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The Dalton Plan in Modern China: Rising in Spirit yet Failing to Become a System

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Title: The Dalton Plan in Modern China: Rising in Spirit yet Failing to Become a System
Language: English
Authors: Ying Zhou (ORCID 0000-0001-9720-7988), Piet van der Ploeg
Source: Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education. 2025 61(4):552-569.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational History, Educational Change, Educational Innovation, Criticism, Individualized Instruction, Elementary Secondary Education
Geographic Terms: China
DOI: 10.1080/00309230.2025.2459174
ISSN: 0030-9230
1477-674X
Abstract: In China, the Dalton Plan came to the attention of educators in 1921 and enjoyed its heyday in both educational discourse and practice from 1922 to 1925. Thereafter its popularity declined significantly while criticism dramatically increased. When examining the causes for this rapid growth and precipitous decline, previous research has taken the progressivity of the Plan for granted, as if this destined it to mirror the wax and wane of the Chinese New Education Movement. Scholars have failed to notice that less progressive educators impelled its rise and that educators taking sides with both pedagogical and administrative progressives contributed much to its fall. This article revisits the trajectory of the Dalton Plan in modern China and offers new insights explaining its rise and fall, by untangling the complex relationships among its advocates and their connections with foreign educational circles. It will be shown (1) that the Dalton Plan was introduced in a spirit of eclecticism rather than as a fixed system, (2) that it was undermined by attacks from both pedagogical and administrative progressives, and (3) that its eclecticism had much to do with both its rise and fall.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1479551
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0187116392;j5401aug.25;2025Aug06.03:01;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0187116392-1">The Dalton Plan in modern China: rising in spirit yet failing to become a system </title> <p>In China, the Dalton Plan came to the attention of educators in 1921 and enjoyed its heyday in both educational discourse and practice from 1922 to 1925. Thereafter its popularity declined significantly while criticism dramatically increased. When examining the causes for this rapid growth and precipitous decline, previous research has taken the progressivity of the Plan for granted, as if this destined it to mirror the wax and wane of the Chinese New Education Movement. Scholars have failed to notice that less progressive educators impelled its rise and that educators taking sides with both pedagogical and administrative progressives contributed much to its fall. This article revisits the trajectory of the Dalton Plan in modern China and offers new insights explaining its rise and fall, by untangling the complex relationships among its advocates and their connections with foreign educational circles. It will be shown (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>) that the Dalton Plan was introduced in a spirit of eclecticism rather than as a fixed system, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>) that it was undermined by attacks from both pedagogical and administrative progressives, and (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref3">3</reflink>) that its eclecticism had much to do with both its rise and fall.</p> <p>Keywords: The Dalton Plan; flexibility; individualised instruction; efficiency; modern China</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-2">Introduction</hd> <p>At the beginning of the twentieth century, the American educator Helen Parkhurst (1886–1973) initiated and developed the Dalton Plan from her childhood memories and later reflections on whole-class teaching and the "recycling" of her contemporaries' ideas and methods on individualised instruction.[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref4">1</reflink>] Instead of following a rigid timetable, the Dalton Plan upholds the guiding principles of freedom and cooperation, giving students the responsibility to manage their learning process. In this mode, each curriculum subject is broken down into assignments to be completed within a given timeframe and, through individual contracts, students can work on assignments at their own pace in a designated area called a "laboratory". Experience ensues from self-learning and cooperation and interaction with peers and teachers, in differing forms, with the help of various textbooks and learning materials.[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref5">2</reflink>] This new mode of pedagogy and classroom management had taken shape in the United States in the 1910s and was disseminated and practised in schools in the United Kingdom from around 1920, gaining similar recognition in other European countries, especially the Netherlands, in the following years. Its growing popularity was largely realised through promotion by its advocates and the functioning of their networks.[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref6">3</reflink>]</p> <p>The Dalton Plan first came to the attention of Chinese educators in August 1921 and soon became disseminated in educational circles. As one of the many new methods borrowed from abroad by China, it distinguished itself by its extensive popularity in the sphere of school reform. Wusong Middle School was the first to apply it, starting in autumn 1922. Up until 1925, over 100 schools followed in experimenting with it country-wide,[<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref7">4</reflink>] with varying durations and differing schemes in their adoption of Parkhurst's model. Among other schools, Middle School Affiliated to Southeast University was famous for its one-school-year (1923–24) experiment – a carefully planned one adhering to this model, while Yiwen Middle School came into being as a Dalton school in spring, 1925.[<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref8">5</reflink>] The Plan also distinguished itself in terms of educational discourse. A database search of periodicals and books published in the 1920s–40s yields almost 400 periodical essays and 20-odd books with the <emph>noun</emph> phrase "the Dalton Plan" and the name "Parkhurst" in Chinese.[<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref9">6</reflink>] In particular, the years 1922–25 witnessed the heyday of the Plan in China. Thereafter, the scheme's popularity declined significantly while criticism dramatically increased.</p> <p>As for its rise, the existing literature offers several explanations, primarily relating it to reform-minded educators' dissatisfaction with the inflexible and inefficient whole-class instruction and the needs of various schools in the early 1920s. For them, the Dalton Plan could not only cultivate students' individuality and sociality but also increase pedagogical efficiency.[<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref10">7</reflink>] This explanation strikes a chord with expositions on the rise of the Plan in the USA, the UK and the Netherlands.[<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref11">8</reflink>] However, there is another more context-specific explanation. As some scholars argue, the Plan's popularity increased due to some educators' – especially grassroots teachers' – zealous worshipping of new methods in American progressive education and their eagerness to embrace this cutting-edge pedagogical trend.[<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref12">9</reflink>] Additionally, the literature has noticed that some educators drew parallels between the Plan and Chinese traditional schooling, in terms of individualised instruction and tight teacher-student bonding, and were therefore eager to trumpet and test this mode.[<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref13">10</reflink>] A similar analogy between the Plan and classical education can be found in the UK of the time.[<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref14">11</reflink>]</p> <p>For the rest, the literature summarises several factors contributing to the fall of the Dalton Plan, namely poor outcomes in the experiments attempting to implement it,[<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref15">12</reflink>] unfavourable circumstances caused by social turbulence, political disintegration and financial hardship,[<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref16">13</reflink>] limitations of Parkhurst's model,[<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref17">14</reflink>] and difficulties in applying American pedagogic techniques in the Chinese context.[<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref18">15</reflink>] In light of this, it is similar to the international historiography in attributing the Plan's decline in other countries to its barely satisfactory performance and problems in school application.[<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref19">16</reflink>]</p> <p>Yet current scholarship has missed some important facts. It has always presupposed an intimate connection between the Dalton Plan and John Dewey's (1859–1952) educational ideas by mistakenly interpreting the former's pursuit of democracy, individuality and freedom in a Deweyan sense.[<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref20">17</reflink>] Differing from Dewey's ideas theoretically and philosophically,[<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref21">18</reflink>] the Plan has a closer link to the Montessori Method.[<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref22">19</reflink>] In China, it actually reached its apotheosis when Dewey's popularity and enthusiasm for American progressive education were in decline. As a pedagogic scheme born out of progressive education, how could the Plan gain such popularity against the tide?</p> <p>Also because of its presumed connection with Dewey, major Chinese advocates of the Plan have been categorised as progressive educators in a Deweyan sense. However, advocates like Chen Qitian (1893–1984), Shu Xincheng (1893–1960) and Yu Jiaju (1898–1976) stuck to a nationalistic understanding of education development and tended to reconstruct Chinese education and society based on traditional culture and spirit. In this sense, they were less progressive in introducing foreign pedagogic strategies. Why then did they fervently advocate the Plan?</p> <p>Another fact was that two cohorts of Chinese progressive educators, sharing views with pedagogical and administrative progressives respectively, had actively participated in experimenting with the Dalton Plan but later became scathing critics of it. Pedagogical and administrative progressives comprised two factions of the American progressive education movement. While the former embraced child-centred instruction and discovery learning, the latter was utilitarian and sought social efficiency.