The nurturing of creative talent is a significant and urgent matter. However, what constitutes creative talent, and how to identify and educate them-these issues still await good theoretical answers and practical guidance. This article is intended to address human creative potential in terms of how it develops and leads to creative accomplishments, and how educational and social interventions can be designed accordingly to identify, nurture, and culturally support the development of creative productivity. For the nature of creative talent, the article identifies five types of innovations and three types of creative talent. For identification, it is proposed that identification should be more dynamic and developmentally responsive. For nurturing creativity, a three-phase developmental and domain-specific approach is proposed. For cultural support, several issues are brought up as to what constitutes a creativity-friendly culture. Finally, the article proposes a set of five strategic considerations for implementing such a practical agenda, and for guiding policy, the article suggests four principles to follow, as well as precaution for conceptual traps that might hinder this line of work.
In order to find out the problems and then provide empirical basis for the reform of pay system of Chinese university staff, the current study analyzes the actual and expected pay level and pay mix of Chinese university staff by using administrative data and large-scale micro survey data, and draws the following conclusions. The pay level of Chinese university staffs is relatively competitive in China, but it is not internationally competitive enough. The annual pay and its components of most staff are lower than the average, and the pay expectation of the vast majority of staffs is higher than the actual pay. The proportion of the base pay of university staff in the monthly pay is low, and it is lower than their expectation. The proportion of faculties in the “Double First-Class” universities and staff in the eastern regions expecting salary increases is significantly higher than that of other staff. Based on the above research findings, the study proposes three suggestions on raising pay level and optimizing pay mix to facilitate the reform of pay system of Chinese university faculty.
Promoting the reform of university faculty’ salary system is an important means to improve the qualifications of university faculties. The base salary system should be brought into theoretical discussion and practical reform because of its dual functions of security and incentive for university faculty. Based on relevant policies, administrative data and universities faculty’ salaries survey data, this study analyzes the implementation of the university faculty’ base salary system in China. We find that the base salary system has some problems, such as centralized management, inconsistency between basic salary level and local economic development level, low starting point, low proportion of base salary, inconsistency between the design of salary grade and the law of salary management, and failure of salary adjustment to achieve policy expectations, which inhibits security and incentive effect of base salary. In view of the above problems, combined with the salary management theory, the following policy implications are proposed. Firstly, the human resources and social security departments of central government should establish a unified national base salary system for university faculty, and the provincial government should formulate an overall base salary scale. Secondly, the minimum of base salary of university faculty and the base salary of faculties in developed provinces should be raised moderately to ensure their actual purchasing power. Thirdly, simplify the elements of university faculty’ salary and gradually increase the proportion of base salary. Fourthly, improve the grade difference of the base salary at each post level, and adjust the floating range of the base salary to enhance the medium and long-term incentive effect on faculties. Finally, the adjustment of base salary scale should take into account its proportion in total salary and its grade, and ensure that the increase of base salary and the proportion of base salary in total salary are reasonable.
Based on the survey data of faculty in Chinese universities, this paper draws the findings that the grade wage, increasing with faculty’s experience, has a limited function of retaining faculty, while the seniority allowance or seniority wage system set up by colleges and universities can effectively reduce the probability of faculty leaving the current position. According to the seniority wage dispersion model, the starting levels of seniority wages are estimated for lecturers, associate professors, and professors, respectively. And this paper further designs the seniority wage growth mechanism of each professional referring to the increase mechanism of the grade wage. In this study, we propose establishing the seniority wage system to serve as a beneficial supplement to the grade wage system to enhance the retention function of faculty’s compensation.
The ChatGPT has both positive and negative effects on education. The field of education should consider not only how to empower students to meet the challenges posed by AI, but also how to develop students’ competency to adapt to AI. In this paper, we refer to this competency as AI competency, i.e., the core competency of students with both domain specificity and domain generality cultivated through AI education. AI competency is a new competency arising from the development of AI technology. Technology ontology, philosophical epistemology and educational psychology are interconnected to understand the essence and composition of AI competency. From the perspective of technology ontology, this paper analyzes the essence of AI competency-the technicalization of human beings. From the perspective of philosophical epistemology and educational psychology, this paper analyzes the composition of AI competency. Key competency development is essentially a dynamic transformation process of “knowledge and thinking”. Affectivity, as a knowledge-derived emotional experience, not only nourishes the process of knowledge construction and thinking development, but also serves as the foundation and source for acquiring moral conceptions. Thus, the interplay of knowledge, affectivity and thinking underpins the logic of students’ AI competency. In this vein, this paper constructs an evaluation system of AI competency based on three dimensions: AI knowledge, AI affectivity, and AI thinking.
Herbart’s aesthetics has not got due attention and elucidation in the field of aesthetics and pedagogy. This study aims to posit that Herbart constructed a vision of aesthetic anthropology, including multiple theories concerning ethics, pedagogy, and art. In this kind of aesthetic anthropology, aesthetic principles with the core feature of aesthetic judgment run through almost each aspect of the human practice, highlighting “interest in ethics” in particular. Building the basic principles of ethics on aesthetics, Herbart proposed the mechanism of incorporating aesthetics and ethics, and oriented it to the human formation (Bildung). Only along the way of aesthetics could the education act aiming at human formation promote forming moral character. Instruction and discipline are educational because of this. From such a view of aesthetic anthropology to identify Herbart’s pedagogy, the contemporary meaning of his educational thought could be fully demonstrated.
