Sociology

Research on educational borrowing and lending has been largely concerned with transnational or transsectoral transfer of educational ideas, models and policies (see, e.g., . Most often, the units between which borrowing and lending are seen to take place are those of the nation-state; but scholars have also looked at how, for example, educational reforms are implemented at the subnational level, after having gone through processes of negotiation, adaptation and, at times, hybridisation at various levels. 1 Most recently, scholars have also paid increasing attention to transnational or global communities in which educational knowledge is circulated, both in history and at present. Differently from players within nationally defined boundaries, these communities transgress national borders or circumvent them by linking up the local directly with the global. 2 It can be almost regarded a tradition within the field of comparative education not to dismiss unfaithful copies of original models and reforms as 'failures' or 'distortions', but to explore the cultural dynamics and rationale behind these sometimes unexpected transformations and side effects. The comparative view sharpens the sensibility for how, in different contexts, things are done in their 'own way', to borrow a phrase from one of the forefathers of comparative education, Michael Sadler, who pondered on the balancing act of Final version published in Gita Steiner--Khamsi and Florian Waldow (eds), World Yearbook of Education 2012: Policy Borrowing and Lending in Education. London: Routledge, 2012. Pp. 95-117 2 borrowing from outside while at the same time maintaining the 'characteristic[s] of English life' (quoted in Waterkamp 2006: 22).

This article analyzes how Dewey was received, adapted, and transformed in four different time periods in China: during the Republican era , after the Communist take-over in 1949, after Deng Xiaoping's launch of the 'Four Modernizations' (in the 1980s), and in present-day China. Dewey is generally seen to have exerted an immense influence on Chinese education. The article scrutinizes how this influence unfolded both through Dewey himself and through his mediators, propagators, and critics between the time of his visit in 1919 and today. Particular attention is paid to how certain of his ideas were taken up -and others were ignored or twisted -to fit the intellectuals' agenda of each time period. By tracing the changes that central concepts like 'pragmatism' or 'child-centered pedagogy' underwent over the course of nine decades, the article reveals how the American philosopher and educator John Dewey was successfully transformed into the Chinese 'Duwei' -into a friend of the Chinese people, a fiend of China and Marxism, and a flagship of modernization. the concluding section, I will present a brief overview over the most recent debates on Dewey and education. By focusing on the re-contextualization processes, I will show that Dewey was not simply 'misunderstood', as a scholar in Deweyan thought might intuitively feel when reading, for example, Chinese articles on Dewey in the 1950s. 2 Rather, Dewey -both in person and through his writings -offered a rich repertoire of ideas and ideologies which the Chinese intelligentsia took up eagerly or refuted vehemently to add spice to their arguments about what China should look like in the future. By drawing on either imagined affinities or perceived incompatibilities, Dewey was twisted and turned to Final version published in Rosa Bruno--Jofre and Jürgen Schriewer (eds), The Global Reception of John Dewey's Thought: Multiple Refractions through Time and Space. Routledge International Studies in the Philosophy of Education. London: Routledge, 2011. Pp. 83-115.

Este artículo analiza cómo se recibió, adaptó y transformó a Dewey en China, en cuatro períodos de tiempo diferentes: durante la era republicana , después de la entrada en el poder del comunismo en 1949, después de que de Deng Xiaoping anunciase las « Cuatro Modernizaciones » (en la década de 1980), y en la China actual. Generalmente, se considera que ha ejercido una tremenda influencia en la educación china. El artículo examina cómo se desarrolló esta influencia tanto a través del propio Dewey como a través de sus mediadores, sus propagadores y sus críticos, entre su visita al país de 1919 y hoy en día. Se presta especial atención a cómo algunas de sus ideas fueron recogidas -y cómo otras fueron ignoradas o tergiversadas-para adaptarse a la agenda de los intelectuales de cada unos de los períodos. Al rastrear los cambios que conceptos centrales como los de « pragmatismo » o « pedagogía centrada en el niño » sufrieron a lo largo de nueve décadas, el artículo revela cómo el filósofo y educador John Dewey fue transformado con éxito en China como 'Duwei' -en amigo del pueblo chino, en demonio de China y el marxismo, y en buque insignia de la modernización. Descriptores: John Dewey; transferencia educative; procesos de recepción; historia de la educación china.

