On Well-known Schools

The integral social transformation results from the great anticipation towards education and its relevant concerns, in which the issue of well-known schools is certainly a heated topic.The different views and even heated disputes on the issue of well-known schools certainly prove, to a certain extent, the value and necessity of the research topic. But as education reform if progressing deeper and fair-and-balanced education is strongly sought for, how to face the reality and meet the challenge of the future society on the current education, and how to possibly form scientific and rational insights into well-known schools, and how to expand and satisfy the increasing demands of the people on quality educational resources are certainly the starting point for us to consider and solve the current educational problems.The reasons for the misunderstandings of being well-known schools are dual-folded, but the possible need to confirm the well-known school connotations and select a research viewpoint is the primary prerequisite. The available research results indicate although enough theoretical studies on and practical explorations into well-known schools have been conducted, few have tried to analyze and restructure them from the perspective of school culture. Thus, it is the central theme of this dissertation to follow the visual threshold of school culture and explore the main connotations and basic features of well-known schools in order to analyze "how to be well-known schools" and "how to continue to be well-known schools".What deserves mentioning is that the well-known schools in this dissertation are those that have long histories and are non-government interfered self-developed ones. Although the reputation of well-known schools is embodied in the schooling concepts, celebrated lecturers, top students and other features, its essence lies in the long historical accumulation, unique thinking style and striking individuality, vitality of openness from conservation, and cultivation of school spirit with classical self-restraint, all of which can be proved by the history and the reality of well-known schools both at home and abroad."How to be well-known schools" is an experiment integrating theoretical structuring and practical exploration. Since it is the focus of school education practice, it is certainly the principal part of the dissertation. The survey is conducted from the four aspects of self-diagnosis, entity construction, medium object construction, and intercourse circumstance construction of school culture, out of which, the self-diagnosis of school culture is still an unfamiliar topic to most educational workers, but it possess pioneering and fundamental position and role in the school development strategy. Headmasters, teachers and students are the key school culture entities in administering culture construction, developing teachers' specializations, cultivating students' humanities, and even in improving school education qualities. The medium objects, especially the system and course culture construction, are not only the guarantee of school development, but also the key points and difficulties of the current education reform. The construction of the school culture intercourse circumstance suggests the nature and significance of school education."How to continue to be well-known schools" is only a tentative exploration, partly because the topic is too big and complicated with very few available researches. The dissertation, starting from the inspiration of "life cycle" and "the second curve" theories, attaches importance to the necessity of self-renovation for sustained development. Well-known schools can preserve their vitalities by updating their school culture and improving school cultural morality.Faced with the cultural mission of well-known schools in the 21st century, we are more concerned with the issue: How can education theories be made close to school education reality so as to display their leadership roles. In this aspect, Prof. Zhu Yongxin's new education ideas and his new education experiments provide lots of inspirations.