This paper reports the iterative development of education quality monitoring in Zhejiang Province from “professional support” to “independent monitoring”, reflecting the value orientation of education quality monitoring in Zhejiang Province from “physical examination” to “practical guidance”. The paper introduces the systematic design of Zhejiang education quality monitoring indicator system from two aspects: the evaluation indicator framework of student development and growth environment, also the design basis of basic indicators and independent observation points. On this basis, this paper introduces the innovative ideas in thematic analysis from four aspects: combination analysis, model construction, thematic analysis and international comparison. Finally, the paper expounds the conclusions, findings and relevant practical guidance from six aspects: revealing students’ growth mechanism, focusing on learning quality and influencing mechanism, penetrating the essence of academic burden, promoting the transformation of school teaching management, and improving the family “soft environment”. All the above reflect the practical perspective ability, grass-roots development position and practical guidance orientation of Zhejiang education quality monitoring.
The brand-new algorithm relying on the advantages of framework, machine and embedding will change from a simple computing tool to a transaction operation rule with the construction of a digital platform, the mining of data resources and the design of human-machine interaction, and then evolve into an unavoidable power issue in the digital transformation of education. Dialectically speaking, the algorithmic power in the digital transformation of education is not only beneficial to managing risks, standardizing behaviors and assisting decision-making; It may also lead to the risk alienation, behavior degradation and decision-making imbalance of education due to its own limitations and the conflict between it and education. In order to regulate algorithm power into a safe and reliable “cage”, in addition to relying on the educational review of algorithm objectives, the educational interpretation of algorithm design, the educational supervision of algorithm operation, the educational identification of algorithm application, the educational filing of algorithm information, and the educational recognition of algorithm responsibility, we should build a normative mechanism from background, process to result. We should also appeal to the disenchantment, balance and sublation of education in algorithm, so as to highlight the balance thought of “inside but out”.
The formation of independent knowledge system marks mature discipline, prosperous scholarship and self-conscious discourse of Chinese pedagogy. Originated from “Western Learning Spreading to the East”, Chinese pedagogy repeatedly suffered from overwhelming destructions for more than 120 years. Whereas, Chinese pedagogy all along pursues nationality and succession as main line of independent knowledge construction, takes timeliness and originality as powerful drive for knowledge development, and persists in systematisms and professionality as basis of social identity. Chinese education has increasingly highlighted its properties as people’s wellbeing, national strategy and political arena with changing times for more than 70 years since the founding of PRC. The independent knowledge system of Chinese pedagogy consists of discipline system, academic system, discourse system, textbook system and governance system. Specifically, it is composed of iconic concepts and terminology, core knowledge and cutting-edge knowledge in terms of content formation. The knowledge production of Chinese pedagogy is achieved by academic discipline, school, association and publication. The knowledge development is propelled by mutual transformation of practice knowledge, policy knowledge and education thoughts. The characteristics of Chinese pedagogy stems from valuable tradition, vivid practice and idiographic issues of China’ education, and is based on disciplinary consciousness, academic autonomy and cultural confidence. It is imperative to properly cope with dialectics of Chinese characteristics and general knowledge, lay a solid foundation of education discipline and ignite originality of academic system, enhance coherence of textbook system, take leading role of governance system with all efforts to promote clear articulation, regular adoption, worldwide spreading and powerful impact of Chinese pedagogy.The end is to provide guidance of thoughts and foundation of theories for building education power.
“The governance of education in China” is a new concept frequently used by the educational field recently but lacks clear explanations. It is very necessary to understand the connotation of this concept to further promote the theoretical research and practical reform of educational governance. The research finds that “the governance of education in China” contains three connotations, including the original meaning of governance, the content of educational governance, and the guiding ideology and policy basis of national governance. The first connotation is rooted in two aspects of governance, namely “management” and “guidance”, from the perspective of the starting point or origin. The second connotation is from the perspective of domain and scope, which includes two aspects of “management” and “guidance” in educational governance. The third is from the perspective of value guidance, which is related to the spirit and policy of strengthening the leadership of the CPC, further improving the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and other “management”, as well as taking the people as the center, handling relations in all aspects, mobilizing enthusiasm in all aspects, and co-governance and sharing as the “guidance” side, as stated in Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Adhering to and Improving the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics to Promote the Modernization of the National Governance System and Governance Capacity. The governance of education in China must comprehensively follow these three connotations to do a good job in educational governance.
