Introduction & Top Questions
Education in primitive and early civilized cultures
Prehistoric and primitive cultures
Education in the earliest civilizations
The Old World civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and North China
The New World civilizations of the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas
The Aztecs
The Incas
Education in classical cultures
The Hindu tradition
The introduction of Buddhist influences
Classical India
Indian influences on Asia
The Zhou period
Xi (Western) Zhou (1046–771 bce)
Dong (Eastern) Zhou (770–256 bce)
The Qin–Han period
Qin autocracy (221–206 bce)
Scholarship under the Han (206 bce–220 ce)
Introduction of Buddhism
Ancient Hebrews
Education of youth
The Hellenistic Age
The primary school
Ancient Romans
Early Roman education
Roman adoption of Hellenistic education
Roman modifications
Education in the later Roman Empire
Education in Persian, Byzantine, early Russian, and Islamic civilizations
The Byzantine Empire
Early Russian education: Kiev and Muscovy
The Islamic Era
Influences on Muslim education and culture
Aims and purposes of Muslim education
Organization of education
Major periods of Muslim education and learning
Influence of Islamic learning on the West
Europe in the Middle Ages
The background of early Christian education
From the beginnings to the 4th century
From the 5th to the 8th century
The Irish and English revivals
The Carolingian renaissance and its aftermath
The cultural revival under Charlemagne and his successors
Influences of the Carolingian renaissance abroad
Education of the laity in the 9th and 10th centuries
The medieval renaissance
Changes in the schools and philosophies
Monastic schools
New curricula and philosophies
Thomist philosophy
The development of the universities
The Italian universities
The French universities
The English universities
Universities elsewhere in Europe
General characteristics of medieval universities
Lay education and the lower schools
Education in Asian civilizations: c. 700 to the eve of Western influence
The foundations of Muslim education
The Mughal period
The Tang dynasty (618–907 ce)
The Song (960–1279)
The Mongol period (1206–1368)
The Ming period (1368–1644)
The Manchu period (1644–1911/12)
The ancient period to the 12th century
The feudal period (1192–1867)
Education of the warriors
Education in the Tokugawa era
Effect of early Western contacts
European Renaissance and Reformation
The channels of development in Renaissance education
The Muslim influence
The secular influence
The humanistic tradition in Italy
Early influences
Emergence of the new gymnasium
Nonscholastic traditions
The humanistic tradition of northern and western Europe
Dutch humanism
Juan Luis Vives
The early English humanists
Education in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation
Luther and the German Reformation
The French Reformation
The Calvinist Reformation
The Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation
The legacy of the Reformation
European education in the 17th and 18th centuries
The social and historical setting
The new scientism and rationalism
The Protestant demand for universal elementary education
Education in 17th-century Europe
Central European theories and practices
The pedagogy of Ratke
The pedagogy of Comenius
The schools of Gotha
French theories and practices
Courtly education
The teaching congregations
English theories and practices
The Puritan reformers
Royalist education
The academies
Education during the Enlightenment
John Locke's empiricism and education as conduct
Giambattista Vico, critic of Cartesianism
The condition of the schools and universities
The background and influence of Pietism
August Hermann Francke
Johann Julius Hecker
The background and influence of naturalism
The Sensationists
The Rousseauists
The influence of nationalism
National education under enlightened rulers
European offshoots in the New World
Spanish and Portuguese America
French Québec
British America
The new academies
The middle colonies
The Southern colonies
Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces.
