Manifestations and Policy Responses to the Conflicts of Pluralistic Educational Values

As China enters an era of social transformation and deep integration with globalization, the education sector has witnessed an increasingly complex and pluralistic landscape of values. While a diversity of values has stimulated vitality in education, it has also led to a series of value conflicts. These conflicts are primarily manifested in the frictions between instrumental rationality and value rationality, meritocracy and egalitarianism, as well as statism and individualism. Based on a systematic analysis of the practical manifestations of value conflicts, this article categorizes these conflicts into three dimensions: goal, process, and subject, and then constructs a three-dimensional balance model of educational values. Drawing on this model, this study investigates the policy responses across different value dimensions and their underlying logic. It is found that unintended spillover effects and the contradiction between practical results and original goals exist in the policy implementation process. With the aim of achieving high-quality and balanced development of the educational ecosystem, this paper proposes that future education in China should promote the mutually beneficial coexistence of pluralistic values.