In order to comprehensively understand and promote the change of teachers, it is necessary to deeply portray the process of the change of teachers. This study used epistemic network analysis and cross-lagged analysis to analyze big data on classroom teaching behaviors and practical knowledge of 41 teachers who had participated in a complete experiential learning circle in the COP program for a total of 4 semesters over 2 years, and obtained the evolutionary patterns of teachers’ change based on the experiential learning circle. It was found that there was a definite causal relationship between the knowledge components of teachers’ practical knowledge, such as educational beliefs, reflective knowledge and self-knowledge, and key teaching behaviors related to innovative changes in teaching, such as teachers encouraging students to ask questions and teachers asking high-order thinking questions. The evolution of practical knowledge as an internal characteristic of the change of teachers went through three stages: competitive coexistence, synergistic complementation, and synergistic transformation, while the teaching behaviors of encouraging students to ask questions and asking higher-order thinking questions as external characteristics of the change of teachers went through a quantitative change process from less to more. Practical knowledge and classroom teaching behaviors together as the internal cause of teachers’ change were the basis of teachers’ change, while the big data evidence-based course research support services provided by university researchers were the external cause of teachers’ change and constituted the conditions for teachers’ change, and the external cause induced the change of teachers through the internal cause.
The driving force of discipline evolution does not simply exist within the discipline but also depends on the change in the external social environment. The interaction between society and law has created a series of new legal relations across the fields of public and private law. How to prevent education management from being exclusively governed by the standards of public law, and how to establish a discipline system that takes into account the characteristics of public and private law have become a challenge that the development of education law has to face. After the meta-theoretical study of education law, it is no longer limited to the traditional administrative law department and has begun to have the nature of cross-border from the discourse, systems to the research methods, which accumulates sufficient possibilities for creating new disciplinary forms. Therefore, the development of this discipline should be based on the reasonable integration of the achievements of Chinese and Western pedagogy, legal science, and other related disciplines, summarizing and refining educational practice experience, and interpreting and innovating the discourse, system, and research methodology of education law from the knowledge level.
There are two distinct orientations in the educational law research at the methodological level, with one viewing educational law as a “model” and the other as a “guarantee”. The conflict between the two orientations is a challenge that the discipline of education law has to face in order to mature and systematize. The two ideal types of normativism and functionalism proposed by Martin Locklin are introduced as analytical conceptual tools to construct the two orientations of educational law research into normativism and functionalism in the sense of public law. The functionalist approach to the educational law research emphasizes the instrumental attributes of educational law in educational governance and the effective achievement of the goals and tasks assigned to educational law. This approach originates from the legislative activities in education since the reform and opening-up, and is also influenced by the education research orientation, which focuses on the legislative theory, regulatory theory, and comparative law research in terms of research content. The normative approach to educational law research emphasizes the independence of the educational law system and the primacy of individual rights, attaches importance to the control and adjudication functions of educational law, and takes “controlling public power and safeguarding private rights” as the core proposition. This approach is not only based on the deepening of the practice of the rule of law in education, but also influenced by the study of jurisprudence, in the content of the study on the “rule of law”, and the study of legislation. The dual path of educational law research needs a solid “spindle” connection in order to better serve the construction of disciplinary community. Constructing the disciplinary knowledge system of educational law also can not avoid the existence of normative-functionalist dichotomy. A researcher who has mastered the methodology of legal doctrine and who understands the reality of education is able to participate in the process of “translation”, which makes possible interaction and understanding within the community of researchers in educational law.
The interdisciplinary nature of educational law demands the avoidance of singular disciplinary thinking. Pedagogy not only aids in interpreting legal practices within education but also guides legal practices related to education and helps uncover the patterns of educational law. Pedagogy holds a unique value in the study of educational law. Pedagogical propositions serve as the theoretical premise for research in educational law, and pedagogical thinking influences the research paradigms of educational law, while the intersection of pedagogy and law determines the disciplinary attributes of educational law. To guide the study of educational law with conscious pedagogy, there should be a focus on enhancing pedagogy's guidance on the functional research of educational law, the study of behavioral norms for subjects in educational legal relationships, research on how educational law safeguards and promotes innovation in education, and the interrelationship between educational moral standards and legal norms.
The establishment of research methods is related to the discipline construction and development of educational law, and plays an important supporting role in the compilation of educational code. The codification of the educational code puts forward the requirements for the research methods of educational law from two aspects of form and substance. Through the analysis of the evolution of the paradigm of educational law research in China, it can be found that educational law research is affected by the law research methods on the whole. There are mainly three different research methods: legislative law research, legal doctrine research and social science law research. These different types of research methods have their own utility and advantages for the compilation of educational codes, but at the same time there are some problems to be improved. In order to better support and serve the codification of the educational code, researches on educational law should be reconstructed on the basis of analysis and criticism of the above research methods. Its main path and direction lie in that it should take the basic position of basing itself on the practice of the rule of law in education in China, take the innovation of the knowledge system of educational law as the main goal, and strive to strengthen and improve the application of different research methods. Also, it's important to promote the organic integration of normative research and empirical research in order to enhance the explanatory power of educational law research.
The high-quality primary school teacher education system in the new era aims to achieve a balance between the supply and demand of primary school teacher education, and ultimately promote the all-round development of children. The high-quality primary school teacher education system is one kind of scientific and professional education, one methodology to think about the operation law of primary school teacher education activities generally, and one organic unity of “body” and “department” and their mutual relations. Problems of China’s primary school teacher education system in the new era include the inability of the current primary school teacher education system to meet the needs of China’s education strategy in the new era, and the inability to meet the needs of the construction of the teacher education system with Chinese characteristics. This study puts forward the following approaches to developing Chinese high-quality primary school teacher education system: a) building a diversified, multi-type and hierarchical system of specialized primary school teacher training institutions according to local conditions; b) improving the enrollment quality of normal university students, and ensure the top teacher education system of student quality; c) strengthening the construction of primary school teachers and educators, and provide teacher support for the top primary school teacher education system; d)strengthening discipline construction and reshaping the curriculum construction of primary school teachers education with higher knowledge attribute; e) reconstructing “theory-practice” mutually activated top teaching mode of primary school teacher education; f) through collaborative quality improvement, reconstructing the organizational guarantee mechanism of top primary school teacher education system.
