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The American progressive and education reformer John Dewey was invited to China to give a series of lectures in 1919. Despite being an American expert in the field of education, Dewey urged his audiences to not simply import an American or Western model. Instead, he suggested that they follow the philosophy of pragmatism to devise their own modern school system and worked with institutions to draft the guiding principles of education at the national level. It is unsurprising--given the growing anti-foreign sentiment and weak position of China's national government in the period as it competed with various warlords--that progressive education as advocated by Dewey did not ultimately materialize at the national level in China. This paper will argue, however, that an example of its implementation can be found at the local level in the form of the Xiaozhuang (Morning Village) School created by Tat Xingzhi in the rural hinterlands of Nanjing. Where scholarship on Tat Xingzhi tends to minimize his links to Dewey and portrays his school as a radical departure from Deweyan pedagogy, this paper illuminates the ongoing relationship between Tat and American progressives and demonstrates how the Xiaozhuang School represents a Chinese articulation of Dewey's ideas. In this sense, a philosophy that is seen as universal--pragmatism-can be better understood as undergoing a process of adaptation to the specific needs of the locale in which it was transferred and so was "glocalized" as opposed to simply imported through globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about the process of developing integrated science curricula at junior secondary schools in the Peoples' Republic of China in the past 20 years. The history has witnessed two stages of developing integrated science curricula during this period in China: one was at the provincial level in the 1980s/1990s, while the other was at the national level in the new millennium. Using the concept of curriculum emphases, this paper purported to investigate the advocated forms of integration and the reasons and causes behind them in integrated science curriculum during the period under study. Data were collected from two sources: curriculum documents related to the integrated science curricula, and interviews with key informants who were involved in designing the official documents of this kind of science curriculum. Two models of integration have been identified from the two stages respectively: one is 'integration within science subjects', while the other 'integration beyond science subjects'. The social-political roots of the two models of integration have been traced. To meet the goal of scientific literacy, it is suggested in the final part of this paper that the model of 'integration within science subjects' should be abandoned while the model of 'integration beyond science subjects' should be advocated in the process of developing integrated science curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yali College, a four-year institution operating under the aegis of Yale University, offered a US-style undergraduate education in China's Hunan province from 1914 to 1927. It developed a robust curriculum and an impressive physical plant but collapsed after a little more than a decade. This paper, drawing on new archival research, focuses on the circumstances leading to that collapse. It argues that a deep divide emerged over Yali's form and function, pitting modernisers at the institution's helm against its tradition-minded faculty and trustees, eventually crippling the college. The case of Yali helps us understand the perils of ideological misalignment in education, especially when it occurs in challenging sociopolitical contexts like 1920s China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Safety science has been developed and has received more and more attention in China in recent years. • Safety science in China is now becoming an independent discipline and an important research field. • A systematic review of the history, legislation, education and research of safety science in China was conducted. • The future developments of safety science in China were introduced briefly. The practice and study of safety science in China has a long and prolific history. In China, safety science originated in the early 1950s, soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. However, the more complete concept, research and practice of safety science were defined after the late 1970s, when China started its full-scale drive for economic reform and policy of openness. In the past decades, particularly in the 21st century, with the support of and encouragement from the Chinese government, safety science in China has undergone many changes and has been developed such that it is now becoming an independent discipline and an important research and practice field. Evidently, the research and practice of safety science in China has been fruitful. However, this was not well known to the world because most of the works addressing safety science were published or introduced in Chinese. Focusing on the discipline level of safety science, this paper provides a complete overview of safety science in China from five perspectives, namely, history, legislation, education, research, and prospects. The paper attempts to promote the cooperation and exchange between China and other countries to provide effective evidence-based services for the development of safety science in countries across the world. However, more detailed research on China's safety science should be carried out for a deeper understanding of China's work safety research and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although engineering education has played important roles in China’s growing power and influence on the world stage, engineering education policy since the Reform and Opening-up in the late 1970s has not been well documented in current English-language scholarship. Informed by historical