The Pudong Association is committed to the development of Shanghai and Pudong, and has made important contributions to the progress of Shanghai and Pudong society.
Huang Yanpei is a great patriot, outstanding educator, famous social activist, and outstanding national leader. He is also one of the founders of Pudong Association.
This article focuses on the contributions that Huang Yanpei and Pudong fellows have made to education.
Unite with colleagues from hometown to establish Pudong Middle School Pudong
In 1905, when the Pudong Association (Pudong Association was originally called the Association) was established in 1905, Huang Yanpei, at the invitation of Yang Sisheng, and with the support of his colleagues in Pudong, began planning to establish a Pudong as the No. 1 in Pudong, Shanghai A first-class high-quality secondary school named Pudong Middle School. At the beginning of the preparation for the establishment of Pudong Middle School, Huang Yanpei envisioned breaking the traditional Chinese education model and preparing to initiate practical teaching in Pudong Middle School to train practical talents in society.
In January 1907, Pudong Middle School officially enrolled students. Yang Sisheng served as the chairman of the school. Li Pingshu, Huang Yanpei, Qin Xitian, Lu Jiaji, Zhang Zhihe, etc. were appointed as school directors, and Huang Yanpei served as the prime minister (principal). The planning and construction of Pudong Middle School was at the beginning of Huang Yanpei’s vocational education thought. Therefore, Pudong Middle School was designed in accordance with the teaching facilities of Shanghai's first-class schools at that time, laying a solid foundation for Huang Yanpei to advocate practical education, create vocational education, and cultivate practical talents in society. basis. At that time, Pudong Middle School not only taught German, French, English, and Japanese, but also set up subjects such as economics, business profile, banking, abacus, typing, calligraphy, etc., and opened studios and woodworking classrooms in the school, highlighting practice and skills Vocational education, focusing on the cultivation of practical technical talents.
Huang Yanpei not only has a very clear guiding ideology of "education for the country" and "equal importance to morality, intelligence, and physical fitness", as well as a series of very strict management requirements and measures. In the process of teaching practice in Pudong Middle School, Huang Yanpei vigorously advocated practical teaching and paid attention to the cultivation of practical talents in the society. Also, because of the school’s strong teaching staff, high-quality teaching, and first-class teaching equipment, he has won the reputation of "North to South, South Pudong" . Therefore, the school has a large number of students, and students from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places have come to apply for the exam one after another. Even many big officials and the children of wealthy businessmen have come here. Under Huang Yanpei’s advocacy, Yang Sisheng moved Guangming Primary School from Puxi to Pudong Middle School and renamed it the No. 1 Affiliated Primary School of Pudong Middle School. He also renamed Chuansha Qingdun Primary School the No. 2 Affiliated Primary School, and later established the No. 3 Primary School in Heqing. Affiliated primary school.
Pudong Middle School's school-running practice has made Huang Yanpei's pragmatic educational thought of "learning to apply" universally recognized by the society. On this basis, Huang Yanpei put forward the vocational education thought of "hands omnipotence", "hands and brains, hands and brains". Once this pragmatic vocational education thought was put forward, it immediately received strong support from the Pudong Association and Pudong colleagues, and it was quickly gradually promoted in Shanghai, Pudong Chuansha and other places.
Become the president of the academic affairs and develop hometown education
The success of the school in Shanghai and Pudong has greatly increased Huang Yanpei's reputation. With the consent of the Jiangsu University Envoy, Huang Yanpei served as the president of the Chuansha Academic Affairs Association. At the same time, with the support of the Pudong Association, Huang Yanpei, together with colleagues in the Pudong education sector, began to prepare the Quanxue Institute, and was appointed by the Jiangsu Promoting Officer as an inspector and director of the Quanxue Institute, making the Institute a Jiangsu Province The first administrative education institution after the establishment of the Chuansha Department Local Government.
