Make General Senior High Schools Attractive
After the realization of standardized development， schools will head for individual characteristic development. The “Standardized development” is for schools to reach the government''''s standards and meet common needs of students for their general development， while the “individual characteristic development” is to promote the development of school features and meet students’ personalized needs for a diverse development.
The feature development of Senior high schools has been an important theme in the past 30 years of senior secondary education development. Especially in 2010， China unveiled the Outline of the National Medium and Long-term Plan for Education Reform and Development（2010—2020年）， in which the central government explicitly proposed the policy of “promoting the diverse development of general senior high schools” and “encouraging the characteristic development of general senior high schools”. Then， a top-level design of senior secondary education has been formed in the provincial and municipal medium and long-term plans for education reform and development， and a series of initiatives have been promulgated at the same time. It can be said that senior high school feature development is an important strategic layout of senior high school development in China. It aims at facilitating the diversification of cultivation modes at the senior secondary stage and meeting the development needs of different students， so that it can serve the need of diverse talents for the national political and economic development and the individualized needs of school development. However， both theoretical and practical issues have emerged， such as， how we understand the feature development of senior high schools； how we plan the senior high school feature development （for a region and a school）； how we evaluate\/assess senior high school feature development， etc. These issues need our prompt practice-oriented theoretical research so as to lead the direction of senior high school feature development in a region and in a school and solve relevant concrete problems， provide diverse top-level designs and reference cases for regional senior high school feature development， and offer thinking patterns and tools for school principals to think about school feature development. As a result， we can improve the scientificity， feasibility and effectiveness of school feature development.
As for the understanding of senior high school feature development， this book makes an analysis from three aspects which are national policies， international policies and academic research， and understanding of the nature， in order to help readers understand the national and international policy background and research findings， connotations and extensions， and the thinking frameworks of senior high school feature development.
Chapter One， the Source of Senior High School Feature Development： National Drive and Regional Promotion （author： Chai Chunqing）， analyzes a series of policies driving the feature development of senior high schools in China. Based on an analysis of the policies relevant to senior high school characteristic development since 1985， the author summarizes several basic features： national policies is a main driver of senior high school characteristic development； regional education authorities play an important role； the values of senior high school feature development evolves from a national “need of talents” to the development need of “human beings”； absorbing more social forces is a basic work of the diverse development of senior high schools； “autonomy in running school” is always a core issue that constrains senior high school feature development； the improvement of research methods is very important for senior high school feature development. The chapter proposes several policy suggestions for improving senior high school feature development， that is， giving the “autonomy in running school” back to schools； encouraging schools to build mechanism and content for students to make choices； and designing the policies to help general senior high schools realize a true connotative development.
Chapter Two， the Nature of Senior High School Feature Development： Profound Understanding and Extended Analyses （author： Hu Rongkun）， first introduces relevant national policies and measures of England， America， Japan and Sweden and points out several common features， that is， an emphasis on the fundamental aim of student personalized development， a dominant role of the government， schools’ autonomy in operation and development， the participation of a third party， subject-based feature development. Then， the chapter takes the research into “specialist schools program” in England as an example to analyze main features of the research on school feature development in other countries. The main features include a focus on policy effects， specific research questions， empirical research orientated， and multiparty participation. On this basis， the chapter suggests that Chinese senior high school feature development be based on the development of students； the government set up a supportive policy system； empirical research be strengthened to support school feature development； school-based strategies be used in practice； and a cooperative partnership be encouraged to establish.
Chapter Three， the Nature of Senior High School Feature Development： Profound Understanding and Extended Analyses （author： Chen Li）， differentiates between the concept of school features and the concept of featured schools through analyzing common and particular features of the education and management in general senior high schools. The author points out that “the feature development of general senior high schools” is a process of planning， implementing and assessing “features of general senior high schools” and “featured general senior high schools”. Therefore， school principals have to fully understand its values， resources and the subject role students play in the process. At the same time， the author elaborates different types of senior high school feature development via systematics research and proposes six-dimensional thinking model of school feature development （i.e.， subject， type， structure， stage， pathway， procedure）， which provides a framework for principals to systematically think about school feature development.
For the planning of senior high school feature development， national policy promotion is a macro appeal； regional planning is a systematic design at a local level of administration， and school planning is a specific micro design based on a comprehension of national policies and regional planning and a deep understanding of the school''''s development basis and demards.