and sociological studies of education, engineering and engineering education, this paper attempts to address this scholarly gap by relating contemporary Chinese engineering education policy-making to its broader historical, cultural and ideological contexts. Based on analysis of policy documents and reports released by the Chinese government and engineering schools, and drawing on prior scholarship of Chinese (engineering) education policy, this paper employs the concept of ‘past/forward’ as an analytic lens to interpret and understand four major areas of engineering education policy change in contemporary China: institutional reform, disciplines and majors, training objectives, and curriculum reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the transformation in the Zhou dynasty China (1046–256 BC) of the concept of education in relation to the process of social selection, which concerns the distribution both of knowledge and of social ranks. An approach in terms of historical semantics, mainly influenced by Luhmannian sociological theory with some reference to Koselleck, will place the focus on social change and the changing meaning of concepts. The analysed sources include archaeological evidence and passages from traditional classics. The paper will show how the semantics of education were closely tied to the changing principles of social selection and the changing Chinese cultural concept of Tian (Heaven). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data gathered in interviews with 29 informants in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, China – an administrative region with Theravāda Buddhist religious identity. The data highlight tensions between the traditional faith-based education provided by Theravāda Buddhist temple schools and secular state education. The paper concludes that a negotiated balance between traditional faith-based education and the state education system would best serve the interests of the ethnic minority in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the impact of hukou and college education on job placement and wage attainment for Chinese rural migrant workers in the cities. The analysis of the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey shows that when rural-born individuals gain both urban hukou and college education, they enjoy equal job-sector placement and they earn significantly higher wages than the college-educated locals. But in the absence of a rural-to-urban hukou transfer, migrants have fewer opportunities to go to college than local peers, and even college education does not gain a migrant an equal chance of working in the state sector or receiving equal earnings. A major contribution of this study is to suggest a nine-category analytic scheme, which takes into account how education, hukou and type of workplace affect one another in jointly influencing labour market inequality between rural migrants and urbanite workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to investigate the role of parental education in child disability in China. We used nationally representative data from China’s National Sample Survey on Disability, iterated twice, in 1987 and 2006, with data of 764,718 children aged 0–14 years. Logit models were used for statistical analysis. Results showed that the prevalence of child disability was significantly associated with each parent’s education. Maternal education was more important than paternal education in child disability in both surveys. The analysis of marginal effect indicated a one-year increase in maternal and paternal schooling led to an average decrease of 0.121% and 0.091% in the probability of child disability in 1987, and 19 years later, these figures had dwindled to 0.091% and 0.072%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we provide an overview of China's human capital strategy and educational achievements over the last two decades. While everyone acknowledges China as an economic superpower, very few are aware of or realize China's notable achievements in education as well as its internationalization of education. Since 1978, the landmark for the foundation of the Chinese modern higher education system, China has made tremendous strides in education both domestically and internationally. While China maintains 10% growth in GDP, albeit with a GDP per capita at a low level for a developing country, it is also producing serious scholars and a tremendous amount of scholarly output; more and more Chinese students are seeking higher education abroad; and international students are showing a rising interest in receiving education in China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Teachers in China are regarded as vulnerable to sociopolitical changes. This paper, however, focuses on the resilience and innovativeness of state-selected expert teachers - the recipients of the Special Rank Teacher (SRT) award. This award was the product of a transitional period in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, and was an act of rehabilitation for the teaching profession. Using a biographical approach, this paper analyses how the intentions of the award were reflected in the choice of recipients. It contributes to a deeper understanding of teachers in China and the notion of teaching excellence that the state-recognised teachers exemplify. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major goal of education for Tibetans, as for all China's ‘minority nationalities’, has been to encourage patriotism towards China and to foster a sense of nationhood. This paper considers the ways in which this priority has conditioned the schooling of Tibetans since 1950. Although this priority is unchanging, the paper looks at how it varies in degree and content as political leaders or policies change. An analysis of the primary curriculum reveals the process whereby Tibetan ethnicity is recreated through selective rendering of elements of Tibetan culture, history and religion to reposition it in the Chinese national context. It argues that while in central China the ideological content of the curriculum may have diminished with economic development, in Tibet, as in other border regions, the particular blend of patriotic and moral education is likely to continue as long as the Chinese state feels threatened by outside cultural and political influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development of outdoor education in Hong Kong from its colonial roots to the challenges of its uncertain future. The scene is set by a synopsis of Hong Kong's geography, history, economy, and culture. Next, we trace the history of organised outdoor education from the early 1900s to the present day. This is followed by a critical exploration of issues facing youth adventure education programmes and management development programmes. The paper closes with recommendations to return to "real" outdoor courses in natural environments, to raise the standards of training available to outdoor leaders, and finally, to create a governing body that would facilitate inter-organisational learning, raise standards of programme design and delivery, and help build a body of literature that is specific to experiential learning in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares public–private partnerships (PPPs) in education in post-war Singapore and Hong Kong. After the Second World War the Singapore government shied away from PPPs, while the state in Hong Kong collaborated extensively with the non-state sector in education. Singapore was a small city-state flanked by two Muslim nations, and its post-war regime faced challenges from the Malayan Communist Party. These pressures curbed the state’s involvement with missionary and Chinese bodies in education. Hong Kong, however, was a mono-racial society without any anti-Chinese neighbours, and its authorities were seldom challenged by a militant antagonist. Thus, its government was freer to involve non-state agents in education. This study reveals that PPPs are viable only when suitable non-state partners exist and when the state does not believe that such undertakings would expose the school system to an antagonist. It also urges scholars in future to explore the socio-political preconditions for PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mathematics education is a cultural-specific social activity. China, as a developing country with a long history and a unique culture, has the largest number of teachers and students in the world. Hence, it is of significance to explore the issue of the impact of socio-economic status (SES) on mathematics education within the Chinese context. However, investigations aiming to address this issue are relatively rare. This study was designed to examine the relationship between Chinese students' SES and their mathematics achievements. Results reveal that Chinese students' SES exerts significant influence on their mathematics achievements, and several important constituents of SES, such as parents' education and family income, stand out among others. In this paper, the cultural causes of the influence are discussed, together with a general introduction to the social and educational context. These could partly explain the empirical results, along with factors such as the values of education in traditional Chinese culture and the current important status of mathematics in modern society as well as Chinese school curriculum materials' effect on students' mathematics achievements. The economic and social situation in China, especially the imbalanced distribution of educational resources between and within the urban and rural areas, could magnify the role of SES in mathematics achievements. Finally, the future direction of measuring and interpreting the SES's influence on mathematics achievement in the Chinese context is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to analyze the development of three aspects of Chinese Studies, namely Sinology, China Studies, and Chinese Overseas Studies in Malaysia. Each aspect corresponds to different levels of looking at China: civilizational, state, and ethnic. It also examines how identity politics in Malaysia shapes the development of these fields and how these fields created different images of China. Sinology depoliticizes China and presents the magnificent Chinese culture as a positive element in Malaysian nation-building project. Chinese Overseas Studies de-centers China and examines the multiple identities of the Chinese people. China Studies were officially pursued under the agendas of inter-civilizational dialogue and friendship between China and Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese state's commitment to improve teaching quality in rural regions is a key component of national efforts to close the rural–urban education gap. In this paper, we investigate an understudied but critical dimension of quality teaching: teacher expectations. We employ longitudinal data gathered in Gansu Province in 2000 and 2007 to first examine whether teacher expectations for rural youth are conditioned by students’ social origin and teacher background characteristics. Next, we determine the predictive accuracy of their expectations. Our results highlight the ways in which teacher expectations condition the sorting of rural children among different schooling tracks with distinct life trajectories. Significantly, teachers are more likely to hold lower expectations for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, non-local teachers hold lower expectations for rural children compared to local teachers. Finally, a low percentage of teachers expect students to enrol in post-compulsory vocational education. We consider the implications of these results for both educational policy and social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents abstracts of posters presented at the Economic History Association's 2012 annual meeting on topics including the history of fiscal policy in France, the history of education in China, and trade globalization.

