TY - JOUR
T1 - A fragmentation of Dewey
T2 - Dewey in the political and educational reforms of China, 1910s–1920s
AU - Zhou, Ying
AU - Westberg, Johannes
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Dewey’s influence on Chinese education has been described as a prime example of the transfer of knowledge from the West to the East. This article investigates the precise process of this transfer by re-examining two themes stressed in current scholarship: Dewey’s thoughts on education and democracy and his incremental approach to educational and social reform. In doing so, it explores the many roles Dewey played in both radical and moderate reforms and in an educational discourse that shifted its focus from democratic education to education informed by the scientific attitude. As a result, it raises further theoretical questions about the conceptualisation, unity and diversity, and ‘influence’ of Dewey in transfer processes. In this article, we argue that Dewey’s ideas were subject to constant reinvention in Republican China and that the received Dewey was largely a fragmented Dewey born out of its ever-shifting socio-political and cultural context.
AB - Dewey’s influence on Chinese education has been described as a prime example of the transfer of knowledge from the West to the East. This article investigates the precise process of this transfer by re-examining two themes stressed in current scholarship: Dewey’s thoughts on education and democracy and his incremental approach to educational and social reform. In doing so, it explores the many roles Dewey played in both radical and moderate reforms and in an educational discourse that shifted its focus from democratic education to education informed by the scientific attitude. As a result, it raises further theoretical questions about the conceptualisation, unity and diversity, and ‘influence’ of Dewey in transfer processes. In this article, we argue that Dewey’s ideas were subject to constant reinvention in Republican China and that the received Dewey was largely a fragmented Dewey born out of its ever-shifting socio-political and cultural context.
KW - China
KW - democracy
KW - Dewey
KW - progressive education
KW - the New Education Movement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196290584&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03050068.2024.2366759
DO - 10.1080/03050068.2024.2366759
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196290584
SN - 0305-0068
VL - 60
SP - 609
EP - 625
JO - Comparative Education
JF - Comparative Education
IS - 4
ER -