Curriculum Reform As Discourse Practice

The emergence of Chinese modern curriculum means that the modernity of our curriculum has opened, expressing the new construction and identity of the curriculum in modern China. The curriculum formed in1923is the "real" state of the fully developed Chinese modern curriculum. It also marks the "complete" formation of the discourse of Chinese modern curriculum. Based on the position of genealogy, the article focuses on the basic questions that "what constitutes the curriculum reform, what it means," and "which kinds of historical construction and identity the Chinese modern curriculum contains", taking discourse analysis and literature review as its main methods. Through analyzing the characteristics and rules, the formation process, related insititution and power, and the cultural forces and influence of the1923’s curriculum discourse, this article not only is contributed to announcing the historical instruction and identity that "Chinese modern curriculum "contains, which gives an constructive reflection and criticism to the cultural direction’s development of Chinese modern curriculum., but also good for seeking the different understanding about the curriculum reform to increase the understanding about curriculum reform, besides the two questions that "What knowledge is of most worth"and "whose knowledge is of most worth" are asked in two opposing tendencies show and research methodology.From a practical point of text,"science"is the obvious characteristic of the formation and the statement of the discourse of1923’s curriculum reformation. The discourse of1923’s curriculum is based on psychology, discourse community with distinct professional features, the discourse formation with normative procedure and scientific methods, from which the characterization of the1923’s curriculum discourse narration is "scientific" and the curriculum statements concern personality psychology, knowledge pedigree reconstruction and knowledge of scientific methods, respectively from "the axioms of general rules", theories of "departmental teaching" and "methods". This three level corresponds to the triple theory vision provided by the modern China "scientism". In this sense, scientific knowledge is said to be the "anonymous rules" to dominate the1923’curriculum discouse. Unlike the rules of the knowledge-based pharmacology, These rules is endowed with a new meaning by concerning body, promising social progress, and class of metaphysics and its dual mission of enlightenment and salvation.Judging from the interior space of curriculum, the birth of the scientific episteme is closely linked with the differentiation and conflict of the discourse in curriculum space. In the course space of the late Qing dynasty, The curriculum discourse of "absorbing western technology on the basis of the Chinese traditional system" focus on the maintenance of political and religious, putting science into "use" level in knowledge that the system are dimidiate with western learning. this course can help to achieve "Self insist rich" by cultivating people who know current affairs and Western’s subjects. However, the failure of Sino-Japanese War, the opening of the civilian discourse and the resource provided by Social Darwinism make the original curriculum in which the technology is fundamental and politics is opposite, reconstruct discourse with different culture imagining and language. This new discourse of curriculum breaks through the old one which putting science into "use" level, and gives a link among science, ethical practices, the individual enlightenment and the social transformation. It also establishes the basic level of scientific knowledge-oriented in the "discourse-discourse" level.From the exterior space of the curriculum, the national capitalist development during World War I led to unprecedented access to change the mode of production. Under this situation, the human’s body as an essential element in the production process began with a direct economic value. Therefore, the economic capacity of the body which is correcting and enhancing during the transmission of knowledge, thereby achieves social development and constitutes one of the basic logic courses. On the other hand, the Revolution of1911and the New Culture Movement destroyed the autarchy in the public domain and the regime of feudal moral order in private domain to reform the institution and cultural value. And the realization that the body is the attribution of the State, also need to resort to penetrate a micro-power arrangements in the curriculum and knowledge to lead the self-construction of the state body. the scientific episteme is satisfied with the requirement that the human is the subject for cognition and the object for the function of knowledge. Even though1923’curriculum discourse becomes possible and gives legitimacy to the language,the new intellectuals and the new formed in the curriculum absorbing western technology on the basis of the Chinese traditional system become the beneficiary during the transformation of the discourse curriculum.The1923’curriculum discourse is constituted in the relationship between knowledge, body and state. It builds a "responsible" and "autonomy" body imagination, an "applying-knowledge" body imagination, and "enjoyment" and "rules" body imagination in the three dimension:" state-body","knowledge-body" and "body-body".This discourse constitution is withe inherent cultural forces, including a double danger:on the one hand, with the development of the skills of curriculum planning, instrumental body-oriented is not only unable to obtain relief, but also be more likely to be worse. On the other hand, with the desires of body in the course to continue speech, or because of courses has met the desires of the body, humans are losing the necessary perception of their own destiny. So the curriculum lost in the desire to meet the body desires, lost its proper cultural property, become the manipulated object by the desire of the body. And no matter what kind of the way forwards, the results will be "the ending of cultivate" in the field of the curriculum and "the decline of education". What’s worse, the body will continue its tragic fate in the course space.Based on the historical research of1923’s curriculum reform, for the question "what constitutes reformation,and what curriculum reform means", the study concluded that a knowledge-based curriculum reformation is consisted of the fracture of the episteme, the changing of the model of social norms and the discourse community. Any curriculum discourse contains the relations between the power and knowledge. Therefore, researchers or intellectuals are necessary to make their own relatively reasonable position to avoid the "rational conceit". the occurring of curriculum reformation is only the result of the changing of the dual language of the curriculum and the disciplinary rules. The view that the reformation will inevitably lead the the liberation and social changing need to be given the necessary questioning and scrutiny. For the question that "what kind of historical construction and recognition Modern Chinese curriculum includes", studies suggest that, from the meaning of "modern", the construction of a modern curriculum is concerned; from "China", it contains the the construction of "nation-state". However, due to the special context in modern China, this relatively synchronous construction in Europe, has a fracture, dislocation and departure in modern China, which make the curriculum is still in the unfinished state. Therefore, in a full of post-modern context, it has become the necessity for our curriculum to reasonably and limitedly continue the modern construction, and carefully survey the probable existing risk areas that post-modern leads to the curriculum. In the study of curriculum, to make a reasonable role and position of the researcher, the introduction of the "fragmentation", the questioning about "contemporary history",not only help to improve the theoretical study of the character of the curriculum, but also provide different directions for school education and curriculum development.