This paper investigates education reform during the Spring-Autumn and Warring States periods through the perspective of the evolution of the medium for writing. Though bamboo and wood slips had been used as the medium for writing as early as in the Shang Dynasty, their popularity did not come until the productivity in making those slips had been substantially raised because of the widespread use of iron tools. The popularity of bamboo and wood slips used for writing promoted the spread of government-collected classics among the common people, who consequently got access to the schooling which had been confined to the noble class. In addition, it also helped transform the education from focusing on skill-training to acquiring the new form of text-based instruction, thus ushering in the new chapter of education based on text reading and lecturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feminisation of teaching is an important topic in education and gender studies. Discussions have been enriched by comparative and international studies as well as a gendering perspective in which a complicated view of the role of the state has emerged. In colonial Hong Kong, although the government was limited in its support of teacher training, its strategic control was not ineffective. Through regulating the teaching force, the colonial regime was instrumental in training women to help civilise the young and in creating a dead end job that of a 'primary school teacher'. It also constantly (re)constructed the nature and role of 'Chinese teacher' and 'Chinese women'. By revealing some seldom-explored strategies and disrupting the fixed meanings of 'Chinese teacher', 'Chinese women', and 'primary school teacher', this paper unravels the intervention and (re)invention of the colonial regime in the teaching occupation and probes their implications for a patriarchal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phrase neisheng waiwang [...] (a sage in the inner sphere, a king in the outer sphere) appears in the pre-Qin Daoist classic Zhuangzi. The term emerged as a panegyric in the Northern Song Dynasty, beginning with the Confucian philosopher Cheng Hao [...], who used it to comment on the accomplishments of his fellow philosopher Shao Yong [...] during their first meeting. This anecdote captured the attention of the literati, and soon the phrase became an exaggerated form of flattery in their circles. With the help of Confucian scholar-officials in the early Qing Dynasty, it became a term used exclusively for the emperor, especially the Manchu rulers Kangxi [...] and Qianlong [...], who strove to live up to the image of the sage-king without losing their tyrannical grip on their governance. This moralization of absolute power was a great political triumph for Confucian philosophers; ironically, it was to their detriment, for why would a world with a sage ruler need moral idealists, whose traditional role in the political arena had always been to counteract power with morality? Consequently, philosophy in the mid-Qing period lost its vitality and yielded its place to such studies as evidential research. A revival of the dictum in Confucian philosophical discourse occurred with the rise of the New Confucian Movement in modern times. Xiong Shili [...], its most influential founder, proclaimed that the Way of Confucius was precisely neisheng waiwang, and based on this premise, presented a distorted interpretation of the Confucian classics and their exegetical tradition. Despite the fact that Xiong’s opinionated views were rejected by many, he is nevertheless revered as an original thinker among New Confucian scholars, and his assertion that neisheng waiwang is a Confucian dictum is widely shared and given various interpretative extensions. In this way, the introduction of this term into Confucian studies had deleterious results for our understanding of Confucianism. It is against this background that this paper offers an analysis of the thrust of the ideas in Yu Ying-shih 􂃔􅑬􃞽’s study of Song Neo- Confucianism. Like Xiong Shili, Yu is strategically-minded. He unquestioningly accepts Xiong’s disputable assertion that neisheng waiwang was a Confucian dictum. But instead of using this assertion, as Xiong did, to blame Neo-Confucian philosophers for what they did not accomplish, he turns on New Confucian scholars, accusing them of lopsided scholarship. In Yu’s view, these scholars are preoccupied with Neo- Confucian thought, which belongs to the inner sphere, and overlook the fact that Confucians in history were always concerned with politics. The assumption that neisheng waiwang is a Confucian dictum turns out to be unfounded. Taking this false assumption as a premise, logically speaking nothing follows. Yu has drawn a variety of conclusions from this premise, but they amount to simply another distortion of Neo-Confucianism. The discussion in this paper focuses on two issues: the supposedly different status of lixue [...] and ruxue [...], and Yu’s new interpretation of daotong [...] and daoxue [...]. These demonstrate the extent to which basic Confucian ideas and the meaning of passages from texts and commentaries can be twisted to fit a particular theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new approach to curriculum and implementation in a new era normally requires schools and teachers to take more responsibility for student learning. This might present a challenge at any time, particularly when teachers have been used to more directives and less professional approaches to curriculum implementation. In order to meet such a challenge, a new approach to curriculum policy, namely “soft” policy, was used by policy-makers to implement curriculum reform. With the provision of substantial resources, it was expected by the policy-makers that schools and teachers would have better opportunities to develop themselves professionally and manage the new changes effectively. However, such a view misread the situation because the historical trend and present situation of teachers’ professional development were overlooked. This paper uses case studies of schools and teachers involved in the current reforms to show how teachers and schools implemented the reform process. The cases demonstrate how reforms were understood at the local level and the extent to which it could be