Correctional education system in China: Is it practical? Insights from a systematic review and the practical theory
Authors: Alduais Ahmed , Deng Meng , Gökmen Seda 
Published: September 2021

The correctional education system in China is an under‐researched area, and there is no evidence of a published systematic review, especially when it has been over 10 years since the enforcement of the National Plan (2010–2020). Therefore, this systematic review examines the practicality of this area and informs policy‐makers, practitioners, and national and international readership on its status. That said, we reviewed 28 eligible studies between 1987 and 2019, which included quantitative, qualitative, and mixed designs conducted by both insider and outsider researchers. The systematic review was guided by PRISMA and generated insights from the practical theory. The paper concludes with a presentation of constituents of the practical theory on correctional education: conceptualisations, patterns, normative criteria, design principles and models. The extracted data resulted in various views on the correctional education system. For instance, outsider researchers focused more on human rights, enforcing political education, inflexibility and opaque environment for data accessibility and human intrusion, although a few researchers appreciated the efforts being put on correctional education system development, whether it concerned being a social‐oriented system or quantitatively reported data on correctional education development. Dissimilarly, insider researchers praised the integration of family education, political education, moral education, or integrating social work, technology, and western methods.

Context and implications

Rationale for this study

China's correctional education system has been either optimistically viewed as ‘vastly effective in its efforts’ (Hobler, 1989, p. 68) or pessimistically as ‘having the biggest penal colony in the world’ (Decu, 2013, p. 46). Therefore, it is worth exploring this area to decide the practicality of China's current correctional education system.

Why the new findings matter

Recent Chinese government policies and plans indicated that ‘the fundamental requirement of education equity is that all citizens have equal rights to receive education according to law’ (Ministry of Education & People's Republic of China, 2010, p. 8). That said, a systematic review on correctional education could give policymakers, and local and international readership some indicators about the nature and status of correctional education in the country.

Implications for educational researchers and policymakers

The findings provide insights to policymakers, decision‐makers, and researchers who are interested in conducting systematic reviews. These include:

Social, cultural, and political factors enhance the practicality of the correctional education system in China;

Unequal distribution of correctional education services increases the gap between rural and urban areas yet hinders the practicality of the correctional education system in China;

While variable terminology describing correctional education leads to misconceptualisation of the field; examining it from different perspectives increases the chances of development; and

The Prevention‐Provision‐Treatment and the Exclusion‐Inclusion‐Integration‐Reintegration model based on practical theory helps to observe the practicality of the correctional education system in China.