The Transformation of Parents’ Perception of Education Involution Under the Background of “Double Reduction” Policy: The Mediating Role of Education Anxiety and Perception of Education Equity

Abstract

The “Double Reduction” policy in China was introduced to reduce the academic burden of primary and secondary school students, ease their parents’ education anxiety, enhance education equity, and curb the phenomenon of education involution. A survey was conducted on 271 parents using the items of “Double Reduction” policy understanding level, subjective family social class, and education involution as well as the scales of anxiety about learning attitudes and school admission, as well as perception of education equity. The results showed that: (1) education anxiety acted as a significant mediator between parents’ understanding of the “Double Reduction” policy and their perception of education involution, with the full mediation of anxiety about school admission outperforming anxiety about learning attitudes and (2) the more parents understand about the “Double Reduction” policy, the higher their perceived education equity. In the initial stage of the “Double Reduction” policy implementation, a survey of parents’ education anxiety and their perception of the policy effect can gain an effective glimpse into the outcomes of the policy execution, especially in alleviating the education involution, observe the impact pathways that influence education involution, and provide adjustment and improvement for the “Double Reduction” operation in time.

Parental Educational Anxiety during Children’s Transition to Primary School in China

“…For instance, the government could establish regulations to increase opportunities for families in need to obtain more community resources for cultural activities (e.g., museum visiting). It could also expand resources such as famous public teachers’ classes through online platforms [ 31 ], which could address parents’ concerns regarding their children’s learning and social adaptation. Second, educators should take effective measures to strengthen connections between preschools and primary schools.…”

“…Parental educational anxiety continuously directs the family’s cash flow and the children’s energy and outputs. Consequently, the phenomenon of involution of basic education deepens [ 31 ]. The pressure exerted on children to learn and parents’ anxiety about future social status are interwoven.…”

English education and Double reduction policy in the post-pandemic China

“…Though the "double reduction" policy would significantly benefit parents by releasing their heavy burden of educational expenses, its implementation is hindered by parents' mistrust and high-level education anxiety [7]. Therefore, it is critical for parents to adjust their hypervigilance on children's academic attainment, to reach a balance between the appropriate preparation for examination and children's healthy and holistic development.…”

“…Nevertheless, current research on the "double reduction" policy has mainly focused on its essence value [4]; obstacles to implementation [5]; impacts on basic education, shadow education, non-academic subjects such as PE, and parental perceptions [6,7]. Limited research has been conducted to provide specific strategies for ELT in China in response to the requirements of the "double reduction" policy.…”

Psychometric evaluation of the academic involution scale for college students in China: An application of Rasch analysis

“…Now, the term “involution” has been widely used in diverse fields across agriculture, politics, economics, education and so on ( Li, 2021 ). What’s more, a close look at the literature on involution indicated that the concept has been mainly researched in Asian countries, such as in Japan ( Mihara, 2020 ), and China ( Li, 2021 ; Xue, 2021 ; Cai, 2022 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Li, 2022 ; Si, 2022 ; Yu et al, 2022 ). With the research focus of Mihara (2020) on Japanese animation industry, the majority of prior studies on involution in China concentrate on education.…”