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Elementary Education in Communist China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Theodore H. E. Chen
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Extract

There are a variety of agencies engaged in elementary education in Communist China. Besides the regular elementary schools for children, there are adult schools of elementary grade and spare-time elementary schools for youth as well as older people; there are winter schools in the rural areas, worker-peasant schools, and various kinds of literacy classes. In view of limited space, this article will deal only with the regular elementary schools. Kindergartens and nursery schools are not included in the discussion.

Type
Education (II)
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 10 , April 1962 , pp. 98 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1962

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References

1 See report on the five-year unitary school by Yen-yin, Wu in Jen-min Chiao-yu (People's Education), 12 1, 1952.Google Scholar

2 The decision of the Government Administration Council was published in the People's Daily (Jen-min Jih-pao), 12 14, 1953.Google Scholar

3 In 1960, talk was revived of shortening the elementary course of study. Proposals were made to introduce ten-year schools which would encompass the entire range of elementary and secondary education.

4 See report on such practices in Jen-min Chiao-yu, 02 1, 1952, p. 47.Google Scholar

5 Text of directive in Chung-hua Jen-min Kung-ho-kuo Fa Kuei Hui Pien (Collection of Laws and Regulations of the Chinese People's Republic) (Peking: Fa Lü Ch'u Pan She; hereafter referred to as Collection of Laws), Vol. 2, pp. 811–818.Google Scholar

6 Commonly known to foreigners as “Mandarin.”

7 Schools have been instructed to teach the newly adopted Latin alphabet as an aid to learning the Chinese language. The question of Latinisation, however, is still an unsettled issue. Scholars and linguists have expressed scepticism. So far, the successful changes of the language reform movement consist of the standardisation of pronunciation and the adoption of abbreviated written characters. Latinisation, which the leaders of the language reform movement consider the goal of the future, is still a question under study.

8 Editorial in the People's Daily, 12 14, 1953.Google Scholar

9 Texts of outline and of Ministry directive in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 06 9, 1954Google Scholar. A later official statement on this question is contained in En-lai's, Chou report to National People's Congress in 06, 1957Google Scholar; see People's China, 07 16, 1957Google Scholar, Supplement, p. 16.Google Scholar

10 For parental attitudes concerning labour, see a report of the Hupeh Department of Education in Jen-min Chiao-yu, 07 9, 1954.Google Scholar

11 See report by Ctmn-fu, Fang in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 05 9, 1955.Google Scholar

12 See a report on measures for educating school graduates in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 09 9, 1957, pp. 13–17Google Scholar. An editorial of the People's Daily, April 8, 1957, pointed out that this problem was especially important for elementary school seniors. The need for trained personnel on higher levels and the shortage of qualified applicants for the multiplied institutions of higher learning had created a situation whereby most secondary school graduates were able to go on for higher study; but for graduates of elementary schools the opportunities for entrance into higher schools were more limited and the need for them on the production front was urgent. Also refer to Chou En-lai's statement (footnote 9).

13 Text of Ministry of Education directive on the guidance of elementary and secondary school graduates for further study or employment, in Chiao-shih Pao, 05 5, 1957.Google Scholar

14 See article on establishment of schools “by the masses” in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 06 9, 1957.Google Scholar

15 The writer prefers the use of “non-state” rather than “private” schools, because although they are not established by the state they do not escape the control of the state and most of the “private organisations” that run the schools are in effect controlled by the state and the Party.

16 Min pan means “established by the people.”

17 See footnote 2.

18 Text of directive in Collection of Laws, Vol. 5, pp. 316–317.Google Scholar

19 Text of Decision in Collection of Laws, Vol. 8, pp. 250–252.Google Scholar

20 Report published in the People's Daily, 04 9, 1960.Google Scholar

21 See his report published in Chiao-shih Pao, 03 19, 1957.Google Scholar

22 “Educational Leap Forward in Kiangsi Province,” Survey of the China Mainland Press (SCMP) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate General), No. 1778:42, 05 23, 1958.Google Scholar

23 Statement included in the Johit Directive of the Party's Central Committee and State Council, previously cited.

24 For example, to convince the pupils that productive labour is as desirable as further study comes under the tasks of political education.