[<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref23">20</reflink>] From the late 1910s onwards, ideas and methods from both factions were transmitted to China, where they continued to conflict, mainly owing to returning graduates who had studied at American universities. The literature simply considers the intriguing about-turn of Chinese progressives as a cooling of the enthusiasm for the Plan and an attendant waning of confidence but fails to inquire further: Why did both cohorts jump on the bandwagon of experimenting with the Plan but quickly alight from it while less progressive advocates stayed on?</p> <p>To tackle the above questions, this article will revisit the rise and fall of the Dalton Plan in China in the 1920s. It mainly uses three categories of Chinese primary sources: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref24">1</reflink>) periodical essays, books and brochures on the theory and practice of the Plan in the 1920s, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref25">2</reflink>) school reports on their Dalton experiments in the 1920s and (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref26">3</reflink>) (auto)biographies of related Chinese figures who advocated and experimented with the Plan. It also consults archival sources collected at Yale University, The Dalton School and Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and uses a sample of them to supplement the Chinese sources. We primarily selected sources based on their relevance to the development of the Plan in modern China on the one hand, and the importance and influence of their authors or publishers on the other.</p> <p>This article presents the complex motives and purposes behind the rapid growth and precipitous decline of the Dalton Plan and argues that its eclecticism had much to do with both its rise and fall. It attempts to offer new insights explaining this rise and fall and by extension untangle the complex relationships among its Chinese advocates and their connections with foreign educational circles. This will deepen our understanding of the trajectory of the Plan not only in the specific context of modern China but also from a transnational perspective. In what follows, we will first depict how the Dalton Plan shot to fame when Dewey's popularity declined in China before examining its rapid, unexpected expansion and how this ultimately disgraced it. Finally, we will look into attacks from the standpoints of pedagogical and administrative progressives towards Dalton education and their role in undermining it.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-3">A makeshift solution to practical problems</hd> <p>Whole-class instruction became the mandatory pedagogic strategy in late imperial China. In 1904, a set of governmental decrees institutionalised the national education system in line with across-the-board institutional reform. The system was an adoption with modifications of the then-existing Japanese system, itself based on the German model.[<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref27">21</reflink>] To resist the imperialist interference that had existed since the 1840s and to refashion the socio-political order, Chinese rulers and reformers used what they learned from the German and Japanese experiences, believing that a modern educational system could produce a qualified citizenry and lay a solid foundation for national wealth and power. As a strategy presumed to efficiently promote education for all, whole-class instruction predominated in both policy and practice and continued to hold sway in both the Republic of China, established in 1912, and the People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, despite changes to the educational system over that time. Yet it was always accompanied by practical problems and the need for critical reflection. The first wave of efforts and reflections spread in the years between the late 1910s and the mid-1920s, during which a renewed system of education based on the American model had been in the making and finally took shape.[<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref28">22</reflink>]</p> <p>The Dalton Plan rode the crest of this wave. Its first mention was in August 1921 in an anonymous news report briefly introducing its originator – Parkhurst – and the rudiments of its implementation,[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref29">23</reflink>] which turn out to be a summarisation of "An American Experiment: The Time-Table Abolished", published in <emph>The Times Educational Supplement</emph> in 1920.[<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref30">24</reflink>] The latter was authored by Belle Rennie, one of the earliest and most fervent advocates of the Plan in the UK.[<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref31">25</reflink>] Yet the news did not arouse much attention. Substantial interest had to await the Plan's popularisation in the UK as proof of its efficacy of and value in reforming existing schooling. In June 1922, a lengthy essay by Bao Decheng (dates unknown) referred to Parkhurst's 1921 series of articles in <emph>The Times Educational Supplement</emph>.[<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref32">26</reflink>] It explained the theory and operational procedures, involving laboratory facilities, work assignments, time budgeting, and collective instruction, and gave examples of real-life applications, illustrated using various graphs. It also took practicality, individualised instruction, flexibility and sociality as the merits of the new method.[<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref33">27</reflink>] Yet so far the press merely offered a concise introduction, and detailed exposition expressing a concern for Chinese education only began with Yu Jiaju's feature essay "Facts of the Dalton Plan" published in August 1922.[<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref34">28</reflink>] By the end of 1922, Yu's piece was followed by 25 or so essays, eight of which formed a special issue of the then-prominent periodical, <emph>Chinese Educational Review</emph>.[<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref35">29</reflink>] Most essays were composed by Yu and like-minded educators, especially his close friend and former colleague, Shu Xincheng. Shu launched the first trial of Dalton education at Wusong Middle School in Shanghai in the autumn semester of 1922. Yu and Shu paved the way for Dalton education in China, through their scholarly communication and respective promotions.</p> <p>They built a reputation at the vanguard of pedagogical reform in the late 1910s and became close friends in 1920 when working side by side in reforming whole-class instruction with ability grouping at Hunan No. 1 Normal School, a secondary-level teacher training institute. From 1922–23, Yu went to study psychology at the University of London, UK. Alongside his tutor, Charles Edward Spearman (1863–1945), Yu was considerably influenced by his teacher, Percy Thomas Nunn (1870–1944),[<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref36">30</reflink>] who was concerned with individualised instruction and a keen supporter of the Dalton Plan.[<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref37">31</reflink>] If his connection with Nunn allowed him to know more about the Plan, Yu's visits to schools like Streatham Secondary School convinced him of its strengths.[<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref38">32</reflink>] At the same time, Shu became the director of Wusong and was committed to pedagogic innovation. When Shu was struggling to find a remedy for the limitations of whole-class teaching, Yu happened to witness the success of Dalton education in the UK and then sent Shu several relevant books including <emph>The Dalton Laboratory Plan</emph> by Evelyn Dewey (1889–1965), and encouraged him to try it out.[<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref39">33</reflink>] Altogether, Yu and Shu were both central to the dissemination of the theory of the Plan and its promotion in practice in China. For one thing, the former introduced first-hand experiences of schools like Streatham, sparked the interest of Chinese educators and kept them informed of any new developments; for another, the latter expounded Parkhurst's theory, initiated the first experiment attracting numerous visitors to Wusong from across China and even a few from Japan,[<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref40">34</reflink>] and spared no effort in promoting Dalton education and rectifying public misconceptions. But why were Yu and Shu so committed to the Plan rather than other popular methods (e.g. the Project Method) of the day? Their essays and correspondence published in periodicals are revealing.</p> <p>Yu made it clear that he advocated the Dalton Plan not for its popularity in the West but for its potential contribution to Chinese education.[<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref41">35</reflink>] First of all, the principle of freedom and individualised instruction could make students more diligent and enable teachers to pay more attention to every individual student than was possible in inefficient teacher-dominant instruction.[<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref42">36</reflink>] Students would acquire knowledge through their efforts and would therefore be spared recitation and imitation while teachers would also be liberated to make education a creative enterprise.[<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref43">37</reflink>] Secondly, the Plan would foster a tight teacher-student bond and better relations between students and promote academic exchange and free discussion, leading to future groupings that could counteract power.[<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref44">38</reflink>] Thirdly, it was much more desirable than other popular methods of the day, such as the Project Method and the Gary Plan, because its flexibility in real-life applications demanded neither large-scale reorganisation nor abundant investment.[<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref45">39</reflink>] Thus the Dalton Plan might appear differently in varying circumstances due to this flexibility, but nevertheless it would always be constant in its spirit of embodying the principles of freedom and individualised work,[<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref46">40</reflink>] in other words, following the spirit rather than the letter of Parkhurst's original model.[<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref47">41</reflink>] With this flexibility, reform under the Plan could be economical and easy, and the many worse-off schools would get an opportunity to change with limited reorganisation and controllable funding.[<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref48">42</reflink>] Even though Yu was confident about the applicability of and prospects for Dalton education in China, he preferred gradual development to rapid expansion,[<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref49">43</reflink>] and often reminded his peers not to expect too much from it.[<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref50">44</reflink>] In his opinion, Chinese traditional schools and academies carried the same spirit as the Plan did,[<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref51">45</reflink>] and implementing the scheme could bring back free discussion, closer teacher-student relationships and the individualised instruction that had been eliminated by whole-class instruction.