang, 1996, p. 25).

The following table offers a glimpse of the Chinese adult education development since the Third Plenary Session of the eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the 1980s.

Starting in 1993, China's economic reform was deepened and widened, moving rapidly from the planned economy to a market economy (Liu, 2008; Liu and Xiao, 2006; Qi and Tang, 2004; Xiao, 2003; Yang, Vidovich and Currie, 2007). Literacy programmes, on-the-job-training and continuing education were forcefully developed and were to constitute the main tasks of Chinese adult education. Vocational education and OJT were strongly emphasised and have continuously been given special attention (Ye and Zhou, 1995). Following are some policies that further promoted the reform and the development of adult education, which aims to build a lifelong learning system.

* On January 7, 1993, the Central Office of the State Council accepted and forwarded the Suggestion by the NEC on Further Deepening the Reform and Promoting the Development of Adult Higher Education. It pointed out that adult higher education, which offered education to those who work and were employed after post high school education, shouldered important responsibilities in the socialist constructions and effectively fulfilled the tasks of the enhancing production. This document not only guided the development of adult higher education but also led adult secondary/middle school education to further development.

* In February 1993, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council officially published the Outline of Chinese Education Reform and Development. In this document, it precisely stated, 'Adult education was also a continuing part of traditional educational system' (The Ministry of Education, 1993, p. 9). It helped continue education from traditional schooling to lifelong education/learning.

* On July 3 , 1994, the Sate Council issued the Suggestions of the State Council on the Implementation of the Outline for Reform and Development of Education in China. This milestone document stated that adult education, as a part of the national educational system, needed to develop and form a system that consisted of primary, middle, and higher adult and vocational education and complemented general education. It also emphasised that literacy, on-the-job-training and adult degrees, and continuing education should be continually given priority (The Ministry of Education, 1994).

* In March 1995, the Education Law of the People 's Republic of China was passed at the Third Conference of the Eighth National Congress. Section 1 1 of Chapter One of the Chinese Educational Law stated that in order to cope with the national economic and socialist development, to promote education, and to facilitate development of various kinds of education, a lifelong education system is to be established. Section 19 of Chapter Two regulated that the nation implement vocational and adult education systems (The Ministry of Education, 1995). The development of various forms of adult education in areas such as politics, economy, culture, science and technology, and other professional fields, and lifelong learning and education for all citizens was encouraged. The law indicated the establishment of the status of adult education in the national educational system. Further, it was the first time the concepts of lifelong education and lifelong learning appeared in the law of Chinese education.

* On December 24, 1 998, The Ministry of Education announced Education Promotion Action Plan for the Twenty -first Century (The Ministry of Education, 1998;.

* On January 13, 1999, the above Action Plan was approved and forwarded by the State Council. This plan furthered the implementation of the Educational Law and the Outline of Chinese Educational Reform and Development. It set up main goals to be realised by 2000 and 2010 (The Ministry of Education, 2002). Regarding adult education, it proposed that adult education should continue to focus on OJT and continuing education via:

1. The establishment of modern enterprises' educational system and a licensure and certificate system for certain professions

2. The adoption of various and apt forms of offering adult education and training programmes to meet the needs of trainees who were either laid off or transferred to other positions to help serve their reemployment, and

3. The cooperation and coordination among providers, enterprises, and government at all levels, to develop the experiment of community education, and gradually establish and complete a lifelong education system (The Ministry of Education, 1998).

* On June 13, 1999, the CCCP and the State Council issued a Decision on Deepening Education Reform to Fully Promote Character Education. This Decision called for all-around development. The promotion of character education was intended to educate people to not only acquire knowledge/degrees, but also to have ambition for future achievement, and to be moral and disciplined. Character education was to be integrated into preschool, elementary and high school education, vocational education, adult education and higher education (The Ministry of Education, 1999). This decision timely paid attention to other equally important dimensions of educating human beings, such as, building character, developing morality, ethics, and principles; for education should not be solely focused on promoting workforce and economic development. Human beings, as depicted by Delors Commission in Learning: The Treasure Within, need to learn to know, to do, to be and to live together (Sun, 2008; Yang, 2008).