High-quality development of education cannot be achieved without a high-quality teaching force, and the teacher education system is at the center of the construction of a high-quality teaching force. In the context of the construction of a strong educational country, the construction of the teacher education system not only contributes to the development of teachers, but also motivates the subject to be self-conscious, and also shapes the Chinese characteristics. Therefore, the construction of teacher education system should follow the value logic of development with Chinese characteristics, the theoretical logic of high-quality teacher training, the institutional logic of teacher education governance and the practical logic of synergistic development of teacher education. In order to effectively promote the construction of the teacher education system, it is necessary to accelerate the policy supply of teacher education system through holistic promotion, deepen the discipline construction of teacher education system through professional support, innovate the mechanism construction of teacher education system through synergistic integration, and promote the institutional construction of teacher education system through developmental guarantee.
After the reform of teachers’ qualification system, a large number of unprofessionally trained teachers (UTTs) have obtained qualifications through taking exams, becoming an important component of China’s teacher workforce. Due to the lack of specialized teacher education and training, transition to teachers means UTTs need to go through a more complex process of identity construction. This study focuses on the identity construction process of UTTs under the background of “career transition”. Through in-depth interviews with 32 UTTs, a conceptual model was constructed by using grounded theory methods. It has shown that the identity crisis of UTTs stems from the disruption of identical continuity—between pre-established identity and perceived identity after transition. The identity construction process of UTTs involves a negative identity cycle of “self negation-self reinforcement”, forming a unique interaction back and forth, which actually is a protective self presentation for identity exploration and negotiation. Work reshaping is crucial for UTTs to complete their career transition, and it is also the main way to construct their teacher identity. UTTs’ understanding and confirmation of teacher identity is typically work-centered, and tend to associate themselves with schools as purely “workers”.
Deepening the reform of the training mechanism of professional degree postgraduates is the core theme of the classified development of graduate education in the new era. From the perspective of the integration of education, science and technology and talents, this study examines the current characteristics and empirical practices of the development of professional degree postgraduate education in China’s big education provinces and strong economic provinces, in order to provide practical experience for high-quality development of professional degree postgraduate education in China. The research finds that the main bottlenecks in the training of professional degree postgraduates are the quality of school-enterprise joint training caused by index assessment and academic orientation; the high cost of industrial enterprises participating in joint training and the mismatch of supply and demand lead to weak motivation, and the lagging setting of professional courses and course teaching content are difficult to keep up with the needs of production practice. Loose coordination of multiple subjects and imperfect governance mechanism make it difficult to support “organized education”. Under the background of classified development, the training of professional degree postgraduates needs to serve the strategic needs of national and regional development, optimize the new mechanism of multi-subject collaboration between government, school, research institute and enterprise, and deepen the reform of classified training with education as the main body. Besides, it's necessary to promote the deep integration of science and education with the support of science and technology, strengthen the orientation of talent ability with talent as the fulcrum, and deepen the integration of industry and education in the region. Also, it's suggested to optimize the multi-subject organizational structure with the guarantee of the system, strengthen the supporting role of the integration of education, science and technology, and talents, and create a new situation of high-quality development of professional degree postgraduate education.
The implementation of regional development strategies in China has established a national spatial governance framework that combines substantive governance of adminstrative region with virtual governance of function region, which has promoted the restructuring of higher education governance at different scales. In the exploration of cross-administrative region practice, represented by higher education counterpart support, running campuses in other cities, and university town construction, the development of higher education has continuously broken through the administrative division boundaries, constructed a new order in the dimension of spatial governance, and formed a pattern of higher education governance in which administrative regions and functional regions coexist. The governance subjects and their relationships have also changed accordingly. In the future, in order to better integrate the high-quality development of higher education into the national and regional development strategies and improve the ability and level of higher education to serve the national and regional economic and social development, it is necessary to further break through the boundaries of fields and spaces and form cross-administrative governance in higher education. Optimizing the relationship between governance subjects is the foundation for building a cross-administrative region governance system for higher education. The government should use policy opportunities provided by national regional development to explore an optimal path of intergovernmental relationships combining vertical decentralization and horizontal cooperation based on project systems, providing external comprehensive environmental security assurance for cross-administrative region practice of universities. Enterprises should achieve deep integration of industry, university and research through collaborating with universities to establish cross-regional innovation consortia.
