杜威访华与五四时期的地方教育界

John Dewey’s Visit to China and Local Education Agency during the May Fourth Period

杜威访华是五四时期具有重要影响力和意义的文化事件。以江苏省教育会为代表的地方教育界,在促成杜威访华和安排其在国内的行程方面,发挥了举足轻重的作用。胡适对杜威的译介侧重于其实验主义哲学,希望借助杜威在北大的课程与演讲,提升北大的学术水准;而作为教育家的杜威,却主要在地方教育界觅得知音。这一分途在新文化运动中极具症候意义。透过杜威的眼光以及杜威访华所关联的诸多人事,我们得以重新思考地方教育界在新文化运动的兴起中所扮演的重要角色。

John Dewey's visit to China was an influential and significant cultural event during the May Fourth Period. Local education agency, represented by Jiangsu Education Association, played a crucial part in facilitating Dewey's visit and arranging his tour in China. While Hu Shi focused on introducing Dewey's philosophy of pragmatism with the expectation of promoting the academic standards of Peking University through his lectures and courses, Dewey himself, as an educator, found supporters among local education elites who embraced his education ideas. This divergence holds great symbolic significance in the New Culture Movement. Through examining Dewey's experience in China, the present study seeks to reconsider the important role that local education agency played in fostering the rise of the New Culture Movement from a central-local perspective.