Following Mr. Cai Yuanpei’s teaching that “Chinese people suffer from extreme suffering and do not know the origin of suffering, they must be awakened by running schools”, Huang Yanpei and others have a deep passion for revitalizing China, unlocking people’s wisdom, and developing hometown education in order to reach Pudong’s hometown. There is no one who does not learn, and there is no one village without the goal of learning. Insufficient funds for running the school, Huang Yanpei mobilized the Pudong Association of industrial and commercial people to donate to support the school; lack of teachers, Huang Yanpei established a seminar and conducted teacher training in the name of the Pudong Association and the Chuansha Academic Affairs Association. Under the mobilization of Huang Yanpei, Zhang Zhihe and others, the people of Pudong donated to school. There were 123 people in Chuansha area who received praise from the Ministry of Education and the province and county for donating to school. Because of the strong backing of the Pudong Association, and the strong support of people from the Pudong Association, Yang Sisheng, Mu Ouchu, Gu Lanzhou, Zhao Zengtao, Mu Xiangyao and others, Huang Yanpei, Zhang Zhihe and others were in Chuansha Pudong, Shanghai. The school is very effective. Pudong area has also set off an upsurge of people running schools.
Because of Huang Yanpei's rigorous school management, honesty in persuading his studies, sincerity, and creditability, he has won the approval of the education circles in Shanghai and Pudong, and the praise of all walks of life and the general public. Huang Yanpei has made his mark in the education circles in Jiangsu and Shanghai.
Relying on Pudong hometown, advocating vocational education
In the practice of advocating education to save the country, Huang Yanpei realized that China's education was seriously divorced from social reality at that time. "Chinese language cannot be used for writing letters, and arithmetic cannot be used for bookkeeping. There is a lack of common knowledge and skills." After graduating from the new school, the students still have no skills and cannot apply what they have learned. They cannot find a way to earn a living in the society. When students enter the society from school, they have to learn everything from scratch. This is undoubtedly a waste of time. For this reason, Huang Yanpei said with emotion: "Young people graduated from school today, and they are unemployed in society everywhere. Going for a long time, the more developed the education, the more the unemployed, the higher the level of homeless people everywhere, what a world!" What a sad education! Investigating his responsibility, Huang Yanpei believes that he is not in the school, let alone the students. “The responsibility for this has to be borne by the education authorities. If what he learns is not used by him, what he provides is not what he wants, and he is blamed?"
Huang Yanpei eagerly hopes to personally educate advanced countries and neighboring countries to inspect new education for comparison and research.
In April 1915, Huang Yanpei visited the United States as a reporter accompanying the Chinese organization Youmei Industrial Group. During the three-month trip to the United States, Huang Yanpei's deepest feeling was nothing more than the American education system. At that time, the American educational concept was in a period of historical change. The pragmatic educational theory of American philosopher Dewey had replaced the traditional educational theory. Under the guidance of the pragmatic education theory advocated by Dewey, there has been a "vocational education fever" in the United States. Various vocational education schools have spread all over the New World and are in the ascendant.
Huang Yanpei, who was thinking hard to practice his ideal of "education to save the country", was in a difficult time and the shortcomings of Chinese education were beyond cure. He felt the fresh air of pragmatic education in this new land. He suddenly realized: Isn't it just this kind of vocational education that is lacking? Doesn't China's education just need to develop towards "lifestyle" and "popularization"? Huang Yanpei compared everything he found in the United States with the reality of his own country, and concluded four differences in education between China and the United States: one is that education is based on nature, and I take coercion; the other is that education is based on others. Individuals, but I take the same; the third is his education, the most important is creation, and I only focus on imitating; the fourth is the other's education, the most important of the public, and I only value myself.
After returning from the United States, Huang Yanpei, who was deeply inspired by American pragmatic education theories, became more determined to promote vocational education in China. Huang Yanpei believes that the development of social productivity and economic development must require education to develop simultaneously with it and serve it. Therefore, Huang Yanpei started from the ambition of "education to save the country" and the idea of pragmatic education, and shouted to the society: "The foundation of advocating patriotism lies in vocational education!"