[<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref52">46</reflink>]</p> <p>Shu agreed with the rationale behind Yu's advocacy but had some stipulations. For Shu, traditional Chinese schooling neglected sociality and only resembled Dalton education in individualised learning, while cooperation was as important as freedom in the spirit of the Dalton Plan.[<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref53">47</reflink>] Moreover, he compared his own experiences with Dalton education and other pedagogic strategies and formulated some practice-driven observations. Firstly, according to Shu, as a makeshift strategy, the Plan overcame most of the practical and theoretical problems occurring in his former trials of both ability grouping and the Project Method, especially in promoting individuality and avoiding time-wasting.[<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref54">48</reflink>] Secondly, it entailed fewer changes within individual schools, did not demand the alteration of the entire school system or the recruitment of more teachers, and did not need special facilities or special preparation of students.[<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref55">49</reflink>] Thirdly, it boosted the effect of moral training by creating an intimate teacher-student bond, enabling students to develop their personalities and become good citizens by fostering conducive habits pertaining to punctuality, acting responsibly, helpfulness, and cooperation.[<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref56">50</reflink>] For the rest, Shu took every opportunity to appeal to teachers to employ the Plan with an experimental attitude and stressed the importance of adapting it to school realities and national conditions based on his practical experiences at Wusong. For instance, although considering the scheme better than any other new methods, he suggested its combination with the Project Method and the Gary Plan at middle schools and with the Montessori Method at primary schools;[<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref57">51</reflink>] he also interpreted cooperation as "school as society" and assignment work as "acting after knowing", while adding practical and experimental components to and designing new graphs for the scheme.[<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref58">52</reflink>]</p> <p>While aware it was not original,[<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref59">53</reflink>] Yu and Shu embraced the Dalton Plan from a practical standpoint and admired its eclectic spirit. This eclecticism made its application open to any adaptations that might yield practical effects, rather than adhering to the exact procedure invented by Parkhurst. Their arguments were very similar to those put forward in the UK, as British advocates also appreciated the Plan's less drastic remedy for whole-class instruction, its elasticity in real-life application and its capability of reconciling modern pedagogic strategies with classical education.[<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref60">54</reflink>] Like their British counterparts, Yu and Shu were pragmatic and more concerned with the amelioration of educational problems by means of a gradualist approach.</p> <p>The literature has long credited Dewey's popularity in the Chinese New Education Movement to the rise of the Dalton Plan in China, yet this is somewhat misleading.[<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref61">55</reflink>] The Chinese New Education Movement prevailed between the late 1910s and mid-1920s, endorsing child-centred pedagogy and seeking to reconstruct Chinese culture and society through educational reform. It reflected the similar initiatives of the New Education Movement in the UK and progressive education in the USA, focusing on promoting democratic education and a good life.[<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref62">56</reflink>] To argue that the rise was a direct result of the Movement or child-centred pedagogy leads to serious discrepancies. After all, Yu and Shu paid only superficial lip service to Deweyan terms like individuality and freedom, while always referring to Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) and his theories on the stimulus-response rule at great length.[<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref63">57</reflink>] Moreover, compared with many contemporaries devoted to drastic reforms, they were often in sympathy with the tenets found in traditional schooling and advocated a less radical way of promoting new education, looking to Sinify it based on national culture and conditions.[<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref64">58</reflink>] With the Movement already in decline by around 1923, it was believed that the Dalton Plan's malleability meant it could be used to smooth out problems in whole-class instruction while helping to Sinify new education.[<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref65">59</reflink>] This claim can be confirmed by other evidence. Chen Qitian, for instance, was a nationalistic educator and one of the supporters of the Plan, but he also lamented child-centred pedagogy.[<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref66">60</reflink>] This is not to say all people actively involved in Dalton education in China were on the same page. With diverse ends in mind more and more educators started discussing and applying the Plan, which resulted in an unforeseen rapid expansion of the scheme, Yu's and Shu's stipulations regarding gradual adaptation notwithstanding.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-4">Unexpected expansion</hd> <p>Yu Jiaju and Shu Xincheng made clear the merits of the Dalton Plan and the rationale behind a gradual, adaptive development. But their counsel did not slow down the rapid expansion – 1923–25 witnessed a boom in the interest in and popularity of Dalton education in China. In what follows we will describe the haste with which Dalton education was introduced in China and recount events germane to its rapid expansion, while looking into reports of Dalton experiments, especially the carefully planned one conducted by Liao Shicheng (1892–1970), before finally showing how this expansion eventually disgraced the Plan.</p> <p>Shu had been satisfied with his Dalton experiment at Wusong in 1922 and planned to extend it by offering a course on a school-wide scale by the onset of 1923. Owing to the struggles and turbulence resulting from school politics, this plan fell through and Shu was soon driven out of Wusong.[<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref67">61</reflink>] Yet this setback did little to contain the rising popularity of the Dalton Plan. Between July and August 1923, the Plan became used as a training programme at the summer school organised by Southeast University to train rural teachers to master systematic methods of instruction and theories of pedagogy. Shu was the leading trainer in the Dalton programme, which, according to his later recollection, was the largest one in the summer school with 135 trainees from 12 provinces across China.[<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref68">62</reflink>] The Plan was also topical at conferences of educational associations including the Association for the Advancement of Secondary Education, the Association for the Affiliated Primary Schools in Jiangsu and the National Education Association (NEA). At its 1923 annual conference, the NEA strongly approved a resolution that read "middle schools and teacher training schools under the new [educational] system had better study and experiment with the Dalton Plan".[<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref69">63</reflink>] The NEA was a semi-official organisation exerting much influence on Chinese education in the 1910s–20s, thus its advocacy to a certain degree validated the Plan at a national level.[<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref70">64</reflink>]</p> <p>The connection established between Parkhurst and Chinese educational circles also boosted the prevalence of the Dalton Plan. On 10 December 1923, Wang Zhuoran (1893–1975), a former educational inspector in Mukden and then a student at Columbia University, USA, visited the Children's University School. Having known of her forthcoming trip to Japan, in spring 1924, Wang cordially invited Parkhurst to visit China right after visiting Japan and to offer guidance on Dalton education in Mukden and other Chinese cities. This wish did not come true for numerous practical reasons, yet another plan to invite Parkhurst was in the making, entailing more communications between her and Chinese Daltonians, especially Shu. As a result of multiparty cooperation and efforts, Parkhurst finally made a trip there between July 14 and 25 August 1925, leaving her footprints in 13 major cities of eight provinces. During her stay, she took an active part in educational and cultural activities while in close contact with the socio-political elites. She gave 15 public lectures and spoke in 10 seminars, each attended by an extensive and thrilled audience. In implementing the invitation, preparation and reception, educators who had studied or were studying at Columbia University played a vital role, especially Guo Bingwen (1880–1969), Wang Zhuoran, Zhu Jingnong (1887–1951), Tao Xingzhi (1891–1946) and Gao Renshan (1894–1928). Various institutes and associations lent organisational and financial support, especially the association dominated by students returned from the USA – the Chinese National Association for the Advancement of Education.[<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref71">65</reflink>]</p> <p>By the end of 1925, the Dalton Plan had received widespread media coverage flooded with expositions on its theories and principles, discussions on its real-life applications, experimental reports, and news on Parkhurst's itinerary and activities.[<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref72">66</reflink>] Accordingly, more and more educators were able to make acquaintance with the Plan, and plenty of schools initiated their experiments by reorganising pedagogical procedures and classroom management. As Shu revealed in a survey, over 100 schools were experimenting with the scheme across China by 1925.[<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref73">67</reflink>] Some schools released their experimental reports, more or less explaining the motives, procedures, results, and/or problems, including the following: Primary School and Secondary School Affiliated to Southeast University, Primary School Affiliated to Jiangsu No. 4 Normal School, Primary School Affiliated to Jiangsu No. 1 Girls Normal School, Capital No. 1 Public Primary School, Capital No. 29 Public Primary School, Yiwen Middle School, Wusong Middle School, Xusheng Higher Primary School, Shanshan School, Primary School Affiliated to Fengtian No. 1 Normal School, Primary School Affiliated to Hunan No. 1 Normal School, and Primary School Affiliated to Henan No. 1 Normal School. Most were public primary schools affiliated to teacher training institutes in metropolises and provincial capitals, and – excepting Yiwen – all conducted their experiments before 1924.