The CCP and the Chinese government consistently emphasised and strengthened the vital roles and functions that adult education plays in the Chinese modern constructions and highly appraised and promoted the establishment of a lifelong learning and lifelong education system. Strong efforts have been made to vigorously develop adult education. The statistics below display the consistent development of various kinds of school programmes and classes, either credit and non-credit, for adult learners at various levels.

As a result, traditional ideas of one-time, formal schooling have become obsolete. Adult continuing education, lifelong education, and lifelong learning have become a new philosophy of education and learning, and thus have gradually become socially accepted. Adult learning and lifelong learning have been considered essential and necessary foundations for socioeconomic development as well as individual enhancement (Boshier and Huang, 2006a). The use of various kinds and forms of adult education, especially adult higher education, have become a governmental task at all levels in order to improve peoples' educational levels, and to enhance the nation's levels of science, technology, and morality on the whole.

2002-present

Since 2002, under the new leadership of Hu Jintao, China has continued to improve its socioeconomic development, and the Central Communist Party Committee declared new goals and strategies for a well-off society at the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002 (16th CCP National Congress, 2002). An official statement explains:

Since the fifteenth National Congress in 1997, historic progress has been registered in China's reform, opening up and a socialist modernisation drive. As the socialist market economy has initially taken shape, the strategic objectives for the second step of the modernisation drive have been attained, and on the whole, the people have reached a well-off standard of living. Since the beginning of the new century, China has been in a new stage of development for building a well-off society in an all-round way and accelerating socialist modernisation. The Party has set new objectives for development and worked out a new programme of action at the new stage in the new century, which necessitates changes in the relevant parts of the Party Constitution (Xinhua News Agency, November 18, 2002).

For instance, it made a new summary of the Marxist-Leninist Theories and principles governing the development of human society in light of the specific conditions in China:

The 3rd paragraph of the General Programme has been rewritten in light of the practice of socialism for nearly a century and in response to the profound changes in the domestic and international situation in current years. The amended Constitution stresses that the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism are correct and have tremendous vitality, that the highest ideal of communism pursued by Chinese Communists can be realised only when the socialist society is fully developed and very advanced, and that the development and improvement of the socialist system is a long historical process. It stresses that, so long as the Chinese Communists uphold the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism and follow the road suited to China's specific conditions and chosen by the Chinese people of their own accord, the socialist cause in China will be crowned with final victory. This formulation emphasises that the CPC will, as always, uphold the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism and its maximum programme and at the same time integrate the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism with China's practice and lead the people of all ethnic groups around the country in following their own road confidently and building socialism with Chinese characteristics (Xinhua News Agency, November 18, 2002).

People's living standard has increased tremendously during the past 20 years. Sun (2007), based on several sources, presents a picture of the economic development in China:

[S]ince 1978, average annual GDP in China has increased by 9.4 per cent, one of the highest growth rates in the world. In 1978, it accounted for less than one per cent of the world economy, and its foreign trade was worth $20.6 billion [Bijina 2005]. Between 2003 and 2006, GDP in China averaged an annual increase of 10.4 per cent. China accounted for 4.6 per cent of the world economy and had foreign trade worth over US$1,066 billion in 2006, the first largest national total in the world. China has also attracted hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign direct investment (FDI) and more than a trillion dollars of domestic non-public investment (china.com.cn, 2007-10-11). In 2001, China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (OECD, 2005) (p. 96).

At the same time, learning needs have also expanded and enlarged. For literacy education, the national statistics show that nearly 200 million illiterates became literate since the founding of the People's Republic of China. . .and the literacy rate for two-thirds of counties (cities) in China reached 95 per cent or more. 4In 2005 alone, 1.69 million illiterates became literates' (The Ministry of Education, China 2005, National Educational Development Statistics, May 2006). From 1978 to 1998, 76.93 million illiterates became literate. Illiteracy can hardly be found among the workers in cities and towns (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education China, 2001, IV).

