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Research On The Education Of Science In The Ecclesiastic Universities In China 1901-1936

Posted on:2009-04-22Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:W WangFull Text:PDF
GTID:1117360242495155Subject:Physics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Through the systemic research on the education of science in the Chinese ecclesiastic universities from 1901-1936, this paper discloses their education idea of emphasizing science which was influenced by the idea of liberal education and paid attention to the three phases including the period of curriculum , the period of specialty and department and the period of school. Then the paper analyzes the education of technology under the influence of the Chinese education system. At last, the other important character of the science education is illuminated, i.e., the social service spirit promoted by Christian. The medical education and the agriculture education were highly emphasized which best embodied the spirit of service.The first chapter discusses the influence of liberal education on the Chinese ecclesiastic universities and the course of science knowledge entering into the universities. Because of the tradition of scientific research of Christian and the belief that religion was the origin of science, science became the most important content in the Chinese ecclesiastic universities. The motion that clergymen taught science in modern China was that they intended to show their students that the God existed in nature. The main idea of the ecclesiastic universities in China was influenced by the traditional education idea of their mother countries whose core was liberal education. So the ecclesiastic universities opened a lot of science courses which included the basic theoretical courses but excluded the courses of technological training. They opposed that the Chinese paid more attention to practical technology than scientific theories. They held that knowledge should be loved by itself but not by its utilities because knowledge was under the control of God and the aim of education was to achieve extreme holy. Liberal education valued science more than technology. So only science courses were launched at the beginning of the ecclesiastic universities and few technology faculties were established until 1936.The second chapter discusses the expanding process of science education in the Chinese ecclesiastic universities from the period of curriculum to the period of specialty and department and then to the period of school and specially analyzed the establishment of science courses. Though missionaries thought that only knowledge about nature could be named science and was deserved to impart in universities. The education of science developed slowly and few researches of science were carried through in the Chinese ecclesiastic universities because of the number restriction in professors and students. The fact was the same in the state-run universities. The ecclesiastic universities persisted in high quality while teaching in the queasy environment. The three periods of science education were the period of curriculum (the establishment phase) from 1901-1918, the period of specialty and department (the prosperous phase) from 1919-1926 and the period of school (the mainland phase) from 1927-1936. The first period was phase of the foundation, incorporation and adjustment of the ecclesiastic universities that students learned similar science curriculums and received integration education which had fewer curriculums and had not been grouped into departments. All curriculums were entitled arts except those on medicine and agriculture. The second period was the gold phase of science education in the ecclesiastic universities. The number of science curriculums increased as time passed by and science specialties different from arts formed when a lot of similar science curriculums were grouped into the same specialty. Then students were grouped in different departments. The third period was the localized phase when the ecclesiastic universities found engineering science courses. At the same time every Chinese ecclesiastic university established science school whose specialties and departments accorded with those stimulated by the Chinese education department. Required courses were held in all ecclesiastic universities. But elective courses varied in different universities. In a word, the idea of liberal education influenced both the curriculums and the specialties in the Chinese ecclesiastic universities.The third chapter discussed the reason that the education of engineering science was exacted in these universities and gave a survey of their engineering science. The situation became roily and policy pressure, social request and all kinds of policies exerted influence on the courses, specialties, departments, schools and even the ecclesiastic universities themselves. The ecclesiastic universities started to merge into the Chinese society and education system. A few Chinese ecclesiastic universities or colleges began to found engineering science courses which was a significant feature of localization. But till 1936 the most specialties were about arts and sciences and only a few of courses of engineering science with comprehensive and easy content existed. Independent schools of engineering science had not been established yet.The fourth chapter discussed medical education and agricultural education in the ecclesiastic universities and their social work. On the one hand, being influenced by the tradition of western university that four faculties including art faculty, law faculty, medicine faculty and divinity faculty had been formed since the eleventh century, a few ecclesiastic universities in china found medicine colleges and systemically taught the modern medical knowledge totally different from the Chinese tradition according to the standard of the medicine colleges in America and France. These universities trained the first group of eminent doctors and teachers of western medicine. On the other hand, a lot of Boanerges went to root in the countryside of China and set up many schools of agriculture and organizations of country service since the Opium Wars. Almost every village and town with missionaries located in had schools of agriculture. Based on the many years practice of serving for Chinese countryside, Boanerges found agriculture education in the ecclesiastic universities including establishing curriculums and colleges of agriculture. University of Nanking was the most famous one with its high quality in agriculture education in modern China. Medicine and agronomy were the two faculties which were established the earliest and the most systemically in Chinese missionary universities and the universities had made outstanding contribution to the science education in modern China.The fifth chapter exposes the thoughts on the science education in Chinese ecclesiastic universities. At first, the principle of the ecclesiastic universities was illustrated that their aim had been to cultivate social elites and in fact had achieved great success. Almost all the textbooks of science and technology adopted in the ecclesiastic universities were classic in foreign languages, and some of them still being reference books in a few universities today. The curriculums adopted the same standard as that in foreign universities before 1936. The universities adopted credit hours with major and minor subjects and arranged rigorous examinations which resulted in a low graduation ratio. These excellent graduates inaugurated many new domains at that epoch although their number was small. Then the education ideas of the ecclesiastic universities were profoundly analyzed and the ideology of liberal education and the tradition of social service were disclosed. The two important characters of science education in Chinese ecclesiastic universities were emphasizing science and social service as well. The reason of giving paramount status to science was that clergymen thought that universities should teach students true science other than technology. In their view, science was the natural order arranged by God and should be researched by students. So science courses became the main content taught in ecclesiastic universities and technology courses were not their concern although these universities had to open some engineering courses in order to cater for the Chinese government and students in their later period. The reason of emphasizing serving society was that as a Christian should serve people and contribute his life to others. To help the poor and the fable was the duty of a Christian. All these were the reasons why they spent more time in social service under the liberal education ideology. The service and contribution spirit made the clergymen gave their passion to the agricultural and medical work and gave great contribution in the education fields of medicine and agronomy in modern China. In a word, the pattern of teaching and management in the ecclesiastic universities could be useful for reference for today's universities, and their perspective on science and social service was still a research theme in education philosophy.
Keywords/Search Tags:Chinese missionary university, liberal education, science education, engineering education, education of medicine, education of agronomy
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