School Motto Sociological Research

From a perspective of discourse analysis, the dissertation focuses on the "motto" which reveals the essence and core value of schools. During the investigation of 266 universities' mottoes in China, the theme of this research is presented: On the one hand, this paper explores in power field which derives from different ideologies in universities; On the other hand, this thesis describes the changes of mottoes while showing varies of university's function in different historical periods.Firstly, the dissertation describes the origin of motto. Motto has no exact meaning in ancient China, it comes from the West and Japan in modern time. The definition of "motto" is as follows: the pedagogical principle that bears the value of school, leads the students towards to social norms, and it is the result of counterbalance between university, society and national ideology.Secondly, the main job of this part is to inquiry the rhetoric, content and power field in motto. At the level of rhetoric, the dissertation states that the motto in China has both domestic background and world wild character, it uptakes the poem and words in ancient China, and uses imperative sentence to fit the conventional expression while having mandatory force. With regard to the content, the research has four points: (1) the motto of Chinese university has gender bias at the earlier age, for cultivating "good wives and mothers" is the female university's goal, but this difference has been covered consequently by political phrase, such as "unity, tension, solemnness, breeziness ". (2) Mottoes have no evident difference in geography, because China has longtime tradition for "great unification". (3) Christian university in China has a trend towards to secularization, so, mottoes of these universities attached great importance to civil life instead of concerning on religious doctrine. (4) Special university has unique motto. College of disability emphasizes "love" and "independence", and college of private has its specialty which is the result of its autonomy. In addition, the dissertation has a pore into power field of university, and holds the opinion that motto has a close relation with ideology which have undergone the impact of leaders, intellectuals and students.Finally, the dissertation has a close study on mottoes in the course of historical vicissitude which exposes the changes of university's function . (1) At the stage of traditional university, the value of university in China lies in Confucianism, such as "illustrating illustrious virtue, renovating the people, reaching the highest benevolence". (2) On the way of modernization in China, university has been effected deeply by historical events: On the initial of modernization, facing the invasion of other countries, universities should to be more "self-renewal" so as to save the nation; After the New Culture Movement in 1919, the politicizing tendency of university makes the spirit of "free" just as an ideal seeking; In the state of Kuomintang Government, the ideological movement nation wild restraints the independence of university; Furthermore, the United Front Movement during anti-Japanese period takes account for the unity of university aura; Additionally, the Socialist Transformation wants to reform intellectuals worldview and pushes them to rural area to work; Then, Chinese education has been ruined in Cultural Revolution, it is a miserable time for university; Lastly, the opening to market has responsibility for technicism in university. (3) With the development of Internet and Globalization, springing up kinds of discourse deconstructs the symbol of motto, which, in fact, reminds us to reflect the lofty mission of university nowadays.