School-based curriculum development (SBCD), part of the New Curriculum reform, initiated by the Chinese central government at the turn of the century, has been put into school implementation all around China through top-down educational authorities and curriculum reformists’ theoretical persuasion as well. By reviewing the 20 years of school implementation, the present study presents a “Mosaic” life history picture of 41 teachers’life story about their SBCD practice, illustrating how teachers have had been involved in SBCD and the whole wave of curriculum reform at the very beginning, how they conceptualized and experienced their “Doing”of SBCD, and how/whether or not, they have realized a role change from a traditional passive curriculum implementer to an active curriculum developer. The field-based semi-structured in-depth interview was employed and the ground-theory coding techniques were used for life story collecting and life history analysis. Different from the mainstream documentary macro-historical study, life history research presents a micro-to-meso landscape of lived experience embedded in a historical and social context. It is a narrative truth, although it may not necessarily a historical truth.
The growth and accumulation of autonomous knowledge are the foundation for constructing an autonomous knowledge system. The history of scientific development demonstrates that the revelation of the laws of motion in various forms, whether physical, chemical, biological, or social, is inseparable from innovations in research methods. Empirical research plays a key role in this process, and to a certain extent, method innovation equates to the innovation of empirical research methods. Compared to natural sciences and other social sciences, the growth of knowledge in education sciences is relatively slow and the accumulation of knowledge is inadequate. A core reason for this is the insufficiency of empirical research and methodological innovation. Currently, we have entered the digital age and a new stage of high-quality educational development, facing a series of significant theoretical and practical educational issues. Addressing the challenge of inadequate autonomous knowledge through methodological innovation is an intrinsic requirement for constructing an autonomous knowledge system in education.
Research on the Chinese learner, which gradually developed in the international community after the 1980s, focuses on analyzing the unique characteristics and features of Chinese students' learning within a global comparative framework. It represents the continuation and deepening of the international academic concerns on China. In recent years, represented by the China College Student Survey (CCSS) project, Chinese scholars began to participate in and promote research in this field, attempting to construct local student learning theories based on empirical analysis, which becomes a local force in constructing original knowledge specific to Chinese student learning and even Chinese education. The CCSS project, with its 15 years of implementation and research, exemplifies a process that begins with actively and selectively introducing overseas knowledge and gradually promoting localization at the level of philosophy, concepts and tools, followed by the discovery and contextual analysis of local phenomenon through in-depth mining of local empirical data, which leads to the development of local models and theories. The case of CCSS provides the following insights. To construct the independent knowledge system of Chinese education, it requires a thorough understanding, evaluation, and selective adaptation of global knowledge, an in-depth analysis of empirical research addressing local issues, an effective dialogues with the global academia to highlight the universal significance of local knowledge, and the generation-to-generation transmission of innovation awareness, ideas and methods through the academic training of young scholars.
Effective education begins with empowered teachers. A critical task for Chinese scholars today is to establish a teacher education system with distinct Chinese characteristics, grounded in autonomous knowledge. This study emphasizes the scientific and disciplinary foundations of teacher education by defining the meaning of knowledge, which is shaped by the dual requirements of internal analysis and external synthesis. The concept of autonomous knowledge is explored through three dimensions: originality, adaptability, and criticality. The production of autonomous knowledge refers to the process of deriving conclusions and generating insights within individual academic research. Meanwhile, the growth of autonomous knowledge involves the longitudinal evolution of knowledge, encompassing the interaction, communication, iteration, and recursion among various academic studies. To more clearly, specifically, and deeply present the progress of research on autonomous knowledge in Chinese teacher education, six research topics are identified in this study: 1) Purpose and value; 2) Recruitment, selection, and entry; 3) Competence of pre-service teachers and teacher educators; 4) Learning and development; 5) Environment and its role; and 6) System. This study employs systematic literature review, content analysis, and case analysis, focusing primarily on academic research conducted since the establishment of the Standards of Teacher Education Curriculum in 2011, with particular emphasis on core journal articles and empirical studies. In the section on the production and growth of autonomous knowledge in Chinese teacher education, the influences of the three driving sources—policy, practice, and theory—on this process are analyzed separately. Classic cases are used to comprehensively illustrate the driving sources, internal processes, and dynamic mechanisms involved in the generation of autonomous knowledge in Chinese teacher education. While significant progress has been made in constructing autonomous knowledge, current achievements are characterized by strong internal but weak external synthesis, a predominant use of deductive methods but limited use of inductive ones, and a lack of critical and negative assessment. Moving forward, it is essential to continue forging a uniquely Chinese path in the scientific development of teacher education, particularly in addressing the long-standing core challenges in this field.
In the context of the rise of empirical methods and the construction of an autonomous knowledge system, the research on rural education in China highlights the dual value of empirical evidence and autonomy with its unique practical, cultural and academic significance. Following the vein of practice, understanding, knowledge and knowledge system, we can find the logic of practice development, academic knowledge production and knowledge system construction in Chinese rural education. Historically, the interaction between rural education policy, practice and empirical research can be divided into four major stages. Empirical research on rural teachers and rural students highlights the autonomy of the target group; school merger and the elimination of poverty in education under major social changes highlights the autonomy of the phenomenon.The questions “Can the poor have noble children?” and “Do rural schools have a future?” show the autonomy of discourse, and the policy evaluation and resource allocation show the autonomy of the road. However, the current knowledge system of rural education still suffers from fragmentation of problems, narrowing of data and superficialization of knowledge. The future trend of rural education research is urban-rural integration, student competence, and mechanism adjustment; the direction of deepening empirical research involves problem synthesis, method integration, and data standardization; and the goal of constructing an autonomous knowledge system is disciplinary cross-sectionality, content interaction, and academic autonomy.