</p> <p>If we compare it with those of other countries, we will see how rapidly and hastily Dalton education developed in China. For instance, English educators did not start to experiment until consulting Parkhurst in person; Dutch teachers were wary about the Dalton Plan, and only a modest number of experiments existed in the Netherlands in the 1920s;[<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref74">68</reflink>] and Japanese educators, having heard of the Plan, opted for educational investigations in China, the UK and the USA and only then did some decide to try it out.[<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref75">69</reflink>] In the Chinese case, there is no evidence showing that experimenters investigated abroad before applying the Plan, nor showing any contact between the Chinese and Parkhurst before December 1923.[<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref76">70</reflink>] Most of the above-listed Dalton experiments were instigated based on Yu Jiaju's reports from the UK, foreign periodical essays like those published in <emph>The Times Educational Supplement</emph>, translated works of Parkhurst and Evelyn Dewey, expositions by domestic educators and the experience of a few vanguard schools such as Wusong. But similar to their American and British counterparts, the above-listed schools were designed to remedy the defects of whole-class instruction and test the merits of the Plan. After experiments of varied durations, they generally reported students' growing motivation and interest in learning and their progress in academic performance and group cooperation, while identifying a few practical problems such as the extra burden on teachers.[<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref77">71</reflink>]</p> <p>Yet there was one exception to the Dalton Plan: the experimental report of Middle School Affiliated to Southeast University (MSASU), which explicitly disregarded it, providing concrete and comprehensive details as to why. The experiment was conducted under the leadership of Liao Shicheng. Liao held a PhD in psychology and the philosophy of education from Brown University, USA, and was enthusiastic about popularising educational testing and measuring the efficiency of student learning and achievement. He made acquaintance with the Dalton Plan from the media in 1922 and came up with the idea of experimenting with it at MSASU after conferring with William Anderson McCall (1891–1982).[<reflink idref="bib72" id="ref78">72</reflink>] McCall was a faculty member of Teachers College, Columbia University, deeply involved in the testing movement in American schools in the 1920s.[<reflink idref="bib73" id="ref79">73</reflink>] He was responsible for the Horace Mann School experiment measuring and comparing the outcomes of regular classes and those under William Heard Kilpatrick's (1871–1965) Project Method.[<reflink idref="bib74" id="ref80">74</reflink>] At the height of a similar testing boom in China,[<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref81">75</reflink>] he went on a "scientific expedition" there in 1922–23 and worked with Chinese educators in constructing, scaling and standardising scientific tests, and then using the tests for measuring efficiency in Chinese schools.[<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref82">76</reflink>]</p> <p>Learning from the Horace Mann School experience,[<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref83">77</reflink>] Liao and McCall designed a controlled experiment to measure student innate capacity and educational achievement. In addition to testing the Dalton Plan per se, Liao aimed to arouse Chinese educators' interest in educational testing.[<reflink idref="bib78" id="ref84">78</reflink>] After nine months of preparation, the experiment took place between the successive autumn and spring semesters in 1923–24, with four classes in total, one control class and one Dalton class in Grades One and Two respectively. Subsequently, Liao measured student performances by test results (Tables 1 and 2) from examinations, summarised student achievements in each subject and compared the results of the control and Dalton classes.[<reflink idref="bib79" id="ref85">79</reflink>]</p> <p>Table 1. Results of grade one.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>Subject</td><td>Rise in average point</td><td>Outperformance point</td><td>Standard deviation</td><td>Experiment coefficient</td></tr><tr><td>Control class</td><td>Dalton class</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>National literature</td><td>4.96</td><td>2.65</td><td>2.31</td><td>1.04</td><td>0.79</td></tr><tr><td>Mathematics</td><td>6.57</td><td>6.13</td><td>0.44</td><td>1.09</td><td>0.15</td></tr><tr><td>English language</td><td>4.66</td><td>3.1</td><td>1.56</td><td>0.59</td><td>0.95</td></tr><tr><td>Geography</td><td>9.69</td><td>9.59</td><td>0.1</td><td>1.40</td><td>0.25</td></tr><tr><td>Sciences</td><td>9.78</td><td>9.82</td><td>−0.04</td><td>1.69</td><td>−0.21</td></tr><tr><td>Average point</td><td>7.13</td><td>6.26</td><td>0.86</td><td>1.16</td><td>0.39</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 Sources: Liao, <emph>Dongda fuzhong Daoerdunzhi</emph>, 126–7.</p> <p>Table 2. Results of grade two.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>Subject</td><td>Rise in average point</td><td>Outperformance point</td><td>Standard deviation</td><td>Experiment coefficient</td></tr><tr><td>Control class</td><td>Dalton class</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>National literature</td><td>5.37</td><td>2.37</td><td>3</td><td>1.29</td><td>0.83</td></tr><tr><td>Mathematics</td><td>3.87</td><td>4.4</td><td>−0.53</td><td>1.2</td><td>−0.16</td></tr><tr><td>English language</td><td>4.09</td><td>3.25</td><td>0.84</td><td>0.66</td><td>0.46</td></tr><tr><td>Geography</td><td>4.9</td><td>2.55</td><td>2.35</td><td>1.47</td><td>0.57</td></tr><tr><td>Sciences</td><td>7.53</td><td>6.1</td><td>1.43</td><td>1.92</td><td>0.27</td></tr><tr><td>Average point</td><td>5.15</td><td>3.73</td><td>1.42</td><td>1.31</td><td>0.39</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>2 Sources: Liao, <emph>Dongda fuzhong Daoerdunzhi</emph>, 126–7.</p> <p>Liao thus considered that, in Grade One, the control class saliently outperformed the Dalton class in National literature and English language and it was hard to say which class performed better in other subjects because of the rather low coefficient; the advantage of the control class was even more measurable in Grade Two.[<reflink idref="bib80" id="ref86">80</reflink>] To investigate "subjective opinion" that could not be measured in tests, he surveyed teachers and students of both the control and Dalton classes for their opinions on the merits and demerits of the Dalton Plan and on the problems impairing its application.[<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref87">81</reflink>] As a result, Liao concluded that (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref88">1</reflink>) the Plan was only advantageous for over- and under-talented students but uneconomical for common schools and that (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref89">2</reflink>) whole-class instruction still had strengths, while some of its problems could be resolved by incorporating useful elements from the Plan.[<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref90">82</reflink>] In the succeeding autumn semester of 1924, he dispensed with the MSASU experiment.</p> <p>Out of his enthusiasm for educational testing, Liao speculatively chose the Dalton Plan for his experiment because of its mounting popularity. To accurately measure efficiency, he adhered to the form of Parkhurst's original model for the Plan with limited adjustments to some minor aspects,[<reflink idref="bib83" id="ref91">83</reflink>] rather than flexibly applying it by following its spirit. What concerned him most was not the flexibility that Yu and Shu advocated, but the efficient management and scientific measurement techniques proffered by the experiment. By and large, he appropriated the Plan to promote educational testing. In the experimental report, expositions on types, methods and procedures of testing were overwhelmingly lengthy. No wonder Shu complained that the "people problem" – teachers' doubt and lack of motivation to implement the Plan – was the major factor behind the unsatisfactory results in the MSASU experiment.[<reflink idref="bib84" id="ref92">84</reflink>] As a participant in its preparatory and operational processes, Shu later became quite critical of the experiment's arrangements (on which more below).</p> <p>Irrespective of other schools' positive, or at least neutral, evaluation, MSASU's outspoken criticisms published in 1925 heralded a considerable drop in interest in and popularity of the Dalton Plan in China. A few scholars thus related the experiment to the decline of Chinese Dalton education.[<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref93">85</reflink>] Yet this is not to say one experiment sealed the Plan's fate, but to a large extent disgraced it widely – considering its wide circulation supported by the publisher Commercial Press – plus the status of Liao as an influential educator with a PhD from the USA and the reputation of MSASU as a model school of pedagogical innovation.</p> <p>Aside from the crisis instigated by Liao's experiment, the rising fame of the Dalton Plan brought about adverse effects. For example, as early as 1923 Shu found that a school in Nanjing which claimed to experiment with the Plan was located in an old temple only equipped with desks, chairs, three newspapers, and a small library containing a few books and journals. There the Plan existed in name only, utilised by school managers as a promotion strategy to attract more students.[<reflink idref="bib86" id="ref94">86</reflink>] Due to this kind of specious utilisation, Shu became anxious upon hearing that the NEA was encouraging middle schools and teacher training schools to experiment with the Plan in the same year. He proposed five stipulations for schools before starting their experiments: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref95">1</reflink>) preparing qualified teachers, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref96">2</reflink>) avoiding misconduct in the name of the Plan, (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref97">3</reflink>) organising a specific association for joint study, (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref98">4</reflink>) assigning dedicated teachers, and (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref99">5</reflink>) augmenting school facilities.[<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref100">87</reflink>] To Shu's disappointment, his stipulations went by the board. His survey in 1925 showed less than one-third of schools achieved good results in Dalton education.[<reflink idref="bib88" id="ref101">88</reflink>] Parkhurst's visit was a success in terms of reception but did little to glorify the Plan and sustain Chinese Dalton education effectively, merely serving as a passing trend.