Western education in the 19th century
The early reform movement: the new educational philosophers
The pedagogy of Pestalozzi
The influence of Pestalozzi
Froebel and the kindergarten movement
The pedagogy of Froebel
The kindergarten movement
Herbart
The psychology and pedagogy of Herbart
The Herbartians
Other German theorists
French theorists
Spencer's scientism
Development of national systems of education
Humboldt's reforms
Developments after 1815
Girls' schools
The new German universities
Development of state education
Elementary Education Act
Secondary and higher education
The educational awakening
Education for females
The British dominions
The spread of Western educational practices to Asian countries
Education under the East India Company
Indian universities
The Meiji Restoration and the assimilation of Western civilization
Establishment of a national system of education
The conservative reaction
Establishment of nationalistic education systems
Promotion of industrial education
Education in the 20th century
Social and historical background
Major intellectual movements
Influence of psychology and other fields on education
Traditional movements
New foundations
Child-centred education
Scientific-realist education
Social-reconstructionist education
Major trends and problems
Western patterns of education
Early 19th to early 20th century
Education Act of 1944
The comprehensive movement
Imperial Germany
Changes after World War II
The Third Republic
Expansion of American education
Curriculum reforms
Federal involvement in local education
Changes in higher education
Canadian educational reforms
The administration of public education
Revolutionary patterns of education
Russia: from tsarism to communism
The Stalinist years, 1931–53
The Khrushchev reforms
From Brezhnev to Gorbachev
Perestroika and education
China: from Confucianism to communism
The modernization movement
Education in the republic
Education under the Nationalist government
Education under communism
Post-Mao education
Communism and the intellectuals
Patterns of education in non-Western or developing countries
Education at the beginning of the century
Education to 1940
Education changes during World War II
Education after World War II
Pre-independence period
The postindependence period in India
The postindependence period in Pakistan
The postindependence period in Bangladesh
The postindependence period in Sri Lanka
General influences and policies of the colonial powers
Education in Portuguese colonies and former colonies
German educational policy in Africa
Education in British colonies and former colonies
Education in French colonies and former colonies
Education in Belgian colonies and former colonies
Problems and tasks of African education in the late 20th century
Colonialism and its consequences
The second half of the 20th century
The Islamic revival
Migration and the brain drain
The heritage of independence
Primary education and literacy
Reform trends
Malaysia and Singapore
Global trends in education
The development and growth of national education systems
Education and social cohesion
Education and social conflict
Education and personal growth
Education and civil society
Education and economic development
Global enrollment trends since the mid-20th century
Primary-level school enrollments
Secondary-level school enrollments
Tertiary-level school enrollments
Other developments in formal education
Literacy as a measure of success
Global commitments to education and equality of opportunity
Implications for socioeconomic status
Social consequences of education in developing countries
The role of the state
Social and family interaction
Alternative forms of education
The communist revolution aimed at being total revolution, demanding no less than the establishing of a new society radically different from what the orthodox communists called the feudal society of traditional China. This new society called for people with new loyalties, new motivations, and new concepts of individual and group life. Education was recognized as playing a strategic role in achieving this revolution and development. Specifically, education was called upon to produce, on the one hand, zealous revolutionaries ready to rebel against the old society and fight to establish a new order and, at the same time, to bring up a new generation of skilled workers and technical personnel to take up the multitudinous tasks of development and modernization.
The People's Republic of China generally makes no distinction between education and propaganda or indoctrination. All three share the common task of changing man. The agencies of education, indoctrination, and propaganda are legion—newspapers, posters, and propaganda leaflets, neighbourhood gatherings for the study of current events, as well as political rallies, parades, and many forms of "mass campaigns" under careful direction. It is evident that the schools constitute only a small part of the educational program.
When the communists came to power in 1949, they took up three educational tasks of major importance: (1) teaching many illiterate people to read and write, (2) training the personnel needed to carry on the work of political organization, agricultural and industrial production, and economic reform, and (3) remolding the behaviour, emotions, attitudes, and outlook of the people. Millions of cadres were given intensive training to carry out specific programs. There were cadres for the enforcement of the agrarian law, the marriage law, and the electoral law; some were trained for industry or agriculture, others for the schools, and so on. This method of short-term ad hoc training is characteristic of communist education in general.
Because the new communist leaders had no experience in government administration, they turned to their ideological ally, the Soviet Union, for aid and guidance. Soviet advisers responded quickly, and Chinese education and culture, which had been Westernized under the Nationalists, became Sovietized. An extensive propaganda campaign flooded the country with hyperbolic eulogies of Soviet achievements in culture and education. The emphasis on Soviet cultural supremacy was accompanied by the repudiation of all Western influence.
A major agency designed to popularize the Soviet model was the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association (SSFA), inaugurated in October 1949, immediately after the new regime was proclaimed. Headed by no less a personage than Liu Shaoqi—the second highest Chinese Communist Party leader—the association extended its activities to all parts of the country, with branch organizations in schools, factories, business enterprises, and government offices. In schools, students were urged to enlist as members of the association and to participate in its activities. In many schools more than 90 percent of the students became SSFA members. Throughout the nation, the SSFA sponsored exhibits, motion pictures, mass meetings, parades, and lectures to engender interest in the Soviet Union and in the study of Russian language, education, and culture.
