| In late Qing Dynasty,the Qing government was faced with both internal issues and external invasions.To overcome such a crisis,the Qing government urgently needed personnel with western science and technology.The new modern schools established by the westernization group were the first try in higher education.In particular,the higher education schools took the experience of teacher-training schools,which established affiliated schools to meet the need of internship for normal students.Specifically,the higher education schools set up secondary education sections to train high-quality secondary school students on their own.Such secondary education sections gradually became the affiliated secondary schools of higher education schools.As a window of educational reforms in modern China,Shanghai was a pioneer and a leading model of innovated education in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican period.This study focuses on affiliated secondary schools of Shanghai higher education institutions through historical investigation,logical analysis,case comparison and theoretical reflection.In the context of the dramatic social changes in late Qing Dynasty and the Republican period,this study systematically examines the development and characteristics of the affiliated secondary schools of Shanghai higher education institutions,and it particularly focuses on the unique management system,educational objectives,curriculum,teaching,and teachers and students of the affiliated secondary schools.Moreover,this study investigates the intrinsic relationship between the affiliated high schools and higher education institutions,and grasps the unique characteristics of the affiliated high schools and their contemporary values.The affiliated secondary schools in Shanghai were influenced by various social factors such as government policies,economic development,culture and education.The affiliated secondary schools were established at different times and developed with different speeds,so we cannot divide the historical stages by calendar time.According to the historical trace and logic of the development of affiliated secondary schools,the affiliated secondary schools in Shanghai during the late Qing and Republican periods are divided into the predecessor stage,the initial stage,and the actual stage,each of which has its own characteristics.By examining the management organization,education objectives,curriculum,teaching,students and teachers of affiliated secondary schools,we find that the affiliated high schools exhibit several unique characteristics.First of all,the affiliated high schools are managed by the higher education institutions,and the president of the higher education institutions is responsible for both the higher education institutions and the affiliated high schools.As more and more students were admitted to the affiliated secondary schools,the affiliated high schools became more mature,and they began to hire specialized personnel to manage the affiliated secondary schools,called the director of the affiliated secondary schools.Meanwhile,they established a relatively independent decision-making and management organization to handle the internal affairs of the affiliated secondary schools,which have relatively independent autonomy in school operation.Secondly,one of the main goals of the affiliated high schools in Shanghai was to provide high-quality qualified students for the higher education institutions.In view of the social transformation and development during the late Qing Dynasty,as well as the need for more talents,there are diversified objectives for affiliated high schools.Under the influence of their diversified objectives,the curriculum of the affiliated high schools paid special attention to the connection between higher-education institutions and the affiliated secondary schools.They established well-developed educational systems,including various teaching and research activities,strict academic examination systems,and the sharing of resources of higher education institutions,all of which provided strong support for the development of the affiliated high schools.Thirdly,the secondary schools affiliated to higher education institutions have been influenced by the spirit of free inquiry in higher education institutions.As a result,they led the reform of education and teaching in secondary schools,among which the tutorial system in the secondary school affiliated to Daxia University,the credit system in the secondary school affiliated to Datong University,and the Dalton system in the secondary department of the China Public School are at the forefront of secondary educational reforms in China.Finally,teachers and students are the most important groups in a school.Affiliated secondary schools in Shanghai established a group of high-quality teaching staff.To this end,they invited top professors from higher-level institutions to teach at the middle school.They also hired graduates from the higher-level institutions to teach at the school,and provided a balance of specialized teachers in different disciplines.Meanwhile,they also pay much attention to teaching cooperation between teachers from the schools and affiliated secondary schools,and jointly developed textbooks for primary and secondary schools.In terms of students,the affiliated secondary schools in Shanghai established a moderate student management model.They organized a variety of extracurricular activities for the students of the affiliated high school,some of which mimics the clubs in the higher-level institutions.Moreover,the students in the affiliated high school are on the front line of social exploration,together with the students of the higher-education institutions.They actively participate in the passionate public education and patriotic activities under the guidance of the college students.To sum up,the development of affiliated high schools in Shanghai during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican period was influenced by various factors such as social environment,regime change,modern educational changes,and the need of school development.As a result,the development of affiliated high schools in Shanghai exhibited a unique trajectory of historical development.Since the affiliated secondary schools are of the same origin as the higher-education institutions,the two complemented each other and progressed together in the process of historical evolution.They were an inseparable community.Nowadays,the number of schools titled "affiliated high school of a certain university" has increased rapidly,and the affiliated high schools have encountered many problems during the rapid development.One may find proper solutions to those problems from the developing history and characteristics of the affiliated high schools in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republican period. |
