History of Chinese Education Study in Forty 40 Years of Reform and Opening-Up—Based on Journal Articles and Doctoral Dissertations

The journal articles and doctoral dissertations on the history of Chinese education over the past four decades after reform and opening-up are studied from two dimensions: the historical periods and the educational subjects. The number of journal articles has experienced a sluggish period of growth before expanding rapidly. The subjects studied in journal articles are expanding across traditionally focused fields of educational figures, thought and systems; this resulted in widespread attention regarding all kinds of educational forms and problems. The interest in theory of history of education has improved. The research paradigm is characterized by its diversity. However, there are also problems such as subpar quality, trivial and repeated themes, overemphasis on reality, and imbalance in the historical periods of the writings. Changes in the number of doctoral dissertations over the past forty years are mainly affected by the number of doctoral programs. Regarding the historical periods examined in dissertations, there exists a preference for the modern to ancient period, which is generally the same trend found in journal articles. Influenced by the general attention directed at the Gaokao reform, the number of educational systems-themed dissertations exceeds those focusing on figures and thought. The dissertations on the themes of educational figures and thought have richer subjects, which avoid the negative side of repeated themes of journal articles. In the future, we should place improvements on research quality and the heightening of academic standards as a foremost priority. We need to strike a balance between seeking truth and attaining practical use when paying attention to reality and formulating positive responses. Moreover, we should remain open to the changes in research paradigms, theory and methods.