Foreign Education History. Volume 2 (Revised Edition)

Author: Wang Tianyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: 【Basic Information】(Beijing Normal University) National Key Discipline — History of Education
Historical Development: The history of education is one of the oldest disciplines in normal universities in China. As early as 1904, when the Qing government issued the Modern Educational System, it was listed as a compulsory course. Until the late 1950s, it remained a foundational course for all education majors. The discipline of the history of education at Beijing Normal University has strong academic strength, with professors such as Qiu Chun, Qu Junong, Shao Heting, Mao Lirui, and Chen Jingpan, who are renowned scholars of the older generation in China. In the early 1960s, our university's master's program in the history of Chinese education was the first to admit graduate students, cultivating a batch of experts in the history of education across the country. The current discipline leader, Professor Wang Bingzhao, a member of the National Degree Committee's Evaluation Group for Education, also graduated from this graduate program. Professors Wang Tianyi, Xia Zhilian, and Wu Shiyin in the history of foreign education are also famous experts trained in the early years of the People's Republic of China. In the early 1980s, our university's discipline of the history of Chinese education became one of the first national key disciplines. Both our master's and doctoral programs in the history of Chinese education and the history of foreign education were among the earliest authorized programs in the country. A single teaching and research office holds two doctoral programs, which is rare nationwide. Professor Yu Qiding, the current director of the Institute of Educational History and Culture, was the first person in China to obtain a doctorate in the first-level discipline of education. The master's program in the history of Chinese education began admitting graduate students in 1979, and the master's program in the history of foreign education in 1980. The doctoral programs in the history of Chinese education and the history of foreign education began admitting students in 1982 and 1985, respectively. Over the past two decades, our university's discipline of the history of education has trained over 100 doctoral students and hundreds of master's students, including Professor Zhang Binxian, the current president of the School of Education and discipline leader in the history of foreign education.
Research Directions: The discipline of the history of education includes two major research fields: the history of Chinese education and the history of foreign education (before 1996, they were two separate graduate programs). The main research directions for graduate students currently include the history of the Chinese educational system, the history of Chinese educational thought, the history of the foreign educational system, the history of foreign educational thought, and the comparative study of Chinese and foreign education. Additionally, it can be divided into ancient, modern, and contemporary educational history based on historical periods; or into early childhood education history, primary school education history, secondary school education history, vocational education history, higher education history, ethnic education history, family education history, adult and social education history, etc., based on categories. It can also study the history of education in various countries and regions around the world. In short, historical research can be conducted on any field of educational practice or educational science theory. Educational historiography, educational local chronicles, educational source materials, and bibliology are unique research fields within the history of education.
Faculty: The Institute of Educational History and Culture at our School of Education, as a specialized academic institution dedicated to teaching and researching the history of education, currently has 8 full-time faculty members, including 1 over 60 years old, 4 between 46 and 59 years old, and 3 under 45 years old. In addition to the on-campus faculty, there are 16 teachers with backgrounds in the history of education, including 7 doctoral supervisors, 9 professors, 6 associate professors, and 1 lecturer. The age and professional structure of the faculty are relatively reasonable. The discipline leaders, Professor Wang Bingzhao and Professor Zhang Binxian, serve as members of the National Education Science Planning Committee's discipline group for the history of education. Professors Wang Bingzhao, Zhang Binxian, and Yu Qiding hold leadership positions in the Educational History Professional Committee of the Chinese Educational Society.
Research Projects: Since the launch of the national education science research planning project, our discipline has secured research projects at the provincial and ministerial level or above in each of the four five-year plans. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, 2 national projects and 6 provincial and ministerial projects were approved. The goal of each professor having their owned project, while others participate in collaborative projects, has been largely achieved. Some important projects in the field of the history of education include:
- "History of Western Universities," led by Zhang Binxian, a national general project.
- "Research on Educational Source Materials and the Construction of the Chinese Educational Thought Database," led by Yu Qiding, a national general project.
- "Historical Study of the Theories of Western Educational Historiography in the 20th Century," led by Shi Jinghuan, a key project of the Ministry of Education.
- "Historical Study of the Problems of Modernization in Chinese Education," led by Yu Shusheng, a key project of the Ministry of Education.
- "School Education in China and the United States — Education Under Different Cultures," led by Guo Faqi, a humanities and social sciences planning project of the Ministry of Education.
Research Achievements: Our discipline has established a distinctive feature of balancing teaching and research, with equal emphasis on Chinese and foreign educational history, and has achieved a series of pioneering and highly influential academic results in the field of educational history in China:
- The "History of Ancient Chinese Education" and "History of Modern Chinese Education," written by the older generation of scholars Mao Lirui, Shao Heting, Qu Junong, and Chen Jingpan, were among the earliest systematic textbooks on the history of education in New China.
- The "History of Foreign Education," written by Wang Tianyi, Xia Zhilian, and Zhu Meiyu, won the First Prize of the National Excellent Teaching Material Award.
- The "General History of Chinese Education" (6 volumes), edited by Mao Lirui, is a comprehensive historical work and won the First Prize of the Ministry of Education's First Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award.
- The "General History of Chinese Educational Thought" and "General History of Chinese Educational System" (each 8 volumes), edited by Wang Bingzhao, are the largest-scale works on the history of education to date and won the National Book Award and the First Prize of the Ministry of Education's Second Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Award.
- The "Concise History of Chinese Education," written by Wang Bingzhao and others, is the textbook on the history of education with the longest usage time and widest scope in China.
- The "Outline of the Comparative History of Chinese and Foreign Education," edited by Wu Shiyin as the volume editor, won the First Prize of the National Second Education Science Outstanding Achievement Award.
- Professor Yu Qiding's multimedia teaching package for the history of Chinese education was the first to combine traditional teaching content with modern educational technology, winning the First Prize of the Beijing Higher Education Achievement Award. Its accompanying textbook, "Concise History of Chinese Education," is currently the most widely printed textbook on the history of education in China.
- The multimedia network courseware for the history of Chinese education, including a database of papers, works, literature, educators, test questions, and an electronic dictionary, has been developed.
- Additionally, Wang Bingzhao's "Research on Ancient Private Education and Modern Private Schools in China" won the First Prize of the Fifth Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievement Award. He Xiaoxia and Shi Jinghuan's "Church Schools and Modernization in China," Wu Shiyin's "History of Modern Foreign Education," and Zhang Binxian's "Social Transformation and Social Change — A Study of the American Progressive Education Movement" won the Second Prize of the Fifth and Sixth Beijing Philosophy and Social Sciences Outstanding Achievement Awards, respectively.
In the new century, our discipline will fully leverage its advantages, keep pace with the times, and actively strive to make greater contributions to the development and reform of the discipline of the history of education and the cause of education.