The Modern Transformation Of Rural Education During The Republic Of China(1912-1937):An Investigation Of Anhui Province

It was an important period of education modernization from 1912 to 1937 since the late Qing dynasty.The research of modern transformation of rural education in this period can enrich the theories of rural education modernization and provide historical lessons for today's practice in China.The rural education in Anhui province was studied in this dissertation with mainly literature and secondarily case study and comparative-inductive method.The situation of rural education in Anhui province from 1912 to 1937 was investigated so as to reveal the difficulties and constraints faced by rural education in its modern transformation during the period of the Republic of China.Besides such historical materials as national education policy documents,compilations of laws and decrees,relevant newspapers and works,our sorting and analysis focused on local historical materials of rural education management in Anhui province during the Republic of China,mainly including Anhui Education Administration Weekly,Anhui Education Weekly and Ten-day Issue of Anhui Education Administration,educational records of Huaining county,Tianchang county,Fuyang county and other eight counties,and county annals of Tongcheng county and Xiuning county.Based on Eisenstadt's theory of education modernization,the dissertation focused on the rural primary schools in Anhui Province from 1912 to 1937,with such indicators as specialization,organization and systematization,from the following three dimensions,rural education organization,rural primary school system and rural educators.The research was carried out through three clues,national will,elite ideal and rural appeal,and analyzed the modern transformation and relative patterns of rural education under comprehensive influences of previous three forces.Research findings were listed as follows.Firstly,from the perspective of modern transformation of rural education organizations,Anhui Province established a specialized education administration system at both provincial and county levels,but not at grass-roots level.Instead,members of School District Education Committee and heads of the Bao-Jia system acted as school directors and exercised part of educational administrative power.Based on the overall situation of rural primary schools in such sample counties as Huaining,Tianchang and Yingshang,it was found that the number of both rural primary schools and students in school had been increasing annually.However,the construction of rural primary schools,especially the junior primary schools,was largely a matter of form.There were sufficient school-age children,but not enough students.Therefore,the primary schools were all over the country,but it's often hard to sustain.Among the reasons,the influence of rural private schools was the one that could not be ignored.Primary schools and private schools,as representatives of modern and old educational institutions respectively,coexisted in rural areas.This reflected not only the difficulty of carrying out modern education in rural areas,but also the fact that the modern transformation of rural education organizations needed not only establishing specialized organizations and institutions but also systematic and effective operation.Secondly,from the perspective of modern transformation of primary school system of rural education,rural primary schools in Anhui province showed a lot of immaturity in its construction,the implementation of curriculum standards,the application of teaching methods and school management.The levels of rural primary school managements were uneven and the overall effect was not satisfying.Except that a small number of rural schools showed the vitality of modernization,more schools presented a relatively depressed scene.In addition,the rural primary education funding was put at the very bottom of the whole education funding system,so its operation was only namely independent,but not actually.During this period,special funds to maintain the normal operation of rural primary schools were full of uncertainties,often resulting in insufficient funds and unstable sources.Thirdly,from the perspective of modern transformation of the role of rural educators,Anhui province,on the basis of relevant national regulations,revised the qualifications of primary school headmaster and teacher according to provincial conditions,which was slightly lower than the national standards on the whole.During this period,Anhui province made a lot of efforts in qualifying and employing full-time primary school headmasters.But on the whole,headmasters of rural primary schools failed to become qualified,actual and especially competent professional members of modern school system,which brought a series of consequences.Not surprisingly,there appeared numerous and various violations among headmasters.For primary school teachers,both economic income and social status were at a relatively low level,which was inconsistent with government's requirements on their qualifications and professional knowledge.Although Anhui province tried to make primary school teachers meet the qualifications and promote their specialization through training,research and other measures,but in practical terms,the specialization of primary school teachers in all counties in Anhui province,especially in rural areas,was still not high and uneven on the whole.In some rural areas,primary school teachers were not even formally classified,and then their specialization was even more worrying.This phenomenon was particularly obvious in junior primary schools,which accounted for the majority of rural primary schools.Rural education in Anhui province from 1912 to 1937 shows that the government of the Republic of China made great efforts to carry out modernization planning for the administrative organization of rural education,the establishment of rural primary schools,the establishment of curriculum,the regulations of teaching rules,school management,the funds for running school,the selection,training and evaluation of headmasters and teachers.However,due to the constraints of traditional,political and economic factors,especially rural society itself,the modern transformation of rural education in the period of the Republic of China was carried out with great difficult.Although rural education in this period underwent modernization and had initially completed modern transformation at institutional level,modern transformation at both conceptual and behavioural levels was far from complete.