‘Can you have your cake and eat it?’ A small-scale exploratory study of the influence of neoliberalism in managerial practices at private LTOs in China

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Liu, Siwei (2020) ‘Can you have your cake and eat it?’ A small-scale exploratory study of the influence of neoliberalism in managerial practices at private LTOs in China. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]

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Abstract

This study explores the aspects of Director of Studies (DOS) and owners’ managerial practices that are influenced by neoliberalism at five private Language Teaching Organisations (LTO) in shadow education industry in urban China. Shadow education is the after-school private tutoring sector which has both huge market size and intense competition. Management are responsible for the LTO’s business viability and their managerial practices are susceptible to neoliberal profit orientation. The ‘cake’ indicates the economic benefit, which can be viewed from both short-term and long-term perspective. Should the management focus on imminent gains to eat their ‘cake’ now or should they starve for the moment and enjoy the ‘cake’ in the future which may never come is truly a dilemma.

This qualitative research involves five DOSs/owners from three metropolises in China. Data were generated through two rounds of semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic coding based on the constructivist/interpretive paradigm. The findings identified the organisational and managerial characteristics of these LTOs. Additionally, they suggested the managerial practices in the areas of teacher development, appraisal and recruitment were influenced by neoliberal principles albeit to different extents. The implications are too complex to be evaluated in absolute terms. How to achieve the perfect balance between being neoliberal and creating a supportive environment for the teachers is worth further exploration.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Keywords: shadow education, neoliberalism, managerial practices
Depositing User: Liu, Siwei
Date Deposited: 20 Aug 2021 10:29
Last Modified: 20 Aug 2021 10:29
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/65973

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