Soviet advisers drew up a plan for the merging and geographic redistribution of colleges and universities and for the reorganization of collegiate departments and areas of specialization in line with Soviet concepts. Colleges and departments of long standing were eliminated without regard to established traditions or to the interests and scholarly contributions of their faculties. Russian replaced English as the most important foreign language.
From curriculum content to teaching methods, from the grading system to academic degrees, communist China followed the Soviet model under the tutelage of Soviet advisers, whose wisdom few dared question. Even the new youth organizations (which displaced the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) were comparable to the Pioneers and Komsomols of the U.S.S.R. According to one report, at the peak of the Sovietization frenzy, the first lesson in a Chinese-language textbook used in primary schools was a translation from a Russian textbook.
Never before in the history of education in China had such an extensive effort been made to imitate the education of a foreign country on such a large scale within such a short period of time. Nevertheless, there were many reasons why the campaign did not produce many lasting changes in Chinese education. Russian education and culture had not been well known in China, and the nation was not psychologically prepared for such a sudden and intensive dose of indoctrination to "learn from the Soviet Union." Students, teachers, and intellectuals in general, who would have reacted favourably to a reform to make education more Chinese, were skeptical of the wisdom of switching from Western influence to Soviet influence.
Chinese leaders justified the indiscriminate imitation of the Soviet model on ideological grounds. The Soviet Union was the leader of the socialist countries; Lenin and Stalin were the shining lights that led the people of the world in their struggle for freedom and equality; the supremacy of the Soviet Union had proved the superiority of socialism over capitalism.
The paramount importance of ideology in education may also be seen in other ways. Ideological and political indoctrination was indispensable to all levels of schools and to adult education and all forms of "spare-time education." It consisted of learning basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism and studying documents describing the structure and objectives of the new government as well as major speeches and utterances of the party and government leaders. Its aim was to engender enthusiasm for the proletarian-socialist revolution and fervent support for the new regime. Class and class struggle were related concepts that occupied a central place in the ideology, and a specific aim of education was to develop class consciousness so that all citizens, young and old, would become valiant fighters in the class struggle. School regulations stipulated that 10 percent of the curriculum should be set aside for ideological and political study, but, in practice, ideology and politics were taught and studied in many other subjects, such as language, arithmetic, and history. Ideology and politics permeated the entire curriculum and school life, completely dominating extracurricular activities.
Among the most important educational changes of this period was the establishment of "spare-time" schools and other special schools for peasants, workers, and their families. Adults attended the spare-time school after their day's work or during the lax agricultural season. Workers and peasants were admitted to these schools by virtue of their class origin. Political fervour and ideological orthodoxy replaced academic qualifications as prerequisites for further study. As a result of the Cultural Revolution of 1966–76, higher education was greatly curtailed and production and labour were emphasized. Mao Zedong, the Communist Party chairman, issued a directive sending millions of students and intellectuals into the rural areas for long-term settlement and "reeducation." He asserted that the intelligentsia could overcome the harmful effects of bourgeois-dominated education only by identifying with the labouring masses through engaging in agricultural and industrial production. Proletarian leadership was also emphasized, as "Mao Zedong thought propaganda teams"—made up of workers, peasants, and soldiers who were well-versed in quotations from Chairman Mao but otherwise often barely literate—took over the management of almost all educational institutions.
Mao Zedong, 1966.
Eastfoto
After Mao's death on Sept. 9, 1976, the new leaders lost no time in announcing a turnabout of ideological-political emphasis from revolution to development. They decreed that all effort should be directed toward "the four modernizations" (industry, agriculture, national defense, and science and technology). The primary task of education was to train the personnel needed to speed up the modernization program.
The post-Mao schools were very different from those of the revolutionary education. The conventional school system was reinstated. Full-time schools again became the mainstay of a system of coordinated schools, with orderly advance from level to level regulated by examinations. School discipline was restored, and due respect for teachers was expected of students. Serious study was not to be overshadowed by extracurricular activities; the line of demarcation between formal and informal education was clearly drawn. The main task of students, said Deng Xiaoping, was "to study, to learn book knowledge," and the task of the school was to make "strict demands on students in their study…making such studies their main pursuit."
