Urban-Rural Differences under the Context of China’s Political Textbook System: Student Perspectives

Abstract

The term “life-related,” a significant characteristic of new political textbook(s) in China’s new curriculum reform at senior high school level, means that the textbook(s) should be based on the learners’ life experiences and designed to enhance learning in daily life. There has been little relevant research about student perspectives on how “life-related” a textbook is, especially on comparing students from urban and rural areas. This paper has two aims: Firstly, to compare the perspectives of the urban and rural students about how “life-related” a textbook is; and secondly, to concentrate on identifying the effecting factors on the student perspectives. In this study, the results of questionnaire survey (N = 569), with 285 students from a urban school and 284 students from a rural school, indicated that the political textbook (Politics and Life, in short P&L) is more related to urban students’ daily life. Findings from semi-structured interviews and content analysis of the textbook suggested that public resource, family background, and the urban-oriented textbook content may explain the urban-rural difference of students’ perceptions on political textbook.