The idea of a normal university in the 21st century

Abstract

The establishment of normal colleges and universities is an important component of building a modern country, which possesses different value ethos with the universities. The emergence of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the local normal schools has set a new model for teacher education around the world and promoted values and knowledge patterns promoted by them quite distinctive from those of the traditional European university. In order to improve the quality of teacher education, the models of teacher education in the U.S., Japan, U.K., etc., are being continually innovated. China has created the teacher education model different with the U.S., Japan, U.K. and France, which is a contribution to the development of international teacher education.

The Chinese Model of Teacher Education: Retrospects and Prospects over a Century

“…The Chinese model of teacher education has been compared with others in an international context (Hayhoe, 2002;Hayhoe & Li, 2010). Hayhoe distinguished four models of the modern development of teacher education through a comparative historical analysis of three Western and three Asian societies:…”

“…The Chinese model of teacher education in the 21st century has resulted from a long, adventurous exploration of a system, in various historical contexts, that balances the need addressing the huge demands of qualified teachers for the school sector at all levels, which favors the separate normal education system, and the importance of academic excellence with a more open system that orients education and teachers to the wider needs of a rapidly changing society. In the 1990s, the problem for China was even more severe than in the system under the Soviet model; not only was pre-service teacher education a completely closed system, relating mechanically to different school levels, but in-service teacher education was completely separate in another sector, the provincial and prefectural colleges of education under direct local government control, and not at all coordinated with the pre-service (Hayhoe & Li, 2010).…”

“…There is no doubt about the emergence of a Chinese model of teacher education which is unique and rich, and which is part of a historical experiment in the huge Chinese lab of educational modernization over a century. Central to this model is the pragmatic formula which can be epitomized by "Chinese learning as essence and Western learning for its practical utility" ( Zhongxue wei ti, xixue wei yong), based on Confucian epistemology (Hayhoe & Li, 2010;Li, 1998Li, , 2009Li & Hayhoe, 2012). The formula was coined by the late Qing incrementalist Zhang Zhidong , the founder of the first independent normal school in China in 1902 (Chen, 1981, p. 117), based on concepts he drew from Zhu Xi (1130-1200.…”

From teacher-education university to comprehensive university: Case studies of East China Normal University, Southwest University and Yanbian University

“…By contrast, Teachers College of Columbia University has played a leading role in teacher education. It has been able to balance high standards of scholarship with a genuine and sustained contribution to improving schools, curricula and teacher standards in the New York area, and nationally (Hayhoe & Li, 2010).…”

“…Normal institutions have tended to emphasize overall moral cultivation and approach each basic area of knowledge in an integrated manner, thus focusing on the development of professional skills for a teaching career. By contrast, comprehensive universities stress theoretical subjects and emphasize the boundaries among specific disciplines of knowledge (Hayhoe, 2003;Hayhoe & Li, 2010). In other words, normal education emphasizes liberal education and moral cultivation, focusing on the spiritual development of the self and social responsibility.…”