Investing in early childhood development (ECD) has become a global priority. China recognized the significance of ECD for children aged 0-3 as early as the early 20th century. The evolution of ECD in China has progressed through five key stages: emergence, foundation, expansion, institutionalization, adjustment and innovation. Since 2010, China has actively integrated international best experiences, exploring and implementing various strategies to generate practical evidence that advances the field of ECD. Beginning in 2012, research teams have concentrated on two critical factors influencing ECD—nutrition and parenting—by conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 5,000 children aged 0-3 and their families in rural China. These studies have mapped the knowledge discovery process in the ECD field, evaluated the impact on children and families, and developed comprehensive models and operational plans for nutrition and parenting interventions executed by diverse stakeholders. These efforts culminated in the creation of detailed operational manuals. The evidence generated from these empirical studies not only provides robust support for China's ECD models but also serves as a valuable resource for the global community in exploring and refining ECD approaches. It is recommended that China develop and implement a nationwide ECD intervention plan to ensure that families across various regions and socioeconomic backgrounds have access to appropriate nutrition and parenting support. Furthermore, enhancing cross-sector collaboration and resource integration is essential for advancing the ECD agenda collectively.
The construction of a high-quality science education system is a fundamental project to promote the integrated deployment of education, science and technology, and human resources. However, the high-quality development of science education cannot be achieved without the support of solid science education research. Referring to the key policies and critical events in science education, China's science education has gone through four development periods, namely “recovery and adjustment”, “rapid development”, “innovation and exploration” and “systematic construction”. Through constructing a three-dimensional analytic framework of “policy-research-social infrastructure”, this study systematically analyzes the research progress of science education in China at different stages of development. Drawing upon these findings, this study summarizes the logic of development in China's science education research, in terms of the development impetus, basic guarantee as well as the model of knowledge production. Finally, this study puts forward five suggestions for the future of science education research in China, including constructing a funding system for science education, focusing on key scientific research questions, forming an interdisciplinary research community, conducting multiple types of empirical research and coordinating policies and practices with multiple stakeholders.
This paper first proposes the concept of institutional and dynamic analysis of the production mode of social sciences in China, and on this basis proposes a “four-dimension hybrid” analytical framework that covers political functions, administrative governance, academic strategies, and technical conditions. This framework is then used to analyze three real research events that took place in history—namely, the research event behind the “four percent of GDP” policy, which is the most important educational finance research event in recent history of China, the statistical comparability study of public education expenditures, and an international literature review study related to the “four percent of GDP” policy—to elaborate on the above influencing factors. Finally, some preliminary thoughts are discussed on the construction of an independent knowledge system and research paradigm issues in China’s education finance research.
The construction and improvement of self-independent knowledge system in preschool education have significant implications for promoting scientific decision-making, high-quality development, and the realization of the goal of becoming a strong educational nation in preschool education. A review of the century-long journey of preschool education research in China reveals that focusing on the evolution of practical issues and conducting empirical research have always been the original foundation and important characteristics of research in this field. This study revolves around three core themes: “child development” “preschool education” and “development of preschool education” and selects empirical research literature on Chinese preschool education since 1919, totaling 1,619papers and 17 books. Through systematic review and analysis of the literature, the main knowledge outputs of empirical research are extracted, and from the perspective of self-independent knowledge system construction, the contributions and issues of existing empirical research are analyzed and reflected upon. Based on this, the future prospects for empirical research in preschool education are proposed, aiming to provide references for the continuous development and innovation in this field.
“Basic education” is a holistic entity that serves as a crucial gateway and key mechanism leading to the study of Basic Pedagogy. Basic Pedagogy is the study of “basic education” itself, focusing on the “relationship studies” between basic education theory and practice. Currently, Basic Pedagogy is in an “initial” stage. Constructing China’s independent knowledge system for Basic Pedagogy, rooted in basic education, is an urgent and important task, as well as an inherent mission for researchers in this field. However, Basic Pedagogy faces three major dilemmas: first, the challenge of the relationship between theory and practice; second, the issue of dialogue and exchange between China and other countries; and third, the issue of its relationship with related disciplines. Therefore, Basic Pedagogy must establish its own knowledge system to achieve genuine academic recognition. Specifically, “China’s independent knowledge system of Basic Pedagogy” covers fundamental dimensions such as the nature of research, research objects, research goals, research content, and research methods. This system should be progressively developed and refined through various approaches, including the integration of “three realities” (practice, experiment, and empirical evidence), interdisciplinary collaboration, the symbiosis of theory and practice, collaborative creation, international dialogue, and the empowerment of digital intelligence, leading it towards greater depth and richness.