As for worker education and on-the-job-training, more procedures and skills were categorised and divided for the purposes of job training. Three hundred forty eight million participated in the training among the public, collective enterprises or non-enterprise units alone from 1986 to 1997' (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education China, 2001, IV).

Regarding adult degree education, current statistics show that there are 962 independent institutions of adult education with 200,390 faculty and staff members. There are 1 ,3 1 1 conventional universities and colleges nationwide that offer correspondence programmes and evening schools for adult degree education. Over 400,000 secondary schools and 180,000 primary schools for adults have been established. From 1980 to 1997, there were 9,242,100 graduates with university and three -year college degrees from independent institutions of adult education, including those who participated in national self-taught examinations (The Ministry of Education, Adult Education China, 2001, IV). However, it has become apparent that the economic, cultural, and educational developments are unbalanced not only geographically between regions but also demographically within the population. Several scholars have noted the issues in the areas of economic, social, cultural and educational arenas, such as unequal education and low growth in rural China, regional disparities and social and moral crisis, and cultural backwardness in economically underdeveloped regions (Li, et al., 2004; Liu and Xiao, 2006; Sun, 2007; Wu, Zhang, and Zhang 2008).

Realising these issues and problems, the Central Communist Committee at the 16th National Congress of CPC in 2006 timely called for the establishment of a harmonious society, in which valuing human beings and recognising their needs are deemed as the core and root. More attention is being given to the resolution of China's new social problems. Serving citizens' needs is highly marked as essential (Sun, 2007). 'Citizens are urged to live in harmony with the environment in all social classes, all regions of China and to understand the ecology of human behaviour. Learning is vital to harmony' (Boshier and Huang, 2006, p. 63). Thus, establishing a modern lifelong education system to provide more educational opportunities for people has become the new focus. Lifelong learning and continuing education, in fact, appear to be a most prominent theme in the government policies (Chen and Davey, 2008; Yang, 2008). Some of the central tenets of the policies are noted below.

* In 2003, the third meeting of the 16th CCP National Congress made a Decision on Resolving Issues of the Socialist Free Market Economy. Rapid economic development requires a better-educated workforce. In section 33 of the report where the deepening of educational system reform was stressed, the establishment of a modern national education system and lifelong education system, and building a learning society were highly prioritised on the agenda (16th CCP National Congress, 2003).

* In 2004, the Ministry of Education issued the 2003-2007 Education Promotion Action Plan, which aimed to carry out the 16th CCP National Congress's policy, and to foster the operation of the Education Promotion Action Plan for the Twenty-first Century issued in 1998. Regarding adult education, it encouraged people to learn lifelong via various forms and multiple providers. It asked to strengthen the cooperation between school education and continuing education and to deepen the reform of adult education. It aimed to establish broader areas and multiple levels of an educational training network, and to gradually build a system where individual learners initiate learning that is supported by their employers and subsidised by the government. It attempted to create a system that recognises/certifies credits from various kinds of training, including parttime programmes, and allows for the accumulation and transfer of credits among programmes. The focus for adult education was to emphasise the learning of new knowledge and high technological training - in efforts to build learning organisations, learning enterprises, and learning communities - and to fully utilise and share all kinds of educational resources to create a public system of educational resources that are open to the learning and education of all citizens (The Ministry of Education, 2004a).

* In 2006, at the Sixth Meeting of the Central Communist Committee at the 16th National Congress strategic goals were timely set up, calling for the establishment of a socialist harmonious society, in which valuing human beings and recognising their needs are deemed as the core and root. Serving people is highly regarded as essential. Establishing a modern education system, to provide more educational opportunities for people, became the new focus (16th National Congress, 2006).

Building a socialist harmonious society became the top priority of the Party and the country (Boshier and Huang, 2006; Sun, 2007). Practically, the Chinese government intends to help solve various social problems, including inequality and unbalanced development in social, economic, educational, and cultural arenas. Theoretically, this calls for more stable, just, and harmonious social conditions. Again, the government has emphasised and viewed adult education as an effective vehicle in helping pursue lifelong education and building a learning society. To establish a socialist harmonious society, the Chinese government believes that everyone should have the opportunity to learn and to learn lifelong via formal, informal, and non-formal educational systems, which will facilitate the building of a learning society. Adult education has and will continuously play vital roles in establishing a lifelong learning system for a learning society and contribute to the building of a harmonious society.