claimed that implementation had taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education by means of the Tibetan Classes (schools) in neidi, or China's interior regions (or the Tibet Class), was a creative measure in the history of China's ethnic minority education, and the cross-cultural growth and experiences of the Tibetan students as they went to school in China's interior regions was of special significance for the modernization of Tibetans. This paper analyzes the process of anticipatory socialization (yuqi shehui hua) of the students of the Tibet Class in terms of the special nature of the three most important entities of socialization-the family, the peer group, and the school-as they complete their process of socialization in the cross-cultural environment of China's interior regions; the article defines the results of their cross-cultural socialization using the Tibetan students' self-awareness as the main index of evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophy and practice of lifelong learning has a long history in China, being traceable to Confucius's idea (circa 500 BC) of 'education for all'. However, very little research has been done on the development of the Confucian idea of lifelong learning in ancient China, or on its influence on current practices of lifelong learning within the wave of educational globalisation. This paper contains three parts that explore these topics. The first describes how Chinese people perceive and practise lifelong learning in the Confucian tradition. Apart from an updated review of Confucian ideas and practices, the development of Confucian tradition in selected dynasties is also examined. The second analyses characteristics of Confucian heritage learning cultures and their strong impact on present-day Chinese learners, including: pursuit of lifelong learning, teacher authority, collaborative learning, and the function of effort in successful study. The final part discusses negotiation and integration of Chinese and Western learning cultures in a globalising world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the context and the process by which culture became integral to revolution in the early years of the Chinese Communist Revolution. It draws attention to the educational program that a group of urban-based Communist intellectuals initiated among urban laborers and other workers after the Nationalist Party's suppression of the Communist labor movement in 1927. Rather than an economic and political revolution, these Communists envisioned a "cultural and thought movement" that would transform laborers' ways of seeing and living everyday life. By guiding workers' literary writings and provoking social scientific and philosophical discussions, they worked to transform workers' consciousness about their everyday experiences. They believed this consciousness would engender resistance to capitalist oppression in incremental and concrete ways and that a political and economic revolution would emerge from these daily actions at an opportune time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A traditional education system, based on the Confucian classics, was a pillar of imperial China's social structure for centuries, preparing elites for a series of highly competitive exams conferring gentry status and civil service positions. Reformers in late imperial China called for the modernization of educational institutions, seeing in Western education the skills necessary to develop China's economy. In the late 19th century, the traditional education system was joined by a “modern”, Western track, which offered teaching in science, math, social science, law, and engineering. In this paper, early 20th century employee records from the Tianjin-Pukou Railroad are analyzed to identify differences in labor market outcomes associated with study in the traditional and modern educational systems. The employee records reveal that modern and traditional education were both associated with wage premiums, but that these were significantly larger for individuals trained at high levels in the modern system, especially those trained in engineering. Individuals trained in the traditional system worked disproportionately in the clerical department of the railroad, while those with modern education were more often in managerial and technical roles. Qualitative and quantitative evidence suggests that these results are not driven by sorting into educational institutions according to ability. These findings indicate that beyond years of schooling, the content of schooling can play an important role in the process of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the hypothesis that the cultural distance between migrants and natives impedes the provision of public goods. The Taiping Rebellion was a shock that caused groups without a history of shared governance to be relocated to the same region. We use a unique historical dataset of surnames in the Lower Yangzi of China to construct a measure of the cultural distance between migrants and natives (MNCD). We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in the MNCD is associated with a decrease of over 0.19 public primary schools per 10,000 persons in the early twentieth century. The results survive various robustness checks and an instrumental variable analysis that exploits the pre-existing cultural distances between the native and the nearby population. Evidence from the timing of when the MNCD takes effect suggests that the primary mechanism runs from migrant-native cultural distance through quality of collective decision-making to modern primary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Entomology as a written science probably originated with the ancient Greeks; Aristotle being regarded as the first published entomologist. It was, however, not until the Renaissance and the invention of the microscope that any further advances were made. The formation of national entomological societies in the early and mid-19th century heralded the blossoming of entomology as a scientific discipline. 2. The role of entomology in the development of ecology as a science is often overlooked, but important concepts in ecology such as the role and types of mimicry, the theoretical development of population dynamics and island biogeography all have their roots in the pioneering work of entomologists. 