The expansion and diversity of shadow education: Global perspectives, local contexts

Abstract

Shadow education is an umbrella term for various types and forms of private tutoring, that is, tutoring provided in academic subjects on top of the regular school timetable, which is paid for by parents or pupils. Shadow education is a global phenomenon whose scale, characteristics, and also causes and implications vary depending on the local context. Shadow education has been the subject of academic research since the 1990s, and both the quantity and quality of research fi ndings have been increasing in the last decade.The aim of the monograph is 1) to map and evaluate the state and development of Czech and international research on this phenomenon; 2) compare the basic characteristics (form, degree of expansion) and document the macro-level determinants of shadow education across world regions. Special attention is paid to the specifi cs of shadow education in the Czech Republic. Methodologically, the monograph is based on the study and analysis of more than 500 peerreviewed journal studies or monographs and other types of sources published on the given topic since 1993 in English, German, French, Czech and other languages. Empirical, theoretical and overview studies as well as grey literature (statistical and analytical reports of international organizations or governments, media articles, etc.) were included.The quantity of empirical fi ndings on shadow education has increased signifi cantly in the last decade, as has the methodological quality of research investigations. The maturity of this research fi eld is evidenced, among others, by emerging meta-analyses on various topics, a large number of thematic issues of specialized journals and, in particular, the quantitative growth of the number of studies on shadow education in journals registered in the SCOPUS and Web of Science databases.In the world, shadow education is probably most widespread in East Asia, where the phenomenon stems from the culture of Confucianism and intense competition in high-stakes exams.Many countries in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia are characterized by political instability, economic problems or weak institutions, which leads to a greater willingness of teachers to make extra money from private tutoring (often unethically). In Europe, shadow education is traditionally most widespread in the southern states and also in the former Eastern Bloc countries, which is due to historical experience (transition to a market economy) and also to the low of parental confi dence in the quality of the education system. Shadow education is less common in the countries of North America (especially Canada) and Northern Europe, which are characterized by a low level of inequality, a low level of competition, low level of qualitative stratifi cation of educational organizations, and a high quality of educational systems that are able to meet well the individual educational needs of students.The monograph, supported by empirical studies, proves that the form and spread of shadow education on a macro-level in the world is determined by institutional (expansion of access to formal education, structure of educational systems including high-stake exams, trust in institutions, especially education), economic (level of economic development of the country, teachers' salaries), cultural (degree of egalitarianism, emphasis on effort and individual responsibility) and political factors (political reactions to the phenomenon and its implications).The book is supplemented by an overview table with information on shadow education in (almost) every country in the world and is, in a way, an "atlas" of shadow education. Thepublication is primarily intended for an academic audience, and its ambition is to support researchers' interest in this important topic of contemporary comparative education.