The concepts of lifelong education, lifelong learning, or learning society are not new to us. We can trace these back to both eastern and western traditions from ancient times. From an eastern tradition, as early as over 2,500 years ago, the great Chinese educator and philosopher Confucius had advocated lifelong learning to achieve a Great Harmony with an humanistic approach (Sun, 2004). His long lasting wisdom has been valued and echoed in the contemporary concepts of lifelong learning and the learning society (Sun, 2008).

From a western tradition, at the beginning of the twentieth century, British educator A. B. Yeaxlee addressed the need for lifelong education (Wain, 2004). However, it was through the efforts of international organisations, such as, UNESCO, OECD, the Council of Europe in the 1970s, and books, Learning to Be, by Faure et al. (1972), and An Introduction to Lifelong Education, by Lengrand (1975) that the topic of lifelong learning became momentous internationally in the twentieth century (Dehmel 2006; Drodge and Shiroma 2004; Green 2006; Healy and Slowey 2006; Holford and Jarvid 2000; Rubenson 2006; Preece 2006; Schuetze 2006; Tuschling and Engemann 2006). Paul Lengrand's (1975) book An Introduction to Lifelong Education in the 1970s made the concept become consciously discussed and widely considered among not only researchers but also policy makers. This discussion has brought many governments to recognise the importance of lifelong education and that lifelong education would benefit both their countries and people. As Dave (1976) states in Wain (2004:

Lifelong education is a process of accomplishing personal social and professional development throughout the life span of individual in order to enhance the quality of life of both individual and their collectives. It is a comprehensive and unifying and enhancing enlightenment so as to attain the fullest possible development in different stages and domains of life. It is connected with both individual growth and social progress. That is why ideas such as 'learning to be' and 'learning society' or educative society are associated with this concept (cited in Wain, 2004, p. 9).

China's enthusiasm in promoting lifelong education and establishing a learning society also shows that the Chinese government realises the importance of individual growth and personal development (Mezirow, 1991; Tennant and Pogson, 1995; Tennant, 2000) in addition to societal/collective enhancement and transformation as many adult education scholars advocate (Cunningham, 2000; Freiré, 1970; Heaney, 2000; Lindeman, 1989). As Guo (1996) commented, Chinese adult education has been a device for political and economic outcomes. Personal learning needs are not considered as a main concern.

In addition, it also illustrates the moving toward Faure 's 'learning to be' (1972). Welton (2005) commented that Faure 'persists in imagining that humankind can achieve balance between the scientific mind and humanistic concerns about the whole of man' (p. 36). A harmonious society is a society that balances its relationship between human beings, nature, and other beings (Sun, 2004). Human beings become the ends of the learning because this process needs each one to learn and to learn lifelong.

Establishing a learning society for a harmonious society illustrates that China is now paying more attention to individual needs and not just national advancement. A harmonious society sees human beings as the root and has the core value, and in this society, everyone has the right to enjoy the results of economic development. This society is an ideal, stable, just, and effective society. Adult education recognised both as ends and means will greatly serve in the process of facilitating lifelong education and the establishment of a learning society for an ultimate harmonious society.

Several researchers have discussed the efforts, strategies, and approaches of the Chinese government at all levels toward lifelong learning and initiatives on building a learning society (Boshier and Huang, 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Gao, 2005; Sun 2007; Xie, 2005 Zhang, 2008). They have also observed and commented on various activities mobilised and carried out by government and organisations of various kinds at national and local levels, and citizens.

