Marginalised Broker of Educational Reform? Micropolitics, Pedagogical Hierarchies, and a Forgotten Educator in Republican China

• In Event: Learning from Educators who have used the Profession as an Act of Resistance

Abstract

This paper examines the marginalization of pioneering Chinese educator Shu Xincheng (1893-1960) in the transnational circulation of progressive education. Although this educator was among the first to experiment with the Dalton Plan in 1920s China, he was sidelined during Helen Parkhurst’s 1925 visit—despite his efforts to gain recognition. Drawing on archival records, press coverage, and personal correspondence, the paper explores the micropolitics of educational reform and the hierarchies between “higher” and “lower” pedagogy. By tracing this educator’s professional struggles, the paper reflects on how modern historiographies have privileged certain knowledge actors while erasing others. This study offers a critical lens on the (micro)politics of professional hierarchy, institutional affiliation, legitimacy, and professional gatekeeping in the making of modern Chinese education.

Author

• Wei Li, KU Leuven