From "Scholarly Excellence as Teaching Qualification" to "Learning to Become a Teacher": An Exploration of Specialization in Higher Normal Education During the Late Qing Dynasty

Due to the inability of the traditional "scholarly excellence as teaching qualification" model to meet the needs of the constantly emerging new-style schools, the education sector in the late Qing Dynasty implemented specialized concepts and practices for modern higher normal education. Through efforts, the education sector established an independent modern higher normal education system based on the "School Charter issued by emperor" and the "School Charter approved by emperor", which clarified the specialized positioning of higher normal education in the late Qing Dynasty. This system adhered to universal pedagogical principles by designing specialized curricula for secondary teacher training, integrating general academic courses with pedagogical disciplines. At the same time, the system also followed the principle of integrating rewards and responsibilities, and on the basis of stipulating the obligation to achieve effective graduation outcomes, different achievements and rewards were given according to graduation grades. With the completion of the modern higher normal education system, curriculum design, and graduation system, the goal of "learning to become a teacher" was basically achieved in higher normal education during the late Qing Dynasty, thus completing the specialization exploration of this period. However, while achieving great success, the construction of higher normal education in the late Qing Dynasty also had problems such as a low degree of standardization, misalignment and grafting with the imperial examination system, and the need to highlight local characteristics. Its level of specialization still needs to be improved.