How is Britain’s Autonomous Educational Knowledge System Constructed? What are its Implications for China’s Construction of Autonomous Educational Knowledge System: A Dialogue among Yang Xi, Zhao Kang and Professor Gary McCulloch

doi:10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2026.06.002

Abstract

Abstract:

Through a dialogue with Professor Gary McCulloch from the UCL Institute of Education, this study examines the developmental trajectory, institutional foundations, and practical challenges of constructing an autonomous knowledge system within British educational research. Since the 1950s, the study of British education has shifted from a multidisciplinary structure of “educational studies” toward an “educational research” model that explores interdisciplinary pathways, accompanied by transformations in knowledge organization and research methodologies. Focusing on the positioning of British education as a “field” rather than a “discipline,” this study investigates the construction of its discourse on “autonomy,” the role of institutional spaces, and debates around disciplinary identity. Drawing from these dimensions, it reflects on the construction of an autonomous Chinese educational knowledge system under the intertwined pressures of cultural subjectivity and institutional challenges in the new era, offering multidimensional insights and references.

Key words: United Kingdom, autonomous knowledge system, educational studies, educational research, Gary McCulloch

Xi Yang, Kang Zhao, Gary McCulloch. How is Britain’s Autonomous Educational Knowledge System Constructed? What are its Implications for China’s Construction of Autonomous Educational Knowledge System: A Dialogue among Yang Xi, Zhao Kang and Professor Gary McCulloch[J]. Journal of East China Normal University(Educationa, 2026, 44(6): 30-42.

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