3. Insect products have long played a part in the economies of human civilizations stretching back several thousand years from the development of the silk industry in China to modern day uses of the excretory products of Hemiptera such as cochineal and shellac. 4. The study of entomology has had indirect applications in human medicine and genetics, such as the development of cryostorage techniques based on an understanding of the freeze-avoidance strategies of Antarctic insects to the direct use of Dipteran larvae in maggot debridement therapy. 5. Insects and their products have been used as sources of food by humans since before written records existed, the use of honey for example, being recorded in pre-historic cave drawings. Insects as recognisable entities such as lepidopteran larvae and adult locusts, play a significant role in the diets of some cultures, but increasingly, the idea that processed insect material can be used as mainstream human and livestock food is gaining ground with a number of commercial enterprises being formed. 6. Culturally insects have long inspired humans, from ancient Egypt and their veneration of scarab beetles, portrayal of insects in ancient Mesoamerican art, in European painting from the medieval period onwards and in literature, poetry, and the performing arts including cinema and music. Although the depiction of insects has not always been positive, it is undeniable that they have had a marked influence on human culture. 7. Insects have also influenced engineers, with their form and function inspiring the development of airless tyres, desert water collection devices and unmanned aerial vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jinshi Academy 進士館 was founded specially to re-educate the emperor's elite students 天子門生—holders of the highest imperial degree granted through palace examination—in law and politics. Searching for a quick way to implement the New Reform, the late Qing government required the new jinshi to enroll in the Jinshi Academy. This paper reveals that the government had generously invested in the establishment of this academy; that the school had elaborately-formulated regulations; and that its teachers were well-qualified. Moreover, not only were the newly-admitted jinshi not required to pay any fees, they were also entitled to receive considerable stipends. The jinshi, however, were not willing to attend the academy. They were interested in their own political careers and not government efficiency or politics in general, while the Manchu rulers were concerned with political stability, the implementation of the New Reform, and the continuation of governance. This shows how divergent the jinshi idea of “developing the wisdom of government officials” 開官智 was from the late Qing government's. These differences between the government and its officials had an extraordinarily negative effect on the operation of the Jinshi Academy. The late Qing government spared no effort to set up the academy, yet the Manchus never obtained satisfactory results. It should be pointed out that the Jinshi Academy symbolizes an essential transformation of the education of the emperor's elite students, namely, from the Shuchang Academy 庶常館 system focusing on Confucian classics and historiography, to the Jinshi Academy system in which modern legal and political knowledge was highly emphasized. In addition, the Jinshi Academy initiated systematic legal education in modern China. The re-education experiences in the Jinshi Academy provided these traditional cultural elites with a rare opportunity during the social transformation to modern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents views on a study focusing on the developments in outdoor education in Hong Kong, China. The author shares his feelings concerning the study. He emphasizes that the research is not intended to be a definitive account of the history of the region. He applauds the efforts of the authors of the study.

From the early 1980s, China underwent perhaps the world¿s largest and most comprehensive experiment of decentralization in education. There has been a shift from decentralization to some degree of recentralization, however, since the mid-1990s, particularly since the early 2000s. The purpose of this shift was to establish a stable and regularized financing mechanism for rural education. Using provincial-level data from between 1997 and 2005, this paper analyzes whether the shift worked as expected. It finds that by the end of 2005, there had been a substantial decrease in the rural¿urban gap, the regional disparity, and the overall inequality in per student budgetary expenditure and total spending. Much of the decline occurred in the 2000s. Moreover, the rural¿urban gap declined more rapidly than the regional disparity, and inequalities in spending on primary education declined much more rapidly than junior secondary education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

After more than 20 years of experience with environmental impact assessment (EIA), the government of the People''s Republic of China is set to introduce a new EIA Law, in September 2003, in which strategic environmental assessment (SEA) complements the current project-oriented EIA process. In general, the new law does not attempt to modify the existing EIA system in any radical ways, suggesting that the government consider current practices satisfactory. In order to assess the likely prospects of the new EIA Law for project-level EIA, this paper presents an evaluation of the current EIA process in China, first, establishing the historical context of the current process and, second, considering the main issues and concerns relating to the institutional and procedural arrangements, and practical implementation of the process.The main problems highlighted are as follows: the narrow historic focus on pollution of air, water and soil, at the expense of the consideration of wider environmental, social and health impacts; environmental protection agencies being funded by development-oriented local government administrations; the lack of consideration of alternatives in EIA processes; and the lack of effective public participation. More specific procedural issues are also discussed. On the basis of this analysis, we make recommendations for improving the effectiveness of EIA at the project level.The introduction of SEA in the new law marks a real step forward for EIA in China, although it appears to exclude central government policies, and there are improved provisions for public participation. However, the prospects for EIA in China will remain mixed as long as the new law leaves project-level EIA largely unchanged. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article investigates socialist China's pedagogic treatment of individuality between 1949 and 1958, with a focus on the debates concerning 'all-round development' and 'teaching in accordance with aptitude', two principles that clashed regarding students' individuality. It reconstructs how educational bureaucrat and theorist Zhang Lingguang spearheaded the debates in People's Education, China's leading educational journal. Building on the existing idealistic, critical and cultural perspectives on the debates, this article offers an analysis of power dynamics on three levels. Interpersonally, bureaucrats and ideologues were in conflict with ordinary teachers from local schools. Institutionally, People's Education mediated between the Ministry of Education and teachers nationwide, while managing its accountability. (Inter)nationally, the debates were conditioned by the changing Sino–Soviet relationship, and by the Hundred Flowers Campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article seeks to fill a scholarly gap in the early history of bilingual education (Chinese and foreign languages) in China by investigating the educational practices of Fujian Naval College, the premier naval college in late imperial China (1840–1911), with a focus on the curriculum design in the college. Based on a variety of primary sources such as memorials to the throne, imperial edicts and education reports, this article informs us of a crucial but surprisingly overlooked historical episode of bilingual education in China. It also enhances our understanding of the subtle entanglements of education, culture and politics in China during the second half of the 19th century. The findings show how bilingual education emerged in China's government colleges, and how deep-rooted Confucianism could be compatible with modern science knowledge in the bilingual curriculum. The bilingual education in Fujian Naval College achieved a dual objective of transferring modern technical expertise to China and maintaining Chinese cultural identity, which exerted a considerable impact on the promotion of multilingualism in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The four decades since reform and opening up have seen dramatic changes in China's higher education system. Focusing on international dimensions, the analysis supports the view that reform and opening up was not merely an economic and political reform, but an opening of the mind to the outside world, after the disaster of the Cultural Revolution. But it is important to be reminded that China's relations with the outside world have a much longer history, with the spread of Confucian ideas to East and Southeast Asia, and the importation of Buddhism from ancient India; both during the Tang dynasty. The article points to key ongoing debates in China about the extent to which it can incorporate ideas from outside, while still retaining a Chinese essence. The rise of China as a knowledge hub and destination for international students is also charted, and the prospects for further development are assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article surveys the evolution and progress of China's education system from the 20th century onward, and investigates the factors contributing to the rise of modern schooling. Topics discussed include the political and economic context of the birth of a modern schooling system in China, changes in educational outcomes, and educational opportunities for women.

This article examines the image of the child and play in the Mengxue bao (The Children's Educator, 1897–1902), an important but largely neglected children's periodical established by Chinese reformers in the late-nineteenth century, a time when intellectuals who were concerned about China's future began to question dominant educational practices. It focuses on articles that were unusual in illustrating the importance of learning to cultivating ethical behaviour and stimulating resourcefulness through play. The Children's Educator noted the importance of studying, but also encouraged children to play. This recognition that play is a significant part of childhood marks a shift in attitudes towards Chinese children and their relationship with play in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of Hong Kong (HKU), following its establishment in 1911, has assumed the mission of bridging British and Chinese cultures, to prepare European and Chinese elite youth for political and other professional careers, and thus to improve Britain’s cultural influence in competition with other western powers with regard to China. Dominated by its colonial character and pragmatic orientation, Chinese education at HKU was confined to no more than a supplementary subject at the initial stage. However, colonial crisis and cultural changes in the 1920s and 1930s, together with the endeavours of local cultural and commercial elites, made advanced Chinese education at HKU necessary and possible, and led to an independent unit for Chinese education and Chinese studies being established and strengthened. Organisational and curricular reforms before the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941 led to further modernisation and solidified the structure of Chinese education at this university, laying the essential foundation for its post-war recovery and development. The evolution of Chinese education at HKU demonstrated well the subtle entanglements of education, culture and politics in a colonial context, through which coexistence and tensions between tradition and modernity, between China and the West, and between the imperial and republican intellectuals were also vividly revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on how part of traditional educated literati transformed into modern teachers. It argues that teachers’ schools became a tool of social transformation that recast surplus officials and old