25 See report on the results of political education in a Peking elementary school, Jen-min Chiao-yü, 05 1, 1950, p. 63Google Scholar; also Jen-min Chlao-yü, 01 1, 1951, p. 35.Google Scholar

26 Article on Yen, in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 06 9, 1957, p. 47Google Scholar. Much has been written in criticism of Dewey. See, for example, article by Chien, Chang in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 06 6, 1955, pp. 23–25.Google Scholar

27 Lately, we hear of the cultivation of 8 loves: love of the Party, the Leaders, the Fatherland, the Army, the People, Labour, Science and Common Property. See report on Harbin schools in the People's Dotty, 06 1, 1960.Google Scholar

28 Hsu, 's article appears in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 07 1, 1950, p. 17.Google Scholar

29 Jen-min Chiao-yü, 03 9, 1955.Google Scholar

30 Chung-kuo Ch'ing-nien Pao, 11 23, 1960.Google Scholar

31 See the editorial in the People's Daily, 06 15, 1955Google Scholar, bemoaning the influence of corrupt bourgeois ideology which caused such disciplinary problems as neglect of studies, disorder in classrooms, etc.

32 Text published in Kuang-ming Jih-pao, 06 18, 1955.Google Scholar

33 Text in the People's Daily, 08 23, 1958.Google Scholar

34 Peking Review, 09 2, 1958, p. 18.Google Scholar

35 Kuang-ming Jih-pao, 10 24, 1958.Google Scholar

36 Article on socialisation of early education in Chung-kuo Ch'ing-nien Pao, 10 25, 1958.Google Scholar

37 For arguments in favour of school labour, see Shun-ts'ai, Tung's article in Jen-min Chlao-yü, 04 1, 1958.Google Scholar

38 Report by the Party organisation of the province in Red Flag (Hung Ch'i), 11 1, 1958, p. 31.Google Scholar

39 China News Analysis (Hong Kong) No. 332, p. 5, 07 15, 1960.Google Scholar

40 Text of State Council decision in Collection of Laws, Vol. 9, pp. 263–266.Google Scholar

41 Ting-yi, Lu, “Education Must Be Combined with Productive Labour,” Peking Review, 09 9, 1958, p. 9.Google Scholar

42 See article by Cheng-yi, Lu in Jen-min Chiao-yu, 09 9, 1955, pp. 54–57.Google Scholar

43 See report on an experiment of this nature in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 02 9, 1957, p. 26.Google Scholar

44 Article by Ling-kuang, Chang, in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 02 9, 1955, pp. 44–49.Google Scholar

45 Editorial in Chiao-shih Pao, 10 9, 1956.Google Scholar

46 See article by Ting, Ting in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 04 9, 1957, p. 23.Google Scholar

47 See article by Shun-ts'ai, Tung in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 08 1, 1951, pp. 12–17.Google Scholar

48 See reports of such instances in Jen-min Chiao-yü, 03 5, 1953, pp. 11–14.Google Scholar

49 Text of directive in Chaio-shin Pao, 03 5, 1957.Google Scholar

50 Statement of the Minister of Education in Chiao-shi Pao, 03 19, 1957.Google Scholar

51 A report on elementary schools in Shensi province, published in Kuang-ming Jih-pao, 04 8, 1953Google Scholar, stated that teachers busy with political work could only teach one-half or two-thirds of their materials.

52 Statement of Minister of Education Yang Hsiu-feng, published in the People's Daily, 04 9, 1960.Google Scholar

53 SCMP No. 2270: 15, 06 2, 1960.Google Scholar

54 Reported by Minister of Education. See Jen-min Chiao-yü, 07 9, 1956.Google Scholar

55 See Chi Wen-fn's speech in meeting of Political Consultative Conference in the People's Daily, 04 25, 1959.Google Scholar

56 See articles discussing the problem of withdrawals in Chiao-shih Pao, 01 7, 1958Google Scholar; also editorial of same newspaper, February 28, 1958.

57 See, for example, U.P. dispatch “Red China Veers, Now Urges Home Education,” Los Angeles Times, 11 2, 1961Google Scholar; also Chen, Theodore H. E. and Chen, Wen-Hui, “Attitudes Toward Parents in China,” Sociology and Social Research, 43: 175–182, 01–02 1959.Google Scholar

58 See this author's monograph, Teacher Training in Communist China (Washington: U.S. Office of Education, 1960).Google Scholar