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-5">Eclecticism under scrutiny</hd> <p>From around 1925, the Dalton Plan fell from grace in Chinese educational circles. It was dubbed as "escaping and disappearing (<emph>taoerdunzhi</emph>)", punning on <emph>Daoerdunzhi –</emph> the Chinese transliteration of "the Dalton Plan" – connoting truancy, which ironically some students in Dalton education did indulge in. Even its proponents had to face up to the Plan's demerits when advocating it, if only as a strategy to cushion it against opponents' attacks. If the eclecticism of the Plan was the merit its proponents vigorously valorised, it was also the demerit its opponents severely disparaged. Notably, opponents who had connections with the American pedagogical and administrative progressives waged the most debilitating attacks, through which the Plan turned out to be neither child-centred nor efficient. Yet this has long been overlooked by the literature,[<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref102">89</reflink>] which to a certain degree leads to a simplification of the complex struggles behind the decline of Chinese Dalton education. The remainder of this article focuses on these struggles by reviewing debates between proponents and opponents of the Plan in 1925–26, and by doing so shows the eclectic spirit of the Plan was under scrutiny from the standpoints of pedagogical and administrative progressives.</p> <p>Shortly after its publication in 1925, the MSASU report by Liao Shicheng triggered rebuttals from Shu Xincheng – the most fervent advocate of the Dalton Plan in China. While as an educational psychologist Liao endorsed the American administrative progressives' pursuit of efficiency and interpreted experimentation in terms of measurement, Shu paid more attention to solving practical problems and sought to reconcile domestic and foreign educational experiences. Shu admitted the Plan was not perfect but believed in its flexibility, its principles of freedom and cooperation, and its strengths leading students onto a brighter road towards sagehood. Against Liao's accusation of the Plan's inefficiency, Shu insisted, although modern societies pursued efficiency and strove to make everything economical, humans after all were humans, each singular in their individuality.[<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref103">90</reflink>]</p> <p>Later in the same year, Shu and Liao confronted each other in a special issue of <emph>Chung-Hwa Educational Review</emph>, entitled <emph>Critical Comments on the Dalton Plan</emph>.[<reflink idref="bib91" id="ref104">91</reflink>] As the editorial note by Chen Qitian stated, the issue aimed to improve the Dalton Plan by clarifying its drawbacks and to motivate schools to work on substantive long-term experiments rather than "empty talk" or "shallow trials".[<reflink idref="bib92" id="ref105">92</reflink>] Shu was still confident of a rosy future for the Plan that suited the desire for individuality and sociality in the world, while paying attention to the societal conditions and the traditional spirit of individualised teaching in China. For him, the "people problem" led to the disappointing results of the MSASU experiment.[<reflink idref="bib93" id="ref106">93</reflink>] Even though educational testing and scientific spirit were deemed of value, MSASU was just one special school with its specific history and conditions. Methods applied in the experiment were improper, so a judgement of the pros and cons of the Plan awaited more experiments.[<reflink idref="bib94" id="ref107">94</reflink>] By contrast, for Liao, the drawbacks of collective teaching did not necessarily result from whole-class instruction and had much to do with the training teachers had received. The Plan as a new method was overvalued and its reliability was still open to doubts and questions, especially regarding principles of freedom and cooperation. Its main defects were low efficiency, difficulties in measuring performance and achievement disparity between students. To argue against Shu's charge of the "people problem", Liao complained about how much time, money and energy the Plan cost during their experiment and the dissatisfactory results they got in the end.[<reflink idref="bib95" id="ref108">95</reflink>] Overall, Liao took a dim view of the future of Dalton education from the standpoint of administrative progressives, calling on the authority of science and lamenting its inefficiency, while Shu as a leading Chinese Daltonian placed a high value on individuality and believed the Plan was conducive to moulding morally perfect individuals according with the Confucian educational ideal, with sagehood as the educational aim.</p> <p>Additionally, Yu Ziyi (1886–1970) contributed an essay to the special issue, based on his involvement in a Dalton experiment in 1924. Agreeing with Liao about the extra time, money and energy it cost, Yu was dissatisfied with the Dalton Plan and in particular singled out three major problems: the Plan focused too much on the subject matter and was not able to motivate students to learn from activities; its lack of sociality prevented it from providing an opportunity for mutual aid; and learning in the Plan completely relied on books rather than experience.[<reflink idref="bib96" id="ref109">96</reflink>] In this sense, Yu's view was consonant with the American pedagogical progressives' concern for child-centredness, cooperation and discovery learning. His approbation of the Project Method confirmed this inclination.[<reflink idref="bib97" id="ref110">97</reflink>] In 1926, the dissatisfaction from the pedagogical progressives' standpoint further escalated, leading to a heated debate.</p> <p>The debate appeared as an array of essays in <emph>Review of the New Education</emph>, a prominent journal signalling the nationalistic turn of Chinese new education.[<reflink idref="bib98" id="ref111">98</reflink>] The proponents were Gao Renshan and Luo Zhiying (dates unknown) – teachers at Yiwen Middle School. In addition, Gao had a Master's degree in education from Teachers College, Columbia University, founded Yiwen as a Dalton school in 1925 and then was also a university professor. Gao upheld a nationalistic understanding of education and stressed its role in promoting national independence and sovereignty.[<reflink idref="bib99" id="ref112">99</reflink>] In this sense, he was similar to Shu and Yu Jiaju, who first advocated the Plan in China. The opponent was Qiu Chun (1897–1966), who had a PhD in education from Teachers College and then was a university professor. Qiu had close scholarly links to Kilpatrick and actively disseminated Kilpatrick's theories, especially his Project Method, in China in the 1920s.[<reflink idref="bib100" id="ref113">100</reflink>] To get an overview of the debate, we produced Table 3.</p> <p>Table 3. A list of proponents and opponent of the Dalton Plan and their essays.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>Figure</td><td>Translated title in English</td><td>Ref.</td><td>Reference details</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Qiu</td><td>Comments on the Dalton Plan: Destructive Criticisms</td><td>1</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 4: 10–13</td></tr><tr><td>Qiu</td><td><italic>Ditto</italic> [Continued]</td><td>2</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 5: 13–16</td></tr><tr><td>Gao</td><td>Discussing <italic>Comments on the Dalton Plan</italic> with Qiu Chun</td><td>3</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 6: 3–12</td></tr><tr><td>Luo</td><td>Upon Reading <italic>Destructive Criticisms</italic></td><td>4</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 6: 12–20</td></tr><tr><td>Qiu</td><td>More Comments on the Dalton Plan: Replying to Gao and Luo</td><td>5</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 10: 9–15</td></tr><tr><td>Qiu</td><td><italic>Ditto</italic> [Continued]</td><td>6</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 11: 12–16</td></tr><tr><td>Gao</td><td>Discussing <italic>Comments on the Dalton Plan</italic> with Qiu Chun Once Again</td><td>7</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 13: 8–13</td></tr><tr><td>Luo</td><td>Upon Reading <italic>More Comments on the Dalton Plan</italic></td><td>8</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 14: 6–13</td></tr><tr><td>Qiu</td><td>Comments on the Dalton Plan's Epilogue: Replying to Gao and Luo Once Again</td><td>9</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 16: 4–10</td></tr><tr><td>Luo</td><td>Upon Reading <italic>Comments on the Dalton Plan's Epilogue</italic></td><td>10</td><td>Vol. 2, no. 18: 16–19</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>The debate was triggered by a 1926 report based on Yiwen's five-month Dalton experiment. The report briefed readers on the key points and procedures of the implementation and positively evaluated the Dalton Plan, and, by extension, criticised how some schools mistakenly took the Plan as a fixed system, which seemed to target those represented by MSASU.[<reflink idref="bib101" id="ref114">101</reflink>] It soon provoked Qiu's attack, and Gao and Luo then made responses. As Table 3 shows, the debate between them lasted three rounds. Space consideration prevents a recounting of the attacks and counterattacks in detail. Here we will only sketch the development and outline of the debate.</p> <p>For Qiu, a follower of Kilpatrick, the Dalton Plan was not progressive enough, especially compared with the Project Method. It had a number of theoretical and operational weaknesses and lacked a solid foundation in philosophy and science. According to what he observed, heard and read, Qiu's essays, ref. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9 in Table 3, enumerated ten demerits of education under the Plan: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref115">1</reflink>) no freedom in choosing questions and textbooks; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref116">2</reflink>) no cooperation within a large group of students; (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref117">3</reflink>) indifference to the curriculum; (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref118">4</reflink>) lack of group discussion; (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref119">5</reflink>) unscientific arrangement of time; (<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref120">6</reflink>) insufficient time for digesting knowledge; (<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref121">7</reflink>) quick pace without proficiency; (<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref122">8</reflink>) unsuitability for lower grades; (<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref123">9</reflink>) cost of too much time; (<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref124">10</reflink>) plagiarism.</p> <p>Gao and Luo could hardly approve of Qiu's criticisms, and, in their essays, Ref. 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10 in Table 3, rebutted Qiu by referring to their experiences at Yiwen. Under relentless attacks, they had made a concession and admitted the Dalton Plan could be improved by flexibly applying it in practice. Qiu was not satisfied with their responses and refused to recognise any theoretical and philosophical value in the Plan. Instead, he took every opportunity to speak up for the Project Method and insisted on the necessity of maintaining whole-class instruction. Overall, Qiu and the Yiwen teachers were not on the same wavelength and their debate led to implacable disagreements because of a fundamental divergence resulting from different understandings of freedom, cooperation and science. Qiu's essays turned out to be more rigorous and more eloquent than Gao's and Luo's, probably due to Qiu's doctoral training and his reference to Kilpatrick. But Gao and Luo always stuck to trifling and were unable to wage powerful counterattacks.