Boshier and Huang (2006a, 2006b, 2007) have studied the progress of building a learning society by the Chinese government for several years. They have observed, The central government (in Beijing) offers resources, encouragement and instruction on how to proceed but it is municipalities who organise learning activities' (2006a, p. 62). Some activities include the Annual lifelong learning for all activities week started in 2005 (Sun 2007). Since its first activity week, more than 25 cities, such as, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin have actively participated. Each time a government high official gave a speech and encouraged more cities to join this event. This year, Vice Minister of Education Chen attended the lifelong learning for all activities week held in mid October 2008 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. She gave enthusiastic congratulations and a supportive speech at the opening ceremony (Liu and Zhu, 2008), which is a consistent sign of the Chinese government position on building a learning society.

Gao (2008) makes several strategic suggestions for the building of a learning society, which I believe precisely reflect four positive characteristics of a learning society:

* which is a caring and humane-centred philosophy, calling for both material and spiritual needs of human life

* which promises an equal right for education and learning for everyone

* which offers fair opportunities to meet each individual's learning needs

* which facilitates the removal of learning barriers from learners who will enjoy shared resources and networks?

Many Chinese local governments have made efforts to establish learning communities. In 2006, a total 81 experimental learning communities had been established (Sun, 2007), providing learning experience for further development nationwide. At the same time, various kinds/forms of learning organisations have been created, such as: learning cities, learning districts, learning towns, learning neighbourhoods, learning villages, learning streets, learning communities, learning mountain, learning hospital, learning factories, learning families, and learning communist party... (See Boshier and Huang (2006a, 2006b; Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumagartner, 2007; and Sun, 2007 for more details).

Sun (2007), applying Holford and Jarvis' (2000) model, (which presents four kinds of learning society: a futuristic society, a reflexive society, a consumer society, and planning for a learning society), looks at various cities' approaches and practices and examines the current landscape of policies and practices of the learning society that China is building. She contends, 'the learning society [that China is trying to build] displays some features of all four types of learning city that western countries have experienced or built, yet it belongs to none of them' (p. 111). She goes on to remind readers,

[It] is important to understand that China has a socialist system which has a particular characteristic, in that socialist features will lead the free market-orientated economy. Because of its uniqueness, this national futuristic strategy of building a learning society for a harmonious society may attain what is expected (p. 111).

Boshier and Huang (2006a) have offered their critique on some of the issues embedded in the Chinese history that may prevent the government from achieving its goals of building a learning society, such as 'movement fatigue and skepticism,' 'rapid pedagogy and scars of schooling', 'absence of NGOs', and the 'declining legitimacy of the Party'. They also observed some positive aspects regarding the efforts of the Chinese government in building a learning society,

The Chinese Communist Party likes big projects (e.g. Three Gorges) and does not mess around. It will be a challenge to imbue busy urbanités and depressed rural peasants with an enthusiasm for learning. But, like many things in China, the learning initiative is large, interesting, and bursting with contractions. Hence, it is certain Westerners can learn from the Chinese experience. In the meantime, up to Lushan Mountain, in Zhabei alleyways, and other places in China, one finds colour, music, laughter, and people learning together and having fun, much like a dinner party. Is it also a revolution? (p. 68)

Nevertheless, follow up research is needed for further comments.

Reflections and conclusion

As can be seen, the Chinese government has been making efforts through policies, decisions, regulations, and plans to forcefully promote the development of education of various kinds, moving forward toward establishing a lifelong learning system and a learning society. Being a part of the four components of the Chinese education system (the other three are 'basic education,' 'middle vocational and technical education', and 'traditional higher education'), Chinese adult education has also gained prolonged achievements (See the Ministry of Education, 2004b for details).

As we review the development within each period of its social contexts and reflect on the practices and policies, we can vividly visualise how they have authoritatively driven Chinese adult education to meet the nation's social and economic needs. Each stage described above presented us with unique national focuses for adult education and then displayed its highlights in educational activities. Under Mao, it emphasised adult education via literacy programmes, evening schools, and part-time programmes, and helped in educating and improving peasants', workers' and the younger generation's level of education, knowledge, and skills for social construction and political movements. Under Deng, on-the-job-training, vocational education, and adult degree education were promoted in order to help meet the needs of the new reform toward a freemarket economy. Starting in the tenty-first century under Hu, lifelong learning and building a learning society have been prioritised as the new tasks for adult education.

