Social critic Nanfang Shuo, in his analysis of the reasons behind teachers 'changing roles, says: "In the last 20 years,' marketization 'has been the most powerful global force, doing away with the way things have been ordered in all kinds of fields." According to the rules of the marketplace as applied to the educational arena, teachers are now service providers and students are purchasing consumers.
「近二十年來全世界最強力的趨勢就是『市場化』，市場化的法則瓦解了各個領域的秩序，」社會觀察家南方朔分析近年來教師角色變遷的淵源說，依照市場法則，老師只是教育服務的提供者，學生則是購買教育服務的消費者。