Germany and Vocational Education in Republican China

This book offers a new perspective on the transnational dimensions of China's educational and economic history by focusing on Sino-German interactions in the field of vocational education. It explores how Chinese perceptions of manual work, vocational skills, and educational practices changed dramatically throughout the first half of the twentieth century as Chinese educators increased their efforts to study and translate German pedagogical writings. Case studies researched in this book illustrate how a Chinese appreciation for German technological and scientific advances and German interests in profiting from a growing Chinese economy are not just recent phenomena but have their roots in the early twentieth century.

Provides a deeper understanding of the practicalities of transcultural encounters Demonstrates the value of using both digital databases and archival research Reframes the historical dimension of the rise of China

Autorentext

Henrike Rudolph is a researcher at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen, Germany.

Klappentext

This book offers a new perspective on the transnational dimensions of Chinäs educational and economic history by focusing on Sino-German interactions in the field of vocational education. It explores how Chinese perceptions of manual work, vocational skills, and educational practices changed dramatically throughout the first half of the twentieth century as Chinese educators increased their efforts to study and translate German pedagogical writings. Case studies researched in this book illustrate how a Chinese appreciation for German technological and scientific advances and German interests in profiting from a growing Chinese economy are not just recent phenomena but have their roots in the early twentieth century.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Fast Forward to a Pedagogical Century.- Part I: Travelling Texts.- 3. Introducing the Sources.- 4. Coming to Terms with the Complexity of the German Education System (1903-1912).- 5. Vocational Education Between Paternalism, Militarism, and Pedagogical Reform Movement (1913-1922).- 6. Growing Disillusionment and Novel Approaches (1923-1939).- Part II: Touring Skills.- 7. Tongji University and Its Foreman School.- 8. At the Crossroads of Cost Cutting, Upskilling and Marketing.- Vocational Training as Part of Sino-German Contracts.- 10. The Feng-Chinese: A Sino-German Experiment of Professional Soldiers and Soldiers with a Profession.- 11. Tongji Graduates and Their Contribution to Modern Midwifery Training.- 12. Conclusion.