ABSTRACT
Causal thinking interprets events, policies, and human actions as necessarily logical, rational, definite, and linear, following a cause-and-effect pattern and assumption. Correlative thinking is located in a dialectical relationship between two educational paradigms: exam-oriented education and quality-oriented education. This chapter discusses the inherent character of these two paradigms in Shanghai. This is followed by a detailed description of correlative thinking at work in Shanghai through two education initiatives. The unshakeable and unceasing influences of an exam-oriented education in Shanghai/China are primarily put down to Confucian beliefs. Despite its amorphous nature, a quality-oriented education is projected as the antidote to heavy schoolwork burden and school choice fever. The aim of actualising a quality-oriented education is expedited by a number of education initiatives, including the following two: Expanded Curriculum and Inquiry/Research Curriculum, and Green Indices for the Academic Quality of Primary and Secondary Students in Shanghai.
