The "Popular Schools" Studies Of Shaanxi Province(1927-1949)

The low level of education of the Chinese people in modern times has been a matter of great concern to the Chinese government and Chinese intellectuals.In their view,too many illiterates are a major cause of China’s failure in becoming a modern country and establishing a democratic system for ages.With the introduction of western educational thoughts,social educational thoughts became popular.From the government to the people,they all began to carry out social education to the best of their ability.A variety of social education institutions have emerged,among which "Popular Schools" is undoubtedly the most representative and effective one.This paper adopts the concept of"Popular Schools" in a broad sense and makes a long-term study on "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi province.The "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi Province originated from the Literate School in the late Qing Dynasty.Since then,there have been a few kinds of "Popular Schools",such as night schools,tutorial schools,civilian schools and people’s school.In 1927,Shaanxi Province began to deal with social education on a large scale.The People’s Education Committee of Shaanxi Province tried to run three-stage schools in Xi’an,which became the starting point of large-scale popular schools in Shaanxi Province.After 1931,the Education Department of Shaanxi Province set up the Administration Office of Xi’an Popular schools,which began to operate popular school year by year in Xi’an,and required all counties of Shaanxi Province to carry out the promotion.Starting in 1936,in response to the call of the National Government of the Republic of China,Shaanxi Province began to carry out the People’s Supplementary Education program,and at the same time setting up adult classes in the Baoli primary school to carry out mass literacy movement,with the outbreak of Anti-Japanese War,Supplementary Education for the people was further strengthened,Schools at all levels and all kinds of organizations have participated in the management of "Popular Schools",in large areas behind the anti-japanese war,the climax of the management of mass "Popular Schools" was formed.Since then,the National Government of the Republic of China has implemented the National Education Plan,setting up adult Ministry of People’s Education in National Primary School,combining social education with school education and incorporating"Popular Schools" into the formal school system,it’s a great leap of social education.In the meantime,however,as the war of resistance against Japan entered its final stage,the National Government of the Republic of China also began to carry out reactionary"special education" in Shaanxi province,changing the original purpose of social education,and as a result of the civil war,the management of "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi Province gradually ended.In general,the "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi Province showed diversified characteristics in the process of running schools.Before the Chinese Civil War,the scale of management was constantly expanding,while integrating with school education,it has also achieved certain results.The development process of "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi Province provides us with an angle to observe the practice process of social education,which carried out by Nanjing National Government in the period of National Government of the Republic of China,it also reflected the government desire to achieve the idea of "social educationaliz ation".The "Popular Schools" in Shaanxi province has not only made some achievements,but also enlightened us with its experience of success and failure,it also has a positive inspiration and reference function for us to understand the relationship between school education and social education,and improves people’s quality and the general mood of society.