Reform of Old-Style Private Schools and Its Implications for Modern School Education

Traditional old-style private school education suffers from limitations such as outdated and simple teaching materials and contents, poor and ignorant teaching methods and management, and ineffective quality assurance.It has been reformed during the period of the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, the period of the Republic of China, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.The reforms are mainly manifested in the organization of the training of the teachers and the adjustments of the curriculum, the contents of the teaching, the methods of the teaching, and the system of the management. Old-style private schools have a long history and wide social influence, and the reform of it has important inspirations for the reform and development of modern school education. The inspirations lie in the following ways: emphasizing inclusive education, optimizing the allocation of educational resources, and ensuring educational equity; emphasizing both professional ethics and quality, implementing strict teacher selection, and prioritizing both pre-service and in-service training; tailoring education to individual needs, allowing students to receive "suitable education" based on their unique characteristics; enhancing the practical effectiveness of moral education, bringing moral education back to everyday life.