Chinese Conceptions Of Democratic Education

This book draws on a rich ethnographic study to examine Chinese democracy and its practices in democratic education. As the first book to interrogate practices of democratic education from an insider perspective, it offers a unique model of Chinese democratic education based in school practices. It illuminates connections between the school practices of Chinese democratic education, the Chinese democratic system and the effects of globalizations. As such, it analyses the particular ways in which educators can and must balance global needs and local cultures. Ultimately arguing that comprehension of Chinese democracy and its educational practices should take root in the specific social and cultural context in which it was developed, it advocates that a more comprehensive understanding of democracy and democratic education can be achieved. Building on this premise, it outlines ways to guide enhanced critical analysis and cultivate mutual cultural respect, thereby contributing to the pursuit of a more peaceful world. Drawing on rich and detailed narratives, dialogue, observation, and reflexivity, the author successfully situates the Chinese experience within a global landscape and challenges the mainstream understanding of democracy on the global stage. Promoting tolerance of other cultures and opening up new ways of thinking from a globally diverse perspective, it will appeal to researchers, postgraduate students and educators with interests in global citizenship education, social studies education, democracy, and international education.

"This book draws on a rich ethnographic study to examine Chinese democracy and its practices in democratic education. The first book to interrogate practices of democratic education from an insider perspective, it offers a unique model of Chinese democratic education based in school practices. It illuminates connections between the school practices of Chinese democratic education, the Chinese democratic system and the effects of globalizations. As such, it analyses the particular ways in which educators can and must balance global needs and local cultures. Ultimately arguing that comprehension of Chinese democracy and its educational practices should take root in the specific social and cultural context in which it was developed, it advocates that a more comprehensive understanding of democracy and democratic education can be achieved. Following from this, it shows how better critical understandings can be guided and mutual cultural respect can be developed, helping to achieve a more peaceful world. Based in rich and detailed narratives, dialogue, observation and reflexivity, the author successfully situations the Chinese situation on a global landscape, and challenges the mainstream of democracy in the global stage. Promoting tolerance of other cultures and opening up new ways of thinking from a globally diverse perspective, it will appeal to researchers, postgraduate students and educators with interests in global citizenship education, social studies education, democracy, and international education"--

There is a flourishing literature on citizenship education in China that is mostly unknown in the West. Liberal political theorists often assume that only in democracy should citizens be prepared for their future responsibilities, yet citizenship education in China has undergone a number of transformations as the political system has sought to cope with market reforms, globalization and pressures both externally and within the country for broader political reforms. Over the past decade, Chinese scholars have been struggling for official recognition of citizenship education as a key component of the school curriculum in these changing contexts. This book analyzes the citizenship education issues under discussion within China, and aims to provide a voice for its scholars at a time when China’s international role is becoming increasingly important.

A key objective of education in China is to cultivate one’s moral values, with the ultimate objective of becoming fully human (做人). Unlike the “West,” which regards moral cultivation as related to but separate from citizenship cultivation, East Asia (including China) views moral and citizenship cultivation as synonymous. The essays in this book offer various perspectives on and understandings of Chinese citizenship and education by a group of scholars of Chinese heritage situated inside and outside of China. They offer compelling evidence and rich theoretical discussions about the practice of teaching citizenship in the state education, the interplay between citizenship and China’s cultural and religious traditions, and the construction of citizenship from the groups from marginal positions. The book uses citizenship as a lens to examine the pressing issues of identity, democracy, religion and cosmopolitanism and sheds new light on China’s ongoing social and educational changes. Thinking through citizenship and citizenship education may act as an important driving force to transform the culture and paradigms of governance in China and the new meanings of becoming fully human. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of Education, Politics, Sociology and Public Policy. The chapters in this book were originally published in various Routledge journals.

Lei Wang researches John Dewey’s pedagogical influence on the historical context of China and compares his observations and his basic democratic approach with the concepts and practical implementation of his Chinese students. As a result, it turns out that the spread of pragmatic philosophy in China was accompanied by reductionism, misunderstandings, Confucian doctrine and nationalism and that Dewey’s reform proposals can open a democratic perspective on current challenges in Chinese society. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Dewey’s research trip to China, the author emphasizes the contemporary significance of his work. The results of her study can clarify and correct errors that continue to have effect today.

Close attention to the writings of the founding fathers of the Republic of China on Taiwan shows that democracy is indeed compatible with Chinese culture. Conceptions of Chinese Democracy provides a coherent and critical introduction to the democratic thought of three fathers of modern Taiwan—Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Ching-kuo—in a way that is accessible and grounded in broader traditions of political theory. David J. Lorenzo’s comparative study allows the reader to understand the leaders’ democratic conceptions and highlights important contradictions, strengths, and weaknesses that are central to any discussion of Chinese culture and democratic theory. Lorenzo further considers the influence of their writings on political theorists, democracy advocates, and activists on mainland China. Students of political science and theory, democratization, and Chinese culture and history will benefit from the book's substantive discussions of democracy, and scholars and specialists will appreciate the larger arguments about the influence of these ideas and their transmission through time.

In this book, Ying Zhou argues that educational reform filled a critical role in bridging the precarious gap between democratic ideals and political realities in late Qing and Republican China, where institutional change in education and the cultivation of a qualified citizenry were two sides of the same coin in the development of democratic education. Through a multi-level analysis of the (re)arrangements of national education and teachings of citizenship, Zhou unravels the complex political and educational nexus in China between 1901–1937, where the hope of education was to bring both political modernity and social progress.