The autonomous construction of the academic discourse system in curriculum reform has showcased Chinese characteristics and wisdom. In terms of curriculum objectives, the transformation from “mastering basic knowledge and skills” to “cultivating core competencies” has played a leading role in cultivating individuals, with the curriculum standards having undergone two iterations and becoming increasingly refined. The curriculum structure has evolved from a “single type” to a “diversified balance,” continuously refining a balanced approach and exploring ways of building an integrated curriculum with Chinese characteristics. Curriculum content has shifted the focus from “textbook content” to “learning experience,” with the structuration of students’ learning experiences becoming a shared goal, and textbook studies with Chinese characteristics have made significant progress. Curriculum implementation has transitioned from “classroom transformation” to “program conversion,” embedding the concept of hierarchical collaboration and the systematic curriculum thinking, and the new lesson plan guided by competencies is taking shape. Curriculum evaluation has progressed from “examination and testing” to “curriculum assessment,” supported by the maturation of a developmental curriculum evaluation system, and significant progress has been made in reforming the college entrance examination. Curriculum management has changed from “teaching management” to “curriculum governance,” enabled by the gradual establishment of a systematic and democratic curriculum governance system, and breakthroughs have been made in the localized adaptation of school-based curriculum in China. In the future, guided by practicality, clarity, and originality, the construction of China’s curriculum academic discourse system is still constantly advancing. In the future, it is necessary to continue to promote the autonomous construction of the academic discourse system of the Chinese curriculum reform under the guidance of practicality, clarity and originality.
This article selects themes such as investment in higher education, college faculty management systems, academic career mobility, and the teaching behavior of faculty, and provides a cursory review of the related research literature to roughly outline the trajectory of empirical research in the field of higher education in China. It also explores its significance in the construction of a knowledge system. The fundamental conclusion is that currently, the empirical approach has become the mainstream trend in Chinese higher education research. The themes of this research are closely related to national macro policies and systemic reforms. Therefore, it could be characterized as having a pragmatic empirical orientation. Empirical research that unfolds around the numerous issues arising from systemic changes has led to the production of a wealth of thematic knowledge, but there is still a lack of indigenous theory generation and the construction of an independent knowledge system. Future empirical research should be based on local awareness, drawing from and reflecting upon this, to achieve theoretical innovation and construct a knowledge and discourse system that is internationally recognized, thereby highlighting the international contribution of Chinese higher education research.
As a type of education closely related to the national economy and people's livelihood, vocational education has gradually developed in China since modern times and has become the largest and most complete vocational education system in the world. With the advancement of practice, the academic community has been committed to the theoretical construction of practical problems, especially since the Reform and Opening up. The prominent feature of knowledge production in vocational education during this period was the strong support of vocational education research institutions in universities, and the basic paradigm went through two stages: the construction of the basic knowledge system of vocational education in the last 20 years of the 20th century, and theoretical research in a broader disciplinary perspective in the first 20 years of the 21st century. The research during this period has effectively promoted the knowledge evolution of vocational education. This article takes knowledge production in vocational education since the 1980s as the research question, focusing on the six core research areas of vocational education such as connotation, value, system, curriculum, teacher education, and school-enterprise cooperation. With the significant papers in these six areas as the object, through the analysis of the evolution path and future direction of knowledge production, the basic framework of vocational education knowledge production is outlined, which providing reference for further research to improve the academic level of vocational education.
The concept of the teacher constitutes a crucial element within the foundational knowledge framework of education. The investigation into, and the manner of investigating, the teacher concept itself remains an unresolved challenge. Acknowledgment and recognition of this challenge serve as symbols of conceptual cognition and understanding, reflecting a pulse of the developmental state of professional knowledge, and constituting a metric for assessing professional achievements and practical effects. To reveal the layered emergence of the teacher concept, departing from the uncertain state of foundational knowledge and guided by Marx’s proposition of true projection, combined with the hypothesis of symbolic revolution, this study commences with the recursive trilogy of education by Clement of Alexandria. Through preliminary analysis of Greek teacher myths, pedagogical figures (paidagogos), school teachers (didáskalos), liberal educators, and poet-educators, it elaborates upon the educational conceptions and teacher identity concepts of figures such as Clement of Alexandria, Moses Maimonides, and Hasdai Crescas, thus examining educators within the realms of the Torah and the Christ faith. This presentation unveils the teacher concept, the concept-metaphor, its primordial emergence, historical pulsations, cultural attributes, civilizational values, abstract forms, and inherent contradictions. Examining materials discovered through extensive temporal and spatial explorations of foundational knowledge experiments, centred on the genesis and différance of the teacher concept, it deduces and disseminates certain regular recognitions and normative understandings. Peer review is solicited, employing similar research methodologies for correction and validation.
As one of the basic concepts in pedagogy, “textbook” is always concerned with the selection, arrangement and representation of knowledge, and is regarded as the object or content of education and teaching. The conceptual innovation of textbook has followed two paths: medium carrier and functional utility, and the concepts of e-textbook, digital textbook and intelligent textbook have emerged successively, but these concepts all suffer from the problems of “name not reality” and affordance. From the agent theory of textbook and the practical development of new-generation textbook technology, the concept of textbook is reconstructed as “Digital and Intelligent Education agent”, which refers to the integrating digital modeling of knowledge domains, intelligent diagnosis and analysis of students and their learning, as well as intelligent teaching systems. The introduction of the new concept not only implies a new understanding and theory of education, but also means the renewal of research problems and the transformation of research methods, which is rich in educational theoretical implications.