Since 1916, Huang Yanpei has not only called for many times at the education conferences in Chuansha and Nanhui counties in Pudong: "Advocate vocational education and revitalize hometown education." In order to research and explore the direction of vocational education, Huang Yanpei and his colleagues in Pudong Mu Ou Root Chu, Zhang Zhihe, Gu Lanzhou and others discussed and prepared to rely on the Pudong Township Association to organize the practice of vocational education in his hometown. His ideas were strongly supported by the Pudong Township Association and Pudong colleagues, and he started the practice of promoting vocational education in Pudong. .
Established a vocational education organization dedicated to vocational education practice
In order to comprehensively promote vocational education in China, Huang Yanpei, based on the Jiangsu Education Association and the Pudong Association, contacted Cai Yuanpei, Ma Xiangbo, Zhang Yuanji, Wu Tingfang, Song Hanzhang, Yan Xiu, and Nie Yuntai. , Mu Ouchu, Jiang Menglin, Guo Bingwen and other 48 people, on May 6, 1917, jointly initiated the establishment of a national vocational education organization-China Vocational Education Society. The China Vocational Education Society officially issued the "Declaration" for its establishment. The "Declaration" pointed out that the biggest crisis in China's education lies in unemployment after graduation, and what the employed person has learned cannot be applied. The purpose of the China Vocational Education Society is to: 1. Make a living for the individual Preparation; 2. Preparation for personal service to society; 3. Preparation for the country and the world to increase production.
After the establishment of the China Vocational Education Society, Huang Yanpei hoped that vocational education could be promoted and guided in Jiangsu and Shanghai. In Shanghai, Huang Yanpei, with the support of organizations such as China Vocational Education Society and Pudong Association, actively advocated the establishment of vocational schools of various natures.
At the end of 1917, with the assistance of colleagues Lu Jiaji, Zhang Zhihe and others in Pudong, Huang Yanpei chose the school affiliated farm as an experimental base on the campus of Chuansha Public Higher School in Pudong. Then a farmer’s school was opened on this basis. The farmer’s school is part-agricultural and part-study, which is very popular among farmers. As a result, it also created a precedent for running a school in Pudong Farm. In 1918, with the support of Huang Yanpei, Gu Lanzhou, Gu Bowei and his sons used their 10 acres of mulberry gardens to set up Yiguang Girls’ School. In addition to ordinary classes, special sewing courses were set up; and 75 acres of land was opened in a small barracks. "Gu's Tree Planting Field" is used as an internship place for students. In 1920, with the support of Huang Yanpei and others, Song Yingqu, a native of Chuansha in Pudong, founded a vocational and technical school-Peide Business School. The school curriculum is set in full accordance with Huang Yanpei's vocational education ideas, focusing on the training of business knowledge and skills, and allows students to practice in shops and companies after two years of study to increase their service skills. Graduated students have been recruited by Shangchuan Transportation Company, Hankou No. 1 Spinning Factory, Commercial Press, China Automobile Company and other units. Due to the high quality of school education and employment opportunities, students from Pudong Chuansha, Nanhui and other places come here to study, making the school a famous vocational school in Jiangsu Province.
The promotion and practice of vocational education in Pudong and other places not only enable students to learn a lot of book knowledge, but also enable them to learn a lot of practical skills; it not only lays a solid foundation for students’ future livelihoods, but also contributes to social production. Development provides talent preparation and truly embodies the purpose of "Vocational education-taking economy as the center and education as the means". Under the influence of Huang Yanpei’s vocational education thoughts, the China Vocational Education Society and Pudong Association, and the vigorous promotion of enthusiastic vocational education colleagues in Shanghai and Pudong, the establishment of vocational education schools in Pudong, Shanghai and all regions of the country has achieved Notable results.
(Excerpt from "Rise of Pudong Association" Author: Chen Weizhong)
