Reframing Higher Education Concepts in China: From Epistemic Dependency to Localization through a Triple-Layer Framework

• In Event: Centering Marginalized Voices in the History of Higher Education

Abstract

This study examines how epistemic dependency has constrained the conceptual development of higher education in China and explores how indigenous concept formation becomes possible. Employing a conceptual history approach and a triadic analytical lens—the actual, the possible, and the normative—it traces the evolution of educational concepts under coloniality and epistemic asymmetry, revealing recurring patterns of transplantation, semantic misalignment, and symbolic subordination. In response, this study proposes a triple-layer framework comprising institutional embedding, semantic reconstruction, and practice-based generation, bridging the localization of exogenous constructs with indigenous conceptual innovation. This research contributes to the decolonization of knowledge and the reconstruction of culturally grounded conceptual systems for higher education.

Authors

• Jiahui Li, Guangzhou University

• Hui Liu, Guangzhou University

• Yuyang Yan, Guangzhou University

• Guang Hui Wang, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University