| "As a part of Chinese history,the textbook not only revives the ancient culture,but also echoes the voice of the times."(1)In the modern history,Chinese education had exhaled the old and inhaled the new,so the new science textbook came into being and became an important part of the modernization of Chinese education.In a sense,"A modern history of China is a history of modern western science and technology being accepted,interpreted,spread and settled in China"(2),and the science textbooks of primary school played a leading role in this process.Its birth broke the rigid barrier of traditional teaching materials and ushered in the spring of scientific enlightenment education.However,at present,the research on modern science textbooks of primary school by Chinese educational circles is relatively limited,let alone a comprehensive and systematic independent research.Therefore,the topic of my doctoral thesis is exploring the key stages and different levels of the development of the science textbooks of primary school in the modern field and presenting an independent and complete history of it.This research takes the science textbooks of Chinese primary school from 1902 to 1937 as the research object,and the textbook development stage is divided according to three reforms of the school system in modern times.Based on the analysis of a large amount of raw materials,the study summarizes and describes the basic situation of the science textbooks of Chinese primary school in various versions and categories during the afoot period(1902-1911),the development period(1912-1921),and the change period(1922-1937);a sketch of the growing and changing community of editors as well as the characteristics of textbook compiling on the material selection,layout,illustrations and language and so on.It also summarizes the overall characteristics,historical influence and contemporary value of the development of science textbooks of Chinese primary school from 1902 to 1937.After the promulgation of the "Ren-Yin Gui-Chou school system",the primary and secondary school's textbook examination system was established while the science curriculum of primary school was institutionalized.Inspired by the thought of saving the country with science and the idea of applying science to the world,the science textbooks of primary school had gradually started to take on a new look under the accumulation of the tide of translating elementary science books and primary science textbooks in missionary schools.The nongovernmental publishing organizations such as the Commercial Press and the Civilization Press,particularly some compilation bureaus organized by Chinese students studying in Japan,contributed a lot of versions.From the content there were comprehensive textbooks such as books about studying the nature of things,science,natural science and branch textbooks--animal,plant,physics,etc.From the learning phrase,there were formative,primary and higher primary school textbooks.And from the source,there were the translation,compilation and self-compilation textbooks.Among them,the contribution of Japanese translation could not be underestimated.The main characteristics of science textbooks of primary school in this period were: the selection of materials focused on localization,but had obvious tendency of subject;The layout did not take the school system as the outline,and the chapter arrangement followed the discipline vein,which caused the single class arrangement to be very simple,and the logicality was not strong;because the concept of illustration was just established,not only its proportion was not balanced,embodied in the highlighted representation illustrations in the class structure due to the subject of the content,but the style showed the polarization of Chinese and western due to the lack of fusion;and the constraints of classical Chinese and confusion of scientific terms made the language lacks popularity.After the promulgation of the "Ren-Zi Gui-Chou school system",the modern curriculum standards were born,and the primary and secondary school's textbook examination system were further routinized.The science textbooks of Primary school had been further developed under the initial influence of the trend of science education and pragmatism in education,as well as the trend of research on primary school's science textbooks and vernacular textbooks.After the rise of Zhonghua Book Company,together with the Commercial Press,they competed with each other to contribute a series of textbooks in sets,which were mainly divided into textbooks learned in spring and in autumn,and the self-compiled textbooks completely occupied the market.The main characteristics of science textbooks of primary school in this period were: due to the emergence of curriculum standards in primary schools,the materials selection had realized the orientation of the school year and gradually paid attention to the lifestyle and localization,but there was still some tendency of subject and adult-orientation;the layout of the number of books and lessons followed the school system closely.On the basis of chapter arrangement,the arrangement of "thematic units" appeared and the arrangement of single class began to pay attention to inductive logic;the proportion of illustrations began to be balanced,but the type structure still had the tendency of subject,and the style was relatively rigid,lacking vividness and guidance;Text language was relatively simplified,and new punctuation marks had been gradually adopted,but they were still limited to the terminology dilemma and had made little progress in popularity.After the promulgation of the "Ren-Xu school system",the standards of primary school's science curriculum were born,and the examination system of primary and secondary school textbooks became detail-oriented and fixed at the same time.Influenced by the theory of life education and the trend of pragmatism in education,the primary school's science textbooks had changed on condition that the theory and practice of teaching material research had been strengthened,and the question about whether the science textbooks should exist was heated.In addition to the “old brand”Commercial Press and Zhonghua Book Company,some new publishing organizations such as the World Press,Dadong Press and Kaiming Bookstore had contributed unprecedentedly rich editions.Among them,the emergence of textbooks about common sense had adapted to the needs of the times and enriched the types of textbooks.The main characteristics of science textbooks of primary school in this period were: due to the emergence and improvement of science curriculum standards of primary school,there were evidences for the materials selection and try to highlight the integrated practicality and child-oriented tendency;the unit arrangement changed from "topic" logic to "problem" logic,and the single class arrangement had a style centering on inquiry;the proportion of illustrations was phased on the basis of stabilization.The type structure was integrated because of the appearance of composite diagrams,and the style conformed to children and Chinese customs;the text language tried to meet the developing rule of children's language,which not only realized the orderly development and the diversification of style,but also transferred the emphasis from scientific terms to popular terms.In a word,education without communication is narrow,and without endogenous force will eventually dry up.From 1902 to 1937,with the painstaking efforts of modern educators,Chinese primary school's science textbooks experienced the process from the introduction of foreign textbooks to self-compiled textbooks in the process of collision and integration with western science and culture;from the difficult start of official publishing institutions to the common struggle of private publishing institutions;From discipline logic to cognitive strategy;and realized the change from “adult standard” to “child standard”.Finally,it entered the time tunnel of localization and opened up the road of Chinese scientific enlightenment.It suggests that in the current editing process of primary school's science textbooks,we should not only create an external institutional environment combining "unification and release",but also construct an innovative position full of culture confidence,and a three-in-one compilation community of scientific research,teaching and editing.In addition,we should strive to make the materials selection conform to children,and pay more attention to the exploration of choreography,the enlightenment of illustrations and the order of language from the inside,so as to promote the development of science textbooks of primary school to a higher level actively and effectively. |
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