</p> <p>The debate between Qiu and the Yiwen teachers was more focused on the theory of the Dalton Plan itself while the earlier debate between Shu and Liao was more concerned with its application and efficacy. In both cases, proponents appreciated the eclectic spirit of the Plan with its flexibility and practicability when applied to reform whole-class instruction; but opponents treated the Plan as a fixed system of theory or pedagogical strategy, which followed Parkhurst's model to the letter and ignored the eclectic spirit that its proponents most valued. As a result, the proponents were critically disadvantaged when answering to the theoretical rigour of the opponents. More specifically, opponents like Qiu from the pedagogical progressives' perspective could evoke the rhetorical discourses of Dewey and Kilpatrick, while those like Liao from the administrative progressives' perspective called on the authority of science, relying on the statistics drawn from educational testing. By contrast, what the proponents counted upon was "down-to-earth" pedagogy that had been developed in practice, and not from theory or as a theory.[<reflink idref="bib102" id="ref125">102</reflink>] The three-round debate between Qiu and Yiwen teachers heralded the last radiance of the Plan in Chinese educational circles; thereafter it never garnered considerable attention.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-6">Conclusion</hd> <p>As shown in this article, the eclectic spirit of the Dalton Plan not only promulgated its rise to fame in China but also led to its inability to withstand attacks from those who took it as a fixed system of theory or pedagogic strategy. Its fame arose from its promise to remedy problems of mass schooling without making drastic changes, its adaptability to varying school conditions and its cost-effectiveness in real-life application. It was not so much due to the popularity of Dewey or child-centred pedagogy in the Chinese New Education Movement as to the needs of resolving practical problems arising in existing schooling. Moreover, for its early advocates like Shu Xincheng and Yu Jiaju, the Plan served as a medium reconciling foreign pedagogic techniques and beneficial elements of traditional education. It did not rub against their nationalistic understanding of education and even offered them an opportunity to Sinify new education. Against Shu's and Yu's stipulations regarding a gradual, adaptive development, the Plan experienced a rapid expansion ensuing from its high repute, and soon fell from grace marked by the release of the MSASU report. In particular, educators sharing views with the American pedagogical and administrative progressives waged the most debilitating attacks. Neither did they consider the Plan of value for theory, philosophy or science, and its eclecticism became the demerit they most severely disparaged. Their previous involvements in Dalton education were not out of a sincere belief in its rationale or efficacy: for instance, Liao Shicheng intended to popularise educational testing, while Yu Ziyi still cleaved to the Project Method. Then it is little wonder they turned around after their Dalton experiments.</p> <p>This article further reveals how Chinese Dalton education was influenced by the connections between domestic and foreign educational circles. It indicates that the Dalton Plan was introduced to China from the UK rather than the USA. Yu Jiaju was the key figure in this process, acting as a nodal point connecting Chinese and British educational circles. While in close contact with Dalton campaigners, especially Nunn, and attentive to news about and practices of the Plan in the UK, he kept a correspondence with the frontline educational activist Shu Xincheng, through which the latter was able to speak up for and apply the Plan. With the involvement of students returned from the USA, the connections shifted their focus from the UK to the USA. Through their powerful international networks and influential positions in domestic educational associations, they were able to play a leading role in inviting Parkhurst to China and arranging her itinerary. This further entangled the Chinese Dalton education with the competing factions of American progressive education. Overall, the Dalton Plan in modern China made for an intriguing story that was characterised by nationalistic sentiments, rapidity of rise and fall and the complex wrangling over differing educational ideals and modes.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-7">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>We wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thorough feedback, offering many thoughtful suggestions and valuable references.</p> <hd id="AN0187116392-8">Disclosure statement</hd> <p>No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.</p> <ref id="AN0187116392-9"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> On the Plan's origins and nature, see e.g. Piet van der Ploeg, "The Dalton Plan: Recycling in the Guise of Innovation," <emph>Paedagogica Historica</emph> 49, no. 3 (2013): 314–29; Piet van der Ploeg, "The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands," <emph>History of Education</emph> 43, no. 3 (2014): 369–71.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> For more details, see Helen Parkhurst, <emph>Education on the Dalton Plan</emph> (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1922).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref3" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Susan F. Semel, "The Transformation of Progressive Practice: A Case Study of Education on the Dalton Plan," <emph>Paedagogica Historica</emph> 31, no. 1 (1995): 181–92; Ron Brooks, "In a World Set Apart: The Dalton Dynasty at King Alfred School, 1920–1962," <emph>History of Education</emph> 27, no. 4 (1998): 423–25; Lesley Fox Lee, "The Dalton Plan and the Loyal, Capable Intelligent Citizen," <emph>History of Education</emph> 29, no. 2 (2000): 132–36; Van der Ploeg, "The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands," 369–74, 376–82; María del Mar del Pozo Andrés and Sjaak Braster, "The Dalton Plan in Spain: Reception and Appropriation (1920–1939)," <emph>Revista de Educación</emph> 377 (2017), 111–34; María del Mar del Pozo Andrés and Sjaak Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals: The Dalton Plan in Great Britain (1920–1925)," <emph>History of Education</emph> 47, no. 6 (2018): 840–64; Marco Rodríguez Wehrmeister, "En la escuela con el yanqui: maestros viajeros, expertos visitantes y transferencias educativas, Estados Unidos – Chile: 1902–1931" (PhD diss., Humboldt University Berlin, 2018); and Camila Pérez-Navarro and Analía Álvarez Seguel, "La Escuela Nueva en Chile. Una aproximación a partir del fondo fotográfico de la Escuela Experimental de Niñas de Santiago (1929–1949)," <emph>Cabás</emph> 27 (2022): 137–58.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref7" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "Jinhoude Zhongguo Daoerdunzhi [Chinese Dalton Education hereafter]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925): 5. This article abbreviates source information of some oft-occurring periodicals, i.e.<emph>CBFU</emph> (<emph>Morning Post Supplement), ZHJYJ</emph> (<emph>Chung-Hwa Educational Review), JYZZ</emph> (<emph>Chinese Educational Review), JYYRS</emph> (<emph>The Shun-Pao Educational Supplement</emph>) and <emph>TES</emph> (<emph>The Times Educational Supplement</emph>).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref8" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Yiwen was a special case. Its loyalty to the Plan was in decline after its founder Gao Renshan died in 1928, after which date the remaining Dalton elements largely served to commemorate Gao, until 1937. Additionally, there were schools implementing the Plan in communist-controlled areas, as a result of learning from the brigade-laboratory method in the Soviets, which emphasised individual responsibility and teamwork. Both cases deserve specific investigation but exceed the scope of this article.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" idref="ref9" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> The major databases consulted are the Chinese Periodical Full-Text Database (<ulink href="http://www.cnbksy.com/">http://www.cnbksy.com/</ulink>), Duxiu Academic Search (https://<ulink href="http://www.duxiu.com/),">www.duxiu.com/),</ulink> and Hanwen Storehouse of Republican Books (<ulink href="http://www.hwshu.com/">http://www.hwshu.com/</ulink>). Keywords used are Chinese translations and transliterations of the <emph>noun</emph> phrase and the name. We have noted as many of these words as we can when reading the literature. For "the Dalton Plan", we use "daoerdunzhi (道尔顿制)", "daozhi (道制)", "daerdun (达尔顿)", and "daerdeng (达尔登)"; for "Parkhurst", we use "pakehesite (帕克赫斯特 or 帕克赫司特)", "baikehesite (柏克赫斯特 or 柏克赫司特)", "bainüshi (柏女士)", and "baishi (柏氏)". Because of unfixed usages, we might omit a few sources using different Chinese characters.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib7" idref="ref10" type="bt">7</bibl> <bibtext> See e.g. Qu Baokui and Ding Zhenglin, "'Daoerdunzhi' zai Zhongguo ['The Dalton Plan' in China]," <emph>Jiaoyu yanjiu yu shiyan</emph> [Educational Research and Experiment] 2 (1985): 81; Huang Shuguang, "Lun Shu Xincheng zai Shanghai de xinjiaoyu tansuo [On Shu Xincheng's New Education Explorations in Shanghai]," <emph>Hebei shifan daxue xuebao (jiaoyu kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Hebei Normal University (Education Sciences)] 8, no. 2 (2006): 34.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" idref="ref11" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> Semel, "The Transformation of Progressive Practice," 206–8; Brooks, "In a World Set Apart," 421, 423; Lee, "The Dalton Plan and the Loyal," 132; and Van der Ploeg, "The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands," 372.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" idref="ref12" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> See e.g. Qu and Ding, "'Daoerdunzhi'," 82; Zhao Yanhong, Huang Shaoying, and Zhao Yanling, "Shu Xincheng yu Daoerdunzhi zai Zhongguo de chuanbo [Shu Xincheng and the Dissemination of the Dalton Plan in China]," <emph>Hebei daxue xuebao (zhexue shehui kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)]4 (2008): 73.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Liu Ming, "Minguo shiqi 'shuyuan' gainian chongsu de lishi kaocha [A Historical Investigation of the Reconstruction of the Concept 'Shuyuan' in Republican China]," <emph>Beijing daxue jiaoyu pinglun</emph> [Peking University Education Review] 18, no. 2 (2020): 145–8; and Luo Zhitian, "Ziyou jiangxue: xinwenhua yundong houqi shuyuan de faxian [Free Lectures: The Discovery of Academy in the Later Part of the New Culture Movement]," <emph>wenshizhe</emph> [Literature, History and Philosophy] 6 (2022): 30–2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Del Pozo and Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals," 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Zhao, Huang, and Zhao, "Shu Xincheng yu Daoerdunzhi," 75; Zheng Guomin, "Daoerdunzhi jiaoyu zai Zhongguo shiyan de qishi [Enlightenment of Dalton Education Experimented in China]," <emph>Beijing shifan daxue xuebao (shehui kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Beijing Normal University (Social Sciences)] 3 (2003): 52–3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Zhao, Huang, and Zhao, "Shu Xincheng yu Daoerdunzhi," 75; Wu Hongcheng and Zhang Yuanyuan, <emph>Zhongguo jindai zhongxiaoxue jiaoxue fangfa shilun</emph> [Historical Discussion of Primary and Secondary Didactics in Modern China] (Beijing: Zhishi chanquan chubanshe, 2016), 406–8.