As we critically deliberate further on these noticeable shifts and developments, several points are worth our time and consideration, and will be briefly discussed here. First, we are reminded of Freiré 's statement that no education is neutral (Freiré, 1970). Evidently, China has been applying Marxism, Leninism and Maoist thoughts as conceptual frameworks in building a socialist country, and therefore, these are certainly reflected in the nature of the educational policies, i.e. in that the purpose of education is to serve the superstructures of the socialist government and society. This is the driving force for the development of adult education, a development that is in line with the needs of either political or socioeconomic developments of the nation. However, what other underlying premises could serve as driving forces for educational development? What other areas and social dimensions have been overlooked?

Second, the urgent call for character education is a sign that indicates the previous focus or driving forces for these economic -centred developments need to be reconsidered, redirected or corrected. The reason simply is the question of all-around quality of the 'products.' Sun (2007) points out,

The Chinese market-oriented economy, on the one hand, has strongly facilitated the development of education. On the other hand, it has also influenced educational purposes, methods, and content areas, particularly in the rapid progressing of globalisation, which requires a knowledge economy and flexible, skilled workforce. Therefore, learning activities and people's motivations for education and learning are directly situated within market relationships, which have changed people's perception of the value of education in a traditional sense. For instance, 'money is everything' is a mantra that has commonly become accepted by young generations (p. 109).

Furthermore, many social issues have emerged, and the people's sense of morality is in crisis. For instance, some people have become wealthy illegally, and personal gain has become the sole interest among many, which has also engendered ethical and moral concerns. The values that undergird educational policy are the values imparted upon society. Thus, the century old question has returned for us to critically ponder. What are the purposes of education?

Third, the Chinese government has called to build a socialist harmonious society in the twenty-first century, realising and acknowledging that education is not only for the purpose of earning money but more importantly for improving life and being. Learning should be lifelong and life wide and it should not be just for making a living; rather, it should help develop the true nature of human beings. In fact, as Confucius suggested, a society should become a learning society where everyone learns, and learning is lifelong (Sun, 2008). A learning society facilitates the establishment of a harmonious society.

To conclude the review, it is apparent that Chinese national goals and policies have strongly influenced Chinese adult education practices. In each phase, certain policies highlighted its focus in terms of national movement, reform and redirection, which served as driving forces for the reform and development of adult education. This model has been working well, yet it has caused other problems and social issues. Thus, questions including the purposes of education should be revisited. Optimistically, we see the Chinese government making great efforts. China is moving forward toward building a harmonious society, and Chinese adult education facilitates this endeavour through developing learning communities, learning organisations and learning cities, and by building a lifelong learning system. It is imperative that future research and observations be made in order to follow up on such topics.

In summary, the historical purposes and goals of Chinese adult education have constantly been changing under different needs and social contexts since the new China emerged. The roles of adult education, thus, have been constantly changed - just as pragmatic theory claims they should. These changes explicitly illustrate three different leaderships under different stages. This, at the same time, subtly displays different focuses on the development of adult education. Nevertheless, Chinese adult education has somehow been developed and chiefly applied in the social dimension as a means of either changing the status quo or maintaining the status quo.

Footnote

Note

1 'Hong' in Chinese literally means the 'red' colour, symbolically meaning blood. As the victory of the revolutionary wars was traded off by many people's lives, losing their blood, therefore, 'Hong' (red), to the Chinese Communist Party is synonymous to political direction of socialist/communist - to cultivate socialist-minded. 'Zhuan' in Chinese means 'specialty' or 'expert' in a certain area. Mao used it to refer to expert or expertise in certain academic fields. 'You' means 'also' or 'too.'

2 Schools named after Mao's comments on one faculty's technician's development of Shanghai in July 21 in 1968.

3 Schools named after Mao's letter to Li Miao regarding all professions must focus on political, military, culture, and production in addition to its own profession in May 7, 1966. Mao sent many cadres and intellectuals to Five Seven Cadres schools to re-educate for political correctness.

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