ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to promote reflection on educational dreams and nightmares. It illustrates what the Grand Education Narrative (GEN) looks like at the national level. The book also illustrates how the GEN operates across national boundaries through a consideration of mass communications from global organizations. It considers some of the more surreal trends in international education reform to provide insight into how dreams seem to function. The book describes trends in education policy in one or more countries. It examines China's ongoing experiment with market-based education reforms. The book also considers how the government walks the tightrope of promoting two seemingly contradictory dreams: supporting the tenets of the Chinese Communist Party, and maintaining its pragmatist commitment to a strong economy. It also examines a complicating dynamic: the tension between local and state control of school policy.