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Qu and Ding, "'Daoerdunzhi'," 83, 84; Wu and Zhang, <emph>Zhongguo jindai zhongxiaoxue jiaoxue fangfa</emph>, 408–10.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Zheng, "Daoerdunzhi jiaoyu zai Zhongguo," 54; Wang Baoxing, "Meiguo huayu yu Zhongguo yujing: Daoerdunzhi Zhongguohua mingyun de yixiang quanshi [American Discourse and Chinese Context: An Interpretation for the Fate of the Sinicization of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>Henan daxue xuebao (shehui kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Henan University (Social Sciences)] 49, no. 2 (2009): 130–5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Brooks, "In a World Set Apart," 439–40; Van der Ploeg, "The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands," 374–5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Gao Xiang and Zhang Weiping, "20 shiji 20 niandai Daoerdunzhi shiyan huigu yu sikao [Review and Rethinking of the Dalton Experiments in the 1920s]," <emph>Jiaoxue yanjiu</emph> [Teaching Research] 33, no. 1 (2010): 29–30; Liu Xiufeng, "Daoerdunzhi zai Zhongguo de xingshuai jiqi qishi [The Rise and Fall of the Dalton Plan in China and its Enlightenment]," <emph>Jiaoyu yu jiaoxue yanjiu</emph> [Education and Teaching Research] 28, no. 2 (2014): 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For their differences, see Piet van der Ploeg, <emph>Dalton Plan: Origins and Theory of Dalton Education</emph> (Deventer: Saxion Dalton University Press, 2013), 55–76.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For a detailed exposition of the connection, see Del Pozo and Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals".</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For relevant studies on the two factions, see e.g. Wayne J. Urban and Jennings L. Waggoner, Jr., <emph>American Education: A History</emph> (New York: Routledge, 2009), 175–205; David F. Labaree, "How Dewey Lost: The Victory of David Snedden and Social Efficiency in the Reform of American Education," in <emph>Pragmatism and Modernities</emph>, ed. Daniel Tröhler, Thomas Schlag and Fritz Osterwalder (Leiden: Brill, 2010): 168–70, 182–6; and Michael Hines and Thomas Fallace, "Pedagogical Progressivism and Black Education: A Historiographical Review, 1880-1957," <emph>Review of Educational Research</emph> 93, no. 3 (2022): 456, 458, 461.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Qian Manqian and Jin Linxiang, <emph>Zhongguo jindai xuezhi bijiao yanjiu</emph> [A Comparative Study on the Educational Systems in Modern China] (Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996), 93–123.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ying Zhou, <emph>Education and Democracy in China: To Confine the Surging Tide from the Outside World, 1901–1937</emph> (Leiden: Brill, 2024), 86–99.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> "Daerdun'an [The Dalton Plan]," <emph>JYZZ</emph> 13, no. 8 (1921): 12–13.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Belle Rennie, "An American Experiment: The Time-Table Abolished," <emph>TES</emph>, 27 May 1920.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Del Pozo and Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals".</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Helen Parkhurst, "The Dalton Plan," <emph>TES</emph>, 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 July and 6 August 1921.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Bao Decheng, "'Daoerdun shiyanshi jihua' ['The Dalton Laboratory Plan']," <emph>JYZZ</emph> 14, no. 6 (1922): 1–7.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Jiaju, "Daerdengzhi zhi shiji [Facts of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 12, no. 1 (1922): 1–19.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See <emph>JYZZ</emph> 14, no. 11 (1922).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yang Hanlin, Li Xianzhi and Yang Jia, "Yu Jiaju liuying shiqi de jiaoyu huodong yu sixiang [Yu Jiaju's Educational Activities and Thoughts during His Study in the UK]," <emph>Anhui shifan daxue xuebao (renwen shehui kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Anhui Normal University (Humanity and Social Sciences)] 38, no. 5 (2010): 504–9.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Del Pozo and Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals," 15.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Daerdengzhi," 1–2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Jiaju, "Huanying Bakehesite nüshi [Welcome Ms. Parkhurst]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 14, no. 12 (1925): 2; Shu, "Jinhoude," 5–6.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Diana Lager, "Helen Parkhurst and the Dalton Plan: The Life and Work of an American Educator" (PhD diss., University of Connecticut, 1983), 152. According to Lager, two Japanese visited a school experimenting with the Plan in Shanghai around 1922–23. Although she does not mention the name, it is safe to assume the school was Wusong because of the time and Wusong's popularity.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Huanying," 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Daerdengzhi," 4, 6.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Jiaju, "'Daoerdunzhi' yu Zhongguo jiaoyu ['The Dalton Plan' and Chinese Education]," <emph>JYZZ</emph> 14, no. 12 (1922): 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Daerdengzhi," 17–18.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Jiaju, "Daoerdunzhi zhi jingshen [Spirit of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 13, no. 7 (1924): 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Huanying," 3–4.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Daerdengzhi," 17–18.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 16.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Yu, "Huanying," 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Chinese traditional schooling was based on individualised instruction centring on the moral meaning of classics, in which students were of different ages and degrees of learning.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> "Huanying," 1–2; Yu, "Daoerdunzhi zhi jingshen," 6–8.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "Lun Daoerdunzhi jingshen da Yu Jiaju [On the Spirit of the Dalton Plan in Response to Yu Jiaju]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 13, no. 8 (1924): 4, 6–8. For Yu, cooperation was just a "side product" of freedom; see Yu, "Daoerdunzhi zhi jingshen," 4.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "Shenme shi Daoerdunzhi [What is the Dalton Plan]," <emph>JYZZ</emph> 14, no. 11 (1922): 1, 4–5; Shu Xincheng, "Zhongguo zhi Daoerdunzhi [China's Dalton Plan]," <emph>JYYRS</emph>, 20 May 1924, 344.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Shenme shi Daoerdunzhi," 6, 39, 47–8. His assertions here appear overoptimistic and untrue for less well-off schools.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 8, 42; Shu Xincheng, "Shixing Daoerdunzhi de yige cankao [A Guidance of Experimenting with the Dalton Plan]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 12, no. 7 (1923): 4.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Shenme shi Daoerdunzhi," 41–2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 14–16; Shu, "Zhongguo zhi Daoerdunzhi," 345.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu, "Huanying," 3; Shu, "Lun Daoerdunzhi jingshen," 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For relevant discussions, see e.g. P. T. Nunn, "Introduction," in <emph>Education on the Dalton Plan</emph>, xi–xviii; F. A. Yeldham, "The Dalton Plan and the Teaching of Mathematics," <emph>The Mathematical Gazette</emph> 11, no. 157 (1922): 45–50; "Statement of Michael E. Sadler," 10 January 1923, in <emph>Josephine Boardman Crane Papers</emph> (New Haven, CT: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University), YCAL MSS 292, Box 1; and "The Dalton Plan by Belle Rennie," n.d., in <emph>Josephine Boardman Crane Papers</emph>, Box 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Gao and Zhang, "20 shiji 20 niandai Daoerdunzhi," 29–30; Liu, "Daoerdunzhi zai Zhongguo de xingshuai," 3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ying Zhou and Johannes Westberg, "A Fragmentation of Dewey: Dewey in the Political and Educational Reforms of China, 1910s-1920s," <emph>Comparative Education</emph> 60, no. 4 (2024): 609–25.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Shu Xincheng, "Daoerdunzhi keyoude biduan [Demerits of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 13, no. 2 (1923): 1–18.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> In this article, the term "Sinify new education" refers to Chinese educators' efforts to adapt foreign theories to better align with school realities and national conditions.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Zhou, <emph>Education and Democracy in China</emph>, 119–24.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For Chen's attitude towards child-centred pedagogy, see ibid., 116–23; for his support for the Plan, see Chen Qitian, "Daoerdunzhi zai jiaoyu shangde diwei [Educational Status of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>Shenbao</emph> [Shanghai News], 14 July 1925, 11.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Zhang Yuzheng, <emph>Zhongguo gongxue wangshi</emph> [Past of the China Public School] (Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 2014), 134–6.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, <emph>Wo he jiaoyu</emph> [Me and Education] (Beijing: Zhishi chanquan chubanshe, 2016), 206.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> "Dijiu jie quanguo jiaoyuhui lianhehui yijuean quanwen [Full-text of Resolutions Approved at the NEA Ninth Annual Conference]," <emph>Beijing daxue rikan</emph> [Peking University Daily], 6 December 1923, 2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> In this period, despite the top-down educational system, schools had much freedom in adopting new methods due to a central power vacuum in politics and a shortage of state funding for schools.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Zhou Ying, "Ershi shiji ershi niandai Baikehesite laihua yanjiu [A Study on Parkhurst's Visit to China in the 1920s]" (master's thesis, Southwest University, 2017), 23–39.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> More details can be found in databases as noted in note 6.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Jinhoude," 5. Today we can still find the names of 80 specific schools in written records. For a detailed list, see the Appendix of Zhou, "Ershi shiji ershi niandai Baikehesite," 53–4.