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本場演講藉由明星高中青少年文化與教育經驗之間的關係，勾勒當代台灣升學體制運作的核心邏輯。研究發現明星高中興盛的社團活動關聯到1980年代末隨民主化、教改帶來的政策改變，及隨後在校園所興起的追求「能K能玩」的文化氛圍。在此轉型過程中，以往容易與「問題學生」畫上等號的次文化活動，逐漸在「菁英學生」的世界中取得正當性。學生競逐秀異地位的關鍵，也從過去的「讀好書考好試」轉變為「玩好也考好」。社團活動和考試升學在教育功能上有相互依賴、影響的關係：追求「休閒成就」的集體文化需求與升學制度交錯，使學生在社團參與也呈現填鴨學習模式，再製升學競爭邏輯；社團優異表現也強化學生對既有教育體制的認同。表面上明星高中學生有更多自由追求休閒成就，但研究發現，此種校園生活模式讓「休閒」與「課業」都在更壓縮的過程中進行。明星高中社團活動其實是由學業考試所延伸出的地位競爭場域，發揮讓學生順應以填鴨考試、競爭為核心的升學體制的社會功能。
In this talk, which explores the relationship between Taiwanese academically elite students’ culture and their schooling experience. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the core logic of the exam-oriented educational system’s operation in contemporary Taiwan. In so doing, I first demonstrate that the thriving extracurricular club activities in publicly funded elite high schools are part of a wider subcultural milieu and are characterized by the collective pursuit of “dual excellence in both study and play,” which has been shaped by educational policy changes implemented since the late 1980s. Some particular subcultures—earlier associated with problematic, low-achieving youth groups—were gradually legitimized among academically elite youth during this transformation process. Exam success is no longer sufficient for high-school students to secure distinction within their peer group: Excellence in leisure activities is also pursued in this post-martial-law era. My findings suggest that students’ extracurricular club activities and academic pursuits exist in a symbiotic relationship. The collectively shared cultural need to pursue leisure accomplishments intersects with educational institutions, as students adapt strategies characterized by rote learning to their club activities. First- and second-year students’ outstanding achievement in extracurricular club activities leads to them being willing to dedicate themselves to intensive rote academic learning in their third year, as they prepare for university entry exams, thus contributing to the reproduction of the logic of educational competition. Students from elite public high schools seem to have more leeway and time to pursue leisure accomplishments. I argue, however, that both their leisure and academic activities proceed in a compressed manner. The thriving extracurricular club activity in public elite high schools is an arena extended from academic examinations for accommodating status competition, which functions to support students’ compliance with an examination-oriented educational regime marked by rote learning and intensive competition.