The Chinese characters for culture, education, profession/vocation and work provide important information on the socio-historical background of the concepts represented by them. Particularly the concepts of work and education have profound implications for the idea of vocational education. Based on an etymological and semantic analysis of the characters, and through the introduction of a typical example of Chinese work organisation, the work unit or danwei, this paper shows correspondences between the past and the present organisation of work. It also shows that semantic analyses, when ignoring the sociocultural context, may lead to a distorted picture of the society concerned. This is demonstrated by the example of the concepts of 'order' and 'harmony'. Zusammenfassung: Die chinesischen Zeichen für Kultur, Bildung/Erziehung, Beruf und Arbeit beinhalten wichtige Informationen zum sozialhistorischen Hintergrund der durch sie dargestellten Konzepte. Vor allem die Konzepte von Arbeit und Bildung/Erziehung sind für die Idee der Berufsbildung folgenreich. Anhand einer etymologisch-semantischen Analyse der Zeichen und einer Einführung in ein typisches Beispiel chinesischer Arbeitsorganisation, die Arbeitseinheit oder Danwei, wird aufgezeigt, dass es zwischen der früheren und heutigen Arbeitsorganisation bestimmte Korrespondenzen gibt. Ferner wird gezeigt, dass den sozio-kulturellen Kontext ignorierende semantische Analysen zu einem verzerrten Bild der betreffenden Gesellschaft führen können. Dies wird beispielhaft anhand der Konzepte 'Ordnung' und 'Harmonie' verdeutlicht.

The exchange of educational ideas and its intended and unintended consequences are a core theme in comparative education. Jason Beech's book is a highly welcome contribution to this strand of research. It investigates how proposals for teacher education by UNESCO, World Bank, and OECD were recontextualised in Argentina and Brazil in the 1990s. Both countries are part of a wider global reform landscape with shared characteristics like decentralisation, school autonomy, professionalisation of teachers, a curriculum based on competencies, and centralised evaluation systems. As source material, Beech uses guidelines and policy proposals at both the global (international agencies) and the national level (Argentina and Brazil). Additionally, interviews with teacher educators in both countries serve to show how seemingly universal scripts, as those produced by international agencies, are appropriated and sometimes subverted in local contexts -in other words: how policies translate into social practices.

Both in China and internationally, educators and policy makers claim that vocational education and training (VET) is essential for the sound economic development of a country and the physical and social well-being of its population. However, China looks back upon a century-long history of rejection when it comes to popularising VET, despite attempts, both in the present and in the past, to invest in its implementation. Much literature attributes this lack of success to the failed, or distorted, transfer of Western educational models or simply to policy drift.

Einleitung Chinesische Studenten, Politiker, Bildungsakteure und Journalisten waren häufig internationale Grenzgänger, zuweilen aus politischen Gründen, oft aber mit dem Zweck, sich im Ausland neues Wissen und Technologien anzueignen. Zwischen 1898, dem Jahr des japanischen Sieges über China, und 1911, als die letzte kaiserliche Dynastie gestürzt wurde, gingen nach moderaten Schätzungen mindestens 25.000 chinesische Studenten allein nach Japan. 1 Mehrere tausend Chinesen studierten in den darauffolgenden Jahren in den USA und in Europa. Diese Studienreisen und andere Erkundungsreisen chinesischer Intellektueller wurden in der Überzeugung unternommen, dass ausländisches Wissen China auf den Weg der Modernisierung bringen und damit vor dem Untergang bewahren könne. Nach der Rückkehr nach China sollte ihr Land, in den Augen der Rückkehrer, als eine moderne, industrialisierte und zivilisierte Nation wiederaufgebaut werden. Chinesischen Reisenden war die westliche und japanische Gleichgültigkeit oder gar Verachtung ihnen gegenüber als Vertreter einer oft als minderwertig dargestellten Nation oder Rasse schmerzhaft bewusst. In einer Art Internalisierung der westlichen Einordnung als ‚rückständig' machten sich die Reisenden nach ihrer Rückkehr daran, diese Rückständigkeit bei ihren Landsleuten auszumerzen. Dies führte zur Erzeugung neuer Grenzen innerhalb von China, vor allem zwischen dem ländlichen, ‚rückständigen' und dem urbanen, ‚modernen' China. Dieser Beitrag betrachtet die pädagogischen Zivilisierungsmissionen chinesischer 1 REYNOLDS 1993.