literati into public resources as educators and professional teachers. It was teachers’ schools that provided a considerable number of individuals who were trained for imperial civil service examinations with a new and independent identity, and supplied the state more manpower for the expansion of its educational activities than it ever had before in twentieth-century China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To review the development, application, and value of neuropsychology, and the standard education and training pathway for neuropsychologists or clinical neuropsychologists in Hong Kong.Method:The information provided here was gathered via a literature review of the status of neuropsychology and the validity of commonly adopted neuropsychological tests in Hong Kong. Additional details were acquired via the internet about local tertiary education curricula and the related requirements, the availability of professional associations for licensure or board certification, and relevant statistics/surveys conducted by the government. Some information about the clinical practice of neuropsychology was collected through personal communication with local clinical psychologists.Results:The development of neuropsychology in Hong Kong over the past 20 years is rapid and productive, given the increasing application of advanced neuroimaging techniques, neuropsychological tests, and opportunities for exchanging up-to-date neuropsychological knowledge and professional training through international conferences, workshops, and seminars. Given that neuropsychology services are often provided by clinical psychologists who are master’s degree graduates in clinical psychology, the relatively limited training in neuropsychological knowledge and skills and the lack of division for membership or mandatory registration as a neuropsychologist/clinical neuropsychologist may have an impact on the quality of clinical neuropsychological services and the development of this specialty.Conclusions:These findings signify a need for further improvement or refinement of educational and training pathways for neuropsychologist or clinical neuropsychologist along with the recognition of its value in clinical practice through registration of different disciplines of psychology in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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To save China from the perils she faced in the early twentieth century, the majority of the Chinese seemed to agree that it was necessary to strengthen the country by developing shiye or industry and commerce. For this purpose, they overhauled China's education system and sent a large number of students to study overseas. Many of them enrolled in American colleges, sponsored either by governmental grants or by private funds. As American physics advanced rapidly during the early twentieth century, Chinese physicists studying in top US institutions received first-class professional training. They later went on to become a main driving force in Chinese physics development. The study-in-America programs were apparently more successful than other study-overseas programs. Among other factors, the historical lessons learned from the aborted Chinese Educational Mission in the 1870s, the prevalent and long-time presence of American mission schools in China, and stable public and private funding contributed to their success. American-trained Chinese physicists not only advanced physics study in China but also played leading roles in the development of Chinese science and technology during the twentieth century. This fertile and far-reaching American influence has been embedded in all their accomplishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1950 and 1980, China experienced the most rapid sustained increase in life expectancy of any population in documented global history. We know of no study that has quantitatively assessed the relative importance of the various explanations proposed for this gain in survival. We have created and analysed a new, province-level panel data set spanning the decades between 1950 and 1980 by combining historical information from China's public health archives, official provincial yearbooks, and infant and child mortality records contained in the 1988 National Survey of Fertility and Contraception. Although exploratory, our results suggest that gains in school enrolment and public health campaigns together are associated with 55–70 per cent of China's dramatic reductions in infant and under-5 mortality during our study period. These results underscore the importance of non-medical determinants of population health, and suggest that, in some circumstances, general education of the population may amplify the effectiveness of public health interventions. Supplementary material for this article (Babiarz et al. 2014, Suppl.) is available at:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2014.972432 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some phenomena that occur in the present day may have also occurred a long time ago. In this study, we examined the relationship between education attainment and late marriage in modern society as well as in ancient China. To this end, we analyzed demographic data reported by 2010 Census statistics and data recorded by historical documents of Chinese dynasties. We concluded that the current delay in the age at marriage has historical roots, as late marriage in the Song Dynasty era and today’s society have a common cause—namely, education, which impacts the age that people choose to marry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Chinese Government has conducted a series of top-down reforms of teacher education over the past several decades. The reforms have established a relatively stable teacher education system, regulated teacher education programmes and curricula, and provided opportunities for in-service teachers to be trained and to upgrade their educational credentials. Teacher education institutions have been upgraded, merged and made comprehensive, and they have initiated some innovative approaches. However, the teacher education process has not changed considerably, and most problems have not been solved. These problems have influenced the quality of teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]