In the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, Kant and others inherited this idea. They initiated the era of factor analysis and laid the important position of cultural studies in comparative education. Condell advocated describing historical facts and analyzing social and historical background. He also pointed out that nationalism and nationality are the factors that determine the nature of education systems in various countries. N.Hans systematized all kinds of external factors that influenced education, and advocated giving historical explanations to the factors that formed education. He divided the factors that influenced the nature of education systems in various countries into three categories: natural factors (race, language, geography and economy), religious factors (archbishop of Rome, Anglican Church and Puritans) and secular factors (humanism, socialism, nationalism and democracy). Among these three types of factors, cultural factors occupy the main position.
Edmund. Jin also attaches great importance to the historical background of education. His relativism methodology attaches importance to the subjective view of educational phenomena in Hakka culture. To understand their views, we must have a deep understanding of their culture, so cultural research is essential.
In recent decades, cultural studies have been paid more and more attention in comparative education. However, there are still three problems in cultural research: First, the reference frame of cultural research in comparative education is only western culture, and it is unfair to use it as a universal standard to influence the comparative education research all over the world, including the non-western world, and it is extremely inconsistent with the colorful cultures of all ethnic groups in the world today. Second, the understanding of culture is too narrow, and culture is only understood as "national characteristics". In fact, the concept of culture is broader. Third, there is not enough research on the interactive relationship between culture and education. We often only talk about the influence of national culture on the education system, but seldom talk about the influence of culture on the ideas of educational subjects (educational decision makers, teachers and parents). There is little research on the response of education to culture. Therefore, it is necessary to further study the culture in comparative education.
First, the concept of culture and its characteristics
What is culture and how to understand it? Culture is a concept with rich connotations. It is said that there are more than 200 definitions of culture in academic circles. Some people say that culture is a way of life; Some people say that culture is the sum of material and spiritual achievements created by human beings. There is some truth in this statement. In my opinion, the so-called culture refers to the sum of material and spiritual achievements adopted and created by human beings in production practice and social practice. This includes two aspects: the way of human activities (dynamic) and the result of activities (static). Generally, it is divided into three levels, that is, the material level (including architecture, clothing, utensils, etc. ), system level (all systems including education system), and ideological level (including thinking mode and national spirit). ). The material level is the easiest to communicate and absorb, and the institutional level often changes because of political changes. It is just that the ideological level is conservative and solidified, and it is not easy to absorb different cultures and blend with each other. However, with the changes of the times and the communication between nations, it is always changing. To sum up, culture has the following characteristics:
First of all, it is national. Culture is always created by a certain ethnic group of human beings, and the characteristics of a nation are also embodied in culture. Therefore, cultural tradition and national cultural tradition can be synonymous. Due to different historical periods and environments, different nationalities in the world have different understandings and understandings of various phenomena in nature and society, and have created their own different cultures. For example, in dealing with nature, China culture pays more attention to the harmony between man and nature, while western culture emphasizes that man conquers and defeats nature; When dealing with society and others, China people advocate moderation and modesty, while westerners advocate competition and struggle. This is ideologically speaking. There are also great differences in material form. For example, the folk art patterns in China pay attention to symmetry, unity and harmony; Western countries pay attention to differences and diversity. It can be seen that nationality is manifested in all aspects.
Second, it has stability. National cultural traditions often show relative solidification and stability. This stability shows inertia in time. In other words, the development and changes of cultural traditions are relatively slow, and it is very difficult to conduct cultural research. It is best to adopt the method of cultural anthropology and live in the local area for a long time. As Saddler once said, we should not only pay attention to a country's tangible and colorful buildings, teachers and students, but also take to the streets and go deep into folk families to discover intangible spiritual power. It's hard to do. Even if it is done in one country, it is still difficult to compare with other countries.
Another difficulty is that the researcher himself is the subject of another culture, and he has his own cultural tradition, that is, his own mindset. Even if he can go deep into Hakka culture, he can't draw an objective and scientific conclusion unless he overcomes his own mindset. Therefore, comparative education scholars engaged in cultural studies, especially western scholars, need to overcome their own cultural prejudice, establish the concept of multiculturalism, respect the cultures of other countries and nations, and respect their values.
Cultural studies also need to be combined with historical studies. Because cultural traditions are always passed down from history. Without understanding the history of a country, it is impossible to understand how the cultural tradition of this country was formed and its cultural essence. Therefore, cultural studies in comparative education are not only cross-cultural studies, but also interdisciplinary studies.
Despite the above difficulties, it is not impossible to carry out cultural studies in comparative education. Because a country's culture always has its manifestations. Often manifested in their philosophical and historical works, literature and art, but also in their educational policies, educational systems, educational management and so on. Studying their literature, especially the works of famous scholars in this country, can grasp their cultural essence. Especially in recent decades, the internationalization of education has promoted the exchange of personnel, and many international students have gone abroad to study, and have a deeper understanding of local culture, which is conducive to cultural research; The exchange and cooperation between scholars from different countries is also conducive to the understanding and understanding of other countries' cultures; Especially if scholars from several countries can cooperate in cultural research, better results will be achieved.
Our Institute of International and Comparative Education of Beijing Normal University is engaged in a research entitled "Cultural Tradition and Educational Modernization". The purpose of this study is to understand what role cultural traditions of various countries have played in the process of educational modernization, how traditional education has been transformed into modern education, and how to carry out educational reform today. Our method is; Choose scholars who have studied abroad or have a deep understanding of this country to study the history, philosophy and even literature of this country; Study the national education policy documents; Investigate the education situation in the country on the spot, including interviews and discussions with teachers, students and scholars; Then compare it with other countries. This research has been going on for nine years, and the results of the first stage are embodied in the monograph "National Cultural Tradition and Educational Modernization" (published by Beijing Normal University Press, 1998). This book studies the cultural traditions and educational traditions of the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia, Japan and China, and makes a comparative analysis of Chinese and western humanistic traditions, Chinese and Japanese views on talents, Chinese and American views on teachers and students, and western views on modern knowledge. This research needs further deepening, and the research is still going on.
refer to
Gu Mingyuan. Xue. Introduction to Comparative Education-Education and National Development [M]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1996.
[2] Gu Mingyuan. National cultural tradition and educational modernization [M]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1998.
[3] National Comparative Education Research Association. International Education-Selected Works of Comparative Education in China [C]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1994.
[4] Wang. History of comparative education [M]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1997.
[5] Xue. Research on methodology of contemporary comparative education-comparative education as an international educational exchange forum [M]. Beijing: Capital Normal University Press, 1993.