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Cation in China After 1949

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Cation in China After 1949 Paper ID #10926 The Fusion and Conflict Between Engineering Education and General Edu- cation in China After 1949 Dr. Zhihui Zhang, Chinese Academy of Sciences Assistant professor ,Institute for History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. main re- search topics: engineering education; philosophy of engineering. Xiaofeng Tang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Xiaofeng Tang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. c American Society for Engineering Education, 2014 Conflict and Integration between Engineering Education and General Education in Modern China: The Case of TsinghuaUniversity Zhihui Zhang, Xiaofeng Tang Institute for History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences/ Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Introduction Since the Chinese Republic revolution in 1911, the relationship between general education and engineering education in China has experienced a series of changes characterized by fusion, separation, to re-integration in five periods as follows: the Republican period (1911-1949), the early days of the People’s Republic (1949- 1966), the Cultural Revolution period (1966-1976), the reform and opening-up period (1977-1991), and the current period (from 1992 to the early 21st century). This article examines the changing relationship between engineering education and general education in China during these periods. Before 1949, the top ranking institutions, such as Academia Sinica and TsinghuaUniversity in China, directly transplanted American and European ideas about liberal education. During the Republican period, engineering education and liberal education (the predecessor of general education) were in relative harmony. In the early days of the People’s Republic (1949 to 1966), the new Chinese government launched the “Adjustment of Colleges and Departments” movement. That movement established one national higher education engineering system duplicating the Soviet educational system. This new system radically changed the objectives, curricula, and training standards for engineering education. During this period, the number of engineering students increased significantly, which provided much-needed engineering talents for the development of heavy industry. However, engineering education belittled scientific education and only focused on the specific knowledge of engineering; meanwhile, general education was mostly eliminated from engineering programs. Since 1958, China began to review and correct the problems in the Soviet model for higher engineering education, and tried to explore independently its own mode to fit the actual situation in China. During the Great Leap Forward Movement that started in 1958, “a Great Educational Revolution” was launched in order to set up China's unique higher education system in a very short period. Many corrective adjustments resulted from the problems in this campaign that had to be undertaken in the early 1960s, after which higher education for engineering experienced a period of relative stability. Then, during the 10-year long Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), both the general education and engineering education fields were hard-hit and fell into anarchy. Chairman Mao Zedong instructed that all the universities of science and engineering, along with other institutions of higher learning in China, should become pioneers in the radical revolution of higher education by engaging in not only intellectual pursuits, but also in practical learning from the workers, peasants, and soldiers. All the universities and colleges stopped admitting students from 1966 to 1970. In 1970, the universities of science and engineering restarted to recruit new students and they developed rapidly. They admitted students directly from ordinary workers and peasants, and designed some typical talent training modes for “Revolutionary Education” by substituting the political education for the normal education1. As a result, the higher engineering education became highly politicized, and the politically- oriented courses increased greatly. The end of the “Culture Revolution” in October 1976 marked the beginning of the fourth period, which lasted until 1991. During this new era of Reform and Opening- Up, the engineering education in China gradually recovered its professional training mode, and also tried to overcome its disadvantages. University leaders realized engineering undergraduates’ lack of general knowledge and training and attempted to establish the American-style engineering education mode so as to meet the new economical demands and social requirements. However, it was during the fifth period (1992 - present), when the central government began to promote the reform and innovation of higher education. General education was reintroduced into engineering programs. Humanistic Education (“Ren Wen Su Zhi Jiao Yu” in Chinese) as a component of general education was introduced into comprehensive as well as engineering universities in the 1990s. The Ministry of Education in 2010 initiated the “Program to Train and Educate Excellent Engineers” (hereinafter referred to as the 'Excellent Engineers Program'), which symbolized that China's reform of higher education had entered a new stage, to meet the needs of the modern, global world and to be future-oriented. Tsinghua University is consistently ranked among China’s top universities; it is sometimes called the “MIT of China.” As such, it has a pivotal position in China’s educational history. Based on a historical case study that focused particularly upon Tsinghua, this paper examines how national, political, and economic needs shaped the objectives, curriculum, and teaching methods for engineering education in China. Tsinghua University has played a very important role in the history of engineering education in the People’s Republic of China. Its history of both general education and engineering education reflects not only China’s own political and social development, but also global trends. The system of engineering education at Tsinghua University experienced numerous changes, often as a result of political movements or changes in governmental education policy.2 Influenced by several complicated factors, the relationship between engineering education and general education has been complex. This paper attempts to elaborate on how the relationship between engineering education and liberal education (or general education) changed in the past decades. It concludes by discussing some current conflicts between engineering education and general education in China, and investigating the social context for these conflicts. Last, but certainly not least, it recommends a few strategies for better integrating engineering and general education. It advocates for proper balance between engineering and general education and calls for a change of the governing structure for engineering education toward one that will combine top-down designs along with autonomy for individual universities and colleges. The objectives of general education should include not only courses of academic knowledge, but also classes for personality development and self-improvement. In addition, both general and engineering education should be better integrated to achieve a greater balance among national objectives, social expectations, and students’ overall development. Liberal Education at Tsinghua University Prior to 1949 The classical education in ancient China, which took the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics as its center and used the imperial examination system (“KeJuZhi Du” in Chinese), to select the most capable people to govern with the rulers of imperial dynasties, resembled the Western classical education in that the latter originated from the ancient Greeks and Romans.3 Both educational systems had the common goals to cultivate well-educated leaders or citizens with knowledge, virtues, and character to serve the nation well, rather than just specific skills for making a living. In modern times, especially the first half of the 20th century, the Chinese traditional classical education system was eventually replaced by a pragmatic logic, when facing the “existential crisis” brought by western countries. It eventually led to the abolition of the imperial examination system in 1905, and the setting up of the modern university system by learning from Europe and America, so as to establish the new school system (including the modern universities).4 Meanwhile, liberal arts education was introduced to China, and the engineering education with the strong mission of promoting industrialization and prosperity also stood out. At that time, Tsinghua University began to play an important role in engineering education in China. Tsinghua University was established in 1911 on the site of “Qing Hua Yuan”-- a former royal garden in the Qing dynasty, that is, the last dynasty of Imperial China. With part of the Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship Program returned by the American and British government, the Qing government established “Tsinghua College”(Qing Hua Xue Tang) as a preparatory school to train students who were later sent to study in the United States. The school was renamed “Tsinghua School”in 1912, and in 1928, “National Tsinghua University.” In its early years, teaching and research at Tsinghua University reflected the idea of liberal art education. Because the start-up and operation of Tsinghua relied entirely on the Boxer Indemnity, and in the early stages of the school its function was mainly
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