The Rural Normal Education Of JiangSu Province During The Republic Of China Era(1922-1937)

The evolution of Chinese modern education is a long as well as tedious process, with many obstacles in its way. After the historical event of the Youth Campaign in May 5th,1919, various education concepts arrived in China from the Western Countries. The Chinese Education at that time began to evolve from autocratic education to civilian education; becoming more accessible to the public. Finally, people in the countryside could also receive higher education as those did in large cities. Some educators at that time believed that rural education was the only way to effectively influence the society. Thus rural normal education, a fundamental part of rural education, was emphasized with attention.The rural normal education in JiangSu Province started in 1922, had 3 stages of evolution, until the Anti-Japanese War in 1937. StageⅠ(1922～1927):the new-born and exploring period. The rural normal education developed through trial. The mission, curriculum, significance of rural normal education were still debated, five law normal schools were shining examples. StageⅡ(1927～1932):the developing period. The establishtion of XiaoZhuang Experimental Normal School began this stage. The whole new ideas and practice of XiaoZhuang inject new blood to rural normal education of JiangSu province. The five law normal school learned XiaoZhuang's method and rebuild society spirit. The countryside transformation campaign started off with a bang. StageⅢ(1932～1937):the withering period-due to the dictatorial governing of Kuo-min-tang over the country, rural normal education gradually lost its independence.This research looks into the practical functioning of rural normal education, to look for the meaning of rural normal education of JiangSu. The research has 3 parts. PartⅠstudies the education concept and method of a typical college, which is famous in the rural normal education research area, the XiaoZhuang Experimental Rural Normal School. Ideas of XiaoZhuang, education ideas and unity of teaching, learning, and doing are XiaoZhuang's feature. The second part studied QiXia Normal School which played an important role in rural normal education of JiangSu province, and has its own characteristics. This part studied its teachers, productive labor train and popularization of countries. PartⅢbriefly studies the rest 5 rural normal schools in JiangSu, mainly focused on their teachers, curriculums and influence on the countryside society.Also, this research looks for the meaning of the existence of rural normal school education. Firstly, considering the goal for this means of education, it was designed to provide eligible teachers for countryside primary schools, and this goal is fulfilled successfully. On a higher level, the education aimed to develop the countryside society, even to revive the prosperity of the whole nation through this means. However, the latter goal was only partially fulfilled. The reason for this phenomenon is discussed in this article, which is a preferable lesson for the contemporary education.