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Van der Ploeg, "The Salient History of Dalton Education in the Netherlands," 371–2, 376–8; Del Pozo and Braster, "The Power of Networks in the Marketing of Pedagogical Ideals," 10–14.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Zhu Wenfu and Li Shuangxi, "Daoerdunzhi zai Riben de chuanbo yu yingxiang [Dissemination of the Dalton Plan and its Influence in Japan]," <emph>Hebei daxue xuebao (zhexue shehui kexue ban)</emph> [Journal of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)] 43, no. 3 (2018): 38–43.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Zhou, "Ershi shiji ershi niandai Baikehesite," 23.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 17–19.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Liao Shicheng, <emph>Dongda fuzhong Daoerdunzhi shiyan baogao</emph> [The MSASU Report of the Dalton Experiment] (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1925), 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2209/McCall-William-1891–1982. (accessed December 15, 2024).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Michael Knoll, "I Have Made a Mistake: William H. Kilpatrick and the Project Method," <emph>Teachers College Record</emph> 114, no. 2 (2012): 24.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> The testing boom was mainly promoted by people who had studied psychology and education in American universities. See Hu Yanfeng, <emph>Liuxuesheng yu Zhongguo xinlixue</emph> [Overseas Students and Psychology in China] (Tianjin: Nankai daxue chubanshe, 2009), 242–93.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> William A. McCall, "Scientific Measurement and Related Studies in Chinese Education," <emph>Journal of Educational Research</emph> 11, no. 2 (1925): 1–3, 6, 9.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Liao, <emph>Dongda fuzhong Daoerdunzhi</emph>, 94.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 1.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For more details, see ibid., 109–29.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 126–8. According to Liao, the experiment coefficient was correlated to the outperformance point. When it was below 0.5, a test result would be less reliable.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See ibid., 130–67.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 168–70.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ibid., 99, 103.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Jinhoude," 7.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Yu Dan, "Daoerdunzhi zai Zhongguo [The Dalton Plan in China]" (master thesis, East China Normal University, 2011), 18–19.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Daoerdunzhi keyoude biduan," 10.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "Daoerdunzhi daodi you shenme youdian, xing Daoerdunzhi daodi you shenme tiaojian [What Merits did the Dalton Plan Have and What Conditions were Needed in Experimenting with it]," <emph>JYYRS</emph>, 3 December 1923, 3–4.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Jinhoude," 5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Qu and Ding, "'Daoerdunzhi'," 83; Lou Aofei, "Daoerdunzhi chenji beihoude 'ming' yu 'an' [Untold Story behind the Decline of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>Jiaoyu xuebao</emph> [Journal of Educational Studies] 17, no. 4 (2021): 183–94.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "You Daoerdunzhi qianjide wenti [Issues Relating to the Dalton Plan]," <emph>CBFK</emph>, 29 August 1925, 173–5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Chen Qitian, "Kanxing Daoerdunzhi piping hao zhiqu [Aim of the Special Issue <emph>Critical Comments on the Dalton Plan</emph>]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925): 1, 2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu, "Jinhoude," 1–9.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Shu Xincheng, "Daoerdunzhi shiyan baogao [Experimental Report of the Dalton Plan]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925): 1–3.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Liao Shicheng, "Zhongxue shishi Daoerdunzhi de piping [Critical Comments on Implementing the Dalton Plan at Middle Schools]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925): 1–12.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Ziyi, "Xiaoxue shishi Daoerdunzhi de piping [Critical Comments on Implementing the Dalton Plan at Primary Schools]," <emph>ZHJYJ</emph> 15, no. 5 (1925): 1–5.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yu Ziyi, "Dongda fuxiao shixing Daoerdunzhi gaikuang [Outline of the Dalton Application at Primary School Affiliated to Southeast University]," <emph>Jiaoyu huikan</emph> [Educational Miscellany] 2, no. 1 (1924): 1, 2.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Zhou and Westberg, "A Fragmentation of Dewey," 619–21.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Gao Renshan, "Jiaoyu yu guojia [Education and the Nation]," <emph>JYYRS</emph>, 29 October 1923, 17; 5 November 1923, 25.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> See e.g. Qiu Chun, "Keboqu jiaoyu xueshuo de shiyan [Experimenting with Kilpatrick's Educational Theories]," <emph>CBFK</emph>, 11 May 1927, 21.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Yang Lian and Gao Renshan, "Beijing Yiwen zhongxuexiao shiyan Daoerdunzhi de jige shishi [Facts of the Dalton Plan Implemented at Beijing Yiwen Middle School]," <emph>Xinjiaoyu pinglun</emph> [Review of the New Education] 1, no. 26 (1926): 8–17.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> For the practical nature of the Plan, see Van der Ploeg, <emph>Dalton Plan</emph>, 13, 18.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Ying Zhou and Piet van der Ploeg</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> <p></p> <p>Ying Zhou obtained her PhD at the University of Groningen and is trained in both Educational Studies and Sinology. Currently, she is an assistant professor at the Institute of Education, Xiamen University. Her latest publications are Education and Democracy in China: To Confine the Surging Tide from the Outside World, 1901–1937 (Brill) and "A Fragmentation of Dewey: Dewey in the Political and Educational Reforms of China, 1910s–1920s" (with Johannes Westberg, in Comparative Education).</p> <p>Piet van der Ploeg is Dean of the School of Education at the Academica University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam and lectures at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He teaches courses in philosophy and the philosophy of education. Currently his research focuses on the philosophy of education and the history of progressive education.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref20"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref22"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref23"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref27"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref28"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib24" 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Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: EJ1479551
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: The Dalton Plan in Modern China: Rising in Spirit yet Failing to Become a System
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ying+Zhou%22">Ying Zhou</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9720-7988">0000-0001-9720-7988</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Piet+van+der+Ploeg%22">Piet van der Ploeg</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Paedagogica+Historica%3A+International+Journal+of+the+History+of+Education%22"><i>Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 61(4):552-569.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 18
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Secondary+Education%22">Elementary Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+History%22">Educational History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Change%22">Educational Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Innovation%22">Educational Innovation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Criticism%22">Criticism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Individualized+Instruction%22">Individualized Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+Secondary+Education%22">Elementary Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22China%22">China</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/00309230.2025.2459174
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0030-9230<br />1477-674X
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: In China, the Dalton Plan came to the attention of educators in 1921 and enjoyed its heyday in both educational discourse and practice from 1922 to 1925. Thereafter its popularity declined significantly while criticism dramatically increased. When examining the causes for this rapid growth and precipitous decline, previous research has taken the progressivity of the Plan for granted, as if this destined it to mirror the wax and wane of the Chinese New Education Movement. Scholars have failed to notice that less progressive educators impelled its rise and that educators taking sides with both pedagogical and administrative progressives contributed much to its fall. This article revisits the trajectory of the Dalton Plan in modern China and offers new insights explaining its rise and fall, by untangling the complex relationships among its advocates and their connections with foreign educational circles. It will be shown (1) that the Dalton Plan was introduced in a spirit of eclecticism rather than as a fixed system, (2) that it was undermined by attacks from both pedagogical and administrative progressives, and (3) that its eclecticism had much to do with both its rise and fall.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
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  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1479551
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1479551
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/00309230.2025.2459174
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 18
        StartPage: 552
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Change
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Innovation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Criticism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Individualized Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: China
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Dalton Plan in Modern China: Rising in Spirit yet Failing to Become a System
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            NameFull: Ying Zhou
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            NameFull: Piet van der Ploeg
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 0030-9230
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              Value: 1477-674X
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              Value: 61
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              Value: 4
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            – TitleFull: Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education
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