Discipline practices are the result of the specialization of the activities of understanding and reforming the world. As a new paradigm of talent cultivation in the era of core competencies, original connotations of disciplinary practices have three dimensions: behavior, cognition and reflection. In the behavioral dimension, discipline practice points to the empirical investigation, which begins with the presentation of real questions based on the real world, with objective facts as the object of experience, with hands-on operations as the basic method, with the direct aim of obtaining first-hand empirical data, and with the basic tenet of service theory construction and engineering design. In the thinking dimension, discipline practice from sciences points to the construction of theoretical thinking aimed at revealing and representing the world as it really is, and its engineering level points to the construction of engineering thinking aimed at designing of transforming the world. In the reflective dimension, discipline practice points to the practice consciousness of the practitioner, who takes his own practice behavior and thought as the object to reflect on himself, improve himself, and motivate himself. It is the organic unity of self-clarity of determining self-practice state, self-criticism of improving self-practice quality, and self-encouragement of motivating self-practice forward.
Ivan Illich criticized the mainstream of educational thought represented by John Dewey since the Enlightenment. Illich’s critique of Dewey took place in the “Long 1960s,” an era characterized by “counter-culture.” Ivan Illich’s ideas are closely related to “counter-culture”. Ivan Illich criticized John Dewey for ignoring, tolerating or fostering three hidden curricula of modern schooling: “control and compulsion” “escalation and progress” and “desire and expectation” Illich argued that these hidden curricula revealed the true nature of modern schooling. From this criticism, we could see their different views of the nature of education. Ivan Illich found that modern schooling is actually a myth-making ritual, It deviated from the essence of human education. It is the result of the institutionalization of values, and it also promotes the institutionalization of other values in the society, thus making the whole society become a “schooled society”. The institutionalization of values is at odds with the idea of freedom. John Dewey believed that the essence of human education should contain three dimensions: schooling centered on self-realization, schooling as political and ethical culture, and schooling as leisure. Different views on the essence of education are the products of different social ideals. Dewey’s social ideal is the ideal in society, and Illich’s social ideal is the ideal beyond society. Therefore, Dewey regards socialization as the essence of human education, while Illich regards enlightening the transcendence of human as the essence of education.
With the development of information technology, digital textbooks have become an important form of teaching materials. However, there is still a debate about which is more beneficial to students’ learning when using digital textbooks or paper textbooks. To this end, this study conducted a meta-analysis of 36 experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The results show that compared with the use of paper textbooks, digital textbooks are more conducive to students’ academic achievement (g=0.218). In addition, in the context of collectivism culture, digital textbooks have a greater impact on the improvement of students’ academic achievement; There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the intervention duration and the impact of digital textbooks on students’ academic achievement. When the intervention duration is between 12 and 24 weeks, the effect is the largest. Compared with other subjects, digital textbooks have the most obvious positive effect on students’ social studies. Grade type can also regulate the impact of digital textbooks on students’ academic achievement, that is, the more timely test results have a more significant impact. The prediction effect of digital textbooks on students’ academic achievement is not affected by gender, grade, publication year and experiment type.The digital age needs to strengthen technological innovation to provide a better foundation for the teaching and use of digital textbooks, and improve teachers’ digital literacy and better support the learning promotion function of digital textbooks. Also, it's necessary to, based on the periodicity rule of digital textbook promoting learning, create activities to promote students’ learning, improve students’ digital literacy, and give full play to the function of digital textbooks to improve the learning outcomes.
Based on the new historical coordinates, the theoretical field of science education in the new era has changed significantly. Deepening science education theory has the important value of promoting the knowledge production of science education, strengthening the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents, and strengthening the discipline belief of science education. The historical logic of this action reflects the political attribute of the socialist direction of scientific education theory; the theoretical logic deepens the strategic attribute of the study of the “three systems” of science education; and the practical logic reflects the livelihood attribute of science education by strengthening relationship building. However, at the same time, due to the contradiction between the rich background and the limited theoretical reserve, the contradiction between the accelerated integration of fields and the lag of theoretical guidance, and the deepening of science education theory need to deepen the production of theoretical knowledge of science education discipline, deepen the integrated inquiry of science education; and deepen the Chinese construction of science education.
Expulsion for non-academic reasons such as public security management penalties, although there are certain factors of university autonomy, can not be completely withdrawn into the scope of university autonomy, otherwise it will damage the rule of law foundation of university governance. Expulsion from school belongs to the “disciplinary punishment” in the administrative sanction system, and the parallel application of public security management punishment does not violate the principle of “no more punishment for one thing”, but it should be restricted by three aspects of law. First, taking Article 52 of the Regulations on the Management of Students in Ordinary Colleges and Universities as the basis of formal punishment, it still needs to conform to the principle of “excessive punishment is equal” and proportionality, so that its legal application has substantive justice. Second, the expulsion of students due to the punishment of public security administration outside the school is a special case, and the violation of public security administration needs to reach the degree of “serious circumstances”. Third, the determination of “serious circumstances” in colleges and universities is subject to the overall constraint of the punishment decision of public security administration. At the same time, the explanation of “serious circumstances” in universities is limited to the subjective level, and the effect of the whole situation identification is limited.
中国人文社会科学核心期刊
