Borrowing from Western countries? China’s vocational education, 1840

Abstract

China now hosts the largest vocational education system in the world. However, the Chinese vocational education system has evolved by adopting comparatively more advanced vocational education practices and models from other countries. Despite this, few studies have explored the evolution of vocational education in China between 1840 and 1895. To address this gap, this article examines the development of Chinese vocational education during this period through the lens of educational policy transfer, using Schriewer’s externalization theory as a guiding framework. It argues that, in the context of intense internal and external crisis, China’s vocational education between 1840 and 1895 was not directly introduced. Rather, it emerged through a process in which reformers successively externalized to ‘tradition’ and Western military and civil technology, thereby gaining supplementary meaning and legitimacy for its development. The study calls for further research that integrates comparative and historical approaches to examine how China has developed its own vocational education by selectively adopting and adapting foreign models. © The Author(s) 2025.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational education China Educational policy transfer Externalization theory

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

School of Teacher Education, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China

Institute of Vocational and Adult Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Funding & Acknowledgements

Jiangsu University, JSU

Grant: 24JDG002

Funding text 1: Yijun Yang has received research support from Jiangsu University (funding information: Senior Talent Start-up Funds of Jiangsu University; grant number: 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (grant number: C/2024/01/77).; Funding text 2: We would like to thank Dr. Yeow-Tong Chia, Dr. Remy Low, Professor Anthony Welch, Professor Helen Proctor, Professor Tim Allender, Associate Professor David Hirsh for support and suggestions, none of whom should be held responsible for any remaining mistakes or misinterpretations. We would like to thank Jiangsu University (Grant No. 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (Grant No. C/2024/01/77) for providing financial support.

Jiangsu University, JSU

Funding text 1: Yijun Yang has received research support from Jiangsu University (funding information: Senior Talent Start-up Funds of Jiangsu University; grant number: 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (grant number: C/2024/01/77).; Funding text 2: We would like to thank Dr. Yeow-Tong Chia, Dr. Remy Low, Professor Anthony Welch, Professor Helen Proctor, Professor Tim Allender, Associate Professor David Hirsh for support and suggestions, none of whom should be held responsible for any remaining mistakes or misinterpretations. We would like to thank Jiangsu University (Grant No. 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (Grant No. C/2024/01/77) for providing financial support.

Grant: C/2024/01/77

Funding text 1: Yijun Yang has received research support from Jiangsu University (funding information: Senior Talent Start-up Funds of Jiangsu University; grant number: 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (grant number: C/2024/01/77).; Funding text 2: We would like to thank Dr. Yeow-Tong Chia, Dr. Remy Low, Professor Anthony Welch, Professor Helen Proctor, Professor Tim Allender, Associate Professor David Hirsh for support and suggestions, none of whom should be held responsible for any remaining mistakes or misinterpretations. We would like to thank Jiangsu University (Grant No. 24JDG002) and Jiangsu Academy of Educational Sciences (Grant No. C/2024/01/77) for providing financial support.

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Borrowing from Western countries? China’s vocational education, 1840–1895

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