Acquisition of knowledge was again a legitimate aim of education. Academic learning and the development of the intellect returned after a decade of banishment. Efforts were made to raise academic standards not only in the universities but also in the lower schools. The "key schools," outstanding schools that elevated the standards of teaching and learning and served as models for others, were revived. They were provided with funds for well-equipped libraries and laboratories and were staffed with highly qualified teachers. Condemned during the Cultural Revolution as "little treasure pagodas" that catered to bourgeois children to the exclusion of workers, peasants, and soldiers, these centres of academic scholarship were now hailed as the standard-bearers of quality education.
Examinations returned with a vengeance. Every year the government set a date and time for the unified competitive college examination. High school graduates took the examination locally, indicating in order of preference the colleges they would like to attend if they passed.
Although in theory every college had a president, a vice president, deans, and the like, the real educational policy maker was the Communist Party organization in each school. School presidents or other administrators often had to be party members, but even they could not make decisions without the full cooperation of party representatives. Subsequently there were demands for reforms giving more power to school administrators and faculty members.
Throughout China's long history, the intellectuals considered themselves the preservers and transmitters of the precious culture of their country. Their road to success was not always smooth, but the intellectuals were strengthened by the belief that once they won recognition as first-rank scholars they would be rewarded with position, honour, and lasting fame.
The attitude of the Chinese communists toward intellectuals is, in large measure, influenced by their ideology. While workers and peasants were raised to the top position, the intellectuals were downgraded because they were considered products of bourgeois and feudal education and perpetuators of bourgeois ideology. The communist policy was to "absorb and reform" the intellectuals.
The intellectuals were made to undergo thorough thought remodeling to be "cleansed" of bourgeois ideas and attitudes. The remodeling began with relatively mild measures, such as "political study" and "reeducation." The policy became increasingly oppressive in the 1950s when intellectuals were pressured to take part in the class struggle of the land reform and in orchestrated attacks on university professors, writers, artists, and intellectuals in different walks of life. The intellectuals—especially those who had studied in Western schools or had been employed by Western firms—were forced to write autobiographies giving details of their reactionary family and educational background, pinpointing their ideological shortcomings, and confessing their failings.
Following Khrushchev's 1956 speech criticizing Stalin, violence broke out in Poland and Hungary. This worried Mao, who agreed to try Premier Zhou Enlai's proposal to relax the Communist Party's pressure on intellectuals. This resulted in the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom, a hundred schools of thought contend." Mao indicated that intellectuals would be allowed to speak freely. The result, however, was unexpected and shocking. Once they began to speak freely, the intellectuals unleashed a torrent of angry words, fierce criticisms, and open attacks against the repressive measures under which they had suffered. Some recanted the confessions they had made under duress; others went so far as to denounce the Communist Party and its government. To avoid a more serious outburst of explosive ideas and emotions, the government decided to put a stop to the "blooming–contending." Outspoken critics were labeled rightists, and an anti-rightist campaign not only silenced the intellectuals but also placed them under more restrictive controls than before. The "flowers" wilted and the "schools" were muffled.
During the Cultural Revolution, Mao's criticism of the intellectuals instigated young radicals all over the country to join the struggle against the intellectuals. Students were urged to slap and to spit at their teachers; insult, humiliation, and torture were common. Some teachers chose suicide. Others were sent to May 7th cadre schools or to the countryside to be reformed by labour.
After Mao's death and the repudiation of the radical extremists, the intellectuals began to grow stronger. A movement called "Beijing (Peking) Spring" was launched in November 1978. Huge wall posters condemning the communist regime appeared on Beijing's so-called Democracy Wall. The movement's leaders expanded the modernization program by adding a fifth modernization, which clearly emphasized democracy, freedom, and human rights. The "Beijing Spring" movement was short-lived, but Chinese intellectuals in the United States and Hong Kong, as well as in China, continued to organize themselves and to advocate democracy and freedom. In China, astrophysicist Fang Lizhi toured university campuses speaking against the repression that he believed had killed the initiative and creativity of Chinese scholars. In the spring of 1989 a grand prodemocracy demonstration took place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The university students took the lead, demanding a higher allotment of funds for education and protesting corruption, but people from all walks of life joined the demonstration. The movement drew attention and support both at home and abroad. However, it was soon forcibly suppressed by the government, and the country, including educational affairs, continues to be controlled by the Communist Party.
Theodore Hsi-en Chen